It’s interesting to witness people acknowledge their religion. At times they can be very fascinating, some absolute bonkers. I was brought up to believe that I should go to bible studies and use it as guidance to live a fulfilled life. They tell me it will keep me from making bad decisions and keep me away from the works of evil. That going to confession would grant you forgiveness of your sins. But does it actually stop people from committing the sins they made over and over? Does it mean that if I don’t follow a religion, I won’t have life fulfillment? Many believe that this is so, I couldn’t disagree more.
A lot of the religions are found to divide themselves from other people by saying that their ways are better than the other. Some have so many rules that they are restricted to freedom. Some, invented new rules out of greed and jealousy. Have you ever heard the story of a Sultan who got so jealous of men staring at his bride, he decreed that women were not to show off their beauty? During the reign of Safaris in the ottoman empire in the 16th century; that was the first time ‘veiling’ emerged as a symbol of social status amongst Muslims. It was more of a cultural practice than an Islamic practice. As time went by, various leaders would make their changes to their holy book to suit their needs. Think of the Anglican church, another great example. Henry VIII; he declared himself head of the Church and brought about the Anglican Church so he could divorce and marry someone else to bear him an heir to the throne. What a pimp.
The most fascinating religion I have discovered is Buddhism. Buddhism is a path of practice and spiritual development which leads insights to the true beauty of reality. A practice of meditation; a means by which you change yourself in order to develop the qualities of awareness, kindness and wisdom. It addresses itself to ALL people whatever their race, nationality or gender. It teaches to be fully responsible of our lives and doesn’t worship a ‘creator’ or ‘God’. Although I don’t practice Buddhism, it’s a religion in my opinion that makes more sense.
My family are very much Roman Catholics – but I don’t believe that it should take hours to pray for forgiveness or thank the “Lord” for the good things in life. It doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate things or don’t prevent myself from sin. It just means that I believe there’s no ‘being’ out there that I have to answer to. I believe that I should be thankful to my parents for creating stepping stones for opportunities and for teaching me right from wrong. I believe that the Bible teaches us examples of right and wrong, but it’s content restricts us from looking at other religions. Take the ten commandments as an example – the first commandment “Thou shalt have no other gods before me”. In the 19th century, scholars began to discover more inconsistencies and anomalies in the Bible. It has been theorized that the book was written during the time of King Josiah in the seventh century to propagate new laws strengthening the priesthood and creating an elite religion.
I have attended and witnessed various religious ceremonies and what I always gathered from them is the sense of community, however there’s certain hypocritical exploit that some of these goers convey after they have left these services. There’s always a string of people that gather and talk about other people in negative light, but it’s acceptable to them because they have faith.
We should all be open to understanding other religions and be able to tell future generations that it’s OK not to follow a faith. If we didn’t know about ‘God’ but we’re still respectful and kind, does that make us bad people? Does that restrict us from having a ‘passage’ to the afterlife? I don’t think so.
It’s simple. Be nice, respectful and follow your passions in life. No religion can make life better for you- only you can do that if you choose to.
Art of Words 