Religiously speaking, I used to identify myself as a Christian. This was mostly a label, as I don’t really believe the only way to salvation is through Jesus. I tended to identify as Christian more because I believe in a concept of God similar to that of the loving God many Christians follow. Jesus, I see as an enlightened teacher who was doing his best to bring us closer to said God. But I also think most religions have some truth to them, and they also have some damaging material in them, so I’m not big on organized religion for myself. I’m much bigger on looking for the truth myself, and on discussing beliefs with other people to see where they stand, and what I can learn from them.
I don’t hold to the idea that choosing the wrong religious beliefs will earn anyone a place in Hell. There are at least two religions I know of that in some way claim this to be true, Christianity and Islam. Now, I know not all followers of these faiths believe that, but some do. I’m not familiar enough with the holy books of either faith to know whether the written teachings support this stance, but I imagine there are some passages to support this idea, and others to discredit it, which seems to be true of religions on many issues. Though I don’t profess to know the mind of God, I can’t imagine a loving God would make us bet on our eternal afterlives without the information to make the right choice. As such, I find myself dismissive of the idea that one must choose the right religion to get into Heaven and avoid Hell.
Of course, that doesn’t mean I haven’t questioned my beliefs many times. I even recently found myself wondering if I was on the wrong path, and if I should choose a specific faith. After all, I don’t know what God truly expects, because I’ve never received a response from him on this issue with which I could definitively determine what I should do. Any response, assuming it is a response and not just me making one up, has been feelings that I am on the right path, and need to keep questioning. Just having a feeling about a belief that could turn out to be so important isn’t always comforting though. To resolve the issue, at least for a time, I decided to pray directly, something I don’t do often since God would know what I’m thinking anyway. I just laid out my concerns, and made clear I’m doing my best to find the right way, and left it at that. Of course, I’ve also questioned about whether or not any God exists, and if there might be more than one. I can’t think of any solid reason either alternative isn’t just as viable, but my current feeling still points me to one God, so that’s what I’m working with for now. There isn’t much else to do, except keep searching.
In terms of moral behavior, my beliefs align much closer to Wiccan and common secular thinking: so long as I’m not harming anyone by my behavior, it’s ok to go forward with it. Harm in this sense can be physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, or any other category I may have missed. The idea is there is freedom to do what you want, so long as you don’t deny anyone else their freedom to do as they wish and be safe. Naturally, it gets more complicated than that, but as a basic outline, I think it works pretty well.
I also think that religion has to make room for science. Religion and spirituality are about trying to explain what we don’t know and can’t prove. If it turns out we can show something to be true or likely to be true scientifically, then generally speaking, religion ought to be revised to make room for this knowledge. I’m not claiming science is always right, but it has done a lot of good for us, and the body of knowledge we have aquired from science has been very reliable for us in it’s use. Religious knowledge has been quite a bit more hit and miss. I definitely think there is religious and spiritual truth to be found, just that we won’t find it all in one place, and we won’t find it if we don’t acknowledge other truths found in our world.
Related Posts:
- The Relationship Between Science and Religion
- Science Is Not a Religion
- Religious and Atheist Debates
- On Theism and Atheism
- Speak Up
Tags: beliefs, Religion, Spirituality
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