Follow-up to the Purple Unicorn post

Based on some of the reactions I got from my post on Sunday, I feel I need to follow it up with a little back story.

It happens very (VERY) often in my search for the divine that I am presented with the warm fuzzies about god. Every time I've been to church, songs are sung praising the beauty and amazingness and holiness of god, and all these celebratory images of glory. And stories are told by individuals about how the power of god's love changed their lives and brought them out of the darkness. And claims over and over are spoken about how all you need in life is faith, that god loves you, and you should just let go - and let god. On a pure emotional level, it is very easy to get swept up in these inspiring sentiments of comfort, coddling, protection, and justice. However, when trying discern one religion from another, this tone of praise is pretty constant across many faiths, and you could very easily substitute Allah, Vishnu, or Akua in any of those statements, and you would be comfortably in the shoes of a different faith. And if you lived 3,000 years ago, you could insert El or Zeus in these statements of reverence and be just as at-home there too.

My post was a literal collection of phrases, worship song lyrics, and scriptures that I've heard over my lifetime acclaiming people's love for god. I made none of it up myself, just strung it together into a couple paragraphs. And to create a satire showing this general euphoric tone that spans many faiths, I used the Purple Unicorn as my target of adoration. And hey, maybe there is someone out there who genuinely worships Purple Unicorn, and maybe they will find my passage inspiring.

Please note that it is never EVER my intention to offend anyone with my opinions, ideas, or conclusions. I do acknowledge however that the subject of religion is incredibly touchy, and any opinions regarding it (especially those that may reveal a disagreement or discrepancy) will inevitably offend someone. That's a risk that I am forced to take as I document my journey into the unknown. But it is never my direct intention to offend or deride or blaspheme. If you wanna make an omelette, yadda yadda. I am genuinely and earnestly researching as much as I can, then just relaying my conclusions based on the evidence I find. Or I'm just documenting my perspective of situations I've encountered. And sometimes I do insert some humor into the equation, and those of you who know me shouldn't find this a surprise at all. If we can't laugh at ourselves and the world around us, then why bother? Nothing I write here is ever to be taken as my declaration of the truth, but just me calling 'em as I see 'em.

I am very grateful for those of you who read the thoughts and opinions that I write here, contribute to the discussions that result (however constructive or incendiary they may be), or email me your private thoughts, or engross me with long chats in person. I consider many of you dear friends, and all your contributions are really helping me sort all this crazy shit out.

So I say a hearty "thank you" for reading, and "I apologize" if I've offended you, and "you're welcome" if I've inspired you, and "Hey I'm just trying to figure things out here" if I've challenged your beliefs, and "don't mention it" if I've made your faith stronger. And get ready because there's a good chance you may be any of the above in any future post I write here.