Are You A Christian?
“Are You A Christian?”
I was not raised as a Christian. Why people care about my religious upbringing and beliefs is beyond me. They profess to read and believe in the Bible, yet never seem to have gotten to the part about an individual’s beliefs being between them and their G-d, and should not be flaunted to impress others. Meet me, learn who I am, choose to befriend me or not. Some go farther, or deeper as they rationalize it, and say it is their nature. They want to know about your heritage, your ancestors, your religion, your culture or lack thereof. Race is usually obvious by looking at you, your skin colour. Thomas Jefferson famously wrote, "I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend." That, my friends, is religious freedom.
I was taught religion as a child and I guess you could say I was religious until I reached the age of reason, as George Carlin so adeptly puts it. My problem was that I had a very active mind and asked questions. Adults have this thing about not liking being asked questions to which they have no answer. To which they embarrassingly did not know the answer. Reminds me of cognitive dissonance. This especially applies to politicians, as I have observed.
So, with no guidance, I developed my own beliefs which, when reaching adulthood, I learned were spiritual in nature. Perhaps it was in my DNA all along.
Living up north, no one cared what religion you were. It was a melting pot of religions, creeds and nationalities. They were more interested in what sort of person you were, until it came to marriage and kids. Upon moving to the south and meeting people, I would be asked, “Are you a Christian?” Not what my name was, if I was married, if I was a good person, do I still have all my teeth, do I believe in safe sex! No. The first question was, “Are you a Christian.” If you were, they would attempt to influence you to attend their church. It seems their social life, as I would discover, centered around their church. So, even if you were “Christian” but attended a different church, they would say good morning to you and after that you were on your own.
I answered truthfully and left them hanging by saying neither “yes” nor “no.” I responded with, “I am Canadian.” Most had no response and a few warned me that my sarcasm was going to be the death of me. I soon realized that was a valid warning because most southerners carried a gun. Up north, only the police and gangsters carried guns. Further north, in Canada, I learned, it was hunters out in the woods who carried guns. Hunting was frowned upon in cities and other populated places.
My beliefs were supported by worldly events, both current and historical. They were fortified when I began to discover how babies are treated like commodities. I never paid attention to that before. I mean, it is like a brand or model of automobile you never noticed before. But as soon as you buy one, they begin to pop up everywhere. Or so it seems.
My eye opener was learning I was a “Butterbox Baby.” Sure, I knew I was adopted, but never realized I was stolen and sold on the black market. Knowing that does something to you and you begin learning about similar baby trafficking around the world and through the ages. In my opinion, if there was not such a profitable adoption industry, there would not be as many atrocious stories about out-of-wedlock babies, the treatment of their mothers by “religious” people, or an uproar over abortion.
I hear the terms pro-life, fetus rights, anti-abortion, anti-Planned Parenthood, and people being bombed and murdered for “the cause.” The only “cause” I could think of was babies were being sold and murdered “‘cause” there were so many assholes in this world who ask if YOU are Christian but never act like they were. I am reminded of what Cory Booker, who is from the same place I grew up, once said:
"Before you speak to me about your religion, first show it to me in how you treat other people. Before you tell me how much you love your God, show me in how much you love all His children. Before you preach to me of your passion for your faith, teach me about it through your compassion for your neighbors. In the end, I'm not as interested in what you have to tell or sell as in how you choose to live and give."
Where I was born, the Ideal Maternity Home, babies not deemed marketable to white families were “disposed of.” If you had a birth defect, pre-mature, skin other than lily white, you were tossed in the trash with the rotten tomatoes, so to speak. Babies with one or more indigenous parents were first to be noticed as non-white and discarded. That is, until a market was found with barren Jewish couples and just a “slightly darker skinned” baby could be passed off as having Jewish birth parents. Thus, a pipeline was created from East Chester, Nova Scotia to the NY/NJ/CT tri-state area. I know. I traveled that pipeline.
What stimulated me to bring all this up today? It was the following post on Facebook that once again reminded me of the horrors and inhumanity existing in this world. If there is an all knowing and all powerful god, there is a lot of explaining to do. How can the beheading and bombing of children in the Middle East be allowed? How can there be sex trafficking, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW), wars, Hitler, Trump, dictatorships and a black market for the sale of babies?
