I fail to see why people can’t worship their own way without feeling a need to congregate, form a hierarchy, make up a lot of capricious rules, and proselytize to others who are not interested.

People tend to want to have someone to look up to, who can tell them what’s right, and what they should do in any given situation.  A leader that they can turn to in times of need, who might have the answers they seek.  Usually this person has a great deal of charisma, and has an air of being in control.  It can be likened to a father-figure-type situation, with scared children looking to their father for guidance and answers.

As humans, we compartmentalize everything.  “A place for everything...”  We hate to deviate from that, so we organize, find someone to follow, and create regulations to keep people in line.  Organized religion is no different.

Why does one need an “invisible deity in the sky” to tell them to do the right thing?  We should all do the right thing simply because it’s right.  (Personal beliefs must always be taken into account here.  What do I care if you do something illicit, as long as it’s not hurting anyone?)  We should do what’s decent not because we’re promised salvation if we do, or threatened with Hell if we don’t.  In fact, I find that more than a bit insulting.

None of this is to say that I don’t have my own religious beliefs; they just can’t be easily labeled, and folded neatly into a box.  I took some time and care to cultivate my beliefs, not to mention a lot of my own research.  My beliefs are still evolving, and I’m proud of all of it.  That’s what is so great about constantly learning.  You’re never done!  “If you’re not learning, you’re dead.”

I’ve studied a vast array of the world’s religions for years – Christianity, Zoroastrianism, various Pagan paths, Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism – just to name a few, and I keep coming to the same conclusion.  No one has it completely right, but no one’s completely wrong either.  I believe it’s the height of arrogance for us, with our tiny human brains, to think that we have religion and the cosmos all figured out.  What’s worse is “sentencing” someone to “eternal damnation” simply because they disagree with you.  Haven’t you ever been wrong before?

Being a somewhat logical, carbon-based life-form, I’d be remiss if I ignored science.  There are just so many things that make too much sense to dismiss.  For instance, I truly believe in the Big Bang Theory.  I just don’t know who or what was the catalyst, and no one else knows either.  We plainly can’t comprehend it.  I guess we’ll know for sure when we die, right? 

I do know one thing, though.  Our souls are made up of energy, and energy never dies.  It only gets recycled.  Where our souls go after this is really anybody’s guess.  Just don’t be so quick to chastise someone else for disagreeing with your beliefs.  Recognize that you’re both travelling to the same destination; you’re just on different journeys.  Who cares how you got there, just as long as you show up?

Until Next Time,

Danielle