Karma Revelation

I am stuck between two worlds.  A black one and a white one.  A liberal one and a conservative one.  An agnostic and a spiritual one.

Right now, down the street, there is a group of people gathered in a building.  They are singing songs, greeting each other, smiling and shaking hands.  They are there for different reasons.  Some are there for fellowship.  I often wondered why I was there.  I am a reluctant introvert, so the fellowship wasn't the draw.  I realized a few weeks ago, that I was only going so my family would be embraced and enjoy the fellowship that I have been avoiding for the majority of my life.  

Fellowships at religious institutions come with a price and it is not associated with tithing.  The price is independent thinking.  The price is giving up a portion of your individuality to fit in with a large paradigm of beliefs.  I am not saying that politics is ruining religion, I am saying religion is built on politics.  We are at a point where simply "believing in God" is not enough..."how you believe in God" is being evaluated.

I had to officially remove myself from the Sunday School roster and it was a very heartbreaking thing for me to do.  Sure, if you get about five to seven men together on a Sunday, things will be discussed other than the Sunday School lesson.  What bothered me about this group is that whenever we started discussing the perpetual conflict of "good vs. evil", they always resorted to "us vs. them."  Then it would resort to "us vs. liberals."  Then it would resort to "us vs. democrats."  Then it would resort to "us vs. non Christians."  There is a difference between Evil People and People who don't agree with you.  

I have had two great mentors in my life.  One was an Agnostic and the other was a Southern Baptist.  I asked them their definitions of Evil and Sin.  "Evil is treating someone differently for thinking differently than you," said the Agnostic.  "Sin is doing something that Jesus would not do," said the Southern Baptist.  Being stuck between two worlds, I consolidated their ideologies into one:  We should be united in the face of our differences because no one is perfect.  

Although I mentioned my primary reason for joining that church in a previous paragraph, my own personal reason was to become a better person.  Atheists and Agnostics must recognize that certain religious institutions bring out the best in people.  People are motivated to do great things for the less fortunate, use their vacation days to go on missions, and other selfless acts.  What motivates these people?  Is it their belief in God or is it the fact that they are surrounded by people in which they are politically aligned?  I told my Sunday School instructor that I came to the church to escape politics shortly before leaving.  Now my main concern is how my family will be treated there now that I have decided to do some independent learning.  

If I wore a "Black Lives Matter" shirt to this Church down the street, I would get ugly looks.  Not because I would be bringing politics into the church, but because I would be bringing politics that they don't agree with into the church.  The same would apply if I wore a "Make America Great Again" hat to a Black Church.  

A person's relationship with God should be as unique as their fingerprint.  Churches, Mosques, and Synagogues all have one thing in common: they are simply places where people analyze each other's fingerprints.