Does Religion Matter?

Let me be clear again; I'm not here to convince you. I'm only hoping to share some of what I have learned and to pen my thoughts for my own clarity. If it is helpful to you, then wonderful.

In my last post, I ended with the statement that everything depends on what or who a person believes God to be. That cannot be summed up in one post, but I'll start here.

Since embarking on this journey outside of traditional (sometimes known as "institutional") Christianity, my beliefs have changed a great deal. I have come to the point that there is nothing that isn't worth questioning. This doesn't mean I have tossed out every traditional belief, only that I have questioned each and every one of them; coming to conclusions on some and feeling fairly undecided on others.

Before I delve into any of that, though, there is a question that is increasingly on my mind. Summed up in a sentence or two, it might look something like this:

"Does what I personally believe about God:...who God is, what God is, how God works...matter at all? Because, in all fairness and honesty, what I believe, for that matter, what anyone believes, doesn't change the truth, does it? We just don't know with any certainty what that truth is."

Whether my truth be a biblical concept of God, a pagan or Neo-pagan concept, a Muslim concept, a Buddhist concept, or even an atheist concept....none of that changes the reality of God/no god.

Put another way, no one can definitively prove the existence of God, nor can they prove what interpretation of God is true. Nor can anyone definitely disprove the existence of God. For as long as we walk on the earth, God is simply a human perception. I can believe God exists, but does that make God exist if God actually does not exist? Or, if I believe God does not exist, does that make God not exist, even if God truly does exist? If I believe in the Christian God, but God truly exists in more of a polytheistic or pantheistic way, does my belief in the Christian God make the Christian God exist?

See what I'm saying? What I, what ANYONE believes about God, even if a person believes they know the absolute truth, it is still only a human perception. Any one person can insist until they day they die that they know the truth, but what do they actually find out when they die? No one knows.

So, then, what does this mean about the existence of God? Not to be too philosophical, but what if God is something humans have made up, continue to make up, to help us deal with our existence? What if God is just a figment of our minds? I know most atheists would agree with that. Then again, if so many people for so many millenia continue to feel that some kind of religious beliefs are beneficial to their lives, maybe there is something to it?

This is why I have come to the belief that discussion about religion is ultimately futile. It's up to each individual to decide for themselves. Granted, some people aren't afforded the freedom to decide for themselves, but for many people what I believe or what you believe has no bearing on what someone else believes. Yes, you can try to change their minds, and maybe you would be saving a soul (if you believe that), but it still doesn't change what the TRUTH is. However, we don't, can't know that truth, so we are only ever operating under assumptions.

Then, I think, looking at the sheer volumes of people all over the world who hold to devout religion (not including the spiritual-but-not-religious types, the agnostics, and the atheists) how could so many people all over the world be wrong? But, then, if the Hindus are wrong, who is right? The Christians? The Muslims? The Jews? The Druids? The Buddhists? The Rastas? The Pastas? Is rightness determined by the numbers of adherents? If so, then it is equally likely that Christianity, Islam, or Buddhism is the "true" religion. Is it determined by how long a religion has been in existence? If that's the case, it is Hinduism, hands down. Is it determined by money? We all know the answer to that.

The one thing that the majority of people in the world hold in common is the belief in some kind of higher power. However, atheists would say the argument against believers is simple: that science hasn't yet trumped tradition, and most anyone with a thinking mind would have to disbelieve in God. But again, does any of it matter? Why?

I have already rambled too long, so I'll try to wrap it up for now.

What good is religion, then? If we can't agree, if we can't know for sure...why do we bother?

I have come to the conclusion that valid religion (or non-religion) is anything that moves one person to treat another person with greater kindness. Conversely, I do not believe that any tradition that aims to belittle, oppress, marginalize or abuse any segment of the population has anything at all to do with God. I don't believe that morality needs to be determined by the confines of religion, with the distinct exception that any belief or behavior that creates a victim is, collectively, not of God. I believe that any religion (or non-religion) that moves an individual or our society more toward equality, kindness and grace is a good religion and serves a good purpose. For some people, that motivation is God. For some people; their intellect.

As soon as a religious belief causes one person to harm another person, either physically, verbally or mentally, it is no longer of God. Of course, we all make mistakes that hurt others. I'm speaking of those who make it a mission to use religious beliefs to abuse others.

Obviously there is no religion that doesn't marginalize or abuse some segment of the population (including self); if there were, we would probably all be following it. Hence, the religion you choose to follow (assuming you have the freedom to choose) depends more on who you personally marginalize or what behaviors/beliefs you consider to be wrong than it depends on the religion's "rightness".

After this post, you might wonder what I, personally, believe. Or you might wonder why what I believe matters at all.

For over five years I have repeatedly been told not to throw the baby out with the bathwater...meaning, don't leave church just because people are human and make mistakes. I have cringed every time someone has said that gross over-simplification of why I left.

However, I'm finally at a point where I have chosen not to throw the baby out...it's just a different baby.

More on why I continue to follow Jesus...even if scripture has been manipulated, even if what I've been taught about his life isn't true; even if he never existed in the first place...later.