2 Sides of the Coin

This post is going to take some weird loops and turns, but follow me through it, and I think you'll find it enjoyable, or at least slightly ponderous at the end.

Shortly before I got into the shower this morning, I read a small article in our local congregation's monthly newsletter about a member of the unit. It was an interesting article, and described the life of a lady from a rather rough childhood with multiple step dads, to a life of failed marriages and other unfortunate events. One quote which really got me thinking, was that one day she had heart the voice of the spirit speaking to her, telling her that she was a great mom, although she was failing in the area of teaching her children about religion, and since then she's been fairly active in the LDS Church. It appears to have been a turning point, in bringing some stability and sense of purpose to her life.

As I stood in the shower, with the warm water flowing over my back, I started thinking.

Religion like many things in our lives is somewhat of a two sided coin. On one hand, you have an organization which teaches and emphasis on family, and in many cases, this woman being a prime example, it helps to provide an anchor of sorts and helps them achieve some stability in their lives.

The other side of the coin, is that sometimes, the teachings break families apart. The new members who is disowned by their family due to their choices, or the non-member family members who are barred from attending marriage ceremonies.

There's the children who leave the faith and are shunned by family and friends, while others may enter the fold and feel a great sense of belonging to a community.

I think about how the organization has sent aid to Haiti this past week, along with medical personnel and others and about the 750 million dollars they claim to have donated to charitable causes. But then I think about how funds are used to sustain lavish lifestyles of those in the upper echelons on power, and billions of dollars are spent in real estate development or the time and resources expended in trying to remove rights from people with different viewpoints and orientations.

There is a great deal of harm done by this organization, but at the same time there is a great deal of good as well, and I suspect there's probably a whole bunch of stuff which is neither good or bad, it's just stuff!

And this isn't just confined to the LDS Church. In South Africa some years ago, when a neighborhood was under siege by gangs and drug dealers, so much so that the police were too scared to do anything, it was the local Muslim community that stepped up and cleaned things up. At the same time though, corrupt leaders use that same sense of community and duty and send their followers on suicide missions to kill innocent people.

I suspect every religion has it - their good points, their bad points and plenty of other points that are neither good nor bad.

I wanted to begin 2010 by turning over a new leaf. It seems in the past, many of my religious themed posts have focused on negative aspects in the LDS Church. Obviously the organization has had a profound impact on my life, and is responsible in many ways for my marriage, my kids and many of the experiences I've had thus far. Unfortunately it's also had some negative influences as well. Discovering that it was not what it claimed to be and the deception which has been employed to attract and keep a steady flow of members into the organization has been particularly disturbing.

Religion seems to be formed in a 2 dimensional state, which brings us back to the original idea of the two sided coin. It seems to focus on the old dichotomy of good vs evil, right vs wrong, god vs satan and truth vs falsehood.

The problem is that when you see that things aren't as they should be, you try and escape, but more often than not, you find yourself trapped inside that 2 dimensional world, trying to work out which side of the good vs evil idea you stand. Since the organization has changed from truth to falsehood, it then seems natural that other 2 sided options begin to flip as well or do they?

Thinking of things this way, I went in search of a YouTube clip from The Big Bang theory last week. Sheldon, the main character talks about how he likes to escape into Flatland at times. I couldn't find the clip, but I did come across one which dealt with Flatland...



I suspect I may still be trapped in a 2 dimensional world. At times I can sense that there is more out there, and perhaps at times, I even escape a little before being pulled back into it.

I'd like 2010 to be the year I escape permanently into a world of 3 dimensions, where I can view my history in context, and enjoy the thrilling ride towards bigger and better things.