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jzcj5 — Personal Jesus
Published: 2008-05-02 01:02:33 +0000 UTC; Views: 1131; Favourites: 36; Downloads: 0
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Description
Some peddle easy answers but real truth is not found under the umbrella of a religion but through personal reflection.Personal Jesus (barring the DM song) is not about promoting religion but recognizing the difficulties faced by evaluating personal belief and creating a personal truth that you yourself can own (and for some, the difficulties of breaking free of religious bonds).
It is not describable with mere words because it has been shaped through your past and the hard and trying times that have opened your eyes to a set of values and ideas that YOU created as opposed to words and values dictated TO you.
I hope you can see what I am trying to say here. I dont usually say much to direct the audience of the purpose of my pieces but this is important to me.
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Comments: 47
The worlds' values are homogenized.
The only one I seem to agree with is The Golden Rule.
But no one else seems to.
The worlds' values are supposedly a balance everyone agrees on, but if I have learned anything, it is that everyone loves to disagree. Maybe we are supposed to live for the fight.
My personal religion is The Golden Rule. I will respect you and yours if you respect me and mine.
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I like your comments on this piece. It was moving just on a visual base, but knowing your thoughts, makes it more so.
I think the image is great, love the close up of the teeth and facial hair.
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I like this photo and your description and the comments that folks have left on this page.
It's funny, although I have a strong negative reaction to organized religion, I appreciated going to Sunday school during the summer when I was growing up because it was fun with all the great projects we did and the stories we learned. Nothing was forced and we didn't have to memorize anything. I rarely went to the church services though, just Sunday school.
I don't really know why my mom took us kids to Sunday school since she's not religious. My dad thought it was all BS. He had a terrible experience going to a Catholic school when he was growing up. The only thing he kept was his belief in God.
I also believe in God because of my Sunday school experience and my own personal experiences growing up. And even if there is no God, I still believe in some higher power or a guardian angel. Certainly someone has been watching over me. I wrote about one of my experiences as a comment to one of ^Katerina 423's journal post.
This may be a surprise to some people, but there is a lot of organized religion at UC Berkeley, some of it cultish. I've lost friends (my choice) because they became ultra religious and kept trying to convert me. I'm sure they believe I'll go straight to hell. I had one friend who found a church that initially seemed like a good fit for her. Gradually they started demanding more and more of her time, first the weekends, then the evenings, and then the daytime hours, too, to the point where it was interfering with her school work. At first, she didn't realize what was happening because it was so subtle and gradual. But when it started interfering with school work and the peer pressure from the church members increased, she eventually realized that it was really a cult and got the hell out of there. She even knew of several students who had gotten sucked in to the church and dropped out of school. I think what saved her was that 1) she was religious but not a fanatic; 2) she joined the church because she wanted to be in a church and had been shopping around for one, not because she was lonely and wanted to feel like she belonged to a group; and 3) she never fell under their brainwashing.
I often wonder if there is a God, if that God is one of many so that each world or each universe has a God. Or if it's actually a living entity with a form that we cannot see and is far more advanced than we are. Perhaps he/she/it lives in a different dimension. Maybe we're really evolving in someone's petri dish (MIB anyone?). I think I've been reading and watching too much science fiction.
Anyways, this is just my way of saying that I absolutely agree with you!
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Haha! This is one topic that many people could write novels about. I am a lot like you in the sense that I believe there is something but I also think that the more we learn of life, the less we are able to define that "something".
I think one day we are going to become so evolved just to say "I don't know what the hell God is, because we know everything else and haven't gotten any closer to understanding that question." or end up killing ourselves because we all think we know what that "something" is.
Radical belief is always scary to me.
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Yup, I absolutely agree. The older I get, the more I realize that I don't know anything at all! I don't know if there is anything in life that is certain and stable over the long term.
Radical belief scares the hell outta me too. If I even get a whiff of it, I run the other way! They're practically equivalent to a satanic cult to me. Whatever the differences in their beliefs or their practices, the fanaticism and absolute belief in their righteousness are the same.
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It causes the same problems, no matter what the belief system. You are right. I feel, to each his own, as long as they keep it their own
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Yes, especially if they think I'm going to hell!
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I should've said "...my long-winded way of saying that I absolutely agree with you!"
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I only found half the answers in organized religion. I completely understand what "creating your own beliefs" mean. Ever heard of Carl Jung? Anyway, wonderful picture! I enjoyed it a lot.
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Yeah, I have heard of that guy. One of the founding fathers of psychology right along with that oh so special Freud 
Thanks! Im so glad you liked it
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I believe that organized religion will be the end of the world.
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It is looking like that more and more these days sadly.
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yes it does and it is sad, that so many people who believe in another life in another world seem to be in such a hurry to find it.
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That is true! I like the life I have (most of the time...)
