Religion

Buddhism, Christianity, Shintoism, Sikhism, Islam, no matter what your beliefs are, I was looking for a common denominator. The closest I could come is the belief in an all-powerful being that controls or at least affects our lives on a daily basis. Whether it is Allah, The Lord, Akal Murat, or Shiva to name a few, the world’s peoples are both conjoined and segregated by religious beliefs. I did not include Buddha because Buddhism believes he was a tranquil human being looking to live life in the best way. That’s pretty cool, but what was the criteria to be named Buddha? There are a LOT of people who could qualify under those parameters. I mean how did Buddha prove he was the MOST tranquil? What, did he fall asleep in the interview? And what disqualified the runners-up? Driving record, credit report? Cooler yet, without doing any deep-dive research, I like the concept of Sikhism that there is only ONE God over ALL religions. There is no universal God because there is no BELIEF in a universal God. Religion conjoins and segregates us. Sounds much simpler, but again, who decides which god will be numero uno? Miracles performed? That would not work, because all of them will take credit. My vote would be cast for the religion that provides hope and continued faith to its believers by thought, word, and deed.

I was raised a strict Catholic, so Christianity was my “team.” There was a period in my life that I was not a very good Christian. That’s a polite reference to the thirty-year hiatus I took for hedonistic pursuits. I have recently reconnected with my beliefs concerning my faith and I pray every day. This pandemic notwithstanding, I believe my prayers are heard no matter where I make them. But when allowed, I will resume going to church on Sundays. So my take is the word religion is a synonym for belief and I believe so because that is all it takes for a religion to come into being. To not include Agnostics and Atheists is both politically incorrect and antithetical to critical thought. These too, are belief systems and are backed by every bit as much of scientific evidence as any other theory on things such as the creation of the planet. People who believe in dead people returning to Earth (from where?) have no standing because just show me ONE confirmable case. While true scientists debate, analyze, and provide data, I BELIEVE they are full of shit.

Stay well.