My experience with Religions

[TheRealCallie]

Last year I was sitting in a cathedral listening to Handel's Messiah. I suddenly realized that everything I could hear and everything I could see, both architecture and music, was a result of inspiration by "God". It was difficult not to come to the conclusion that "something" is real.

Ohh, I love Handel's Messiah!

 

[TangledUpInBlue]

Religion has always seemed like a form of control to me. Whether it was the ancient tribes or the current Catholic Church. Do what we say or some magical being will do you harm. We all want to feel like there is purpose and that we are part of something bigger and most religions exist to fill that void. People in control want to keep the masses tame and stupid. Religion seems to always have been one of those tools. I found religion in my high school years — for me it was more a way to meet people and get myself out on my introvert shell. Once I realized that I could do that on my own, and that I couldn’t really get answers to the things that confused me about religion, I moved beyond it. In the end, I think we are just one big cosmic science experiment.

 

[capriccio]

we're all in a simulation

 

[Alex Supertramp II]

Religion was used as punishment in my life. In my island country of Trinidad & Tobago, you can't get away from the religious. They're everywhere waiting to force their doctrines down your throat.

I was able to escape it in America by running away to college, but not till after being subjected to it for years by my ultra-religious mother.

I truly feel sorry for non-believers who are stuck in the Bible Belt or ultra-religious countries like Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, etc. I feel the pain of their agonizing torture and hope they escape to a tolerant country soon.

 

[lookatbrightside]

Indonesia, Saudi, Egypt are just fine.

 

[sriguhan]

Religion is like a vestigial organ in the human body - it might seem cool , but it can lead to complications and suffering later on

 

[Sir Joseph]

TangledUpInBlue, you're definitely right that some religions and their representative churches function on power and control.  The Roman Catholic Church, Jehovahs Witnesses, Mormanism, and Iglesia ni Cristo are prime examples of organizations exerting power and control over masses of misguided people.  They claim exclusive authority from God, implement man made traditions, and require commitment to the church in order to achieve salvation of one's soul.  Islam implements the same controls by marrying the religion with Sharia law where possible, thus providing mandatory submission to the religion.  Scientology twists religion into a whole new realm of beliefs, but is famous for its brainwashing of gullible subjects and ruining of peoples' lives who dare to oppose them.  It's enough to turn anyone away from all organized religion  - and often does.
  
While these religions and supporting organizations grow, the fallout is steady from those who reject the man-made rules and beliefs supporting them.  That's understandable.  And once a person is lied to on religious matters, it's very difficult to acquire an open, receptive mind to the issue again.  For all those who value truth though and seek a meaning to life, I counter with this:

There is an overwhelming amount of scientific evidence supporting the existence of a supernatural creator for the universe, world, and life as we know it.  By logic deduction, this creator must possess immeasurable power and intelligence, as well as a mind, conscience, and source of love and objective morality.  These factors best define what most people would call a god.

Once one is honest enough to recognize the existence of a god, it should seem reasonable that any god creating our world would do it for a significant reason and endow its created beings with a purpose for life.  It should also seem reasonable that such a god would want to interact some way with his creation and let us know him in some way for his purpose.  Thus, religion is man's attempt to reach god.  Unfortunately, man does this in a wide variety of ways that include all kinds of crazy beliefs and misguided traditions.

With the numerous world religions having doctrinal views that specifically oppose each other, it's not possible for all religions to be right, or to even be reaching out to the same god.  I'd suggest that one is right over the others, and its prudent for everyone to seek the truth in this matter.

There are two things that make Christianity unique above all other religions.  First its scriptural foundation (the Bible) has fulfilled prophesy, scientific insight, and more evidence of manuscript historicity and authority than any other religion.  Second, the Christian faith, unlike all other world religions, is based on a relationship with our Creator, not on a system of man made traditions.  In other words, we're saved by faith and grace, not by works.
 
While the Christian benefits from being part of organized religion, the purpose is to become part of God's church family - not to perpetuate any specific church denomination or group of leaders claiming authority.  Churches and people can fulfill this goal nicely as many community churches do today, or get trapped into a man-made perversion of it - like the Roman Catholic church and cult religions.  Either way, the establishment of churches and peoples' choices between good ones and bad ones does not determine the truth of God's existence or our need for a proper relationship with him.  The truth of religion exists, regardless of man's misguided beliefs, distortions, or rejection of it all.

I encourage you and everyone not to judge the validity of religion upon your experience or perception of organized religion, anymore than you would judge a diamond that's hidden under a pile of ugly rocks.  If you seek the truth with an open heart, you'll find God.  And if you study various religions, you'll find the Jesus of Christianity offering not only the best message, truth, and path of salvation, but also the most evidential support for its historicity.