Religion

Chapter 1

I was raised Baptist. I went to Sunday school and church almost every Sunday. I am a deep believer in God and Jesus Christ. When I look at the world and by that I am really talking about nature. When I look at it I see perfection. Our planet, solar system and the universe in my eyes and mind it is beauty and perfection. It is hard for me to accept “that” beauty and perfection as being an accident. This is my belief and the way I see things. I understand that if I was born somewhere else I would have a different belief in God, if I believed at all.

The parents that I have also influence my belief system. So if I had different parents my belief could also be different. That being said I am open minded enough to understand how someone could not believe in God. I’ve heard people say things like “if there is an all loving God, why would he let 9/11 happen?” “Why would he allow all those people in Iraq, Darfur, and Somalia to die like that?” “Why would he allow the black plague, aids and a host of other deadly disease?’’ If you look at all the bad things that happen on this planet, I can understand how a person can think that way. My view on that is that if you look at death as a bad thing then I understand a person’s reluctance to believe in God. If you see suffering as a bad thing, then I understand your reluctance to believe in God. If you see birth defects as a bad thing then I understand your reluctance to believe in God. If you see any social or biological ills and or injustices as a bad thing then I understand your reluctance to believe in God. If I looked at the surface of things, I believe I would see things the same way. I look deeper and this is the way I see it. I see myself as a child of God and I am here on earth visiting until my father calls me back home. I view my body the same as my car. My body drives my car just as my soul drives my body. I’m sure there are more points that people could and will come up with to further their disbelief in God. I see all these problems: drought, disease, floods, hurricanes, these are all tests or opportunities to share or help our fellow man. It gives us the chance to do something good and to feel good about ourselves for doing it. If you only see the bad things you will never see God. I choose to see the good things that life offers.

Look at the pictures taken by the Hubble telescope. You can find them all over the internet. The pictures you will find are a thing of beauty. For me personally, beauty and love are signs of God. If you look, the signs are everywhere: puppies, kittens, or any young animals. Babies, flowers, sunrise, sunset, a full moon, and ocean waves are just a few things I see beauty in. The list could go on and on. As for love, think about your spouse, parents, children, pets, best friend or your country. By country I don’t mean government, but what the country stands for and the people of the country. I listed things that I find beauty in and what I love. I’m sure others will make a list that differ from mine and that within itself is a beautiful thing. People that don’t believe in God will look at what I write here and say “that is not proof”. I will have to agree with them on that. I have no proof that there is a God. I have no proof that Jesus really is my lord and savior. Just as they have no proof to prove their point of view. That is where belief and faith comes in. I believe in God and I have faith in him. There is no part of my mind that does not believe in God. I think it is all about how you look at things and the way you were raised. I was raised to believe in God but also to think for myself. Learning from other people is something I have always tried to do.

Spending twenty years in the military exposed me to many people. People from all over the world and I had the opportunity to visit several countries. Talking to these people gave me some insight into their religious beliefs. I found that all religions at some point are open to interpretation. People being people are going to twist those openings to fit their needs. That is what people do. The more power they get the more they do this. It does not matter what the book is. It could be the bible, the constitution or any rule book; they will use it to their advantage. I think the overall message in religious books is to love and be good to everyone. If we as a people could learn to do that, this would be a much better world. I think the problem we have with religion is: it is open to interpretation. Because of that openness, people will see what they want to see. They will take things out of context and use a phrase to meet their needs. That is what people do. In general, I think most people have a need to be right. We will do whatever it takes to prove to ourselves that we are right in what we are doing or thinking. I think that is human nature. The thing is; some people take it to the extreme. The extreme I am talking about right now is in religion. Because of religion we had September 11, 2001. I don’t think it is the fault of religion that those people hijacked the planes. The fact that because they believe so deeply in their religion and combine their need to be right, now you have a receipt for disaster. The need to be right is more important to some people than anything else. Their religion is right because that is what they believe in and they are 100% sure that their religious book is the right one. They are also positive that the religious book that they read contains the truth and the only the truth. They believe the book contents are complete and unaltered. The rest of the world should change to their religion, because only theirs is true. I see nothing wrong with thinking that way. I should say there is nothing illegal about it. The problem comes when you try to push your beliefs onto others. For most of us, our religious beliefs are based on two things, where we were raised and who our parents are.

