NdukuOutLoud

I’ve been seeing a lot- too many, really- posts about the Bible, religion, and everything that’s wrong with it.( I know, recent searches, algorithms and all that) More specifically, Christianity. It’s what I have been, what I am, and more recently, what I’m questioning.

Most of what I believe, I was taught. Or maybe forced down on me. Didn’t get to ask questions, think things through, or make my own decisions. And yes, I take some blame. I could have, but I didn’t.

What I notice now is that most of the critiques I hear don’t just tear one thing down; they lift another up. It feels like swapping one cup for another. Sure, it might look like a better cup- for whoever’s holding it, or selling it- but at the end of the day, it’s still a cup. And from this side of the screen, it’s hard to tell the difference.

And in all this, I’ve realized: most of what my family and I have lived is indoctrination. It hasn’t been about Jesus or his teachings. Many of which are genuinely good if we strip away the judgement and superiority- but about what a particular church wants us to believe, and how that benefits them.

So now, as I listen to different voices, I wonder : am I just trading one indoctrination for another?

Have I decided? No.

But I am learning that maybe we don’t need all that. Maybe we don’t have to believe in just one thing, or one way of doing things. Because maybe we don’t really know. We’re all just figuring it out.

And what matters most might be this: acknowledging that we’re all part of a vast, intelligent universe. That no one is better than another. That once we see and love one another as we love ourselves, maybe-just maybe- the world will be a better place.