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Me too, more times than not!
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wonderfully done love your comment on what you did in this photo my favorite photo so far and you have told the truth and it's not everyday that people talk about that and share their opinion because they fear for what other people might think of them so keep up the great work and you are definitely my favorite photographer!
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Wow. I enjoy the imagery here. The cross, flaming, taking away the pomp, and ritual the normally surrounds it. The rough, unkempt (read as: hot) face which is not the average narrow minded christian follower. Combined as cross in teeth, like a chew toy being pulled to and fro; representing shaking everyone out of a dream? a mindless flock? Agh, the effort it's taking to articulate here!
Since we're also giving a bit in the way of our personal beliefs, I was rasied chrsitian, explored paganism in my teens, and have been exploring buddhism for a couple years now. I do have to credit christianity in that I personally feel that children raised in that environment seem to grow up more nutured, and better adjusted than a control group that is raised with nothing. This is of course forgoing the cult-like churches/sects.
However, I do habor the slightest bit of animosity at any religion that claims that their way is the only way, and "woe be to those that would stray from their path". I feel these are horrible artifices being projected onto something possibly divine, and tainting it with our own urges, as...we are but human. I do believe that if there is a god, he/she/it is far too big to belong to one religion.
Thanks Jason, for letting us all use you/your page as a sounding board. But, I think you kinda asked for it too
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"I do harbor the slightest bit of animosity at any religion that claims that their way is the only way"
I think this is the world's problem really. Most people feel their belief is correct 100% and lack the ability to see their own fallibility.
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Geeze I should leave this until I'm sober but wtf, a few wines later and all I can say is...
I believe in what I believe and I do believe religions are the fuck up of a world from the very beginning
And I like what your saying here.
Don't always be so wary to throw all your heart felt explanation into something
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"I do believe religions are the fuck up of a world"
I partially believe this. I think what people DO with religion is where they fuck up. The moment someone believes 100% in a religion and that it is the end all be all idea and it becomes a dependency for life, thats when it creates problems. I think it has its place for many though because some people need that comfort and support of fellowship and security that everything is going to be ok. Its when it no longer becomes a personal belief that it begins to cause problems.
Belief, at its core, should be based upon your own experiences and ultimately cant be communicated. It should be something private really.
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well ok out of all that to me it's saying radicals. If so I agree.
And faith is a religion. Faith I have. Remember I said something ages back on a post? to get out of bed each day we have faith in something. What I mean is either faith in loved ones, friends, family or religion is where I'm coming from. Faith is also a prop, it gives us comfort. I'm not faithless I just hate anything that fucks with everyone elses well being. ergh...I hope I made sense?
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That made perfect sense. Thats sorta what I was going for. Whatever gets you through the day should be personal in my opinion
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o.o I'm a gay Pagan living in the bible belt. I know what you mean--- the part about personal reflection. I think it's important to learn from other cultures and religions, it helps me understand my own better. Although I don't attend church regularly and don't own a Bible of my own, I still wear a little silver cross on a silver chain.
On the topic, have you heard the song "Selling Jesus" by Skunk Anasaze(Sp?)? I think it portrays the church organization in this area quite well.
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I havent heard that song, but I am learning a good bit about the Bible belt. I am in Virginia (not quite the Bible belt, but pretty damn close!) and Im an agnostic. I see so many things with religion here that dont make sense to me and I have to wonder if any of these people ever, for one moment, questioned why they believe what they believe and if the life they lead is hypocritical to what they preach. I dont have a problem with someone who has a belief system and follows it but I do have a problem with those that preach a system and violate many of the values they push so adamantly.
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...real truth is not found under the umbrella of a religion but through personal reflection.... ideas that YOU created as opposed to words and values dictated TO you....
Amen!!!
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I won't get on my soap box about religion lol and I'll just say I agree.
It's a lovely photo and I really enjoyed your comment.
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Thank you
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I like the underlying meaning of what you want to say with this picture...and you said it very nicely.
We've, well for all intends and purposes, had many an argument over such subject matter...so why couldn't you have said that nice little what-not instead of jawing for hours on the phone using all of my minutes and making me slightly deaf in my right ear?...hahaha, it's all good. But seriously, nice pic, interesting concept and angle.
DM song...good call. Thought that's what you were pulling from...Manson popped into my head before I even read the title 
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Thanks
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Yeah, I figured. I read her thing, then saw your picture, was like OYE coincidence? Then I saw your comment on her writing, wrote a book on her wall myself, then commented on your pic...and etc etc etc.
We've talked a lot about many of the things she was talking about in her writing over the past few years. It was interesting though to see her progression and her line of thinking about where she was, is now, and wants to be.
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I hope she ends up a bit more grounded without becoming jaded like the rest of the world. We will see. She is very resistant to change but she will be ok one day...
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