Show me the light... or not.

Earlier today, I attended a bible study that my good friend, Mackenzie, frequented. In the meeting, we were shown a video clip of a man professing his faith in the Almighty. He compared an individual's faith in God to that of a husband & wife's relationship -- with God playing the husband, and man taking on the role of wife. He proclaimed how very wrong most people's perception of God is, that God is a shepherd and we're all here to do his bidding, and it got me to thinking, how many theories about God and Man are there... and are some truer than others?

Listening to the opinions of the different members of this group was almost disheartening in its same-ness. I witnessed first-hand how easily swayed some people are by provocative words and enthusiastic sermons. Should they attend an anti-religious meeting... would they just as easily believe in the worst? Still, amidst my initial disappointment, it was wonderful to know that in a world as jaded and cynical as ours, there still exists the perennial optimists. Those so ready to walk the earth blind.

Where is the line differentiating the over-religious zealots and the believers though? One of the questions asked by the group facilitator was that which one of us had people we could say knew us completely, and I was the only one to raise my hand. A sudden burst of angry protests erupted from that insanely small number of people. I was attacked for my beliefs. Whatever happened to "To each their own"? If this works for me... then why "fix" what isn't broken?

By the end of the meeting, I was convinced that these people simply wanted to liken coincidences to destiny. They fantasized and sensationalized common occurrences to glorious events. Are these people setting themselves up for disappointment... or are we just happy in the fact that we are not overly happy? I became even more questioning and skeptical of religion after having attended this session.

One thing is for certain though, I just came home from a meeting with a group of people who never tire of hearing their own voices and enjoy convincing people that they are in the know.

A bible study full of megalomaniacs. Irony certainly has a dirty sense of humor.

Perplexed,
Essa