livinglikeagoodboyoughta:

I don’t believe in God.

Don’t get me wrong – I believe in a God, just not in “God.”

“God” – today, at least – has become something of a bigot.

I believe that this is the result of a societal sense of entitlement;

We like to believe that we are God; that we decide what God believes

and how God judges others, and we tend to impose those ideals of God onto

others. Matthew Fox said that religion is too commonly founded in tradition,

and this leads to an “overemphasis on sin, guilt, and introspection.”

It seems as though every form of pleasure can be denounced as sinful,

which I find to be truly hindering to the human spirit. Living life on

the basis of self-scrutiny, or by criticism from others, is detrimental and

I believe that life requires one to bask in emotional and physical pleasures,

free of guilt or remorse. The God that I believe in is not hateful, discriminatory,

or critical. The God I believe in is kind, understanding, and accepting – God

does not expect perfection from us, but rather that function on a

level of decency.  The picture of Yesenia and I are anything but subtle;

my reasoning behind the photographs is as followed: Jesus – as we have

been told – is the son of God. One could assume that Jesus would uphold the same

values that God does. As explained in my perception of God’s ideals, this would entail

that Jesus is kind, understanding, and accepting. Those qualities of tolerance and appreciation

of others, I feel, are deeply embedded within my character, and while I do not wish to exude

arrogance or a sense of entitlement, that is why I chose to portray such an iconic figure.

“A rule I have had for years is: to treat the Lord Jesus Christ as a personal friend. His is not a creed, a mere doctrine, but it is He Himself we have.” – Dwight L. Moody