Live and let live: a jumble of thoughts about religion and humanity

It's just past 1 am, right now, so I'm not sure how well any of this will read to a well-rested mind.

It is no secret that I am incredibly fascinated by bits of ancient history, most notably the era of the Vikings. A part of that fascination heavily involves old paganism and Heathenry and its presence in modern day religion, as well, from Christianity to Neopaganism. It's just really cool to read about, fact or fiction.

Now, this post of mine is about to diverge into what could be seen as a pretty "controversial" opinion, to say the least, but it's something I've been thinking for a long time. Well, at least since my freshman year in high school. You see, I took an advanced placement human geography course that year instead of the normal physical geography that many other people took. I was capable and had always taken advanced courses, so I thought, "why not?" Anyway, our first major project involved the religions of the world. It was in this class that I learned that Christianity, historically, was not the first religion, nor would it be the last.

I chose to study the Shinto religion of ancient Japan. Shintoism came about in approximately 1,000 B.C.E.; and that's even after the Babylonian religion, drawn from Hammurabi's stele around 1,800 B.C.E., originated, not to mention in a whole other section of the world. Now, Christianity didn't originate until the first century, or so, before common era, some sources estimate between 4 B.C.E. and 1 B.C.E.

See, this is where the controversial stuff comes in, so, please, if you choose to continue reading, understand that this is just a massive web of a theory that's been sitting within my head for years.

If all of these religions existed before and continue to exist after Christianity (as what it was and what it is now), then how can we really consider the Christian god to be the one and only god?

It's universally accepted that something created the universe as we know it. Since the dawn of time, some form of life has inhabited the Earth, and since the dawn of humanity, there has always been a desire for inner peace. Now, people can't have one thing without something that opposes it, so with peace came fear, and a being's greatest fear, I like to think, is death. The greatest way to quell the fear of death is to find a way to believe in a comfortable afterlife. Now, that entity that created this world stuck around and helped the beings of the world to find that afterlife. Thus, religion was born—or something like that.

Every religion and belief has its stories of creation from the Garden of Eden to the regions of Yggdrasil to even the Big Bang, and I really like to think that the cosmic entity that created the universe had its role in all of it for the same reason: to appeal to the people in a way that helped them understand and to best find their comfort. (Does that make sense?) Many monotheistic religions, Christianity included, believe that their god is totally omnipotent, as in all-seeing and all-powerful. I think that this is very true because that one, single god is the entirety of the cosmic entity that created the world and everything within it. Polytheistic religions that have multiple gods with and for multiple purposes, like the pagan beliefs of Vikings and the Indigenous people of the Americas and even the idol worshippers in several Eastern religions, can find that cosmic entity splitting itself to meet the needs of its people.

It's hard to get a jumble of thoughts to settle into coherent sentences, so I know this is all probably jumpy as ever, but it's a beehive in my mind.

Basically, I think that my god is my god because I was raised to believe in him the way that I do. He came to me in a way that was easiest for me, personally, to understand and believe in considering my surroundings. The majority of my friends and family are of some denomination of the Christian faith, so it only makes sense to experience and worship a god through that mirror. However, in other parts of the world, and even other parts of this very country, there are people who worship their god(s) and goddess(es) and idol(s) and science(s) because whatever's out there chose to present itself in whatever fashion was best for these individuals to understand. If you really get down to it, all of these beliefs are in place to do the following: provide a comfort in life and death, provide an understanding of the world, and to provide a sense of peace whenever necessary. All of these religions and sciences and whatever do that for everyone who partakes.

"Why is there so much fighting and arguing and whatever and whatever about and between these religions?"

"Why do some people think it's right and wrong and this and that?"

"Why do some people change religions, or not believe at all?"

I can't answer these questions, you know. No one can. Why? Because I'm only human. We're all only human. Humans took the words of their gods and interpreted and reinterpreted and reinterpreted and reinterpreted until we have what's left today and what's used to practice in our time. Granted, there are many aspects of many religions that are bent to suit our modern era, but, for the most part, the beliefs are still intact. All of these religions that are still alive and well today are the leftovers of the interpretation of some ancient human a long time ago. There really is no reason why they can't coincide since the foundations are similar, if not the same in many aspects. If you really want to get down to it, the only reason so many people despise those of different faiths is because of that basic humanity within us. Like I said before, the god(s) came to people in ways that made sense to them, but what makes sense to one person doesn't always makes sense to another. These differences are what keep so many people separated, it's what kills and what prohibits and burns and disowns and the list of negative verbs could go on.

Living with a closed mind disables and inhibits understanding, I think, and it will only worsen as the world constantly changes.

I don't know how much sense any of this made to any of you. It works for me, but they are my thoughts. If you've ever wondered what the inside of my head looks like, this is the closest you'll get. Educated thoughts and theories lost in a web of confusion; it's like a puzzle. Piecing everything together is incredibly difficult.

At the end of the day, though, that old phrase "live and let live" is the greatest mantra to live by, religious or not. Why can't we just let people be happy being happy? Why does a differing opinion in religion or politics or value have to suddenly turn into a war on pleasure? Someone's always got to be right, regardless of what happens. It's like no one cares about how other people feel anymore.

Just let people live their lives.