“Religious experiences which are as real as life to some may be incomprehensible to others.”
- William O. Douglas, Supreme Court Justice, 1898 - 1980.
I am of two minds when it comes to my own spirituality. On one hand I am quite eccentric. My spirituality is composed of equal parts Agnosticism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Qabalah, with a dash of good old fashion blasphemy for taste. On my bookshelf, the Quran and King James Bible share space with the likes of Aleister Crowley and Friedrich Nietzsche. I have a tendency to visit my local New Age store as often as I find myself at Church - and I visit both basically for the same reasons. I am content to be eccentric - I connect to the Divine on more levels then most people would admit is possible, and still feel the need for more.
On the other hand, I am afraid of what other people think of my spirituality. Even though I know my wife adores me for who I am, at times I even fear that she isn’t quite sure what to make of me. I am, in all frankness, deathly afraid of what my grandparents will think of my new aspirations - as I know they will eventually find out. I am also afraid of what my fellow Church members would think of me, as I am still quite new. Even though Unitarian Universalism is an open and free faith, I recognize that everyone has a tendency to judge others. Perhaps my anxiety disorder has something to do with my fears, but I cannot deny that these fears exist.
So I am constantly at battle with what truly makes me feel spiritually fulfilled, and the desire to hide what I believe and practice from prying eyes, in fear of their judgement. I tell you this not because I want you to feel sorry for me. I tell you this because I want you to think about those who do not have the courage to say what I am saying here today. I am not the only one who has these fears and yet has this incredible depth of faith. It is hard not being the same religion as your family, friends, and co-workers. It is hard being judged on something that is so personal and yet still want to share so much.
This is what religious tolerance is about. It’s not about the holidays, the traditions, or the actual tenants of a faith. Religious tolerance isn’t about accepting someone else’s beliefs as being equal to your own; its about accepting the person regardless of their practice. Acceptance - isn’t that what we all want?
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October 10th, 2007 at 1:48 pm
hello, john.
we have never met before but just wanted to let you know that i found your link on comparative-religion.com. i have read some of your articles on this website. your search for the Divine reminds me of how i am searching for God. we are definitely on different paths but somehow i feel we are searching for the same thing. or maybe i am just jumping the gun. plus we have so much in common so far that we are both the same age, are married, love tool, & lord of the rings. you sound like a pretty cool guy. anyhow, enough of small talk, drop by the comparative-religion website. you will find that i have some posts there under leosalinas22. well, hope to hear from you soon. shoot me an email if you want to talk about spirituality or the divine. or whatever really. always nice to hear from someone anyways. later, man.
October 11th, 2007 at 8:28 pm
Hey, Leo! Don’t worry about having not met me - I’m an easy enough guy to get along with. I’m glad you’re enjoying my website. Please continue to visit - I plan on soon implementing a regular update schedule.
- John.
November 17th, 2007 at 3:06 pm
[...] admission to make; for the past ten or so years of my life, I have studied and been involved with occultism. Let me be clear of what I mean by occultism - I’m not talking about Wicca, the New Age movement, [...]