My Daily Dose of Religion

Why is it that everyone seems to have the answer and they claim that no one else does? Christians claim the answers reside in the Bible. Muslims claim the answers reside in the Koran. Mormons say the answers reside in the Book of Mormon. Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha, Joseph Smith. Follow one of their paths and you will see the lights of heaven shine down on you, but if you choose the wrong path to follow, then, you'll be condemned for all eternity! I just listed four paths. Who knows how many others there are. So, what, we have a 1 in a countless numbered chance of being right on the path we follow? Is it basically a lottery? Luckily, I'm from Nebraska, and some guys from Lincoln just won the $365 million jackpot, so, maybe we're lucky here. But, that was a 1 in a countless numbered chance too, so maybe that was our one moment in the sun and we'll be SOL the rest of the way. Hmm, maybe I should move.

If I live in the western world, am not Christian, and do not follow the path of Jesus, then bam! I'm zapped by the evil curse of the Devil and condemned for eternity. If I live in the Middle East, the same can be said about me if I was not Muslim. If I wasn't Hindu or Buddhist in other parts of Asia, the same could be said. This seems just a bit bizarre to me. I mean, I was born in the United States and the majority here follow the Christian faith and many claim it is the one, true, and only way. What if we had been born in India? Or Iraq? Do you honestly think we'd still be Christian? I highly doubt it. So, does our eternal fate solely depend on where we were born from a geographical standpoint? For some reason, I find this very hard to believe. Born in the western world, oh yeah, I'm saved. Born elsewhere, I'm condemned forever! Uh huh.

It feels like a childish argument in order to show one's macho side, well their attempt to anyway. Remember when you were a child and you got into those little arguments with friends or foes that went something like this?
"My dad could beat your dad up!"
"Nuh-uh! My dad is stronger than your dad!"
or
"My house is taller than your house!"
"No way! I've seen your house and mine is way bigger!"
"I didn't say bigger! I said taller!"
"Whatever. It doesn't matter what you said! My house is bigger and taller!"

It sounds like two guys comparing their you know whats. So yeah, my God is better than your God. Or my God's prophet is better than your God's prophet. Does this ever end? Can't we ever grow up? If history repeats itself in this area, as it so often has, then the answer to that question would be a resounding no, because then one part of the world will start insulting the other's faith and we start a war over it. Isn't that special. That feels like a 6-year old starting a world war over the argument on whose father was stronger or whose house was larger. Give me a break.

I bring this all up because I heard someone today tell me a story after she got back from church. She brought up this story about Catholics and basically claimed that Catholics are not Christian. I was going to ask many questions and thought about getting into a debate, but if there's one thing I won't talk to this woman about, it's religion. Like I wrote about a few days ago, religion makes some go blind and this is another example of that. Why is it that one's church always does it the right way and some other church or denomination is a cult or going against what that religion truly stands for? Why is that? I'll tell you why there are so many different denominations, the fact that scriptures can be interpreted countless numbers of ways, so not everyone is going to agree with one another in regards to what the messages were. Some churches are nothing but cults anymore. They just speak poorly of other cults and say, "Hey, if you know anyone that go to cults #1, 2, or 3, then bring them on over to our cult!" It drives me crazy! Can't we all just tolerate one another's beliefs and get along? I know that's way too much to ask, because we're the ones that are always right on this sort of thing!

Look at the similarities in major religions. If one follows the path of Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, or whoever, they're likely to follow similar paths. These religions have very similar bases and foundations: Don't lie, don't cheat, don't steal, don't murder, don't commit adultery, respect elders and children, basically, be a good and moral person. It's not like Christianity says not to kill and another major religion says, "Yes, kill them all!" No, sorry, it's not like that. Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, amongst other religions, basically state to be a good and moral person. They all believe in a God. Yes, in the Koran, he/she/it's referred to as "Allah," but Allah is just Arabic for God. Look at the prophet names. Mohammed in the Middle East. Jesus in Judaism and then Christianity. Buddha in Buddhism. Any of them really surprising? It's not like the name Mohammed would be studied and followed over in Hindu and Buddhist country, while Buddha was studied and followed in English-speaking country.

The only question I have regarding names is the name Joseph Smith. Couldn't they have come up with something better than Joe Smith? Smith is one of the most common last names in this country and Joe is probably one of the more common first names for males in this country. It'd be like Bob Johnson or Bill Jones. Another question I have in regards to names are the terms "God" and "Devil." How lame is that? Add one more "o" to God and you have good, so that makes for a perfect phrase, such as, "God is so good." Wow, that was easy! Then, with Devil, the word evil resides in that word, so, "The Devil is evil." Wow, isn't that clever? I mean, why isn't "God's" name something funky like Xerxes Benjamin Velveeta? And the Devil's name is something like Mickey Rafael Empire? Why is it just "God" and "Devil?" Sounds like a brainwashing technique to me and a way to make easy money through sayings, advertisements, and marketing.

So, to all those out there, wherever you may place on a religious spectrum, is there any possible way we could stop finger pointing and comparing our father's strength or house size to others'? As long as another's beliefs aren't hurting themselves or others in any way, can't we try to at least tolerate those beliefs, if not, accept them? The person today who said that Catholics weren't Christian, I don't think she's ever stepped foot in a Catholic church. She just goes by what her "cult" tells her. So, please, can't we open our minds for once, and perhaps, get along? Just for me? Thank you very much. As Springer used to say, "Take care of yourselves and each other."