Time for an iffy subject.

Religion. UGH. I hate thinking about it.

It's not that I don't have one, and it's not that I'm not happy with it. It's that my father has recently found Christ (happy for him!). Because part of Christianity includes the belief that if you don't believe in it, you're going to Hell. Great marketing scheme, but terrible for acceptance of other beliefs.

Okay, time to take a step back.

During college I did a little private self-exploration. I found a religion I believe in; or rather, I found the name for the beliefs I've always had. And a lot of this religion has to do with accepting that other people will have their own beliefs, and that what they believe is right for them. There isn't one path to happiness, or Heaven, or Nirvana, or what-have-you. (For introducing me to Unitarian Universalism, I must thank Tricia Bear.) This is what I have always believed. I am very happy with it.

Well, during this same time, my dad has joined a church with his new wife that they're both extremely happy with. He recently went to Kenya on a mission trip to build some new churches and create new converts (not something I completely agree with, but whatever). He came back a changed man. I'm really happy for him, because he's really happy. But I went to visit him over the weekend, and we were running some errands and we stopped at Hastings. And I said, "What are we stopping here for?" To which he replied, "I'm going to buy you a Bible."

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait... What? Yes. He bought me a Bible. I have such mixed feelings about it that I have trouble getting into it. I'm pleased that he wants to share something in his life that has made him so happy. I'm frustrated because religion is something you need to find on your own. I'm disappointed because I thought I had made it clear to him what I believe in. So I wrestle my thoughts together, and come to my own decision: I'll take the Bible. I'll read some of it so I know the stories, and so I can say, "The Bible says this, and I can't believe in that." And then he comes out with a Life Application Studies Bible... which, if you don't know what that is, is a small group of people who translate it for the average reader. I.e., NOT what the Bible actually says, but someone else's interpretation of it.

Here's what it all boils down to for me: if I'm going to read the Bible, I want to read the text in the truest form I am able. I want to interpret it for myself. So I gave myself... a huge challenge. I'm going to read parts of the Bible. The first five books of the Old Testament, some of the New Testament... and then I'm going to read the Qu'ran. And the Dhammapada. And the Bhagavad-gita. If I'm going to educate myself on one religion, why not educate myself on others?

And I'm happy to report that I have a support system in my friend Tommy. Because he understands all of these mixed feelings I have, because this is a battle he's had with his family for much of his adult life.

So... there's that.