| I recently completed what is quite possibly one of, if not the best, pieces of nonfiction I’ve ever read. Written by Kyria Abrahams, I’m Perfect, You’re Doomed is an amazingly honest piece of work that gives us the details of Abrahams’s life, from her childhood to her early twenties. Raised as a Jehovah’s Witness, she was raised to believe unconditionally that all those around her that were not also Witnesses were surely and inevitably going to die by some horrible giant hailstones of wrath from Jehovah God himself when Armageddon and “The New System” finally came about. When I saw the book in the back of my sister’s car, I immediately picked it up just because it was literature, and was even more intrigued to hear the tale of someone who had found their own way to live from something that, in my opinion, brainwashes its own believers to “plant the seeds” of knowing of the option of Jehovah instead of an eternal death; their depictions of Paradise consist of children hugging friendly lions, parrots in tress, sharing with some form of pygmy, and various other holy beings of Jehovah God. Although my religious background is not nearly as “extreme” as that of Jehovah’s Witnesses, I can say that what the tapestry she spins is quite the truth. People are raised to believe in something from the moment they can comprehend English or their native language, and that is all they know, all they grow up with. Looking back on the churches and whatnot I was forced to attend as a child, I don’t think I could ever bring myself to do that to my children, were I ever to have any. It is a choice that someone should be allowed to make by themselves. Of course, I probably would’ve spoken differently eight or nine years ago, but you come to certain realizations when you get older; when people can’t seem, somehow, wrap their minds around the fact that I don’t believe there is a god or gods, I can’t seem to wrap my mind around how they missed some miniscule detail I didn’t that allowed my mind to develop enough to make decisions for myself instead of relying on only what’s around me, i.e. parents, family, et cetera. It isn’t a matter of whether you only know one thing and that’s just it. Wouldn’t you want to learn about other options? Broaden horizons? Shouldn’t, as human beings, we be able to adapt to a myriad of environments or situations and not stay in a set mind-sphere? I also feel that, if you choose to believe in something, you should do it with a little reserve and tact, instead of blurting things like “Oh my God, are you an atheist? How can you not believe in God? Are you one of those fucking Satanists?” and trying to convert anyone who doesn’t believe the same way they do. I find missionaries and those door-to-door “Pioneers” to be one of the most off-putting and entirely disgusting “elements” of (a) religion(s). You don’t see me waving around signs that say, “Fuck off, Christian or otherwise assholes, I’m an atheist and I was actually given a purpose: to discount everything that you basically are and tell you that your god died a long time ago. Also, I enjoy giving homemade abortions with my favorite hanger to your Christian daughters because they couldn’t keep away from that darn Billy kid from Sunday school and his effeminate friend Raul. At the same time. All while Raul worked on Billy. Haha.” A little harsh, but I’m sure you see the point. It blows my mind how just plain idiotic some people are. Anyway, just a small rant. Be sure to read her book, it’s seriously amazing and enlightening. I do believe she has a LJ. |
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
kyounichi's journal
