It kinda sucks being Agnostic. Before I continue, that is not the same as autistic. Yes, someone actually asked me that. "You speak so well, I didn't know you were, you know, retarded." Agnostic is basically the equivalent of being "on the fence" when it comes to God and religion. It's different than atheism where you don't believe in anything at all.
So where was I? Oh yeah, it sucks. Like right now we're approaching Christmas. Facebook is littered with people talking about Jesus' birthday and I can't really say anything. You see, I don't have a problem with religion at all. I used to be a die-hard Christian and not just the Sunday-only Christian either. How I got to this point is a long story. I'll just say that I didn't have a bad experience, no one from the church did me dirty. My belief structure changed without a bad experience serving as a catalyst. I throw that in there because the minute you tell some people that you don't go to church they go the route of "the bad experience" and "try my church."
Anyway, it's hard because, while I don't have beef with church, I do have an issue with 1) inaccurate information being broadcast all over the place and 2) having to keep my mouth shut. I looooove to voice my opinion, but it's dangerous when religion is the topic. I don't want to be misinterpreted as trying to bash it and at the same time I don't want to plant a seed of doubt in anyone's faith. A lot of people need faith to get by. Life is hard enough as it is. Some people can't function without something deeper to believe in.
So that's why it sucks. Just to give a small example...Jesus' name wasn't Jesus. It irked me as a Christian to hear people swinging for the fences with the "unless you plead the blood of Jesus and profess his 'true name' you will go to hell." The letter J didn't exist back then, neither did the sound that J makes. His name was Yeshua and Jesus is just the result of that name being translated into different languages with different sounds.
Another small bite of info that shouldn't cause any major pitchfork and torch brigades: Palestine is pretty cold in December. No shepherd would be out during that time. Instead it was probably either in the spring or early fall that Jesus would've been born. December 25th was, however, the observance of Saturnalia--a "pagan" ritual. It is historical record that to help with the adoption of Christianity by the "pagans," a lot of holidays and celebrations were merged together.
Now if you're a Christian, none of that should really dissuade you from your beliefs. It doesn't matter if you have the wrong birthday or the wrong name, because the idea is still the same. As a non-Christian though...you can see how it can be slightly frustrating. It also doesn't help that everywhere you turn (mostly facebook) you run into people who speak only in scripture. If the name is wrong, imagine what the "words in red" were at one point. I can't say anything though, because that would lead into the very thing I hope to avoid.
It's frustrating when people can make their view point heard without meaning to annoy or offend, but the minute I say "I'm not a Christian" I run into heavy opposition and become labeled as the antichrist.
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