There are only two sides to every coin...

... but there's still the metal in between.

I was re-reading one of my fanfics today, actually just moments ago. I didn't even finish the chapter, which is pretty much a bloody miracle! And I was struck what one of the characters said:

"There are only two sides to every coin"

But then I immediately thought, "But what about the metal between the sides? Doesn't it count for everything?" I mean the idea that there are only two sides to every story is a very black and white concept. It's a true/false situation and the world does not function as a dichotomy. There is too much in between, there is too much metal. Every situation had several outcomes and choices depending on who you are and what you believe. Sometimes the choice is obvious, sometimes the choice is clouded and difficult. But every situation has multiple outcomes, where we recognise them or not.

I think that the worst thing to come out of Christianity is that too many people are naive in their belief that everything is either one or the other. That the world is broken down into good and bad. If you are a good Christian you get to go to Heaven. If you are bad you are going to Hell. But then we delve into what does it mean to be a good Christian? Who's right? Who's wrong? And even then we can move into other religions. Christianity is founded in Judaism. Who's better there? The only real difference is that Christians are just Jews that believe Jesus was their messiah. Then we can delve into Islam. I will openly admit that my understanding of Islam is definitely lacking, so please correct me if I am wrong. My limited understanding is that Islamics believe that Muhammad is their prophet and that according to him the Christians royally screwed up Jesus' message and teachings and they are following Muhammad's correct interpretation of it.

So there we have it. Three of the major religions of the world all based on a dichotomy of Good vs. Evil. But as I see they all fail or neglect to take one thing into consideration. Satan, Lucifer, the Devil, the Morning Star, Iblis; the list goes on for he has many names. Each religion has him but they all fail in the same aspect. GOD CREATED EVERYTHING! Even the so-called personification of evil himself. In fact he was one of God's angels, which is where he got the name Lucifer. Some traditions say that he was highest angel created first and that he protected the other angels from God's mighty glory. But he became prideful and believed that he should be worshipped like God, or as God. So he tried to convince the other angels that he should be worshipped, and apparently 1/3 of them thought he was pro-star. Glory be!! So God with his "infinite love for his children" tossed the trouble maker out of heaven after a war where Lucifer tried to take God's throne. (This is where we get the morning star reference.)

But really... what we have here is that God made evil. My point? I have one I promise. There is no dichotomy. If God were infallible and all good, he wouldn't have been able to create evil and life would be all peachy keen. God obviously has the capacity for evil and wrong doing. This makes perfect sense when you realise that God was made in our image and not the other way around. All people have the capacity for both good and evil in them and that is why everything happens in shades of grey. Spectra people! Spectra!

So I managed to take something very mundane and turn it into a rant about religion. Go me! I think I turn anything into a rant about religion. It's my favourite thing to rant about. I could really get into it. This statement has some pretty awesome connotations that I could go on about:

This makes perfect sense when you realise that God was made in our image and not the other way around.

Yah... that would be fun.

Stay tuned for more awesome off the wall religious rants from everyone's favourite Wiccan/Thelamist. Who knows what that means? Wha-hahaha! I'll never tell. So there.. I ended on a silly note. Go me.