Religion, God & Me | ZACH AFTER DARK Ep. 5
Added 2023-12-05 03:08:46 +0000 UTC
Comments
I grew up Catholic (pre-k, elementary school, and up all the way through high school) but in college I made the same realizations as you, Zach. Where we differ is that I don't feel like I have a spiritual connection to the divine or necessarily believe there currently is a God, but I don't have any issue with anyone who does. The only downside with not having religion is that it can feel like you're not living for an afterlife. On the one hand, you're not living for there to be some reward after you die and you might not see all those you cared about who died before you. On the other hand, it makes it all the more important to live for now and try to make the world a better place for others. I was listening to the "Demystifying Gay Porn" podcast a few months back, and there was a porn star (I'll have to look up who it was) who was saying that he wants his kids to believe in religion even if it's completely made up and fake so that they have something to believe in that motivates them and gives them certainty in life because life is otherwise uncertain. I don't believe that's the right way to go about life because so many bad things in history were done in the name of blind faith (e.g., the nazis, the Spanish Inquisition, the KKK, etc.).
Guy Elsmore-Paddock
2024-01-09 02:54:25 +0000 UTCI have religious based pure OCD, I know it’s tough 💙
Dev
2023-12-27 03:23:44 +0000 UTCWhat I love about humans is how there are so many layers to people. It’s fascinating to hear about your life as you peel back the layers of yourself and truly share from your heart. I don’t mind when you stray from notes because that demonstrates how passionate you are about what you’re discussing. I grew up in a charismatic home religion where we held services in various peoples houses and went to a private Christian school. Like you said the other sins were not labeled as much as homosexuality. I too had the same brainwashing effect in which mentally I was attracted to men since I was 9, but always thought of homosexuality as wrong and if I gave in I was going to hell. God could love me, but not if I was a homosexual. It was so bad in college I had a best friend who I hung out with all the time and again during this time in my life I would fantasize about men, but never acted upon my feelings. I found out my accident that my best friend was gay. When I asked him about it our relationship changed for ever. In my mind I condemned him while still fantasizing about men. That’s what organized religion did to me. I ended up getting married. Having 3 children. Got divorced. Went thru therapy to try to pray away the gay. Finally I accepted who I was. By that time I was in my 40s. Messed up my children’s life with an ugly divorce and damaging my relationship with friends and family. It took 20 years to recover. Today I’m married to a man for the last 10 years. Two of my sons have reconciled with me and they accept my husband. The middle son was severely damaged from the effects from the divorce and won’t speak to me nor allow me to see my granddaughter. But I focus on the relationships I do have. I don’t believe in God. I do think there may be something larger than me out there. Not like directing or rewarding punishing people but maybe holding things together. I have more hope in my friends who love me unconditionally than some spirit in the sky. Thanks again for sharing a piece of your heart.
REW
2023-12-17 23:10:40 +0000 UTCLifelong Catholic who went to K-12 Catholic school and believes in God without a doubt. While in school I knew some great priests and wonderful nuns. I'm a closeted 60 year old and still very active in my church, school and community. I pray every day. I don't remember ever hearing about homosexuality in church or school. I learned more about love, compassion and service than fearing God and punishment. There are a number of "out" grads of my school and some are very well liked and none are reviled because they're gay. And I have no doubt there are many closeted grads of my school too. A few years ago a well liked gay couple in town, both grads of my Catholic school, got married and later wanted to have a small reception. They called the Knights of Columbus Hall to ask about renting. The guy who answered said he didn't know if they could have it there and would have to ask. They posted that on Facebook and people went nuts. Catholics in this conservative community couldn't believe the K of C would deny them rental for a wedding reception. They had their reception at the K of C. I was a bit surprised. I'm also a fan of Pope Francis.
Bobby
2023-12-06 03:33:22 +0000 UTCWhen the try to make religion a man’s thing. We will suffer. Jesus is real he doesn’t make junk! You and Alastair are who you are and so they well have to understand Jesus comes for everyone not just the people who are trying to do something! Jesus loves us all ! No matter if you Gay or Not!
Ric
2023-12-06 01:31:49 +0000 UTCWell first, Zach, if 3 is an unlucky number then that would explain much of 2023 for me. This has probably been the hardest year of my life so far. I’m not that into New Year’s resolutions but all I want at this point is for 2024 to be better. As for my religious stance, I was brought up Catholic. We were never seriously into it but we went to church fairly often until I was in middle school. I have some of that “Catholic Guilt” you mentioned in other videos. I’m trying to get over that because more anxiety is the last thing anyone needs. I still pray from time to time, have a cross hanging up in my room, and I could really use a trip to my local church during non-service hours. I have my own relationship with god that isn’t dependent on the Bible.
L OL
2023-12-06 01:27:51 +0000 UTCMy sister believes she has gifts from god and sees visions in her dreams. She thinks she can interpret dreams. I once told her a dream that I never actually had and she was able to interpret that too. 🧐 I think it’s all made up just like Thor, Odin, and the Egyptian gods.
Billy Ransier
2023-12-06 00:03:00 +0000 UTCI think the suggestion that without belief in God the world would descend into chaos is a false choice which serves those that believe in God. I think lacking a belief in God there is still a tendency in most people towards morality, empathy and community values. Most people, particularly the ones who are not psychotic or sociopaths, organize themselves in society and are kind and considerate. I expect there is a middle ground between God and chaos that most people could find themselves in. Belief in God, in my opinion, is a way of managing or avoiding confronting fears about how life may be meaningless or without purpose fundamentally. It's harder finding your own meaning and purpose in life and scary to think your life is a brief flash of consciousness and nothing before or after. Buddhism deals with these ideas directly (see the Four Noble Truths) and it deeply resonates with me. But just as I don't want other people to tell me what to believe, I don't go around telling other people about my beliefs. Since we're on the topic I'm mentioning it now but it makes me uncomfortable since Buddhism, for me, doesn't offer any answers... Instead it makes clear what kind of questions (like what came before and what happens after we die) aren't important *because* they're unanswerable. The Eastern ideas of "neither" and "nor" are difficult to translate to Western perspectives that reality is "this" or "that"
Ryan Barry
2023-12-05 18:37:17 +0000 UTCMy parents made the conscious decision in the 1970s to not baptize me into a religion - they were freeing themselves of their parents' generational beliefs. That said, my paternal grandmother (Granny) was the OG Church Lady involved in women's committees and cemetary administration, after church coffees etc. I liked going with her early to help setup beforehand and tidy afterwards. I'd get a Vicks "cough candy" at the beginning of the service which Granny always kept stocked in her purse. This was the United Church which is associated with the Anglicans and sermons were always moralistic and welcoming and warm. The other church ladies liked to see me since there weren't many other children attending. The church we went to is now a museum and the structure is about 100 years old. It had a familiar, old building smell. Great Aunt Adelaide played the organ and was a character. She drove a black Barracuda everywhere and was instantly recognizable for it in this rural community. Overall it was a very pleasant experience growing up. I don't recall much guilt or bible reading - the denomination is very progressive today - so I count myself fortunate. I don't recall being helped too much by it but I enjoyed the seasonality and the Sunday activity and the community. Little did anyone know I was a budding scientist and knew that my real church - science - didn't need God to explain how things were. I was in the closet as much about being gay as I was in my scientific beliefs!
Ryan Barry
2023-12-05 18:16:36 +0000 UTCYeah I've got those grease spots on many of my t-shirts too, but I have to admit its on account of some delicious sauce, cheese, or drop of melted butter that landed there while eating in front of the tv ;-)
Ryan Barry
2023-12-05 17:59:59 +0000 UTC