Chapter 2

In general our parents pass their religious beliefs onto us. We in turn pass them onto our children. Some people grow up and turn away from religion while others grow up and turn to it. Areas of the world, country, or city also affect religion. Some countries are mostly Muslim and others are mostly catholic. Then you have countries like the United States where you can find them all. In countries like this when you look at cities and neighborhoods you will find people of like faiths in areas together. This is not always the case but it is a very common thing. This is why I have a hard time understanding religious wars. What they are doing is fighting and killing each other because they have different parents and was raised in different places. Is that a good reason to go to war? I think not. Why would anyone want to kill another person because of a difference of opinion? One would think the difference of opinions would be a good reason to engage in dialog, to learn about another point of view, to exchange culture, to teach others about what you believe in. Being different should be a good thing as a way to lean. Rather than learn from it the extremist choose to fight and kill because of it. I believe that fighting and killing means that your argument or position is too weak for conversation.

I am using Islam as a focal point because that is the extremist group responsible for 9-11. I don’t mean to suggest that Islam is the only religion with extremist groups. Religious wars have been fought for thousands of years. These acts of war have been committed by many different religious groups. Islam is just the most recent to attack. It has been my experience that most religious people believe they should spread the word of God. Convert as many people as you can to your religion. Demonstrate to others and the rest of the world, the love of God and peace. Share his teachings with those who have never been exposed to his words. Also, share his teachings with those who may have started out in the church but then for whatever the reason, seemed to have lost their way. My point is that in general, people of religion were all about peace, love, understanding and sharing the word of God to any and all that wanted to listen. Now we have some radical Islamist groups that want to destroy those who believe in other religions. More important, they seek to destroy anything supporting western interest. The problem I believe they will face comes from being on the same slippery slope the United States is currently on.

When you have something that you believe (and willing to kill for) in so strongly that you know in your heart that others and the rest of the world would be much better off if they would only adopt your beliefs and world views, you are a danger to us all. The problem with what they want to do comes when they come across people who believe equally as strong in their current way of life. When two sides like that meet and one side tries to push their beliefs harder. That is when we have war. As long as war is an option there can never be peace. I would be the first to say that western civilization is the best in the world. If the rest of the world had freedom of religion it would enjoy a better way of life. I also realize that this is the only way of life I really know. That makes me somewhat biased. It is my belief that most people will say their country and way of life is good if things are going well for them. When things are not gong well is when citizens find fault. My example for this is, during slavery times, I believe most slave owners would say slavery is a good thing. If you were to ask the slaves I don’t think you would get the same answer. These slave owners were upstanding citizens, political leaders, Presidents, and church going people. If you were to ask them if owning slaves conflicted with their religion most would say it did not. That is what I mean by religion being open to interpretation.

Two people listening to the same sermon may get different messages. I know that this may sound as if I have a problem with religion, but I do not. I believe religion is a great thing. It means you know there is a power greater than yourself. It gives you a relationship with your creator. It gives you comfort when things are at its worst. It keeps you grounded when you feel like you are on top of the world. It keeps you centered. My religion tells me that everyone and everything is important. All things great and small come from God. I also believe that people can have a personal relationship with God. He talks to you if you are willing to listen. When I say listen, I mean hearing what he is saying to you without injecting your own desires into it. My personal relationship with him tells me that all life is important and belongs to him. He also tells me that people should be free. Free to make choices regarding their life. Free to worship him as they see fit. I feel that I have a personal relationship with God and that he speaks to me. This is what I believe. I understand that some people don’t believe in God and that is their right. People who don’t believe in God have as much right to their opinion as I have in mine. I believe my God would say that they should be free to choose.

This creates conflict in my mind. On one hand I feel people should be free to choose what they want. By this I mean everything: religion, lifestyle, government, spouse, jobs and all aspects of their life. If they choose to have no religion; that should be okay as well, then on the other hand I see people doing things that my God says is not okay. This creates conflict for me spiritually. I overcome this by understanding that I must not impose my religion on someone else. Sometimes this is a really hard thing to do. Then I realize that if I don’t respect other people, how can I expect anyone to respect me?

