Religion.

I suppose I've written about all the other taboo subjects, so I may as well talk about religion. I don't know if you are religious, but I like to think there is a God. I just happen to think there is a Goddess too! I know this freaks people out so I won't harp on it but I will just gently remind people just because you are not Christian, doesn't mean you are not religious.

Now, the reason why I bring this up is last week, a car load of Jehovah's rocked up at my place the other day. Luck for them I had clothes on. At first I was offended they drove down my driveway. I mean, where I am is nice and secluded, so it's very intrusive to have people come into this space. I was ready to tell them to go forth from whence they came but something in me said "offer them a cup of tea". I looked into the car and saw two little old ladies and three men. One against five, nice odds.

So out of the nice new white Toyota Camery came the witnesses, all ties, long pants and hats just bursting at the seams, eager to spread the word of Jehovah. I sat them down, got five cups of tea and we started to make small talk. "What do you do?" asked Mable. "I'm a student" I replied. "I'm studying feminism" (its not actually called feminism but not many people outside of uni understand what sociology or and arts degree is). The rest of the team where quiet for a while until one of them, Ian asked "Do you believe in God?" I answered "Yes, I believe in God, I also believe in the Goddess." I stopped there, I didn't want to scare them too much to begin with.

The group looked a bit frightened. I could see them thinking "Goddess?". They then began to ask questions about faith and truth to which I explained "a truth is an undeniable and provable fact. Faith is a belief without reason or justification." Now I didn't say faith was blind, but in my books, faith takes courage because it is an abstract term, making it not always right nor wrong. Ian didn't like this explanation. He tried to tell me they were the same. I changed the topic slightly. "So Jehovah is God? Is that why your called "Jehovah Witnesses?" "Yes" answered Barb. "We witness the work of Jehovah". And then came the creation story.

Now don't get me wrong I like a good myth as much as the next person. Who can't tell me a story about Thor or Aphrodite, but as far as I'm concerned mythology is just that. The stuff of myth and legends. Stories told and retold for thousands of years, mixed in the translation and changed by the story teller.I tried to relay this to my new friends by explaining the bible while it is a nice piece of literature and has some good stories, it cannot be taken word for word. One of the witnesses looked at me like I had another head. Then they all got their bibles out and started to quote passages at me. They told me how God created Adam and Eve and how we now have sin. I asked but what about dinosaurs? If God created everything, did "he"create them? Apparently yes, God created dinosaurs, its just not written about in the bible in that sense. And more bible quoting came. Oh man, is this confrontational or what? I offer these people to come in, enjoy the view and have a quiet cuppa and I get this?

Now back to the creation myth... I stopped an asked, "O.K. dinosaurs were created, people were created, so how long ago was this?"
"6000 years" said Ian. 6000 years. 6000 years. Ummm (I didn't say anything at this point) but what about the indigenous people of Australia? Even the song I Am Australian says they've been here "For forty thousand years".
"But how was earth created if God didn't have a Goddess. I mean, I cannot fathom the thought of giving life without man and woman together. I mean, think about child birth. We need a man and a woman, and then it is the woman who gives birth." And then I heard what broke my heart. Mable, who looked 75 if she was a day said "But woman are the weaker sex. They would not be capable of creating all of this which we have on earth". Dumbfounded, I carried on to say, "I would have thought there needs to be an equal or a counterpart. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. I believe in a multi-facted duality. And if we're going to say the earth was made by any energy other than evolution would there not be a woman in there, somewhere?"

And so it went on. They kept quoting the bible at me, I was polite and listened, and then kept asking about science or women. Two things which clearly are not on the agenda of Jehovah Witnesses. I could tell I was making them uneasy with my speak of the Goddess and evolution.I think I freaked them out because all of a sudden they said, "Ok, its time to go now." To which I replied "It was lovely to meet you all, before you come back another time can I suggest a book for you all to read? Try to find The Mists of Avalon. It might give you a better understanding from where I am coming from." After a few blank looks I added "Just as I read the bible at bible study to seek more knowledge, perhaps it would give you a better insight to what religion is can can be."

Now I know this is a bit long winded but moral of the story: Don't be mean to God Botherers. Just slowly give them food for thought.