Nowadays, its really hard to grow up in a household following an organized religion. As a young kid, I grew up thinking that the only way to go to heaven was to spend hours on end reading the bible, giving all your worldly possessions away, and going to church every Sunday. I mean, literally, if you missed a SINGLE Sunday mass, you were going straight to hell. It is so hard to get a good view of religion unless you look at it from a comparative point of view. Most religions are too worried about attracting the most believers or imposing their will upon their respective congregations to really care how or why the mortal human chooses to live in sin. For example, at the end of a typical day I would look at a girl and feel dirty because I find her attractive. According to my religion, it's wrong to look at a woman, wrong to touch a woman, yet, somehow we must get married and procreate irresponsibly because every sperm is sacred. Folks, this is not the point of religion.
As I grow up, people tell me that I WILL, no ands, ifs or buts that I will go to hell if I don't start attending THEIR specific church. That they are the only branch of Christianity (or any other religion) that tells it like it is, and all others are simply wrong and bound to spend eternity of damnation. They all preach morality and obedience. Meanwhile these people tell you to follow their views, or they will kill you.
This brings me to one thought if the point of religion is to guide one to live a virtuous, purposeful, and meaningful life, then arent all religions just as equal in the eyes of God? So why do we continue to fight over whose denomination is the most right? Killing others in God's name is wrong. Christians fighting and killing other Christians over whose is the right religion is wrong.
Religion is not just sitting in a building praying. While granted, yes, that is technically part of it, there's more to it. You can't attend church on Sunday, treat people like shit Monday through Saturday, and expect to be a saved soul. Religion is living a good life, and avoiding problems by being the best person you can. It doesnt really matter if a person chooses not to eat meat on Friday, if another chooses to fast during Passover, or if one chooses not to work on Sunday. We are all equal in the eyes of God. The sooner we realize this, the sooner we can come to grip with the reality that no one is any better than anyone else.
If an angel told you right now This life as you now live it and have lived it, you will have to live once more and innumerable times more, would you curse it or be thankful? If you could happily live an eternity contently in the life you lead, then you have done more than any religion could ever do. You have found meaning and purpose to a world that by nature is irrational and inconstant.
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