Hypocrisy

I absolutely can not stand hypocritical people. I think they are a drain on society and we should get rid of all of them!

Not really. But, they wear me out and I can't believe that in 2010 we still have people who can sit back and judge others and at the same time be completely hypocritical. My main problem is with Christians who are so narrow minded that they can't seem to find understanding for other people who don't believe in the same things they do. I have friends who have different beliefs than me. And it seems that as long as those beliefs keep them in the "Christian" community, then they're okay and they are allowed to go about their business. I have other friends who are atheists. And it seems that their beliefs keep them constantly on a persecution pedestal. I have a very hard time believing that just because my friends don't believe in the same god as me or in a god, that they are in some way inferior to me because I do.

I consider myself a spiritual person. I consider myself a Christian. I would not say that I am an evangelical Christian because it's never been my mission to go out and "save" everyone I can from persecution. In fact, my take on my faith has pretty much been that faith is a personal thing. It's not my place to tell you what to believe, just like it's not your place to tell me what I should believe. Because of that, I have never found the time or desire to judge someone else based on their beliefs.

For me personally, it seems that my friends who are atheists have the same moral values as me and in the end they have faith. They don't have faith in a god they can not see and touch, but instead, they have faith in each other and in mankind. They have faith that making good choices here, on earth, in this life, will lead them to a more rewarding life and in the end, result in a life that they were happy to live. Sure, they've turned away from things they previously believe and have faced criticism from their family and friends, but in the end, they are living better lives than a lot of Christians that I know. So, if that is the case, how can anyone sit back and judge them or persecute them for their beliefs?

My friends have been given books to read on why they should choose faith. They have been told that people feel for their mothers because they know the sorrow their mothers must feel over their choice. They've been yelled at and misunderstood. When they've told people they were atheist, they've been misunderstood to the extent that no one bothered to discuss it with them in an intelligent manner, but instead decided to judge them right then and there for a belief they are choosing. At what point did being a Christian mean that we have to turn our backs on the ones we love, or hold them in a lower regard than we hold ourselves because they don't believe exactly what we do?

I hope to be a mother some day. And if my child chooses to believe in something I don't, I'm not going to be a mom who is sad because of the choice they have made. If my child is living a good life, a life worth respecting and admiring, then who am I to turn my back on them and look down my nose at them? I mean, when did being a Christian mean that you're automatically better than someone else simply because you can call yourself a Christian?

I think as a spiritual community, we have a lot to learn. I think the younger generations understand it a lot better than the older generations and unfortunately the older generations are turning the younger generations away from organized religion. To me, being a Christian, and having faith in God does not make me a judgmental person, nor does it give me the right to judge someone else because of their beliefs.

In the end, what does it matter to you or to me if someone we love doesn't believe exactly what we do? We are not attracted to people because of their religion. We're attracted to them because of their personality and the life they lead. And for my friends, the life they lead is one to be respected and admired because they do more good will in this world than a lot of the religious people that I know. My life is made better by having these particular friends in my life and I would do anything for them.

Imagine how amazing the world would be if we all quit judging and just lived our lives respecting mankind and those around us?

I put the dove as my picture of this blog because it reminds me to be at peace with the world. There is no reason for me to judge anyone else and I hope that I am not judged by my beliefs alone, because what a sad world that would be.

2009 - Recap

My friend Janet inspired me to recap 2009. Unfortunately for me, her 2009 was a lot more adventurous than my 2009. But we'll go with it.

- Celebrated my one year anniversary with the hubs. It was fun and we went to Boston to celebrate!
-We of course enjoyed our annual trip down to the river. It was fun this year even though the months after that were hard. Our poor dog Abby passed shortly after we returned from the river, and my grandpa passed the next month. Never the last, the river trip has been there for me through thick and thin and I am glad to always find time to make it down the river with some amazing friends and family.

- I watched both my nephews grow and turn 1 year old!
Carson - July

Keegan - October

- I got to meet a totally cool kid from Germany who stayed with my friends Janet and Jeremiah as a foreign exchange student.
- my best friend got engaged to another dear friend of mine.
- And as each year passes, we got to go to more and more sporting events with friends and people we love! We even got to go to the Cowboys game on Thanksgiving!!! It was AWESOME!

I like that I don't ever know which direction my life is going to go. I like not knowing what's around the corner and living each day for today, not focused on tomorrow.

Here's to a 2010 that is full of learning experiences, and more fantastic memories with the ones I love!

Cheers!

"Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential and fight for your dreams."
Ashley Smith

Really Celebs, Really?!??!! Warning: this is mostly complaints

So I was driving to work yesterday and listening to the Billy Madison show on the Edge. It was a typical morning and nothing too exciting was happening.

However, they mentioned that a bunch of celebs got together with Simon Cowell and created a re-mix of Everybody Hurts by REM. Now, my first thought is "really, why would you remake such a great song?" And my second thought was "are you freaking kidding me? When was the last time you guys hurt?"

Apparently they recorded the song for charity to send money to Haiti. That kind of made it an even bigger slap in the face to me. I mean, you're going to sing about hurting from your million dollar studio while people have literally lost everything, including their families, and think that somehow you can relate?

Needless to say, it pissed me off. It pissed me off for more than one reason. 1) let's not pretend like these celebrities have any idea what the people of Haiti are going through. 2) instead of gathering for a song, why don't you fly your butts down to Haiti and give help where it's really needed? In HAITI. 3) why don't they ever do this kind of thing to raise money for the people of the United States? I'm not about to spit statistics because I honestly don't know any off the top of my head, but why aren't we raising money for our homeless shelters or for battered and abused women and men? Why is it that celebs are so quick to jump on the third-world country band wagon but aren't as quick to help in their own neighborhoods?

I think that before we consider purchasing these songs for "charity" we should take a look at what else the celebs have committed to doing. I mean, was it really all that of an inconvenience to get them together? Probably not. They probably live within a 10 mile radius of each other. But would it put them out to travel to Haiti? Of course it would. And that's probably why they haven't done it yet.

Maybe I'm being too harsh. I certainly haven't booked my flight to Haiti, but at the same time, I don't exactly lead the life of leisure that they lead. I can't spend $100,000 to get a private jet to take me there and back and I certainly can't afford to take 2 weeks off from work to give my time. But I can help. And I have. I probably won't buy this song to help, but there are a dozen other organizations who haven't produced songs with a dozen big time celebs that could use your money just as much as iTunes. Can you imagine if everyone just gave $1 to American Red Cross or Unicef? What a difference that would make, huh?

"To give without any reward, or any notice, has a special quality of its own"
Anne Morrow Lindbergh