Religion and I have a love/hate relationship.
I remember telling my friends in high school that I was so indifferent to religion that I would go to whatever faith whoever I was dating at the times was. One of my friends started laughing and said: "I can totally see you going to synagogue on Saturday, and then christians faith on Saturday, going to India, praising Buddha..."
And it was true. College certainly hasn't changed me. I still am indifferent about the religious aspect.
It seems like every religion is at fault for something horrible at one point of time. Catholics have the monks and priests that can not hold to their celibacy pledge. Prostestants were kicked out of England but then discriminated against every other belief that was inside of the U.S. and outside the U.S.. Christianity in general has ties to erasing culture all over the world. (Because God saves). And some intrepretations of the Muslim beliefs think that female circumcision is okay....I can go on.
Organized religion can be horrible. And it can lead to many other good things.
Finding 'God' or a religion can save you. It won't save everyone. But it can save some others. Faith is important in some people's lives and in others it isn't.
This is my belief. You believe what you want. Then let others believe what they want, too.
We only reach trouble with religion when one person tries telling another person what to do. Yes, have places of worship. (Or for atheist, non-worship places.) You can even worship here...
I remember telling my friends in high school that I was so indifferent to religion that I would go to whatever faith whoever I was dating at the times was. One of my friends started laughing and said: "I can totally see you going to synagogue on Saturday, and then christians faith on Saturday, going to India, praising Buddha..."
And it was true. College certainly hasn't changed me. I still am indifferent about the religious aspect.
It seems like every religion is at fault for something horrible at one point of time. Catholics have the monks and priests that can not hold to their celibacy pledge. Prostestants were kicked out of England but then discriminated against every other belief that was inside of the U.S. and outside the U.S.. Christianity in general has ties to erasing culture all over the world. (Because God saves). And some intrepretations of the Muslim beliefs think that female circumcision is okay....I can go on.
Organized religion can be horrible. And it can lead to many other good things.
Finding 'God' or a religion can save you. It won't save everyone. But it can save some others. Faith is important in some people's lives and in others it isn't.
This is my belief. You believe what you want. Then let others believe what they want, too.
We only reach trouble with religion when one person tries telling another person what to do. Yes, have places of worship. (Or for atheist, non-worship places.) You can even worship here...
[From the Steinfeldt Photography Collection of the Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest. Records]
Don't form hate groups to hate on other religions, or even to tell people what is the right religion. Just don't. Just mind your own business.
What's it hurting you if someone doesn't believe in your God? Your feelings?
Notice I say "believe". I know that there are some individuals out there who do more than just believe in 'God'. They discriminate, hate and push their beliefs on individuals who do not believe in their god. That's wrong.
God will save you. But that is your choice.
How can there be multiple forms of truth? Can a person say that a strawberry is blue instead of red? sure, but in reality, it is red.
ReplyDeleteAlso, of course religion is corrupt, Human beings are corrupt, and religion is a series of traditions made by man. This is why a person must find the the true heart of God, not the true heart of religion.
The Bible says that no one can come to the Father except through Jesus Christ. He who the Son sets free is free indeed. What other religion offers complete freedom? Judaism, sort of, but not complete freedom. Islam is more of a servant of Allah kind of deal. Buddha showed people how to forget about their problems.
What I am trying to say is that it is somewhat ignorant to say that a person can believe anything and it is all equal, because the truth is that all religions contradict each other so much that it is impossible for them to all be true.
and yes, this is from Rachel ;)
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ReplyDelete(oooops, I messed up my main point in the last post.)
ReplyDeleteHannah, this sort of thinking is why I am so conflicted when it comes to my more-recent-ish exploration of the Christian faith... Part of me wants to accept Jesus, but part of me... is conflicted because of my previous beliefs. Religion is so complicated!
As for Rachel's strawberry-truth-comment... A strawberry is red, even if someone SAYS it is blue. This is true. What's in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet. (yeah, I had to bring shakespeare into this!)... HOWEVER... for you, 'red' could be RED, and for me, 'red' COULD be your BLUE, though for me it is still 'red'. If you understand what I am trying to say?...
To me, it's all cultural relativism. If one believes that they will be saved by their god, then so be it. That is their belief. And if they are wrong... well, they really would never know. No one knows for sure.
Ohhhh, religion...