Let’s look at a much talked about topic right now: gay marriage. In my heart I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. The problem I have with that being the law is that my belief comes from my bible. There is supposed to be a separation between church and state. Can we honestly say that it is right to make laws that affect us all when that law is based solely on religion? When we do that I feel we go against the very freedom that has always made us special. We tell the world that people should be free. We tell the Middle East that they should respect each others differences and live together in peace. We tell them this while we discriminate against our own natural born citizens. We do this based on religion. That is the same reason for the problems in the Middle East. Religion can bring so many people close together. At the same time it can destroy a nation. To be honest, the problem is not religion. The problem is the people. People desire power. Power over other people makes them fell better about themselves. Religion without people would be perfect. When you add the people that is when it goes bad. When religion is organized that puts people in a position of power. There are some people who can handle power without any problem. Then there are the people who let the power go to their head and bring corruption. Rather than being the leader of the church and teaching God’s word throughout the congregation, they try to influence political leaders; pushing their religious belief on people of different or no faith. When you force people to follow your faith or better yet; force them to follow your interpretation of your faith you deny them their freedom. Because of that I would allow same sex marriage.

If Buddha was to tell his followers that it is okay for two women or two men to get married? That is their religion. What we are really saying is that we have freedom of religion as song as we Christians agree. If you feel that your church should not perform same sex marriage, then I would agree if it goes against your religion. I just don’t think governments should have a problem with it. I think same sex marriage should be done by civil ceremony or any church that is okay with it. How can we as Americans truly call ourselves a free nation when we continue to deny our citizens rights because we don’t agree with what they do in the privacy of their own home? How can we as Americans call ourselves a free nation if we deny our citizens rights due to them because they don’t love who we want them to love? We should be a better people than this. As it stands now any sinner can pay taxes but only those who live as Christians can get that tax break. We should take religion out of our legal system.

Chapter 3

I understand that this country was founded on the belief in God. I agree with the concept of “One Nation under God”. I agree with the Ten Commandments on the capital buildings. I agree with prayer in school. These are the things this country was founded on. I see no problem with following some traditions. Having things on or in government building only relates to the nations founding. It is not a statement of promotion for any one religion. I think some of the people complain because they can. Others are just jumping on the band wagon. There is no real effort to co-exist peacefully with others. Now-a-days people want to dominate others. I don’t want to take the conservative view of placing blame. I don’t want to take the liberal stance and let the people choose and the problem works itself out. We need a combination of the two. What I see is that over the years organized religion has moved from their congregation into our lives. Let me explain what I mean. Organized religion (the church) used to speak to its members. It would tell its members what they should be doing. Telling them what Jesus would do and what he did; giving them hope; helping them through hard times; spreading the word of God throughout its membership. The church was all about Love. Love for your neighbor even if you didn’t agree with what your neighbor was doing; loving yourself enough to live a respectful life and allowing your life to be an example to others. Respecting others enough to allow them to choose the life they want to live. My point is there was a time when the church’s sermon was aimed at its congregation. It seems as if those days may be coming to an end. I don’t mean to say that all churches are doing this. It just seems like it is happening more and more. What it boils down to is churches, some of them, don’t respect the people anymore. This goes back to what I said about the people being the problem. Church leaders are people just like the rest of us. They are subject to the same desires and temptations as the rest of us. For some of them I feel it is only about power. The church is becoming more and more involved in people’s private lives. Even if you are a non-believer, it is still happening.

The church is becoming openly politically active. I have big problems with this. If people would be honest and do the right thing, then religion and politics could work. That is not the way people work. People are not honest when they are given power. People are not always honest in their quest for power. With the church entering the world of politics they are not immune to the corruption. The church views the world looking through glasses tinted with one particular belief in God. This country has many religions. In each religion there is what I call a sub-religion. If we allow one religion or sub-religion to enter politics; it becomes a problem if they make it to the top. Politics affect the lives all people regardless of religious beliefs. As long as your church is calling the shots you would be okay with it. What happens when another church takes the top spot? I feel that it is wrong to make laws based on your personal religious beliefs.

What if you are a non-believer? You should have that right and be free to live without someone imposing their beliefs on you. Don’t get me wrong. I understand where the church is coming from. When things are working well for you; you want to share it with everyone. Another way it could be is that you see what you feel is wrong with the country and you feel that you have an opportunity to fix things.

