What religion is - is a way of life. You either got to be really committed to the way of life [principles.. you believe in] to be die hard religious or you must be really submissive or pretty weak-kneed. Now i am not talking about the also-rans here. And there's a huge percentage of them out there. This is about the ones that are 'religious'. And there are the ones that are 'not religious'. Its these two that make or can make a difference. Because its these that the other huge chunk of also-ran's follow.
My thoughts on religion have always been 'whatever makes you sleep well at night'. Its your choice and its fine with me as long as you keep it to yourself and not try to impose the same on someone else. I don't care if you cut your ends or whatever you feel like to be part of what you believe - as long as its yours [and by yours i dont mean philosophically or whatever. Yours means physically or whatever directly is yours] that you cut. I don't plain care. Like i said - 'Whatever makes you feel cosy in your bed'.
So - why i am babbling on .. on religion. Here's why. I was at a church watching a pretty eloborate [and when i say that.. i mean eloborate in all senses of the word] and surprisingly well produced/played.. whatever.. Easter day celebration show of the story of Jesus - which got me thinking. I like the play - not for what it depicted - but for the performances and the organization. Towards the end of it - as part of the show there were a few poeple who came on stage and basically talked about how 'Jesus' had turned their lives around. They had playcards that they displayed. Something like first they would display one side of the card saying 'Addicted to meth' and then they would show the other side saying 'dependent on Jesus'. Another was 'Spent time in Jail' and 'Found Freedom in Jesus'. And i thought - "good for you guys". again like i said - 'Whatever makes you sleep well at night'. For me these are people who found solace in something - and that something happenned to be religion. Thats real good - isn't it? Nothing like a warm blanket when the night's cold.
We humans are social animals. We don't seem to feel so well alone. There's a few exceptions. But generally - Social animals. We need to have the feeling of belonging to something bigger -a bigger group - which in turn believes in something more powerful - powerful enough to protect us - do anything - everything for us. Something we can leave our worries to. And its all good. But i find it all a bit selfish. Everyone seems to be preaching that religion is all about the greater good of the people. I tend to understand it differently. Selfish. Its about following the 'path of God' to attain salvation. And what is salvation - a chance to spend the after life in paradise. Its like saving up for retirement. Which is something you are doing for yourself. Its not for the good of someone else. Its for yourself. Then why the hypocricy of saying 'Its for the good of all humankind'.
The question that came to mind is how many of these 'relgious' or 'non-religious' people would give up what they love most - if they had to make the choice for the greater good of humankind.
example: How many pastors would give up 'christianity' or how many rabbis would give up their faith - if they were given a true option that if they give up their religion no child around the world would ever have to die of hunger ever. Now that's not an impossible thing to do.. but very improbable. But well - what goes- If they were told you can make this happen and they believed that this could be made possible if they gave up their religion - would they do it?
Its like asking me - no more food ever in your life - all you can eat is this tablet every day and that will keep you alive. Its not impossible - i guess if there were such a tablet - and if the bet was sure - I might..hmm... i will do it. But the question is not about me and food. Its about religion and the 'religious'. How many of the one's that preach religion will make this choice. Will the pope give up his faith if he was given this option?
1 comment:
You might appreciate RGV's writeup on how religion developed -- its on his blog -- just google it..
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