Little - Yellow - Different

Nuprin is ibuprofen. Yes, sorry. It is no different than Advil, and it is exactly the same thing as the small container marked CVS Ibuprofen.

But… is it really the same? It’s little, it’s yellow, and it doesn’t taste anything like a Hostess Twinkie. Some people still want what they want, and need what they need.

            There is a massive amount of research and development that goes into modern day pharmaceuticals, hence the wallet-gouging prices of Zoloft, Percodan, and Xanax. Imagine the aligning of forces and the great minds that came up with the little blue pill that allows men to once again think with their penises. Are these super drugs all they’re cracked up to be? They help some people a lot and with minimal side effects. Others have had severe reactions. Suicide. Isolation. Men have gone blind kids (and we’re not talking about for paddling their canoe too often).

            I advise against experimenting with and creating your own pharmaceuticals. In the case of modern day medicine, we have to work with what we’ve got. But when we do have the capacity to experiment and shape something that affects what many consider an equally important aspect of our lives, our spiritual health, we should. It’s not a stretch to say that religion can have severe side effects as well. Suicide. Murder. Killing (only added because Christians vehemently insist on differentiating it from murder). War. Rape. Torture. The list goes on: abuse, neglect, insanity, and etc…and etcetera…

The gods that have been passed down through the ages are magnificent examples of spiritual entities formed or discovered not by one human, but by the millions who worked on perfecting that god as well as they could. To take one of these as your god, after researching and finding the proper rituals and beliefs, is folly without making the god perfect for you. Spare yourself the headache of potentially harmful side effects. Make the god your own. If the god you like, at one time in history, demanded the cutting off of your pinky toe – how about cancel that condition? Maybe the god had other similarly offensive ideas at some point in history. Should gays and lesbians have to be put to death because one person on your god’s R&D team was an idiot?            

These are important things to contemplate when considering adopting a god of old. They are great gods to consider because they have interesting histories and backgrounds you may connect with. Dagon, Triton, and Aegir are three of many sea gods. These have potential for someone who likes to spend his or her time on the water. Take what you need, drop what you don’t, and adjust and tweak until you have the proper foundation to build upon. Unfortunately we can’t simply discard the ill effects of all drugs. We can do this with religion.

Tip of the week:

Don’t write a strange god’s name on the wall in blood just to freak out friends.

DIY Religion