Here goes the problem: when you have someone complaining about something they say is wrong, you need to ask questions. What is the problem? Is it really a problem or is the person overreacting? Is the person taking advantage of the opportunity of getting in front of a microphone? Some people will complain because they have someone who will listen. Some people need to be told that they need to share the planet with others and other people have rights also. If we could get people to understand that their religion may not be right for everyone. (Or just might not be right period). The religion they belong to, does not belong to everyone else. The church needs to understand that everyone in the church is not good. They need to further understand that everyone not in the church is not bad. There are people in church every Sunday that will cheat and kill you. There are people who never go to church who would risk their life to save yours. There are good and bad on both sides. If we could only get the churches to understand that they may not be the answer for everyone. I see churches helping many people they and could help many more. I’m just not sure they have the answer for everyone.

Think about what I am saying. If every church on the planet was sure they had the answer for every person with a problem and its members were willing to kill and die to prove it. Which one would be right and how would we know. Religion is such a personal thing that I think it should stay out of politics. Then we have political leaders talking about their religious beliefs. George Bush said he talks to his heavenly father about what he should do. This could be a good thing if that was really what he is doing. The problem is there is no way for anyone to know if he is telling the truth. Just because a person says they pray for an answer does not mean they really do.

Some people, especially politicians, will say they are religious people when they are not. They will do this because most people in this country believe in God. People seem to think that if you believe in God then you must be a good person. Politicians understand this and because of it they tell people as often as they can that they believe in God and are deeply devoted to the church. There is no way to measure a person’s devotion to God or the church. This gives to politician an easy way to score points with people without any down side. I’m sure some of them are as religious as they say they are. Just as I am sure most are just saying they are because it is expected. This is another reason it would be a good to take religion out of politics. Political leaders are using our faith against us and to their advantage. They can say they pray every night and several times a day and there will be no way to know if it is true. They can go to church every Sunday and think about sports during the entire service and there would be no way for anyone to know.

The reason I find it so difficult to believe all these politicians are as devoted as they say they are is because they tell too many lies. How often does a person in politics say one thing while they are campaigning and once they are elected they do the opposite of what they said they would do? You should ask the question, “If a person is truly a Christian and live their life as such, would they also tell people so many lies?” Then you have the other problem. If you have a candidate who is openly atheist running for public office would you vote for them? As hard as it is for me to say it: I will be honest and say that I would not. As I say this I would be the first to acknowledge that just because a person doesn’t believe in God does not mean that they would not do a good job in public office. I would like to think that if a person is honest enough to admit they don’t believe in God may tell us the truth about everything else. In my mind honesty is what we are missing in politics.

I don’t think anyone would argue with me about no truth in politics. It has been this way for such a long time. So long that is seems like lying is just part of it. That is not the way it should be. Maybe we should try having someone in office who is a non-believer, it could be an improvement. As bad as it is I think I would be afraid to vote for a non believer. In general I am not afraid to try something new but on this subject I am.

Chapter 4

The problem as I see it is not religion but how it is used in politics. People in public office should be held to a higher standard than the general public. Of the people in public office, those who use religion as part of their platform should be held to an even higher standard. I feel that way about everyone who uses religion as part of their image. For example, I love to watch boxing. Two of my favorite boxers were Tyson and Holyfield. Tyson was a hard puncher, troubled, and not the cleanest of fighters. Being a clean fighter is not a big deal to me; after all, this is fighting. Then you have Holyfield. He was a smaller guy but still a hard puncher. Then he became God’s warrior. I think that is what he was calling himself. I remember he spoke a lot about how God was in his corner. After he got God in his corner he continued to head-butt his opponents. That is when I stopped watching his fights. When I did watch him I cheered against him. I did this because he was a dirty fighter and using God as a platform. If he had left God out of it I would have continued to be a fan. When he put God in his corner and didn’t change his ways and clean up his fighting style, he lost me.

