Have you ever considered that when you feel religion, it could be just emotion?  Don’t mistake me for not believing in spiritualism when I say that, because I do believe that God intervenes in our lives.  I’m simply saying, how many times have we mistaken our own emotions for God?  Or thought that something that we felt strongly about was God, but it really just ended up being emotions.  So that raises the question, is God simply emotion in our brains?  I don’t think so, but it’s something to think about.  I think a lot of Christians have problems talk to God, or knowing how to identify His voice.  I know I do.  But that doesn’t mean He doesn’t exist, it just means that it is a possibility that He doesn’t intervene as much as we think he does.

On a philosophical note, would God exist if no one knew about Him?  Ahh, now that will hurt your brain.  I mean what makes God feel so real?  Is it the fact that most people are Christians?  What if every single bit of evidence of God got wiped out, and everyone on earth lost their memory of Him?  What would happen?  Would that mean that He would have to send his son again, or would a copy of the bible appear miraculously to show us the way?  Or would it be phased out, and new religions created by people?  I definitely think religion gives us a feeling of purpose, but is it necessary for life?  That’s the biggest question.

Religion. Karl Marx wrote:

“Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people. The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is the demand for their real happiness.”

I’ve always said that religion is the most controversial topic on the planet, and my opinion stands on that. It’s the only one of the five categories of my blog that wars have been started over. Nations have been stomped on, people have been killed, and individuals have sacrificed their own lives because of it. Look at what Marx called it: The “opium” of the people. Why? Because I think that it keeps us in check, and honestly, I believe it gives us a purpose, and massively reduces chaos. So what makes it so controversial? You could say that so many people are devoted to it, but let’s face it, people have opinions on EVERYTHING, but religion is just such a touchy subject. Before Christ, I believe that religion was more of a cultural thing, spreading because it seemed to be popular, basically pop culture. Suicide rates are much higher in people that do not have a religion, or at least a deity that they worship. Why is this? Well you have to wonder if it’s simply because so many religions cause something I like to call a “protective factor,” shunning suicide. Personally, I don’t believe that is it. I believe that religion gives us a feeling of purpose, and purity so to speak.

So in your religion, whatever god you may worship, deity you serve, I think you should stop and ask yourself, “why?” Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t think you should change it, I just think you should challenge it, just like I’ve stated in so many other posts. There is nothing healthier in my opinion. I can tell you why I am a Christian. I went through a phase in my life of curiosity. I studied Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, and a few others. Mind you, it wasn’t an in-depth study, but I do understand the concept. So as I’ve said before, ask yourself why am I a Christian? Is it simply because that is what you were taught as a child? Is it for His glory or for your own? And when I say that, replace Christian with your own religion. But don’t be surprised if you don’t have an answer.

The years keep flying by don’t they?  It’s incredible to me.  I remember sitting down and blogging the last two years on my birthday, and it seems like around a week or so ago.  The older I get, the faster time passes.  It’s so amazing to me.

Ever wonder why and how things change?  How can you be so certain about something one day, and the next, turn around and your whole attitude change?  I can’t figure that out.  I guess it’s one of those wonders of life.  I just miss the simplicity of childhood.  Boy I know I probably run that statement in the ground, but isn’t it the truth? Do you ever sit back and ask yourself, “Is this it?”  Is this what I’m meant to do?  I do all the time.  I sit back and look at my life, and say is this the end?  Is it going to be like this for the rest of my life?  Will I be stuck in this routine, or will it change?  I don’t guess we can really know the truth, because life comes at us so fast. 

My friend Jonathan told me something on the phone tonight that made me think so much.  We were talking about life, and how God expects us to live, opposed to how we do live, and he told me one of the best examples that I have ever heard.  He told me that our life is kind of like one of those childrens blocks, you know the ones were you have different shapes that go through holes?  In example, a square block, and a square hole, a round block and a round hole, etc…?  Well he said if we follow what God has planned for our life, it is exactly like sticking one of the ones that fit right through.  But if we try to take it in our own hands, and change what God has planned for us, and try to stick a round block through a square hole, we have to cut it to make it fit, and in the end we become deformed, and something that is unnatural, because we are basically compensating.  That made so much sense to me.  Isn’t it the truth?  The happiest times in my life, and the best times, seems to be when I’m praying, I’m doing what I should, and I’m following God’s standards according to what I believe is right.  I think that’s all that matters in life.  The fact that this life doesn’t really matter as much as eternity has been on my mind a heck of a lot lately.  I feel like God is saying, “What does this life matter compared to what I have in store for you after?”  Day after day I feel like I am going to be in the ministry eventually.  I have quite a bit of grooming before that can happen though, but I think I may get there.

