No matter in what social circle, the one topic that always comes up and stirs up controversy is that of religion. The entire confabulation discusses subtopics of science, race, the many forms of God/Jesus, etc., etc.
To my own surprise, my take on this issue has remained consistent in that it recognizes some form of higher power, but not necessarily one specific type of God, or one particular kind of religion. Who's to say that Muhammed is better than Jesus, or that the so-called, real "Jesus Christ" is yet to come? Who gets to judge whether Christianity, Buddhism, Judism, or which ever religion is the right one to follow?
In all efforts not to sound cliche, I do have to say that education and science is really what begins to create doubt. You read about evolution and study Darwinism. You see science proven as fact, and yet you believe in the heavens, Adam and Eve, and so on. What if all of that was made up though? Did it ever occur to anyone that the only reason religion and God were made up was so that order can be restored? That maybe, just maybe, the world was witnessing a criminally chaotic phase, and the only way to get out of it was to be told that they would be punished in the afterlife, unless they behaved? It's possible...I for one used to pray every night, and truly believed that if I didn't, I was being disobedient. It didn't take me long to grow out of this stage, however, and I came to realize that a lot of the religious institutions are nothing more than theatrical performances, staged to gravitate towards a naive group of people, who willingly give up their monies to the cause. Call it being brainwashed if you want, but I've questioned a significant amount of people as to why they believe and unsurprisingly, most don't have a logical answer- it's just how they were brought up.
Let's take Christianity for example. A baby is born, baptized a few years later, and thereby raised in a Christian household with Christian morals and beliefs. They are never really given a choice. It's very rare to find parents who raise their children, allow them to learn about all kinds of religion, and then let them choose which they want to follow, if any at that. What does that really say about religion? Moreover, what does that say about man? You follow what you know or what you think you know, because you are afraid of that which you don't.
There's really no right or wrong here. It's really a matter of choice. Some people choose to believe because they feel that it's harmless and wouldn't have anything to lose. At most, it gives their life meaning... they go on believing in one supreme being and trusting that in the afterlife, they will ultimately be in a better place. If this was true though, how come so many people are afraid of dying? It's probably because somewhere deep down, they too have doubts.
All this stems from a conversation I had last night, and I'm sure it'll come up again in the near future, but I'm almost certain that no matter where and/or when, the end result will be the same- open-ended, uncertain, and unsure.
I'll settle for believing in some kind of higher power, and settle for being more of a spiritual person, rather than a religious one. With that being said, I don't think that it's necessary for people to go to church in order to prove their faith and loyalty. Even a firm believer can practice his or her religion at home- a place of their own sanctuary. There's a good track called Misery by KG, a very talented, new, up and coming artist, who addresses these exact issues/concerns. Unfortunately, there is no youtube link for it up yet, but for those who are interested, should feel free to google it. There is an mp3 out there somewhere (which this site restricts me from uploading :/)
...just some food for thought...
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