That is how I feel about the use of religion. If everyone was to do the same thing, people in public office would stop using religion as a platform. They would back away from religion if they were required to act religious instead of just talking about it like they do now. The founding fathers of this country understood that religion is a supremely personal choice. That is why I feel they had the implied idea of separating church from state. They had the foresight to see that as the church’s size grew, so would its influence. They wanted to prevent the church from creating law knowing it would be solely based on its religion. If this was allowed it would destroy most if not all other religions. Also, as government became larger it would prevent it from destroying the churches. If they both were to grow in size and influence, this would also keep them from attacking each other in a type of civil war. They started this country to give its citizens freedom.

In order to give people freedom they must have choices. If you are a good Christian then you follow the Bible and the teaching of Jesus. It doesn’t matter what your religion is, there is a book for you to follow. That book limits your choices. It gives you rules and guidelines to follow. Rules to your religion that governs the way you live your life. If you are true to your religion then you don’t have as many choices as those who are non believers. That is why the church can not govern a free nation. The same way a free nation can not run the church. The definition of each would contradict the other. They can not co-exist in terms of power and control. If they both are to survive they must remain separate. Religion is an important part of the birth of this country. It is the backbone of the American society. Unlike any country before us we have managed to blend our religious beliefs with our government. It was the perfect blend. It was more of an understanding that as Christians we believe that we are all God’s children. As God’s children and Christians we follow the teachings of the Bible. The Bible gives us the rules and guidelines we need to follow in order to join him in heaven. It gives us information on our past as well as insight on our future. I will admit that I don’t know the Bible inside and out. I only have a basic understanding of it. I have read it but I don’t study it. As I understand it God makes Himself available to us but it must be our choice to enter. It is not possible to force God on anyone. It must be their choice.

I believe the founding fathers understood this. They took the basics of their religion and used that as the foundation of this country. They didn’t endorse any religion. They did acknowledge their belief in God. Still they were smart enough to keep their beliefs somewhat personal. Sharing with us what the beliefs were but not imposing them on the rest of us. Had they done that we would be the same as the Middle East. With most people religion and politics are the two subjects that will get people to argue. These are very personal things. When people speak of them they usually do so with much passion. The passion is generally the same no matter what side you are on. I have talked to people who don’t believe in God. When you talk to them and they explain why they don’t believe, they have valid points. The first thing they usually say “there is no proof”.

When you think about it, that’s true; there is no tangible proof. Science says that man evolved from apes. They show the evolution in the form of fossils as proof but there is a gap. That gap is called the missing link. Without that link the chain of evolution is weak. Just because they have not found the missing link does not mean that it is not there. It is just means that it has not been found. No matter how you look at it. There is a flaw in that theory. As long as that flaw is there they can’t claim their point of view as fact. That doesn’t stop some people from claiming that evolution is the only way life could have started on earth. Evolutionists say creationists are wrong in their beliefs. They say God is just a story that has been passed down over many years like Santa Claus. That he was created by poor people to give them comfort and hope during hopeless times. That there is absolutely no proof that God does or has ever existed. Those are all good points but they can’t be proven. When you look at both sides of the argument, both have valid points but none can be proven. Then it comes down to what you believe, on the side of religion they call that faith. Faith is what I have. With all the faith that I have and as much as I believe n God, I totally understand when I meet people who say they don’t believe in God and support evolution. All I can say to them is that I understand their point of view. I just happen not to agree with them. I don’t get upset with them just because we have a difference of opinion.

Even if I could get them to agree with me or me with them, I would not change the world. I would rather we all respect each other and live as one. That is what I would like to see happen. I am sure someone would like to see the United States if not the entire world convert to Christianity and all live according to the Bible. I would also like to see that. The problem is if we tried to make it happen it would be wrong. We would not be respecting the other religions. Even if I could make everyone in the United States Christians and have Washington D.C. govern us according to the Bible, I would not do it. As a Christian I know without a doubt that I don’t follow the Bible to the letter. I don’t think there is anyone who does. I’m sure there are many who try and many who come close. Just as I am also sure that some people follow what they perceive or their interpretation of what the Bible says. Let’s look at something simple. The Bible say to rest on the Sabbath and for Christians that day is not Saturday but Sunday. There would be some Christian that would want everything closed on Sunday except the churches. Some would want to insist on that and to me those would be the extremist. Others would want to let everyone choose. They would want gas stations, hospitals, firefighters, police and more to be open on Sunday. People need to understand that we are all different even when we believe the same things. It all boils down to respect. Without it we have nothing.