QaR
October 2007 
Zaadzsters, some days you terrify me
Posted on Sep 13th, 2007
by 
OddMott
OddMott
I've been relishing zaadz.com for about a month now. The novelty still hasn't worn off - this is where I come for my daily dose of positivity! However, the source of my positivity dose has changed much in the course of just a month.
When I first found zaadz I was amazed and over-awed by the concept of the site, of the community. I was on a constant high, always looking forward to logging in to see what interesting discussions were happening, what efforts were being made to improve the world, what socially conscious business ideas were forming... just a few short weeks later, that's no longer the case.
Today my dose of positivity comes in the form of emails with several of the good friends I've made in my brief time at zaadz.com. And, that's just about all that provides positivity. Day after day I log in, and all I see are the same Religion vs Spirituality or Religion vs Religion debates. Each debate is full of 'pundits' from one faction trying to pull the 'opposing' faction down, inch by inch. And many will respond, saying there are no opposing sides, that we're all taking different routes to the same destination and it's right and honourable.
Well, if that's the case... then my question to you is... why discuss spirituality or religion at all? If we're all just doing our own thing and we're comfortable with it... why is it the prominent topic on this site?
Why do so many feel the need to pass judgement or comment on this day after day, without fail?
I'll tell you why. It's because everyone, be they religious or spiritual, has their own prefered belief system that they think is correct. And for some reason, they just cannot keep that opinion to themselves.
Every one of these blogs, debates, questions of the day are FULL of statements that contain sentences like: "I don't mean to offend", or "don't take this the wrong way", or "i don't mean to judge", or "I'm not saying you're wrong to believe" .....
But they DO mean to offend and they DO want people to take things the wrong way and they DO mean to judge and they ARE saying that the opposing side is wrong to believe in whatever they believe in...
Heeme's blog http://heemes.zaadz.com/blog/2007/9/what_was_the_greatest_spiritual_challenge_of_your_life is a perfect example of this... Several commentors tried to bring in the age old arguments about the lies that the whole christian religion is based on... WHO BLOODY CARES?!
I understand the frustration one can feel when one thinks someone is believing a falsehood. The feeling that it's up to you to enlighten them, but really... in the grand scheme of things... who cares? People will believe what they want to, and if it's different from what you believe, does it really matter? Why can't you just be happy with what you're doing with your own life?
I understand that spirituality/religion is a VERY important issue to a lot of people. I mean, it's pretty much what determines our very core - of that there is no doubt. However, I (and I hope a few others are too) am getting DAMN sick of the same shit, day in, day out. The ONLY times that anyone should seriously be discussing either religion or spirituality are:
1) when they're having difficulty reconciling events in their life with the components of their faith.
2) when someone who is not religious/spiritual may be calling out for options and help in that regard.
3) when someone is genuinely interested in learning more
This pounding the discussion into the dirt simply for the sake of having your say and trying to get 'one-up' over others.... is for the dogs.
Zaadz is supposed to be primarily about improving the world through social measures. Specifically it's supposed to be about developing socially intuitive and conscious businesses/organizations that will lead our societies forward in a sustainable and healthy manner.
I see very little going on in this regard. If everyone who spends time trying to express their feelings for religion/spirituality... spent a measely FRACTION of that time actually devising tiny ways to improve our lives on this planet... think of the good that would do.
Trying to figure out the nuances of this universe is admirable... and it's awesome that zaadz is a place where people can come to have all sorts of great discussions... but I really feel more people should be doing more on/with zaadz... and maybe debating less.
Just my thoughts.
When I first found zaadz I was amazed and over-awed by the concept of the site, of the community. I was on a constant high, always looking forward to logging in to see what interesting discussions were happening, what efforts were being made to improve the world, what socially conscious business ideas were forming... just a few short weeks later, that's no longer the case.
Today my dose of positivity comes in the form of emails with several of the good friends I've made in my brief time at zaadz.com. And, that's just about all that provides positivity. Day after day I log in, and all I see are the same Religion vs Spirituality or Religion vs Religion debates. Each debate is full of 'pundits' from one faction trying to pull the 'opposing' faction down, inch by inch. And many will respond, saying there are no opposing sides, that we're all taking different routes to the same destination and it's right and honourable.
Well, if that's the case... then my question to you is... why discuss spirituality or religion at all? If we're all just doing our own thing and we're comfortable with it... why is it the prominent topic on this site?
Why do so many feel the need to pass judgement or comment on this day after day, without fail?
I'll tell you why. It's because everyone, be they religious or spiritual, has their own prefered belief system that they think is correct. And for some reason, they just cannot keep that opinion to themselves.
Every one of these blogs, debates, questions of the day are FULL of statements that contain sentences like: "I don't mean to offend", or "don't take this the wrong way", or "i don't mean to judge", or "I'm not saying you're wrong to believe" .....
But they DO mean to offend and they DO want people to take things the wrong way and they DO mean to judge and they ARE saying that the opposing side is wrong to believe in whatever they believe in...
Heeme's blog http://heemes.zaadz.com/blog/2007/9/what_was_the_greatest_spiritual_challenge_of_your_life is a perfect example of this... Several commentors tried to bring in the age old arguments about the lies that the whole christian religion is based on... WHO BLOODY CARES?!
I understand the frustration one can feel when one thinks someone is believing a falsehood. The feeling that it's up to you to enlighten them, but really... in the grand scheme of things... who cares? People will believe what they want to, and if it's different from what you believe, does it really matter? Why can't you just be happy with what you're doing with your own life?
I understand that spirituality/religion is a VERY important issue to a lot of people. I mean, it's pretty much what determines our very core - of that there is no doubt. However, I (and I hope a few others are too) am getting DAMN sick of the same shit, day in, day out. The ONLY times that anyone should seriously be discussing either religion or spirituality are:
1) when they're having difficulty reconciling events in their life with the components of their faith.
2) when someone who is not religious/spiritual may be calling out for options and help in that regard.
3) when someone is genuinely interested in learning more
This pounding the discussion into the dirt simply for the sake of having your say and trying to get 'one-up' over others.... is for the dogs.
Zaadz is supposed to be primarily about improving the world through social measures. Specifically it's supposed to be about developing socially intuitive and conscious businesses/organizations that will lead our societies forward in a sustainable and healthy manner.
I see very little going on in this regard. If everyone who spends time trying to express their feelings for religion/spirituality... spent a measely FRACTION of that time actually devising tiny ways to improve our lives on this planet... think of the good that would do.
Trying to figure out the nuances of this universe is admirable... and it's awesome that zaadz is a place where people can come to have all sorts of great discussions... but I really feel more people should be doing more on/with zaadz... and maybe debating less.
Just my thoughts.
Access: Public
