I’m very NOT interested in religion, just the constant pursuit of that which is right, fair and kind to everyone (in deed that is, nasty thoughts about people at the grocery store are in no way against my secular morals)
So I wonder if religious people ever second-guess their allegiance with man-made institutions like governments, the medical establishment, clubs and other causes.
Is there a religion that doesn’t allow people to join clubs? I mean, it would be a good idea. It sounds biblical when you say
“Thou shalt not profess allegiance to any man or group of men.”
The anarchist in me sympathizes with the counter-culture writings of biblical times that make up the Bible, but the cynic in me disdains the editors and publishers who used the writing to create a different message. Or perhaps that’s the writer in me. I bet that line was in there before it was edited.
Either way, how can a religious person not trust that their bodies are made perfect, a complete representation of that which God intended them to be.
How can a religious person get a flu shot? I’m not judging here, I’m just wondering.
I don’t want either, but it seems to me that behind each phenomena (medical science and religion) are two opposing ideas. One says “Only God can save” and the other says “we will save you.”
There’s really nothing to be saved from. Life is good.
I am loving reading your blog! I happened upon it by accident. so many of these same questions I have asked myself. Good to know I am not the only one who wonders about these things.
I stumbled upon your blog while looking up information on how long to keep a child home when they have the flu. Coincidentally, I’m also both an atheist and a homeschooling parent.
Despite that, I don’t find it ironic that religious people get the flu shot. I also happen to have spent many years living as an orthodox Jew, so I have some insight into the religious mind.
There is an old story that both Jews and Christians (and perhaps others) say is there own. I don’t remember the details, but here is the gist of it. In a dream, God tells a man, let’s call him Joe, that there is going to be a flood, but that he (God) will save him and his family. So the flood comes, along with an government evacuation, but Joe & his family wait it out, because God’s going to save them. The flood gets higher and comes into their house, so they decide to wait on the roof. Someone comes by with a row boat and offers to save them, but Joe says “no, God will save us.” A rescue helicopter comes along and Joe waves it away, shouting “No thank you! God is going to save us!” In the end, Joe and his family die. When they get to heaven, Joe says to God, “you were supposed to save us! What happened?!” God answers — “what did you think the evacuation, the rowboat, and the helicopter were for? I was trying to save you!”
Obviously that’s not biblical, so it’s not justification for them, but it illustrates a sentiment, otherwise known as “God helps those who help themselves.”
And for what it’s worth, many highly religious people do question question government. Many Mennonites, for example, are so against mixing church and state that they even frown on even voting; amd Christian Scientists would avoid the flu shot because they avoid all medicine.
That’s right, I’ve heard that story, too. They could use that story in defense of natural medicine, too.
This brings to mind a Christian homeschooler in my area standing with her little girl explaining that she went ahead and got the flu shot…but now that she thinks of it, she didn’t really need to…she says “she’s got the blood of Christ all over her”….
Just leaves me speachless. Where to begin!?!
Thank you for your blog. As a homeschooler in a small Texas town, you can imagine the secular world is a lonely one.
Good for goodness sake! Love!
Oh man- that whole “blood of christ” thing creeps me out. A little while back, there were TWO country music songs on the charts with the term “washed in the blood” in the lyrics. How does that not sound completely horrific? A bloodbath is NOT a good thing, people. It’s completely disgusting. They’re absolute savages, it’s just disgusting, isn’t it?
We go to Texas every September, we’ll shout out from the highway!