Religion
Religion is not God.
Religion is the expression of belief in God.
What can I say that God is?
Love, Truth, Creator, Sustainer, Hope, Refuge, Joy and Happiness, Forever, Savior, Judge, Just, Forgiving, Merciful, All Knowing, Compassionate and Caring. There can be more titles. Anybody disagree?
Can the expression of belief in God become more important to some than God?
If God's command is to Love, and if at the expense of Love, we prefer a particular custom (e.g., to hate someone who has a different religion, or to despise someone for not fasting as we do, or for not saying the prayers we do), then haven't we made our expression of our belief in God more important than God?
But don't the religions of the Jews, Christians and Muslims all say that God is more important that our religions customs?
e.g., The Prophet says in the Quran
"Righteousness does not consist of turning your faces towards the
East and the West. But righteous is he who believes in God, and
the Last Day, and the angels, and the Scripture, and the prophets.
Who gives money, though dear, to near relatives, and orphans, and
the needy, and the homeless, and the beggars, and for the freeing
of slaves; those who perform the prayers, and pay the obligatory
charity, and fulfil their promise when they promise, and patiently
persevere in the face of persecution, hardship, and in the time of
conflict. These are the sincere; these are the pious."
and
"So woe to those who pray. Those who are heedless of their prayers. Those who put on the appearance. And withhold the assistance."
So, religion is not God. God is God.
So which religion is right?
Maybe that's the wrong question.
Perhaps it's better to turn to God and find out?
But how?
Perhaps read the different core scriptures of the major religions - the Bhagavad Gita, The Teaching of Buddha, the Jewish Bible (Tanakh - the longest read), the Quran, Then the Gospels/New Testament of the Christians. If you're that bothered, you could do this in one year. You will see the beauty of God in all. I personally see the fullness of revelation in the Gospels. And I don't mean in the books or the texts, but in the Living Word, the Truth and the Way, Jesus Christ. And I see that His body did die on the cross and that He suffered for us, and I see that Jesus Christ can not die and is now at the right hand of the Father, God our Creator. All the links to these scriptures are found on this web site.
But does God want us fighting amongst ourselves about which religion is best? Surely if God is Love, Compassionate and Merciful then the religion that wants to hate and fight and dominate and control and take, would not this be the worst religion? And any religion can be the worst religion if it is interpreted in a way that promotes hate rather than Love, lies and fear rather than Truth and Joy.
So read and pray and work to do good. And keep doing so.
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And for those who believe in something else or nothing.
May Truth and Love be with you.
Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and other religions, though
proclaiming they have the true insight into Love and Truth have
sometimes practised greed, lust, hate, envy, slothfulness,
gluttony and wrath throughout the ages.
The pain the various religious institutions have given, like all
pain, can be responded to by a choice to forgive and so heal, or
by a desire to hate, grow in resentment and revenge, and so get
worse. If you have been treated badly, don't let your response put
you in a worse situation.
Forgiveness is as much for your sake as for those you forgive. If
you choose not to forgive, you hold hate and inwardly you slowly
die. Love can heal this pain and where are you going to get it?
Will even those who love us most on earth have enough love for us
to heal us? And we will even lose them through death. And how do
those who do not have people to love them on earth cope and heal?
Do you really think the Healthcare services offer this love? That
might be the weak claim of healthcare management who in reality
are led by economics and fear. So where is this needed love going
to come from. Or do you say it's not here and that this is as good
as it gets?
In a world with so much anxiety, pain, uncertainty, loss of
identity, fear, lack of self-respect or worth, and mental illness,
we need this Love. Unconditional Love.
Putting the whole notion of God aside, could you put your faith in
Truth and Love and gain the strength from this to live this Truth
and Love and heal? Could you have faith that Truth and Love loves
you and knows you as an individual? Or is this to you just as
'silly' as having faith in God? But without faith in Love, how are
we to have the strength to love?
And you might say that religion has been around for centuries, and
the religious peoples don't love like this, an unwavering strong
Love. No, they don't because for centuries religious people have
put the faith in their religion rather than God, and a lot are so
blind they can't distinguish the difference. But always there have
been some who have put their faith in Love and Truth and their
lives have born witness to it.
If faith in God does not make sense to you, think of it as faith
in Love and Truth. If religious people's actions are not born from
Love and Truth, you can tell them that they have turned away from
their God. And if they show hate towards you even if you mock and
insult them, tell them this is not how their God has said they
should behave, and that they have no grounds to say God supports
them. We, who are believers, are to ignore your mocking and
insults and see them as so irrelevant to us that they should not
upset us. And yet there is a difference between hate and defending
oneself. What should upset us, us who have faith in God, is that
you the unbeliever, an unbeliever of Love and Truth, will not have
the joy of Love in your heart, but will rather have fear and you
will act accordingly.
As you won't find any scientific proof of God's existence,
neither, I believe, will you find the fullness of Love needed to
heal individuals and the world unless you put your faith in God.