This I Believe.

To start off... I will say that I was originally raised very religiously. I was catholic, and my mom in the last few years converted to Greek Orthodoxy, which I essentially view as catholic on steroids. The services were longer, they didn’t let you sit down, and they fasted for a hundred and eighty five (ish) days of the year. They also had some key disagreements with the catholic church, including that unlike the Roman Catholics, they believed the Holy Spirit was its own separate being, not proceeding from the other members of the trinity. They also don’t believe that the pope is infallible, and disagree with the notion of original sin.

I’ve dealt with my share of struggling in my life, and honestly the conversion of my mother to Orthodoxy was probably a big one for me. However, 

I tend to look at the world through a veil of stoicism. Due to this, I find that I’ve still had a pretty decent life.

    Things that I would see my friends around me breaking over, like divorce, generally don’t have any effect on me, or at least not one that I’ve noticed. Despite me looking at the world through a stoic’s eyes, though, I do outwardly express emotions and similar things. I’ve found that it’s easier to form bonds with people if you have more concentrated emotions, so I express that I do, even when I don’t have any such thing on my mind.

    I’ve heard some people in my life refer to depression as feeling “empty” or “numb” inside, but honestly I don’t understand that description. Even now, human interactions puzzles me, and as I write this I continue to remind myself of what is within social convention to say, and how to phrase it to buy the eyes of those around me.

    I believe we are in this world to survive, and to move on. I treat different situations in different ways so as to move forward and continue with whatever it is I am here to achieve. I don’t know if I believe in a god or not at this point, but with my current set of philosophies, I don’t believe that it matters too much.  

I know my own identity and I know that I am here.  

Those two things seem to be the most critical truths I have at the moment.

    I’ve gone to my share of churches throughout my life. Literally I went to eight hours of church a week last year and the year before. Even with that, I think I would call myself agnostic. I am not saying there isn’t a god, but I don’t have any proof to either argument at this point, so I am going to check the “undecided” box on this one. The catholic church was a nice place to be for the first fifteen years, but I decided to leave once they began telling me that my identity was going to have me go to hell.

    I believe in diversity. Whatever the person next to you is seems to be their business. I’ve waged wars against people who tried to change others with the “holy power of Christ.” (his words, not mine.) With everything going on in today’s politics, I don’t see why it matters who marries whom, or who lives where. If it doesn’t affect you, I don’t understand the need to mess with it and stir up a storm.

I find myself drawn to existentialism. Essentially, I believe each of us creates our own purpose, and we are here to do exactly that. I don’t think I believe in a “greater plan.” It seems egotistical to think that a greater being would focus individually on each person. Each individual develops their own reason for being here, and is responsible for their own actions. Soren Kierkegaard was thought to be the first existential philosopher, and he basically believed that the concrete existence of humankind should hold priority over abstract thought. This makes sense to me, though it definitely doesn’t make sense to everyone.

    I think I have at least a decent approach to life… I’ve at least made it this far. I live a life that is littered with stoicism, existentialism, and up until this point, I’m okay.

Quiz Questions:

 1. What is the basic premise of existentialism?

2. What is the basic premise of stoicism?

3. Name two differences between the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox Churches. 

4. Who was thought to be the first existential philosopher?

Discussion Questions:

-Do you believe in a "greater plan" or are you drawn to more existential thoughts?

-What are your thoughts on the stoic approach?

-How valuable do you think diversity is in a society?

Oh and I found this and thought it was funny.