Last but not least (a post-post script)

After this post, I'm going to back off from including anything religious in my blog for a while.

I'm also making this a post as opposed to a comment mainly because blogger (unless I missed this feature) does not notify users of new comments and/or comments to comments. Which is fine...it motivates me to keep posting when I have poster's block, and it's much less annoying than all the notifications that clutter other sites like Myspace. There are also no private messages here, which necessitates either public posts or giving out email addresses in public posts.

Anyway, I'm still debating everything I was brooding over in the previous posts. Here are my (mostly non-) conclusions so far.

I'm not going to block/delete anybody. For one, I'd look like a pouty immature jerk for deleting friends that I added (and added on the basis of their coolness, to boot). Ditto for deleting people just for disagreeing with me (there's undoubtedly a technical name for such behavior, but my flu-addled brain is not letting me remember it right now).

I'm also not sure whether I'm even going to touch religion in future posts. I probably will, and it most likely will not be in a Christian/organized religion-friendly way. It won't be in a Christian/religion-bashing way, unless agnosticism and criticism count as bashing. Thus, I will leave it up to my Christian/religious readers whether or not they would like to continue reading my heathen posts.

If so, I must establish a few rules and things to keep in mind for responding to said posts:

-- No more trying to help me. Seriously. I don't want that kind of "help." My suggestion: save it for others who reach out to you specifically for guidance. It's a waste of time, energy, and good intention to try to help people who don't want that sort of help. Both sides will end up frustrated and nothing will be accomplished. If your conscience mandates that you try to convert me and you can't help trying to do so, move along to a more promising opportunity. In my experience, people learn more by making their own mistakes. And if they don't learn from those, they're not going to learn from what other people tell them.

-- Saying things like "I know that God..." and "the fact is..." are not going to have any effect on me other than to cause me to roll my eyes, smile, and shake my head. Technically, none of this stuff is knowable or provable. That's why it's called faith. Frankly, I find such proclamations arrogant, ignorant, and presumptuous. However, if you substitute "I believe" for "I know" and"it's possible/likely that" for "the fact is," I may be willing to entertain a conversation because I know that I'm talking to someone with a realistic and open-minded attitude (the kind of attitude that I strive to maintain). Anyone who wishes to put blind trust in books and authority figures is more than welcome to do so, but I will not join you in it. So again, deal with my agnosticism or move along.

-- The above two points are pretty wide-ranging and you can probably deduce from them what is and is not going to fly here in my blog. I've probably made points that I don't have to make, since my readers are intelligent and thoughtful, but I'm the kind of person who wants to make sure I've covered all I need to cover even if it means restating the obvious.

With all that being said, I'll leave it up to my individual readers as to whether they want to stick around and keep reading. If it would help, I can put a "warning: controversial religious post!" disclaimer at the beginnings of such entries so that the non-like minded can skip to something else (assuming I update on a regular basis, lol).

It does bug me slightly to know that I have readers who think I'm "doomed" or whatever, even if I discourage them from saying so, but I'm a grownup and I have to accept it. I realize that, as an agnostic, I'm in the minority of people. I can't expect everybody I encounter to embrace that, and really do I applaud people of different views for taking an interest and taking the time to read my entries. I think I can manage to agree to disagree as long as others can do the same.

One last point, since I'm sure I've long since passed the point of redundancy. I highly encourage anyone with concerns, questions, or curiosity regarding the occult (a word with a much broader and less diabolical definition that many people realize) to check out this forum: Occult Corpus.

Moreover, I encourage you to join the forum and participate in the discussions. State concerns. Ask questions. Read and learn about what other people believe and practice, and why they do so. There are many Christian members, and there is a section devoted specifically to Christianity and other monotheistic faiths. In many ways, it's as much a comparative religion forum as it is an occult-related site. Yes, there are also sections for polytheism, magick, and darker paths, but only because the forum is all-inclusive. There is no one path/practice being advocated above others. It's an excellent meeting place for people from all belief systems. I'm not saying this to try to recruit forum members or push the idea too far. It's just that any questions you could have for me would be better answered by reading (and participating in) discussions on the forum.

Okay? Good. I feel much better having established my position. Now, I say we get back to our regularly scheduled blogging. :)