  * Disclaimer*  if you are sensitive about your religious beliefs or are easily offended by strong religious philosophy then i suggest you not read this post . i am not trying to offend anyone or hurt anyone's feelings.  i am simply writing my thoughts. and i realize there are philosophical holes in my thinking but since they are my thoughts i get to have it that way.
if you read it and are offended,  please forgive me,  it is not my intention.  More and more i find myself thinking that maybe organized religion is not the best way to connect with God.  Which i think is the entire purpose of religion to begin with,  connecting with a higher power on a spiritual level.
 Realizing our limited existence and how ignorant we are of the truth.  But is an organized religion necessary to accomplish this ?  Perhaps a religion helps but does it have to be one of the major religions ?  Why cant a person follow a set of ideas or principles,  even rituals without having to subscribe to the entire kit 'n kaboodle package of a particular religion.  Im sure most of you are thinking that I just want to pick and choose my religious beliefs.
 I would argue that this is not the case.  I really think that without an organized religion perhaps we as mankind could achieve a higher spirituality and certainly more peace than with religion.  Why ?  Look at all the wonderful things religion has brought us. how many millions of people through out the span of time have claimed that in the name of religion they have started wars,  killed others,
 taken over thrones and tried to convert others.  Granted some of these things may have happened anyway without organized religion but the fact is that religion was the justification for so many actions.  Recently and anciently man has used religion to justify his reasons for lots of things. especially war.  this is just one small example of what i am talking about.  More to the point,
 i find many people try to take religion too literally. they expect that their religion will tell them about every single thing in this world and how to deal with it as well.  The truth is that no book or religion talks about some things that have come into our lives. like the internet,  or deep space travel or stem cell research. the fact remains that no religion explicitly forbids researching on stem cells or using the internet.
so how can one say that a religion encompassses everything. Truthfully,  the religions of the world are based on ancient societies and have the most relevance to those worlds. The time of Moses,  Jesus,  or Mohammad (
Peace be upon them)  the religions of the world apply to their time,  not ours.  But despite this I will say that every religion's teachings are applicable to this world and are timeless.  But not in a literal sense,  the teachings are guides to Help us along the path of righteousness.
along the path of good.  ( i sound like yoda)  i do not believe they are meant to be taken literally,  word for word. rather they are meant to be interpreted.
which is why i feel that organized religion prohibits the interpretation of the teachings. because every person's interpretation will be different,  and thus making organized religion rather difficult with so many different interpretations. but the fact is that within each religious sect there are many divisions anyway,  so why do we continue to try to make everyone believe one way of thinking.  i dont think there is ONE right path.
i believe we are all on many roads to the same end. no religion preaches being evil or mean to one another. they all teach peace and love for the world. respect all men as you would respect your brother. whatever changes man has made to God's word is our mistake,  not that of God or the message He has sent to Help us.
exclusivist thinking of religion has only served to divide man and cause death and destruction in its wake. look at history and see how many wars have been fought in the name of God's Will. including this war we fight today. the extreme- ists on both sides say they are doing God's work,  on one religious extreme you have Osama Bin Laden and on the other you have George W.
 Bush. both screaming out to the people of the world that they are doing God's work,  by fighting the evil in the world. sadly both men are deluded in their thinking. I do not believe that God would ever want war,  He would never want his creation to destroy itself just as you would not want your brothers to destroy themselves.
so then why do so many claim it is God's will to destroy the very thing God created out of His love ?  I dont understand it.  No,  mankind must continue to force our will upon one another. we will always say " I AM RIGHT"
 and fight over it. and claim that it is the way of our religion. that it teaches us to do these things when in fact no religion teaches war. no religion teaches murder. rather than try to spend our short time on this world in peace or even trying to achieve peace we seek to destroy everything we have created in the name of religion when in fact it is nothing more than greed. its human beings who have indeed perverted God's message.
and it is in no way a small perversion. the major religions of this world in no way resemble God's message of peace,  love,  and respect for your fellow human beings. they stand for war,  hate and arrogance.
