Comments on: Episode 2: Forgiving Your Religious Upbringing

By: HoCo

HoCo — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 19:45:08 +0000

I’ve only listened through once, and while I would prefer to go through again to see if there’s anything I missed, I have an…issue. Who are you to apologize for any shortcomings, negativity or painful experiences that are rooted in my religious upbringing. You are not the pastor, priest or rabbi responsible for the teachings and presentation. You are not the teacher or administrator responsible for the setting and manner in which it was taught. I’m not saying I don’t get the point of what it is you’re trying to say, id; however I think that people who were truly harmed by their faith in their early years will find the presentation rings a bit hollow.

Even more so because little if any of this has changed, and many would argue (myself included) that a number of the issues have only worsened in the last generation. There’s greater intolerance now for those with different religious views. Misogyny still exists and is promoted in a number of faiths. This makes the apology seem less relevant. You are not the perpetrator and we can only hope that you, in this undertaking, and others like you can truly bring about an upgrade to religion, a modern understanding of it, its place and what it can mean to each of us.

As for me, I need no apology for my early religious teachings. I would say the worst part of my experience is that was wholly uninspiring, not truly educational at all and ended the day of my Bar Mitzvah. I read from the Torah and I read my prayers and Haftorah in Hebrew without phonetics. But if asked what I was saying, I would not have known. Both linguistically and spiritually, I could not have told you. Because I didn’t actually learn Hebrew, never understood the literal translations of the words I read, and as such could not have begun to discuss them spiritually. And then it was done, the day over, and I felt no need to continue with anything religious.

Keep up the good work, issues aside, I enjoyed both episodes, and religion and my own view of it has been on my mind lately, so I hope to see more. Recipes for soup and pie (cake is a lie) would be good too.

By: zabrina liang

zabrina liang — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 04:49:40 +0000

Brilliant!! Can I start worshiping you now, please? that would fill the void and uneasiness I have with not going to church!:)

Are you starting a church or becoming a pastor or something? this is so interesting! I love it! My old pastor would find this fascinating and probably use some in his sermon if he heard this! Could I forward this to him? anyway, keep it rockin’

By: Louise

Louise — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 19:22:52 +0000

Brilliant! Thank you for the re-opening to the wisdom of the Wisdom Traditions.

By: Mark

Mark — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 22:28:03 +0000

Another thing I wanted to share with the thoughtful folks that hang around here. For a long time in my earlier years, I practiced a couple different Christian religions. First Episcopalian and the Catholicism (though this one was forced upon me, rather than a choice I made personally). After being forced into the Catholic religion, when I was older and out on my own I chose to become an atheist. Since then, I’ve decided I don’t know what to believe and am exploring the possibilities. But I can still identify with the following quote and think it has some bearing on what this site is all about:

“I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other gods you will understand why I dismiss yours.” - Stephen F. Roberts