Religion, atheism, agnosticism, ism ism ism

Where do I start on this one? The most common response to a religious discussion is probably 'don't start!' and quite understandably so considering all the bad press it gets. I'm going to have a go anyway, lets hope it makes sense on screen because in my head it's still a bit of a jumble sale so this could take time. Apologies if I ramble. :)

For a few years now I've considered myself atheist. Turns out I'm not atheist, I'm more agnostic...I think. I don't believe in a god as such but I do believe in existence beyond death and I'm really interested in mediums and clairvoyants who claim to be able to contact this spiritual 'other side'. A few things I've been told by these people has rung true and they seem to know things about random people that they couldn't possibly know. It interests me. Does this make me a spiritualist or just a mixed up, gullible weirdo? Granted I can be quite gullible at times but label me how you like, I'm still figuring it out. :)

I've been following some of the atheist accounts on Twitter lately and while intelligent and sometimes very witty I do feel they often bully and victimise some of the more religious Twitter users, generally the Christian lot. They'd probably say they deserve the abuse for trying to indoctrinate people but isn't that what they're also trying to do? If its not physically hurting anyone then whats the problem? If I don't like what I read on Twitter I just block the account so I don't have to see it. Isn't that what many kids are told in school about people who annoy them? Ignore them and they'll get bored and go away. To be honest all the arguing back & forth between the theists and atheists has bored me and made me question a few things.

I've never been a fan of religion but as I've got older I've started to come around to the idiom of 'live & let live'. Life is too short to stay angry all the time and as long as they don't come banging on my door like your average annoying Jovie then they can do what they like provided they're not hurting anyone. The majority of religions that I know of seem to be very much 'we're here if you need us' and that's fine by me. I may go for a wander around out of curiosity from time to time but I don't believe for second that I'll somehow be instantly brainwashed or psychologically seized by some unseen deity the moment I step through the door of the church, mosque or wherever. 

I've seen plenty of churches in my short time and they never cease to impress me but only from an architectural and historical perspective. I love the history, the work, attention to detail and often the sheer size of the buildings simply astound me. Luckily I'm level headed enough to realise that no matter how impressive the artwork, the structure and the scale of everything that it was still built by men, not gods, and I'm not about the fall to my knees, shout hallelujah and claim to have received my 'calling'. Its just a big beautiful building, calm down. ;) I'm rambling now. Slight change of subject.

Being born a CofE Christian, christened and sent to a CofE primary school we had a lot of bible stuff chucked our way. Assembly most mornings involved a bible song, a speech by the head teacher Mr Crookes and often an Old Testament bible story such as Joseph & his Dreamcoat, Samson & Delilah, The Good Samaritan or David & Goliath. Mr Crookes always made them so interesting and often used to pull kids out of his audience to act as characters in the story while he told it. He was a great teacher, very strict when he had to be and a lovely guy. :) 

The school worked very closely with the local church, St James's at Norton, and we were all well known to the vicar Mr Williams, another nice chap. The choir master whose name I forget was a bit of an odd one and although I was in the school choir and had a go in the church choir I was never really into it. I was nearing the end of my time at Norton school and I'd outgrown Cub Scouts who also dealt with the church a lot so I allowed myself to drift apart from it all. It was never for me anyway and I welcomed the break from it! The first time I had any dealings with the church after then was a secondary school local history project where we were taught to recognise structural changes through the ages, different styles of architecture and how to tell which parts of the church were older than the other. That's when I started to really appreciate the beauty of buildings like that and it's stayed with me since.

I never really had any dealings with Islam in my school years. I don't remember any Muslims in my school, we covered Islam briefly in RE but if I'm honest I think the first time Islam was really brought to my attention, apart from random bits on the TV news like the death of Ayatollah Khomeni and the scandal when Salman Rushdie wrote 'The Satanic Verses' was when 9/11 happened. It brought Islam into the spotlight in such a negative manner and many started to view Muslims as terrorists. 7/7 served to fan the flames, damaged Islam further and it was too easy to get swept up in the media storm as it was everywhere you looked. How could people believe Islam was the religion of peace that it claimed to be? Then the war with the Taliban started, then Iraq and we're still in Afghanistan. Did religion start it all or is that just an excuse?

We have a very large and growing Muslim community where I live in Sheffield and in my job as a council gas man I come into contact with them a lot in their own houses. They're just people the same as everyone else. I've only once been in a house where I've been asked to take some religious literature home with me to read, which I politely refused, and she wasn't offended or angry about it. When I'm working in someone's house I'm respectful of their property. Obviously some houses are tidier than others and on rare occasions you really wouldn't want to even step through the door due to the mess or the smell but it's definitely not race or religion specific as to how tidy or hygienic a person is. I've been in some beautiful houses lived in by Muslims and they're generally very hospitable the same as most other people in this city.

When the awful events with Lee Rigby happened those few weeks ago and the aftermath with the moronic actions of the EDL it made me a little ashamed to be English at times. I don't want to be associated with a group of drunken idiots, giving nazi salutes and generally creating public disorder. I do wonder if for many of them its a chance of day out away from Jeremy Kyle, a few drinks and maybe a scrap. Pretty pathetic! I'm not overly keen on the UAF lot either to be honest. At the core I think both have certain valid points but on the fringes their followers do them no favours when they're throwing missiles and chanting slogans in the streets. Take a stand? I say sit down and talk, don't shout. Just my opinion. :)

It was soon clear even to me that the psychotic scum that murdered that poor off-duty soldier did not represent the majority of Islam and are part of another deranged extremist sect. Thankfully certain Islamic leaders have since condemned their actions as not representative of what Islam is about. The EDL obviously have their own blinkered 'send them home' message but how do you send someone home who was born here and whose parents were also born here? 

Personally all these EDL vs UAF events have served to do is make me more curious to find out about Islam for myself. I know very little about it, the media tend to exaggerate and twist the truth so I'll be doing my own research. Certain parts of 'holy scripture' that gets brought to the surface in both the Bible and the Quran contain verses that condone violence, slavery and other atrocities in certain circumstances but a rational person using common sense can see that it was indicative of the time it was written and modern society isn't anywhere near as barbaric, at least it shouldn't be. The deranged extremists that attempt to carry out these atrocities in modern day society are simply using the religion as their personal excuse to murder and create fear, the same as any other crazed fool with a screw loose. Unfortunately using the religion gives them a large audience and they know that.

The central message from both books is a peaceful one from what I can gather. I've heard a few positive stories in the news lately about Christians and Muslims working together in the community to help those in need. The story I heard about where the Imam invited some EDL members to halt their protest and come into the mosque for a cup of tea and a chat made me smile. 

There doesn't have to be so much hate, we can all get along doing our own thing. We don't all have to believe the same things and we can live among each other without feeling the need to force the other to live our way. Isn't that what multiculturalism is about? Sheffield is a multicultural city. It's how it's evolved and it's not going to go back. Let it be and just be nice and friendly to each other. :)