World Religions

The reason I chose this title was due to the imagery I got from a book I was reading. The red carpet in this case is not some fabled award show walkdown, but a carpet of blood and corpses. Is war really justifiable for a cause. Even though it may save millions, should we really rush in to such things without fail or question? If you were a grunt in a war, would you be secure knowing that the cause you fight for might not be right, what you are doing in any other situation would be considered wrong/illegal, and the fact that the other side is just as human as you? Really, when I think about it, I don’t like war. I think its necessary, but it makes my skin crawl. The fact that this happens so often, that others profit about it, that generals can sit in a room and decide who will function as bait or who gets to die that day… that idea just makes me uncomfortable. However, is diplomacy and doing the right thing always best? Through such actions or inactions, you may waste precious time necessary to stop the suffering. Fighting from the inside doesn’t always work, and when it does, it is time consuming and somewhat more fraught with dangers than open warfare. At least, in one aspect, war may get the job done quicker, solve the problem more efficiently than asking the enemy nicely. I guess I would support it if necessary, but trying the slow way first is not a bad idea. I still don’t like it though.

I was slightly surprised by the Shinto festivals. It is difficult to kind these kind of things worship with all the drinking and vulgarity and goings on. Mostly, however, it is the celebration that compares. Their idea of ritual worship is looser than ours, so actually can be put on the same level as their rituals. For one thing, they mostly take place at shrines, the holy places scattered throughout Japan. They also follow certain traditions, passed down through generations. One could also say their differences are their similarities. Each shrine or town differs in their methods of worship, as well as the manner of their festivals. I have trouble calling drinking and partying religious, but I guess the psychotropic effects of some drugs could qualify as having a religious experience. After all, what better way to thank your God than throw a big party, rather than sit down and have a chat, like prayers. If I were a God, all that reverence and worship stuff would make me uncomfortable, make me feel like something that was better than I actually was. With the partying, it brings me down and allows me tor relate to my followers, get to know them better, and still allow them to celebrate me. I feel a little bigoted talking about me as a God, but thats the gist of what I get.