Theology and twitter: an unlikely pair?

Every third Wednesday of the month, since January, I have been attending "Theology At The Bottleworks." It's a group discussion on various topics, ranging from technology to euthanasia, hosted by a non-denominational Christian church (from South City) at Schlafly. There are always at least 40 people there, but not all of them are associated with the church. I see it as more of a philosophical than theological debate, although they usually talk about God for at least a few minutes. I never speak up, but I like listening to the various points of view and reevaluating my opinions.

I'm noticing a trend, though. See, I become rather bored, irritated, or both whenever someone talks about religion. I suppose God becomes the natural role model for the ethical scenarios, but it seems like including Him/Her/It is too subjective for a proper debate. In other words, I guess this means I am currently agnostic. I like to believe in a higher power, but I don't think I have to commit myself to a specific set of man-made rules to confirm it. I just don't think it matters all that much, and I see plenty of similarities in the different religions. No one can fully prove or disprove the existence of God in the first place, so who am I to choose sides and point fingers? Who is anyone? If you consider the amount of destruction that has been done in the "name of God" and the intolerance that it often breeds, it seems like so many people are missing the point.

I owe sufficient credit to the terrorists as well as the Bush administration for sparking these revelations, actually. Religion can warp someone's perspective and cloud his or her judgment, to the point where "good" and "bad" are almost indistinguishable. God and religion are not necessary components of a good person, anyway. In fact, sometimes those things hurt more than help. I respect that some people want or need religion to guide them, but I also respect that some people don't. Can't we all just get along? Maybe I just need a break from the almost theocratic rule of the recent past, at least enough time for that disdain to subside.

I digress. This month's topic was "The Impact of Technology on the American Way of Life." We talked about the iphone and twitter and blah blah blah. Technology good, abusing that power bad. Overall, the discussion would have been too superficial and agreeable for my taste this time, but my tastes were persuaded by delicious 4-year anniversary cake, pita bread with hummus, and beer. :)

By the way, in my humble opinion, twitter is pretty much the most self-centered, irrelevant thing on the internet. Okay, one could argue that having a blog is self-centered, but I like to think that someone is getting something of substance out of it, occasionally. (I would be writing this stuff somewhere else, anyway.) This is another outlet of expression for me. Twitter just seems so excessive. Who wants to know what I am doing or thinking at all times, and what would compel me to tell them? The answer is that they don't want to know; or, if they did, I would need a restraining order and they would need some hobbies and friends. Too harsh? You be the judge.

Well, I think it's pretty obvious that I needed to get that off my chest. Until next time...