I’ve had a lot of dreams lately, and I think they are symbolic of many things.  I won’t go into detail on them, but I really think that something huge is going to happen to me soon.  I guess I’m straying off topic just a little.  I just believe that we should live life according to what we believe is right in God’s eyes, and that will be what will count in the end.  Because let’s face it, we all have a concience.  We know what is right and what is wrong.  So why don’t we do it?  Because it isn’t the most “fun” thing to do at the time.  I’ll tell you what though, I am looking forward to what is after this life, because sometimes I stop and think, if this life is all there is, then that is a little disappointing. 

I’ve been thinking about religion a lot lately.  I feel at peace now in my life more than I ever have.  Don’t get me wrong; I’ve always believed, but I am finding it easier and easier lately.  I believe that there are a lot of people that resent that too.  I think people that have problems believing in God or simply put, ones that don’t believe in God, resent those that do.  I could be wrong, but I’m just guessing.  I think the ones that don’t simply don’t believe to defy, or distrust the Bible.  They will jump on any fact contradicting the Bible, but simply not believe one that proves the Bible.  There are lots of different opinions on Religion out there.  Personally I don’t have a problem if someone believes differently than I do.  However, some people resent other religions.  I’ve known die-hard Christians that resent Buddhists.  Another thing that is funny to me, is people place labels on others.  For an example, someone that is of the Orthodox, Lutheran, or many other different forms of Christianity are sometimes thought to be devil worshippers, or something of the sort.  That really boggles me.  I just don’t see why other people’s religion is anyone’s business.

Today’s topic is, “When I have problems, is God punishing me?”  I don’t think so.  I don’t think God punishes.  However I do believe he will allow things to happen to us, that He has no control over.  It’s kind of like this: If you have the ability to stop a crime, but you don’t, are you affecting it?  Yes, you are affecting the outcome, however you directly had nothing to do with it, yet you didn’t stop it.  Kind of mind boggling if you think about it.  I think God allows things to happen to us sometimes, perhaps to learn, or perhaps simply because we didn’t come to Him for help.  I don’t think God dabbles in every single thing we do in life.  I believe He will help us; however I don’t He’s got His hands in everything.  Does he have the ability to?  Sure, but I don’t believe it works that way.

If God did everything for us, we would be puppets, wouldn’t we?  Even devout Christians.  Do we want God to control our lives?  I want him to be my co-pilot.  Not that I don’t want him making decisions, but it’s just that He leaves some of them to us.  So when we have problems, is it God?  No, but there are consequences to things.  Things we do cause bad things to happen sometimes, and what’s our favorite thing to do?  Blame it on God, and point a finger.  It’s funny that we seem to be closest to God when something isn’t right in our life, but very distant when things are going good.  That’s how it is for me anyway.  When life is good, I’ll be honest, I forget to pray.  I feel guilty about that but I can’t help it.  In closing I believe that it is solely ourselves that cause bad things to happen, however had we prayed in the first place, God may not have allowed those things to happen.

Is blind faith a good thing?  I don’t think so.  In fact that’s one thing I’m willingly able to admit, is that I think it’s horrible when people are tricked into believing what they believe.  I think we should choose our religion based on what we know from the ones out there, instead of blindly following someone’s teachings just because that’s what we were taught to do.  As I have always said, I think religious decisions should be logically thought and and then made.  Why am I a Christian?  Because I have had situations in my life that caused me to believe.  I have no doubt that there is a God, and I believe in Him.  Does that mean I’m going to turn up my nose to other religions?  No, because even though I am sure, I’m not going to disrespect them and try to tell them that what they are doing isn’t right, because it may be all they know.  Imagine another religion, doesn’t matter what, but a member of it starts worshipping in their form of worship.  It would be disrespectful to them to look down on them and ridicule, and some people will even do it to their face.

This goes both ways too though.  People shouldn’t question religious beliefs.  What if something a person is doing is right by their religious point of view, but wrong lawfully?  It shouldn’t be questioned in my opinion.  People are to involved with what others do.  The world cannot understand that people must do what they believe is right.  I don’t understand that, I really don’t.  As a Christian, I have to do what I believe is right, and if it goes against the laws of the world, I think it’s more important.  Because in my opinion, my eternity is far more important than my life here on earth.  I just think people become far to self-involved in the affairs of others.

In closing, I don’t believe blind faith is a good thing at all.  I think it can harm not only the person performing his or her faith, but also people observing it, simply because they appear brainwashed.  Life really is short, and there is a lot more to life than what we see.  As humans we’ve got to get our stuff straight, because as of now this is the only world we know, but there is far more.