I've tried God, and it's a lot like chicken

For many people religion is a “savior,” but for far too many people religion has proven to be a divider.

Whether it’s: gays, abortion, Blacks, Jews or Muslims, many an argument against any/all of those parties have been based on religion.

For the most part, when I say “religion” I mean Christianity, the overwhelming favorite of western spiritual thought.

I didn’t rail on the Christian right in my last post, but they are gonna take a beating in this one. As I blame Iraq, hate crimes and the shame that every woman has to endure by simply walking into a Planned Parenthood on the Pat Robertson’s and Pat Buchannan’s of the world.

On the whole, conservative Christians got it wrong. They make me embarrassed to admit that I am a Christian. In my mind, they are as bad as the Taliban in their strict, self-serving and erroneous interpretation of religion.

They aren’t right. And they have no right to proclaim that they are.

Quite frankly, the average white picket fence having, we-are-all-welcoming-as-long-as-you-conform-to-our-narrow-perception-of-the-Bible-Christian disgusts me. In much the same way a “you are all Western Infidels” radical Muslims disgust me. At least Muslims will offer a visitor tea. You are lucky to get anything more than a look down the nose from the average conservative house wife, if you don't "fit the mold.".

Some of you may be thinking, Disgust? Really? Isn’t that a strong word?

Not at all.

These people disgust me because they are judging, damning and killing each other (all religions guilty here) in the name of a God that we all have in common.

For me, it’s pretty simple.

God is like chicken.

We’ve all heard the joke and the punch line is: “It tastes like chicken.”

So why, would anyone expect a world as diverse and unique as ours to be held to one set of standards, one set of ideals and one version of God?

Just look at chicken, in the American heartland, Chicken Pot Pie looks a lot different from Hoisin Chicken in China or Tagine in Morocco. Though it is all derived from the same base to serve the same purpose…

Sustenance.

Chicken sustains the body and God sustains the soul. (I know, I sound like that book series here.)

Is this an oversimplification? Perhaps.

But we’ve had thousands of years to complicate the matter. So I figure a little simplification is due.

Chicken, much like God, is something that all people can identify with.

And who’s to say that the God of Islam is any different from the God of Christianity or Buddhism?

I am saying that they aren’t.

In much the same way cuisine, in this case chicken, carries regional/cultural nuances, it only follows that perceptions of God would do the same.

The idea that every person in the world has to follow one set of ideals set forth by one God just isn’t feasible or even culturally astute.

God made man is all shades, interests and even multiple sexes. So why dumb-down such an obviously complex being to “My way or the highway” thinking?

If people could get their head around the idea that God really is one being, perceived is different ways, I think the world would be a much better place. A lot of differences might be quelled. The main tenets of all major religions share the same basic ideals, only strengthening the concept that God is one being, read many ways.

But sadly, religion of division, my main issue with organized religion, will continue on. As men and their misinterpretations/pride/unwillingness to change will keep everyone mired in the “us versus them” rhetoric that keeps the pews filled, tithes coming-in and guns aimed at each other.

All the while, I can only imagine God looking down at us head-shaking, thinking:

“Is it really all that difficult? Why can’t they get this right?”