I hate and love this time of year. I love the awakening of the earth from its long winter slumber. The flowers are blooming as are the trees. And with this comes wicked allergies. I take allergy medication and a ton of orange juice but that doesn't stop the dreaded sinus infection that always comes. So this morning I awoke with said infection. Time to pull out the heavy guns.......saline rinses. UGH!!!
We are now about to begin Holy Week. Commencing tomorrow with Palm Sunday. This brings me back to religion. What is religion? St. Augustine said that we all know what religion is until someone asks us to describe it. Karl Marx said, "Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation. It is the opiate of the people." "Religion consists in a set of things which the average man thinks he believes and wishes he was certain of."—Mark Twain. Emile Durkheim said, what I believe is a substantial definition, "A religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden—beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral community called a Church, all those who adhere to them."
I said earlier that I believe there is a divine spark in all of us. We are born with the knowledge of God within us all. Religion is not something we are born with. Religion is a man made concept, an attempt to explain the unexplainable, to control our environment, to control our desires and actions, and to be part of a community. Without the unity of religion, civilization and society would not exist today.
I believe God has revealed himself to mankind over and over again from the beginning of man. He has revealed himself in terms that we, at the time, could comprehend. I believe that all the beliefs of today, whether you're Buddhist, Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Pagan or any other myriad of beliefs stems from God communicating with us. If I look at every major religion, the core values are almost all the same. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
The problem with all religions is not the message from God, but the ignorance of man. Man places limitations on others out of fear, intolerance, ignorance, and/or a desire to dominate. The teachings of Jesus, Mohammad, or Buddha are pure in the ideals that they espoused. Today's religions have strayed far from the truth. Instead of tolerance we have extremism; instead of charity we have war in the name of God; instead of love we have hatred for all that is different from us. These are not the values my God has revealed to me.
Religions should be at the forefront of the educational evolution of man. Instead, the religious leaders of today are taking their holy books and wrapping them up in dogmatic and ideological principals that neither help nor develop mankind. This way of thinking does not allow mankind to grow, to better understand themselves and their environments, and keeps man deep in superstition and suspicion.
For example, some Christian movements declare every word of the bible to be the word of God, thus it is infallible and must be taken literally. If this is the case, then the Bible is dead. To ignore the political and social time periods in which the books were written is to deny oneself a true understanding of the words and ideals contained therein. To say that mankind must have the same mindset as those who lived over 2,000 years ago, is to entrust mankind to a future of superstition and fear. God gave mankind the desire to learn, to explore, and to push the boundaries of what is accepted belief. To ignore what these discoveries have brought us, and to cling to a belief system of societies thousands of years before ours, is to deny the gifts God has given us by means of science, medicine, and education. Yes there are core principals that we should adhere to: i.e. Do not covet they neighbors wife, Do not bear false witness against thy neighbor, Do not kill; but we also need to recognize that some principals no longer apply to our society.
I am an ex-Catholic. I accepted Catholicism when I was a teenager as a way of escaping my family. I found in the church a refuge where I could think and pray, and for a brief period, be at peace with myself and my surroundings. As I grew older I thought I had felt the "calling of God" to become a priest. I studied and prayed that he would give me guidance. A few weeks before I was to enter into seminary, I met my ex-wife and I knew that God was calling me for something different, but my Catholicism never left me.
The older I got the more disillusioned with the church I became. I noticed that church had gone from teaching the words of Christ, to something I am sure even Christ would not recognize today. I see a church so wrapped up in tradition and dogma that it is becoming unable to change and to grow. I heard a cardinal once say, "Societies change and people change, but the church should not change." The church is so afraid of losing it's power, that instead of embracing change as people's knowledge grows and understanding replaces ignorance, it holds steady to antiquated policies that no longer apply. The church would rather lose its relevance in people's lives than change and adapt.
So what is religion to me? I don't know. I have yet to find a community that believes as I believe. I have yet to find something that allows me to grow as a person yet hold onto the traditions I treasure.
I don't believe that one man should have the power to control the thoughts and ideology of another. I don't believe there is one path, and one path only, to know God. I don't believe there is any "right" religion; as all men think differently according to their individual social, educational, and economic background. I don't believe that being heterosexual is any more right than being homosexual; we are what God made us. To deny this, in my belief, is in someway to deny the infallibility of God. I do not believe that because someone is of a different race, creed, sexuality, ancestral background, or sex than I am makes them less of a person or in any way not equal to me. I believe he made all of us different so that we, as humans, can grow and learn through our differences.
I know that I believe all people are the divine creation of God. No matter whether you are black, white, red, yellow, gay, straight, or some combination, we are all his creation. I believe in the infallibility of God. I believe that God has a wicked sense of humor, i.e...the platypus. Above all, I believe God is a God of love, reason, and knowledge. I believe that through him all things are possible. I believe that if mankind puts away intolerance, bigotry, and ignorance the world will truly be a Kingdom of Heaven on earth.
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