Summary

Christine Graves expresses her personal non-adherence to organized religion due to traumatic experiences and a preference for spirituality and a simple life in harmony with nature.

Abstract

In her article "My Thoughts on Organized Religion," Christine Graves articulates her complex relationship with religion, emphasizing that despite believing in a higher power, she does not consider herself religious. Growing up in a region with a strong religious presence, she partook in various religious activities but found them lacking in positive influence. A particularly scarring experience involving a frightening depiction of the Book of Revelations as a child led her to question organized religion. Graves identifies as spiritual, advocating for a life focused on goodness and peace, and critiques the pagan origins of many religious traditions. She concludes by affirming her respect for individuals' religious beliefs while maintaining her stance against organized religion.

Opinions

Graves believes in God or a higher power but does not identify with any organized religion.
She recounts a traumatic childhood experience with a religious movie about the Book of Revelations that negatively influenced her view of organized religion.
Graves values spirituality, good deeds, and living in peace with nature over religious dogma.
She criticizes the incorporation of pagan traditions into organized religion.
Despite her personal views, she respects others' religious beliefs and does not condescend to the religious.
Her spiritual beliefs stem from personal reflection rather than fear-based religious indoctrination.

My Thoughts on Organized Religion

And why I’m not a fan

In one of his latest IdeaStream posts, Xavier Van Holde asked us to do a 500-word piece about our thoughts on religion. This is kind of a hard thing for me to write about as I have split feelings about this subject. Personally, I am NOT a religious person. However, I do believe in God, or at least a higher power in the universe.

Quarantine Nap City

I’ve been taken a lot more naps these days, which I can’t complain about. How about everybody out there? Here’s some…

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So, do I believe in God? Yes, I do.

Am I a religious person? No, not even close.

I’m a spiritual person. I believe we are all meant to do good things and live peaceful lives. I believe we need to be more in tune with nature and get back to a more simple way of life. I believe a lot of the ideas behind Organized Religion are just remnants of pagan traditions carried down over the eons.

I grew up in what could be called the Bible belt. More like the Bible waistline, or maybe last button on the shirt just above the waistline. Yeah, anyway… I went to church like most kids did back in the late 70s and throughout the 80s. I did the whole Sunday School thing, the Church Camp thing, and Wednesday night prayer meeting thing. And what did I learn? Apparently not what I was supposed to.

My earliest memory of anything related to religion happened when I was about 8 years old. One of our neighbors invited a bunch of us to their house for a prayer meeting with a traveling preacher. All the adults sat around the room drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes with us kids all sitting in the middle of the room, cause that how we rolled in the 70s.

All of us kids were excited because there was a projector in the middle of the room which meant we were going to get to watch a movie. The preacher talked for a bit, I can’t remember what about, then he started the movie. Want to know what it was about? The Book of Revelations. Yes, let’s start a child’s push into religion with that. Good call.

I remember fire breathing, lion-headed dragons, and 4 dead guys on starving horses. Some chick in a torn, red dress swinging a sword and balls of fire falling out of the sky. I remember being told that if I didn’t do what was preached in the Bible, this would happen and it would be all my fault. I was utterly traumatized.

I didn’t sleep for several days after that. Waking up screaming, thinking those 4 dead guys were waiting for me in the dark. It’s the reason I have an issue with the idea of burning images into the minds of children, simply to put the “fear of God” into them.

Though this was the first experience I had that made me question Organized Religion, it wasn’t the last. I could fill a book with all the reasons behind my opinion, but I’ll keep it short. No, I am NOT a religious person. But I will never look down on someone who is. And that comes from the spirit.