Religion

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Religious beliefs can be very powerful. They serve as a guiding light in a world that can at times be dark and scary. Yet, religions are also continuously used to justify discrimination. The idea that heaven is only available to those that prescribe to a certain faith, tends to result in an innate superiority, which is then used to justify the following inevitable discrimination. If God only allows people of my religion into heaven, then obviously whatever my religion says is correct, is correct. Therefore I have a right, no duty, to make everyone conform to my beliefs, in order that they, too, can get into heaven. And anyone who does not conform can be dealt with however we see fit because they are choosing to go against God. This is a very powerful idea, but it is also one that we should fight against. Many who discriminate get caught up on the specific rituals, traditions, etc of their religion and neglect the most fundamental teachings of it. It is these fundamentals that prove that it doesn’t matter what your religion is because most, if not all, religions have the same basic foundations and it is from these foundations that the truth emerges. It was never meant to be about the specifics, only about the concepts.

My background is Christianity, however, I have never been an overly religious person. When I was younger, it always bothered me that just by accident of birth, some people would be going to heaven and others would not. What about the people who lived before that religion was founded? What about the people who had never even heard of that religion? Does that mean the person, who might have lived the most saint-like life in history, would go to hell because he/she just wasn’t baptised in the right religion? I just couldn’t understand how one religion could be so right and another one so wrong. Yet, at the same time I’m not anti-religion. I can see the value and meaning that religions bring to a lot of people, not to mention that a lot of the underlying concepts made sense to me. The idea of peace, love, harmony. Don’t steal. Don’t murder. Do unto others as you would have them do to you. Basically practice love and compassion, and don’t harm others. As I got older and became more aware of other religions, I saw that they too had these same underlying concepts. There is not a religion out there that instructs their followers to hurt or harm others. (Side note: There may be people out there that use their religion to harm or to instruct others to do harm, but these people are actually corrupting the true intent of their religion.) Anyway these general ideas encompass all religions and so then it is only in the details, the specific rituals or traditions, that religions begin to differentiate from one another.

Now as your average person just trying to figure this whole life thing out, I have chosen to forgo the specific rituals or traditions of any one religion and instead focus on the general, universal principles that all of them preach. This method works for me. It enables me to stay open to new ideas that may be found in other religions, ones that I would not have necessarily encountered if I was strictly adhering to my own religion. This idea is not new. It is basically the idea of omnism, or the idea of recognising and respecting all religions or no religion with the understanding that there is truth in all of them. For me then all religions have the same basic concepts that I mentioned earlier and it is from these basic concepts that the universal truth of belief is formed. However, this method may not work for you and that is ok. There is nothing wrong with wanting to stick with the religion that you grew up with or that you know best. The main thing, though, is to remember that all religions (and even atheists and agnostics) tend to live by these same general principles, so there is no need to fear the other. Using your religion to discriminate or harm someone who has different views, is not the true intent of any religion and this is what should be discouraged, not religion itself. So whatever your religion may be, if it serves a purpose in your life that makes your life more fulfilling, that is a good thing. We should embrace the diversity that is out there. Be joyful that your God, my God, their God, all Gods, or even no God, has created a world that has developed such unique diversity, but with the same underlying heart of love. We really are all the same. We have the same worries, the same fears, the same desires. And in the end, all any of us really want is to just be happy. So please don’t read this as detracting from your own religious beliefs, that is not my intent. Instead, I want you to read this in a way that may complement and potentially strengthen your own beliefs, while also developing respect for other’s beliefs.