 these religions dare to render judgement on every one else on the planet. the clerics,  clergymen and imams dare to play God and tell us who will be going to Heaven and who will be going to Hell. if there is such a place. they tell us that if you say these few words,  that somehow you will be saved from the eternal damnation of Hell.
and we all cower in fear before the thought of such punishment. who are these people to say who is right and who is wrong ?  they are more concerned with the transgressions of the rest of the world and somehow overlook their own mistakes. they want to act as if they are higher or better than the rest of humanity. that somehow they are the " chosen"
 people . God has given them His blessing they say and that allows them to look down their noses at the rest of the world. all these religions teach humbleness yet all of these religious believers will tell you how they are the ones who are going to Heaven and everyone else isnt. is this humble?  how can you render judgement on someone when you have no idea what the basis of the judgement is ?  only God knows what He will judge and who is going to go to Heaven or not.
 On a personal level,  this idea that this world is a test ( which is something that i have been taught since i was little)  and nothing more than a test completely trivializes the existence we have on this earth. why would God create us and give us life,  free will,
 and intelligence,  only to test us ?  based on rules that He sent down thousands of years ago ?  for a moment look at how God is portrayed in the major religions. on the one hand He is kind,  forgiving,
 merciful and full of love. on the other hand He is angry,  vengeful,  and vindictive. if you dont do what He says when He says it,  you are in a world of trouble.
He punishes those who do not say the words that He wants mankind to say,  or those who do not eat what He wants them to eat,  or eat what He wants them not to eat. now i am not trying to be disrespectful,  but either we as mankind are very confused as to the temperment of God ,  or God himself has one hell of an identity crisis.
I take issue with the idea that this life is a test,  God didnt create us just to test us to see if we will do what He says. if He wanted us to do what He says,  then He wouldnt have given us free will. He created us out of His love for us. He loves us so much that He would rather give us free will to do as we please rather than control us.
Much like a parent,  He is perfect in his philosophy that He does not want us to do anything that we do not want to do. thats why we have free willl. we dont have free will just to have it controlled by our mommy or daddy,  or our religion,  or society or by God himself.
if we choose to thank him for what He has blessed us with,  if we choose to appreciate the wonderful world He has given us that is for our benefit. not his. He does not need anything from us. He doesnt need our prayers,  rituals or worship.
if God did need us to pray to him,  tHen He wouldnt be much of a God would He. He would be an ego- filled,  self- centered tyrant who only is pacified by having his minions bow before him at his every whim.
NO,  that is NOT God. God is the most loving,  caring being this universe knows and He has given us this world so that we may reach peace and happiness while we live. and He has given us guidelines to use to try to get to that peace and happiness.  Why do we give God human qualities ?
 If he is not human,  why do we make God out to be angry,  happy,  or sad ?  We say that if you pray to God,  then he is happy and if you do something bad then he is mad.
If God is a perfect being,  all loving,  all knowing,  and all powerful. why does he get mad ?  Wouldnt getting mad go against being all loving ?
 Isnt that a contradiction ?  This goes back to my point about mankind being confused about the temperment of God. either we are confused or God himself is confused,  you can pick which one. God is something beyond definition,  beyond our understanding yet we have defined him in very finite ways,
 human ways. we have given him a throne,  a pattern of behavior and in some religions,  a son. all human qualities,  if God does indeed defy definition then why are we defining him ?
 Are we that uncomfortable with the thought of a being that is beyond our understanding that we have to limit our definition of God ?  Sadly,  i would say yes we are.  Im not living on this earth so that i can reach some higher plain of existence in a next life at the expense of my life here on earth. I am trying to live as a good person in this world b/ c i think it will bring me happiness during my life here.
and that is the most important part of " religion"  .  living well. the minor details that we all have heart attacks over,  like what we should be wearing,
 whether or not we should get tatoos,  eat pork,  or wear makeup. all of that is moot if you are living as an arrogant,  selfish person. if there is going to be a jugdement at the end of the world what do you think God is going to care more about ?
 Whether or not you ate the right foods or wore the right clothes ?  OR Did you help your fellow man,  make others feel good and take care of your family ?  In my opinion that is what is most important and that is what we should be concerned about. living as a good human being.
