I recently had some parts of our house painted. The painter is someone we have known for some time, a lovely guy, dedicated and professional. I would love to be painting the house myself, but with kids and work, there is no time and what time we do have we like to spend together (just getting past the DYI do - gooders guilt trip out there). Our painter is Greek and usually fills our home with his smile and aura of positivity and can do attitude. His stories of being a fisherman and having the first GPS as well as helping those less unfortunate in his village in Greece paints the picture (excuse the pun) of the breaded Greek fisherman turned painter....it did for me anyway. We always have a laugh about our children's exploits and examine business together when he is here (he is an avid share trader in his spare time). All in all a nice person who always seems to be happy with life.
....and then BANG!!!
On a random trip back home to (I can't even remember why I came home), I casually went into the bathroom, where our painter was painting, to ask how he was going and was confronted with......WE ARE ALL DOOMED. A barrage of how our society has created a conformity society and that the world as we know it is about to collapse in on itself. All of our children are being brainwashed into money hungry zombies, our lives are meaningless and there is no hope for anyone in this world. This wasn't said to me in a depressing helpless sort of way, but in a speech that had finality in it that meant there was no comment allowed. Being a glass half full sort of person, I tried to put my point across that it wasn't that bad, we had a choice on things and change is constant......wrong thing to say! I was then provided with a lecture on how the world was like this when Noah built his ark and the rest of the world was destroyed (oh oh, warning signs appearing) and that scientists have proved that before the ark the world had more technology than we have now (is there a way to slowly back out of this conversation....no) and that they have found the ark and that documentaries has shown laminated wood panels were used in the times of Noah (mind is starting to shrink....help) and that man needs to embrace church again......anyway, it turned into a preaching sermon about Noah, church, signs, doom and gloom and the end of times. Not quite what I expected when I walked into the bathroom.
Now, I have been listening to Richard Dawkins of late (an audio book titled the Greatest Show on Earth) about evolution verses creationism. The above sermon did not go down well in my thought process and it even seemed to vindicate the conclusions of Richard Dawkins of the closed minds of those that take the bible at its written world (the scary thing for me is that a huge influential proportion of the most powerful (although becoming less so over the years) country in the world feel the same). Don't get me wrong, when I am asked what do I believe, my standard answer is "I believe that other people believe what they believe". You cannot deny the strength of belief and conviction. My problem is that when religion or the beliefs of others are forced upon you without any room for discussion or debate. If you believe and are happy to live with that belief without forcing yourself on others, then in the spirit of peace and harmony that is fantastic. Same as sexual preferences or food preferences. Using your beliefs to foster doom and gloom is not ok with me, in fact in my interpretation it is the opposite of what the scriptures were designed to achieve (although I have not read them.....).
I had conversation with a good friend of mine many years ago (granted that the conversation was enhanced by additives) that encompassed the entire world and it's history. Over a period of around three hours we discussed the modern world with wars, medicine, space travel etc and went backwards through dark ages, language, animal, plants volcanoes, pyramids, religion, earthquakes, moons, Saturn, galaxies and universes, black holes and dark matter and atoms and DNA ..... pretty much everything as we know it to be. Up until the point of the start of the universe. At that point the conversation ended and exhausted I collapsed into a sleepless and restless existence for the next four days. I was seriously heading towards the padded room. Until I found the answer for me that satisfies me completely.
I hope you find your answer and that you are able to view the world positively.
