On Religion

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Some thoughts on religion intended as an answer to an email.
An answer that was never posted...

One may readily choose to believe there is something undescribable in spoken words,
that infuses everything we see and experience and the laws of the world we know
are so, simply because the world flows in/with it.

I understand it is a choice because even if you walk on a path
you may choose to believe it is not a path because there exists no such thing
or because you are dreaming or sth.. this is too philosophical for me to consider

This for lack of a better word, humanity through the ages decided to call God
And through the ages various people opened a channel or connection or sth
and took a glimpse of this undescribable "".

They had no choice but to try to describe it and they had to do this in a way
so that they would be understood by their fellow people and
so that they would not be burned or stoned as mad or heretic

This was the beginning of religions. An attempt to describe the undescribable
of which only a single aspect or reflection had been seen.

A description adjusted to the knowledge and beliefs of the contemporaries
to become sth within the grasp and capacity of the common people to whom it was addressed
and adjusted to sth easy to digest like a fairy tale.

So far so good and comendable.
But the the powers of the times saw the risks and the opportunities posed by such descpiption and took over.
Unwilling to relinquish their power they thought why fight them for power if we can use them?
And they reworked, added formulated the religion according to their needs.
After all, the easiest way to make a lie believable is to mix it with some truth.
And the religions became another form of power exertion used
to manipulate the people (see crusades,the inqusition, witch hunting)
or keep them under submission because the rules of the God will tell them so.

And the power in return collaborated with the representatives of the religion
and gave them offices, power and respect in return for their cooperation.
Within this huge machine of power one might find some small cogwheels
that remain true to the original untainted description
(there are still priests or representatives that act in accordance
to the original glimpse but not because of the religion
but because of their own efforts to open their channel
and get their knowledge first hand).

People who think they will be rewarded for
blindly/faithfully following a set of instructions,
who think they are better just because they believe
who think that believing in a system excuses them
for disregarding the lies and follies and illogical claims
blanketed by it are deep in the dark

Please do not forget that this belief that one is better because he believes
and those that dont believe are inferior/damaged and must be "corrected"
was manipulated to to ignite the bloodiest wars in the human history

In fact within religion people manage to nestle so many contradictions
in their mind it is surprising if they can keep it sane
The simplest contradiction beeing :
I am faithful to my religion and so I am a humble person
Howecer I am superior than all those fools that do not believe in the truth of my religion
Even so I am required to love those fools that I despise and not (care to try to) understand
I am sorry to speak without having a full in depth knowledge of the Holy

Final note.I think what you are doing is commendable. You were seeking.
Seeking for Truth for the Higher meaning in life, for Salvation from Pain and other daily nuisanses
As a result of seeking you accepted religion.

What is a mistake is that in general
when one is inside a religion ones stops seeking.
One is required to have faith in the doctrines of the religion.
The "true" answers to ones questions are what the religion tells him
One is fulfilled, complete and has no need for further seeking
This amazing feat is achieved by religion and its exploitation of "faith"

However we must not accept without questioning
anything we are told no matter from what authority
anything we read no matter the quality of the paper it is on
even anything our senses tell us cause they are faulty and they can be tricked
(recently I found some illusions in youtube, I could not believe my eyes!)

All of the above are and should be taken as
indications of the "Truth" until they are tested.
The instrument to test these is ones heart, and we must learn to use it.
Put sth in your heart and if it feels right then it is.

But the heart does not function correctly when the mind is clouded with
preconceptions doctrines preachings (religions),
mind programming (community, school, TV, advertising),
desires (arising from programming)

These must be identified as such and dispensed with or
relocated to their proper places so their influence on our judgement
is successfuly moderated
This is where questioning comes into the picture.

Is what I am told really intended for my own good or
by accepting it I am "serving" somebody else's purpose?

Peace, Love, Regards


---------------------
Why do you think atheists can't see the light?
(this is a question I stumbled upon in Yahoo answers)

My thoughts:

Atheists can't see the light?
You mean as opposed to those Christians that see the light and the Truth in the Holy Book
that describes
a perfect God that makes no mistakes who changes his mind and attitude from the Old to the New Testament from being a strict and vengeful entiry to a benevolent and loving one.
a almighty God that has enemies and punishes them by throwing fire upon them
a God that can do everything but persuade his creatures of the right path and because of this inability burns them in Sodoma and Gomora
a god that has favorite children and people named Jews
an all forgiving god that curses his creation a sycamore tree because it cannot satisfy a carnal need of his-hunger- but forgets to curse the soil that supports and feeds it and the weather conditions and the DNA or whatever may be responsible

Those christians who are taught about these and more and if a question pops up anytime in their heads
they say there must be some secret meaning that I cannot see in all of this
or some flaw in my mind cause God made me imperfect