It's time to address a subject everyone avoids talking about because they don't want to offend anyone. Religion.
I will start with my background. I was raised strict Catholic through my Junior year in high school when I was confirmed. As the years went on, I began to distance myself from the church for a few different reasons. I didn't believe in praying to the Virgin Mary, I didn't like the concept of reciting that I believed in one Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, and I didn't like how the religion I was raised believing spoke from a stance that they were right and everyone else was wrong.
For years I was exploring different churches in my area, and what I found was that each one had some of the same traits that turned me off of my original church. Then the day came where a friend of mine said I should come to his church. I went on that Sunday, and it started out with a peer group where we sat in rooms with people around the same age and discussed parts of the Bible, while a room leader led the meeting.
This particular room leader was in his 30's and invited me to stand and tell the story of what ultimately brought me to their church. I kindly shared, and the room leader proceeded to say that he hoped I would stay and choose their church regularly, but then it went sideways from there. He said that he felt they could, 'SAVE' me. As soon as that came out of his mouth, I stood up and walked out of the church, my friend following because he knew the church had lost me forever in that moment.
There are over 475 mainstream religions in this world we live in today, and each religion holds itself apart from the others in some way. There are Christian and Non-Christian religions. What bothers me greatly is when people state that their specific belief structure is the only right one in the world, and everyone else with different beliefs is just plain wrong.
There's one thing that is standing in front of anyone, and I mean anyone, being able to make that claim, and that is Fact. What people with different belief structures around the world have is not Fact, but Faith. Faith is the strong belief in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof. There is no proof. If there were proof, the world would look very different today than it does. If any one religion had tangible proof that their religion was the 'right' religion, everyone in the world would jump on that bandwagon. But instead, we have hundreds of religions in this world, not one. Why, because all we have is Faith, not Fact.
Most mainstream religions have very similar moral standards. They say to do good unto others, live life in a moral fashion, and if you sin, make up for it through good deeds and sacrifice; among other things. I hear Christians constantly denigrate Muslims and Muslims denigrate Christians. Why? Neither group has any founding in fact. They both have Faith carrying their beliefs and have no reason to denigrate anyone of another belief structure.
Let's look at the world through a different lens for a moment. I was in Iraq from the beginning of the war in 2003 until halfway through 2004. This was a country that was under Totalitarian Rule for decades. Saddam decided what would be shown on television and heard on the radio, what books would be allowed in the library, etc. The lives of millions were sheltered from the outside world and they were taught on a daily basis that Americans were evil and spawned from the Devil; all deserving to die.
When I was in Iraq looking down the barrel of my machine gun at an Iraqi, what I saw was a man who was in his 30's with a family; a man whose mind had been devoid of independent thoughts since birth. This was a man who truly believed he was fighting for his family and country against the enemy. He had never been able to think otherwise in life, and his hatred for me and my brothers and sisters-in-arms was not his fault. How, in any religious belief structure, can I hold that man's actions and beliefs against him when he had never had the ability to think for himself, and had been brainwashed his entire life? A true religion would see past the surface of that man's actions and accept him just as they accept their own. Most religions do not think that way.
No Deity (notice I am not offering a name of a higher power here) is ever going to stick their head out of the clouds in the sky and say, "Catholics, you come with me and everyone else can go to hell." It would go more like, "Those of you who have lived moral lives, done good unto others, been accepting of those who are different, and tried to make up for your missteps through hard work and sacrifice, you can come with me. Those who have never been given a chance at a moral life, you can come with me." You get the point. No one religion can claim to be right, because there is no Fact, only Faith.
Church doesn't need to be in a beautiful building with stained glass and expensive fixtures. Church should be able to be held in a home, or a barn. You should be able to bring people of different religious belief structures together to celebrate what is great about living a moral life. It isn't about being Christian or Muslim or Buddhist, etc., it is about celebrating the moral fibers that connect all religions and make them all special.
Churches were created by Man to make sense out of a world that is literally unbelievable, and in many cases to scare and control the masses. Churches have their own rules and regulations. Some churches don't allow you to smoke or drink, and some do. Some don't believe in divorce, and some do. The basic rules and regulations of different churches should not cause people of those different churches to think ill of others of different beliefs. But they do, because people are taught to look down on others who don't believe the same. People are taught that you need to 'SAVE' others of different faiths and bring them over to your faith. That is ludicrous.
What has caused more death through war than anything else in history? Religion. It shouldn't be that way, but throughout history, it has been. Over the years, this is what my belief structure has changed to. I am essentially agnostic at this point in my life. I believe that there is a higher power in charge of all of this, because how could there not be? I believe that our lives are larger than their physical presence on this Earth, but I cannot even begin to explain how, because I don't know.
What I do know is that a person of true faith in any religion is generally taught to live a moral life, and I respect that. I respect people with strong faith who try to live lives that are moral, try to help others in need, and try to stick up for others who are treated badly in life. What I don't respect is someone telling me that their religion is right, all others are wrong, and if I am not with them I am wrong.
So here are my words of wisdom. Instead of preaching your beliefs the next time you are in a religions conversation, find those things that you have in common with the person you are talking to about religion. You might be surprised. Also, don't ever use the words FACT or PROOF when talking about religion, as FAITH is what you have, not either of those other things.
I love religion, and I love any organization that promotes good behaviors, helping others, etc., but what most mainstream religions have to do in the world today is end their compartmentalization and join together to truly make the world a better place.
