Hey, this is Beymer. Yes, I wrote in the first article that this series was not about composing a religion. Well, I changed my mind and in this article, I will do just that.
Yes, there are many, many religions out there and if you are in the market for one, you would think one of them would fit nicely with your lifestyle. Suppose you can’t find a religion that fits your lifestyle. Say you’re a heavy-duty outlier with regards to the population of humans: Say you’re Tri-Sexual or maybe a Non-Tertiary: Say you hate people and especially the SOFS: Say you hate religious rituals and icons. Ok, then you should either just forget about religion, or make up your own religion!
So, depending on the degree of mismatch between your lifestyle and existing religions, here are your options:
Take an existing religion and modify slightly to suit your lifestyle.
Do the Bruce Lee Thing
Abstinence … rid yourself of all thoughts, beliefs, or faith in anything not of this world. Live life in the pursuit of happiness.
Consider the first approach first. I think this what most modern-day followers of religions have done. Rather than coming from no religion, most of these people have from childhood grown up with a particular religion. Being of average intelligence or above, they see the flaws and contradictions of their religion and live their life following what makes sense and ignoring what doesn’t in the teachings of their holy book and the SOFS. In essence, they “cherry pick” what works for them. These followers would never drink “Kool-Aide”, nor would they ever be sucked into a Cult. They are common-sense, rational people who participate in the social activities and help those in need. The silly stuff they fake or avoid. They enjoy their life and overlook any conflicts between the religion and their lifestyle, not seeking any conflicts with the SOFS.
What if the existing religions are just too repulsive to you. Well, you could choose Option 3. However, maybe you need some code of rules to guide you, or you need some structure. Well, then Option 2 is your best bet. The first thing you should do is create a foundation by searching for agreeable concepts from the known religions. Pat them, prick them, and mark them with a R: Put them in the oven for family and you! I call this the Bruce Lee approach. I’m not a fan, but I must admit he was a better actor than his predecessors in the Kung Fuey movies. Because he couldn’t continue his training with his previous Sifu’s for various reasons, his only option was to study other styles and quilt them into his own style of martial art. This approach was his only option.
Option 3 may be the answer for some. It is the lonely approach to religion, even more so than Option 2. I think this is the most honest approach for the truly rational person. If you feel uncomfortable believing concepts based on fear of the unknown and of your own mortality: If you feel silly while attending a religious meeting: If you tire quickly of the SOFS making claims based entirely on belief and faith: If your intelligence is insulted by exposing yourself to the SOFS and their sheep, then this is probably your best option.
One more thing before closing this article and that is religious labels. Many labels exist to describe a person’s religion. I guess this innate need of humans to classify things is what has resulted in our evolving from cave dwellers to high-rise apartment dwellers. In particular, I’m referring to the labels Christian, Muslim, Jew, Theist, Atheist, Agnostic, and Fundamentalist. Of course, there are many subdivisions of these religions and some overlap between the labels. The label I haven’t seen yet is one that describes a person who advocates no interest in religion, expressing no belief nor disbelief in any religion. He or she just lives life devoid of any of the complications or conflicts associated with a religion. Such people just don’t care if any of the religions or their Gods happen to be true, they have accepted responsibility for their lifestyle even if this means going to a bad place in the afterlife. Such people believe family, friends and the pursuit of happiness is all that matters during this very short journey called life. This is the type of person best suited for Option 3. None of the mentioned labels includes this approach to religion. They are not Atheist: They just don’t care if there is one or more Gods. They are not Agnostics: Even if God himself paid a visit for all to see, such people would just go on with their lifestyle … they don’t care. They obviously are not Christians, Muslims, Jews, or Theists! Since everything must have a label, I hereby label such an individual as a NOR, an acronym for “No Religion” or for “Neither Atheist, NOR Agnostic, NOR any Religion”. For the truly rational person, for the common-sense person, for the person who has their feet firmly on the ground, for the person who has accepted their mortality and limited time to exist in human or any other form, the NOR lifestyle is a perfect fit.