I've struggled with religion over the years. I was raised Christian
- Dear God, please let me win the lottery so I can take over the world
And adopt all the cats. Okay, thanks, bye!
After my sister's suicide when I was 17, I became atheist.
- Dear God, why would you do that? You're a jerk and I'm leaving. Bye!
Then I discovered Buddhism.
- Dear Buddha, your Eightfold path sounds super chill. Great job, dude
And finally, I have settled on being Agnostic.
- Dear aliens, or the FBI, or my brother, whoever's listening, really,
If there is a higher power I couldn't comprehend it, much like an ant can't comprehend
self-employment tax under annual return forms. And therefore
I will be satisfied knowing that I can't possibly know.
From my experience, spirituality is something my generation doesn't really look at.
You know, we don't really question it. We're not encouraged to meditate
And when we try to - holy shit, is it hard.
[screams] - This is so boring! I got shit to do!
I'm also not a big fan of organized religion. I don't understand how we can
have a one-size-fits-all book of rules for all of humanity and we can claim to know where we go after we die
when we can't even explain the phenomenons that happen at the subatomic level
- The results are in...and we now know...that we know nothing!
[cheering]
- In fact, these new results call everything that we thought we knew
Into question!
[cheering]
- We are scientists!
Should I believe in God? And if so, which one should I believe in?
You know, should I believe in the traditional Western version of God
where he's this omnipotent dude who sits in the sky and watches
everything that I do because he's got a subscription to me?
- Please let me win the lottery so I can take over the world and adopt all the cats.
- How does she know her destiny?
- How do I do a memory wipe?
[groans] - Damned thing. I need some batteries.
And I want to believe there's a God out there who's looking out for me,
looking out for everyone else.
But when I really think about all of the horrible things that happen on Earth
I just - I just can't believe it.
Is there a higher power out there that kind of like guides us through the Universe
or are we all connected somehow? Is there some kind of, like, divine energy
flowing through?
I mean, I would really like to believe that. But don't get me wrong -
to each their own.
If a religion resonates with you and if it makes you want to be a better person
then absolutely follow it. I'm just saying we should all come to our own
conclusions based on our own life experiences and find a spirituality
that really rings true for us.
You know, for me, my beliefs have been kind of fluid and evolving
throughout my life and I kind of expect them to continue to be.
But what about you? Am I going to regret asking this question
and doing a whole video on this topic? Am I opening a can of worms?
Let me know. I'm Anna Akana - stay awesome, Gotham.
I'd like to thank Audible for sponsoring today's episode.
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The trees.
Currently I'm listening to "Room" by Emma Donoghue because it is a daring
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Mother Earth - out.