DUNK
I will start with my background. I was raised strict Catholic through my Junior year in high school when I was confirmed. As the years went on, I began to distance myself from the church for a few different reasons. I didn't believe in praying to the Virgin Mary, I didn't like the concept of reciting that I believed in one Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, and I didn't like how the religion I was raised believing spoke from a stance that they were right and everyone else was wrong.
For years I was exploring different churches in my area, and what I found was that each one had some of the same traits that turned me off of my original church. Then the day came where a friend of mine said I should come to his church. I went on that Sunday, and it started out with a peer group where we sat in rooms with people around the same age and discussed parts of the Bible, while a room leader led the meeting.
This particular room leader was in his 30's and invited me to stand and tell the story of what ultimately brought me to their church. I kindly shared, and the room leader proceeded to say that he hoped I would stay and choose their church regularly, but then it went sideways from there. He said that he felt they could, 'SAVE' me. As soon as that came out of his mouth, I stood up and walked out of the church, my friend following because he knew the church had lost me forever in that moment.
There are over 475 mainstream religions in this world we live in today, and each religion holds itself apart from the others in some way. There are Christian and Non-Christian religions. What bothers me greatly is when people state that their specific belief structure is the only right one in the world, and everyone else with different beliefs is just plain wrong.
There's one thing that is standing in front of anyone, and I mean anyone, being able to make that claim, and that is Fact. What people with different belief structures around the world have is not Fact, but Faith. Faith is the strong belief in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof. There is no proof. If there were proof, the world would look very different today than it does. If any one religion had tangible proof that their religion was the 'right' religion, everyone in the world would jump on that bandwagon. But instead, we have hundreds of religions in this world, not one. Why, because all we have is Faith, not Fact.
Most mainstream religions have very similar moral standards. They say to do good unto others, live life in a moral fashion, and if you sin, make up for it through good deeds and sacrifice; among other things. I hear Christians constantly denigrate Muslims and Muslims denigrate Christians. Why? Neither group has any founding in fact. They both have Faith carrying their beliefs and have no reason to denigrate anyone of another belief structure.
Let's look at the world through a different lens for a moment. I was in Iraq from the beginning of the war in 2003 until halfway through 2004. This was a country that was under Totalitarian Rule for decades. Saddam decided what would be shown on television and heard on the radio, what books would be allowed in the library, etc. The lives of millions were sheltered from the outside world and they were taught on a daily basis that Americans were evil and spawned from the Devil; all deserving to die.
When I was in Iraq looking down the barrel of my machine gun at an Iraqi, what I saw was a man who was in his 30's with a family; a man whose mind had been devoid of independent thoughts since birth. This was a man who truly believed he was fighting for his family and country against the enemy. He had never been able to think otherwise in life, and his hatred for me and my brothers and sisters-in-arms was not his fault. How, in any religious belief structure, can I hold that man's actions and beliefs against him when he had never had the ability to think for himself, and had been brainwashed his entire life? A true religion would see past the surface of that man's actions and accept him just as they accept their own. Most religions do not think that way.
No Deity (notice I am not offering a name of a higher power here) is ever going to stick their head out of the clouds in the sky and say, "Catholics, you come with me and everyone else can go to hell." It would go more like, "Those of you who have lived moral lives, done good unto others, been accepting of those who are different, and tried to make up for your missteps through hard work and sacrifice, you can come with me. Those who have never been given a chance at a moral life, you can come with me." You get the point. No one religion can claim to be right, because there is no Fact, only Faith.
Church doesn't need to be in a beautiful building with stained glass and expensive fixtures. Church should be able to be held in a home, or a barn. You should be able to bring people of different religious belief structures together to celebrate what is great about living a moral life. It isn't about being Christian or Muslim or Buddhist, etc., it is about celebrating the moral fibers that connect all religions and make them all special.
Churches were created by Man to make sense out of a world that is literally unbelievable, and in many cases to scare and control the masses. Churches have their own rules and regulations. Some churches don't allow you to smoke or drink, and some do. Some don't believe in divorce, and some do. The basic rules and regulations of different churches should not cause people of those different churches to think ill of others of different beliefs. But they do, because people are taught to look down on others who don't believe the same. People are taught that you need to 'SAVE' others of different faiths and bring them over to your faith. That is ludicrous.
What has caused more death through war than anything else in history? Religion. It shouldn't be that way, but throughout history, it has been. Over the years, this is what my belief structure has changed to. I am essentially agnostic at this point in my life. I believe that there is a higher power in charge of all of this, because how could there not be? I believe that our lives are larger than their physical presence on this Earth, but I cannot even begin to explain how, because I don't know.
What I do know is that a person of true faith in any religion is generally taught to live a moral life, and I respect that. I respect people with strong faith who try to live lives that are moral, try to help others in need, and try to stick up for others who are treated badly in life. What I don't respect is someone telling me that their religion is right, all others are wrong, and if I am not with them I am wrong.
So here are my words of wisdom. Instead of preaching your beliefs the next time you are in a religions conversation, find those things that you have in common with the person you are talking to about religion. You might be surprised. Also, don't ever use the words FACT or PROOF when talking about religion, as FAITH is what you have, not either of those other things.
I love religion, and I love any organization that promotes good behaviors, helping others, etc., but what most mainstream religions have to do in the world today is end their compartmentalization and join together to truly make the world a better place.
DUNK
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