I have been contemplating this blog for some time now, but the thought of discussing God and other religions almost frightened me away. But then I thought, I am pretty brazen with the words that come out of my mouth, so why not the words that come from my key strokes?
One day, in December I was listening to Kenna (pictured above). My friend, Lauren Rinker, introduced me to this amazing artist. He was born in Addis Ababa but immigrated to Virginia Beach. There he met and befriended "Chase" Chad Hugo from the Neptunes. He encountered some problems with releasing his album, but finally got New Sacred Cow out to the public. This album has a myriad of religious references and it made me think about what to say to someone who sneezes if they do not believe in God. (Funnily enough, while writing this, I was sitting at my parents' house and I sneezed. And I got the usual response of...)
BEWARE: This video is shocking!
My normal response to someone sneezing would be: "God bless you." But would that offend some people? If they were atheistic? Polytheistic? Or believe in Allah, YHWH, or some form of a Higher Being that I do not even recognize?
If I thought about this (for saying, "God bless you," is a natural instinct), would I say, "Excuse you." I may be wrong, but that seems rude.
And for that matter, when I stub my toe or I am angry, I saw a variation of the Lord's name in vain and possibly an expletive or two thrown in. I am not saying it is right, I am just stating what I do (this is for protection from my extremely religious family).
So what would a Muslim do? Allah damn it!
A Jew? YHWH damn it!
A pagan? Gaia damn it!
Or are these religions more respectful of their deity? I know America claims to be a secular state, a clear separation between Church and State....blah, blah, blah. While we may not have a single Church of America, it is a single type of religion: Christianity. Have we ever had a Jewish or Muslim President? Has anyone from those religions ever run for president and even gotten close? And (pardon the Christian saying) God forbid someone from a polytheistic religion run for president! That poor person, he/she would be torn apart from those conservative and "liberal" CHRISTIAN politicians, alike! I am just saying that Americans are so inundated with Christianity, despite the fact we try to convince ourselves that we aren't, that maybe we have grown somewhat jaded towards the use of our Supreme Being. I mean I see little children using the Lord's name in vain and (believe it or not) they aren't getting reprimanded or even their mouth washed out! Oh yea, remember those times? What I am saying is that perhaps Christianity is so ever-present in America, even if you aren't Christian, that it just isn't a big deal anymore... Thoughts?
**this blog is not to be meant for any form of malice or mockery, I would truly like to know what you think. I have often wondered what someone from a completely different religious background thinks of this**
Comments are always welcome, thanks for your time!
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