This is when I bring up the late George Carlin, my favorite modern day philosopher, who put it this way:
“Trillions and trillions of prayers every day asking and begging and pleading for favors. 'Do this' 'Gimme that' 'I want a new car' 'I want a better job'. And most of this praying takes place on Sunday. And I say fine, pray for anything you want. Pray for anything.
But...what about the divine plan? Remember that? The divine plan. Long time ago god made a divine plan. Gave it a lot of thought. Decided it was a good plan. Put it into practice. And for billion and billions of years the divine plan has been doing just fine. Now you come along and pray for something. Well, suppose the thing you want isn't in god's divine plan. What do you want him to do? Change his plan? Just for you? Doesn't it seem a little arrogant? It's a divine plan. What's the use of being god if every run-down schmuck with a two dollar prayer book can come along and f**k up your plan? And here's something else, another problem you might have; suppose your prayers aren't answered. What do you say? 'Well it's god's will.
God's will be done.' Fine, but if it (is) gods will and he's going to do whatever he wants to anyway; why…bother praying in the first place? Seems like a big waste of time to me. Couldn't you just skip the praying part and get right to his will?”
"Listen. There are 200 countries in the world now. Do these people honestly think that God is sitting around picking out his favorites? Why would he do that? Why would God have a favorite country?
And why would it be America out of all the countries? Because we have the most money?
Because he likes our National Anthem? It's delusional thinking!
And America is not alone with this sort of delusions. Military cemeteries around the world are packed with brainwashed dead soldiers who were convinced God was on their side.
Think of it this way. Israelis pray for God to destroy Palestinians. Palestinians pray for God to destroy Israel. Somebody's gonna be disappointed. Somebody's wasting their f-ing time. Could it be everyone?"
But I digress. Here is a sampling of what triggered my mind to go down this path this morning. It is just a taste to give you the crux, an idea, a summary, so if interested enough, you can go to YouTube and find the full film or documentary. In my opinion, everyone, including children when mature enough, should watch each and every one of these videos so history does not repeat itself, including an end to re-homing.
Let’s instead support birth mothers, wed or unwed, so they can raise their children if they do desire. There should be proper prenatal care, stipends, daycare to allow mothers to finish their public education, which should include college and trade schools, work full time, maternal and paternal leave, paid vacations and sick leave, including when the child is sick. We claim we are the richest country in the history of mankind. So, if other not so rich countries can provide these services, why not us? It might even solve the abortion controversy.
It was not so long ago that my ancestors took care of orphaned, abandoned and/or children of parents unable to care for them. This was done by both the family and community. Babies were not sold for profit to neighboring communities under the guise of adoption, but loved and nurtured by the culture they belonged in. Humanity was in their DNA and did not require religion. These were “wanted children,” not learn as they matured that they were sold as “unwanted children” and considered “disposable.” “Adopted” children have enough doors slammed in their faces growing up. It stings when more doors are slammed in their faces as adults.
Baby farms
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/p7sARExEF8zBQ4B6/?mibextid=KsPBc6
Georgia Tann ~ Tennessee, USA
https://youtu.be/YaiRYfhvj0k?si=WSqPmOrICvpqA3q6
Butterbox Babies ~ Nova Scotia, Canada
https://youtu.be/j-DSosDBUZg?si=pft3GzBsbGWAAh8h
Residential schools ~ Canada and USA
https://youtu.be/9daBqAddI_s?si=MSV1wWV16TVr3R-1
Magdalene Laundries ~ Ireland
https://youtu.be/Ps5NXYuLFms?si=XMG1ldFtgXZhMTmK
https://youtu.be/ATaFyIbd5hY?si=tvkUBtMLQJKJl3E4
Re-homing in America Today
“If you think America is the heart of modern civilization, this story will surely change your mind. There, a trade in unwanted children exists and the way they do it is distressing. It's known as "re-homing", and when parents decide they no longer want their adopted child, they simply advertise them on websites to lure prospective new parents. It's as straightforward as getting rid of an old fridge on eBay. There is no vetting or court orders required and the children can be handed over to anyone. Not surprisingly, the consequences for these disposable kids are often disastrous.”
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