That Wretched Belief System

That Wretched Belief System

For years I have made it a point to explain to friends and associates that I am a spiritual being and I make no apologies for that. For some I have had to clarify that my spirituality is of a non-religious nature and while I am of the view that we all have a right to our beliefs, from time to time I get chided for not extolling the virtues of "Christianity". How can you not believe in God...? Well, actually I have never said that, what I have said however is that your concept of God may be quite different from mine...You may believe that God is an over weight old White Man with long white hair and an equally long beard, sitting on an over-sized throne somewhere up in the skies...and he sees and hears everything and is so powerful that he can create or destroy at will that which he likes or dislikes. OK...that is your right but I have no obligation to believe any of that. 

  I will admit that at first  I was somewhat timid and oft times kept silent instead of engaging in discussions which for the most part would force me to defend my right to my beliefs, a situation which almost always lead to expressions of shock and you get it...disbelief. Of course having developed friendships and relationships, those with whom you have these relationships will become an integral part of your life...be it social or otherwise, they become important fixtures in your daily life and instead of losing that, it may seem easier to just go along with the popular thinking and everybody will be happy...not...if you are truthful, you can never be happy living what you perceive to be a lie.

I once told a minister of religion that I would challenge him to look at the way we have both lived our lives and I would probably come out more"righteous" than he. Needless to say he was not amused but I believed then as I do now, that I would have beaten him hands down...but that is just my belief. I knew then as I do now, that doing the right thing and living right has nothing to do with being a Christian or Muslim or any other religion, it has to do with your conscience and appreciation of right and wrong. If all that was needed is for one to be religious and extol the virtues of Christianity,  then much of the misdeeds of Bishops, Ministers and Deacons would never occur, unless of course you are going to conclude that those who transgress are not really Christians or whatever religion. 

Over the years and by that I mean centuries, much has been said and done in the name of  Christianity as well as other religions. Has there been any good...absolutely. Has there been terrible things like murder, rape and other forms of criminality...absolutely. So again, if mankind who practice religion and likewise those who are not connected to any special faith are both capable of doing good and evil, then its safe to conclude that it is not religion or the lack of it that causes man to do bad things. So why the rush to judgment and condemnation of those of us who find it more comfortable to just do what's right without attaching to any religion? I suspect that the answer will be found when one allows him/herself to lift the veil of indoctrination and accompanying fear that has been hammered into the mind since childhood. Most if not all of us got involved with the church and by extension religion at a very young age when the mind was not sufficiently developed to analyze and decipher the constant barrage of doctrines that were being rammed down our unsuspecting throats. Like a sponge, we absorbed most if not all of that information without the ability to question or critically examine it.

With the coming of the age of information, more and more people from all cultures are being given a chance to re-examine this belief system and more so, the many beliefs that they have held for their entire lives. For some the notion of being misled all this time is frightening and they simply shut down and refuse to even look at another way of thinking.  As usual, the tactic of divide and rule applies here...this is a method that has been employed in just about every facet of life...and its always pitting one group against another...this is even more blatant in the arena of religion...its the Christians against The Muslims against The Jews, The Atheists and The Agnostics...and that is  just a part of the great divide. There is no such thing as a monolithic society so there is always going to be differences in the systems of beliefs...and therein lies the challenges. I am no greater or lesser than you because I happen to hold a particular belief system...it is my right and you have no greater right to your belief than I do to mine. 

Until we have sufficiently opened ourselves to new thinking and critical analysis of the information we are fed, we will continue to be prisoners of "that wretched belief system".