Monday, 21 August 2006

• Are Sex Dolls Imaginging Inflatable Men?: The Meaning of Being Meaningless

  I very rarely expound on religion and there is a reason for that.  Oftentimes, those who profess to not have or believe in a religion are either labeled as 1) social deviants 2) devil worshipers 3) needing to be Saved. 
  
  However, I'll assure you that I am none of those.  I also can say that I do have spiritual beliefs and ideas about "a higher power".  I do not adhere to any certain church or religion, and I do my best to not classify myself.  I will refrain from mentioning much less labeling myself by any buzzword used to distinguish people with mind sets similar to mine.
  
  Sometimes I wish I had religion.  I think it's easier.  Having a book or collection thereof that you can look to for guidance and for unquestionable rules and guidelines would be nice.  I could read those books too if I wanted, but I'd question them. 
  
  I'm not one of those jaded wannabe intellectuals who looks down on people who go to church or dare believe in gods and saviors and the like, and writes them off as oafs or sheep.  If life is about experiencing things and feeling fulfillment, then following a religion is a great way to go about.  Be good to everyone and don't break any of the rules, and hey, no matter if you're rich or poor in real life, you're guaranteed to live in happiness and paradise in the afterlife.  You might not even have to be good, just accept Jesus as your savior and you're in.  Not a bad deal really.
  
  Sorry, I am not very educated on the afterlives of some other religions.  I think Muslim might be kill a lot of people in a suicide and then you'll live a good afterlife. 
  
  But that's beside the point.  The point is, follow these rules, and you'll end up all good.
  
  I'm often the first to say that I think that when we die, we rot in the ground.  No souls, no reincarnation, no paradise, no hell, nothing.  Yes, it's really a morbid though.  Somehow, it has worked for me though. 
  
  People might ask, "So why even bother trying to succeed or doing anything if you'll just be a pile of bones?  Also, why not going around killing people if you don't care about divine retribution?"
  
  First, I must insert here that I think this is where religion is very good in our society.  Religion engrained in an early age teaches cause and effect.  If you're bad, you'll go a pit of fire and evil and suffer for eternity.  That can be pretty scary to a kid.  Thus, the kid grows up and always pretty much feels that he should be good and maybe he'll go to the afterlife.  Some people might here this as a kid, but due to some other circumstances, the only thing that stops them from being bad is the laws and police.  Hey, both ways make for a pretty good law abiding society.
  
  Religion gives people hope.  Keep trying and God will help you one day.  Or keep praying and being good and things will work out.  But hey, even if they won't work out and your cancer spreads to your brain, at least you'll go to Heaven.  That's hope and that's positive.  And these people believe their respective religions to be the be-all end-all fact.  To the outsider, religion might seem like a sex doll.  "Hey, I don't believe in his religion, but seems to help him feel better." "Hey, I don't have a sex doll, but his seems to help him feel better." So, who am I to judge on people with religion or people with sex dolls?  Let me clarify, I am not comparing religion to a sex doll.  Religion being a sex doll is the worst case scenario of religion.  It could all come true and you're in for some pretty good divine help and a kickass afterlife, but at the very least, it can be a sex doll.  And that's not half bad.
  
  Anyway, enough sex dolls. Back to a previous point, Why would someone with no belief in a soul or afterlife bother being good?  Everything you do will be meaningless.
  
  Thus comes The Meaning of Being Meaningless.
  
  I insert, "The Why Not Postulate".  Why not be good?  If I think it's all meaningless, we can at least make the most of it.  I don't kill people, not because I fear divine retribution or even the cops, but I just don't think it's right.  It wouldn't make sense for us to go around killing people and stealing because then everyone would be dead or have all their shit stolen.  And I wouldn't wanna live out my days with all my DVD's missing. 
  
  "So, when you get depressed, why not just kill yourself?"  Yes, you are not allowed into heaven if you kill yourself supposedly, so you'd better not.  How do I justify not killing myself?  Somehow or another I'm alive.  It might not be long, it might be not great, but it is life.  And something's better than nothing.  Why not try to live as long as I can with as much happiness as I can? 
  
  I must also mention, certain bad things make me feel bad inside.  Like, if I were to murder an innocent man.  I'd feel bad and sick and a whole range of emotions drenched with disgust, regret, and depression.  But it wouldn't be from fear of afterlife retribution.  It's just from something engrained.  Some might argue that this engrained feeling is a conscience bestowed by God.  Hey, that might be the case.  I choose to believe that it is a result of evolution.  As we've evolved, we learned that killing each other does not make towards a society and is not beneficial in reaching the ultimate goal of evolution - survival.  So eventually, these various emotions and reactions evolved into our minds and makeup to aid in self preservation. 
  
  But that's neither here nor there.  Basically, I try to do good, and achieve some things, and keep within the expectations of society, and keep alive because... why not? It's life.  It's your life.  Why not make the best of it?
  
  Again, I have nothing against religion.  Except for those crazy religions that encourage killing and suicide bombings and unfair treatment of women - but that's a story left for another time. 
  
  You never know, I could change my tune about death.  I might grow to believe in some sort of afterlife, or at least a soul that wanders the world and sneaks into girls lockerrooms. However, I think that researching more into this sort of spirituality usually occurs when one becomes older and comes closer to facing their one mortality.
  
  Then maybe I could get into religion.  I love thinking about time travel, and cool magic type stuff, and people with special powers - but in my heart of hearts I'd never embrace it to be true.  I think that is sort of the way that right now, even if my surrounded myself with religions and all the scripture and stories - I couldn't embrace it. 
  
  But you never know.  I'm still a growing changing mind. I might have a different opinion tomorrow. At least I can always become one of those death bed converts.  So close to the end, you might as well profess your beliefs and try to earn some favor with God, Jesus,  A-La, and L. Ron Hubbard just in case.
  
  Not that there's anything wrong with that.
  
  Please don't process this as a basis for a debate.  I'll be the first one to admit that I don't know shit. 
  
  Just take it as a biopsy of my opinion on one matter at one point in my life's maturation that I wanted to put into words and hold forever maybe to be looked back on later in this virtual time capsule that is my xanga.
  
  Anyway, that's a good bit of words and sentences for you to skip past and ignore, or stew over and read again and again.  I, for one, get to head back to Pasadena (Texas, not the good one) for a glorious three day stay sans internet at the Lice Are The Least Of Your Worries Motel.
  
  

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