I muse, therefore I am

The world in general has the propensity to bewilder me. And not just about issues of horrendous violence and overall misconduct, but on matters that confront me on a daily basis. For me personally, this would include the extremely conservative sub-culture that exists within my religion. I sometimes grapple with feelings of animosity I develop toward people who take the teachings and principles of the faith that I firmly believe in, and twist them to fit their own agendas. Granted, we all have our biases and experiences that form our view of the world and the things in it, but I struggle with those who adamantly declare themselves to be absolutely "right" while condemning others for being "wrong."

While I often use this blog to explicate my thoughts and feelings (oft times to sarcastic degrees), I would never tell someone that just because they disagree with me, they are wrong, or in extreme cases, "going to hell." (I may pull a Colbert and call you "stupid," but I won't tell you you're wrong. Hehee.) That's not the way I was brought up, and I refuse to do it.

One of my frailties is that I experience difficulties with those in my faith who intertwine their own self righteousness with the principals of my church. Those who blur the lines between their interpretation of the Gospel, coupled with their culture representation of it, with the actual teachings therein. I know that no one is perfect and that everyone is just doing the best they can, but it irks me when people take the teachings of the church (or any church or ideology for that matter) to the extreme.

Like the few people whose blogs I stumbled across who declared that Breaking Dawn was "pornographic," and that Meyer "should have known better than to write something so immoral" because she is LDS.

I'm still trying to figure out which version of the book they read...

At any rate, not trying to berate anyone, just describing my confusion a bit. Sometimes it helps me to think aloud. Or in this case, in typed form.

P.S. #1: I want to state that I think that while this idea applies to a broader spectrum of people that are not necessarily of my faith, I just chose to write about my personal experiences/confusions.

P.S. #2: I realize that I may become the subject of some derision because this post may be construed as being judgmental, in spite of the fact that I have tried to denounce it. To that, I say that I have sought to avoid it as best as I can given the subject matter I have chosen to write about. And hey, I realize we're all not perfect and that my impatience is something that I must work on.