Welcome to Gaia! :: View User's Journal | Gaia Journals

Religion bothers me. To me it is a cult, a way to brainwash the masses. I'm not singling out any religion... at the moment. I'm just saying that religion as a whole is bogus.

People would say that religion is faith... but that's definitely not true. Faith is a belief in something that you can't see, something that you have no real proof is there. Faith is fine. Religion is a rape of faith. It was an attempt to organize faith and make it one single thing. The truth is, everyone's faith is different. You can't make everyone believe exactly the same, and yet the world tries and in doing so destroys the very essence of faith itself.

Religion makes people ignorant. They so willingly believe something that they are preached all their life and never stop to consider any alternatives. This is of course a general statement. I know religious people who are open minded... but that is because they have more faith than religion. They believe what they believe, and yet aren't bogged down by religion to just brush aside any beliefs that contradict their own.

Religion is a big cause of violence in the world today. I dare someone to tell me this isn't true. When religions conflict with one another, religious people can't seem to settle matters peacefully, you know like they're taught to. No, they have to force their believes on others and get rid of any who don't agree. Religion is causing conflict around the world and conflict inevitably leads to violence.

I'll be honest, a lot of my anger is towards Christianity. This is because I was raised in the south, the "Bible Belt", and it is what I'm most exposed to. I see it's hypocrisies everyday. Christianity in the south is just a big social gathering. It's not about what you really do... it's how holy you appear. Truly Machiavellian. They talk like Christians are the one persecuted... when in the US you're really persecuted if you aren't Christian. Our country is full of people who believe this is a Christian nation... it's not. Yes, it was founded by Christians looking for religious freedoms, but it is suppose to be free to any religion... especially the lack there of. I'm tired of people trying to decided what is best for this country based on a broken and hypocritical religion, but that is for a whole other rant.

In the end, I think that faith is good. I don't believe in anything specific. I believe in possibilities, that anything can be true. I have nothing against the faithful who believe in a god or any other thing. Belief is good. Faith is good. These things give hope and strength. When you try to turn all faith into a religion, then you mess it up.

I say be faithful, not religious. wink

Rant done.