About Religion

The following is a reply I wrote on someone's blog (http://texasatheistteen.blogspot.com). It sums up my opinion about religion pretty well.

I am a Christian (Greek Orthodox) and I would never convert to another religion, specifically because I do not want to play the "guessing game" (guess what the right religion to have is) [1].

I believe in God and in the fact that Jesus died for us, but somehow I cannot believe that the Bible is the pure Truth, or that Church and Priests are the way to get in touch with God. Don't get me wrong, I admire people that make the time to go to Church in their busy lives, but I somehow doubt a God that's fair and righteous would rather judge someone by how much they obeyed traditions than by the amount of good they brought to the world.

I also can't accept that a righteous God would forgive someone for hurting someone else (okay, I'm talking murder/rape) just because he was truly repentful and prayed really hard. [2]

I would rather believe that the righteous God I believe in would give Heaven (or whatever the best alternative would be) [3] to the person that was raised a Buddhist, or a Muslim, or a Jew or any other faith for that matter, that did only good things for other people.

Buddhists believe that the intention that lies underneath your actions is what you should be judged on. Christians do a combination between intention and result. I believe the Buddhist way is better. One cannot know the consequences of one's actions (for example, if one saved a baby and then that baby ended up being a murderer, the person who saved him shouldn't be responsible for anything more than her actions) so there shouldn't be a "Judgement Day" when people will be held responsible for the results of their deeds. The Bible says there shall be one.

Another example of a different faith's idea that I hold very dear and which I believe is the right way to go comes from Muslims (of course most of the radical Muslims eliminated this idea from the Koran they teach their followers, but it is written somewhere in the older books). They say every person shall be judged in the end according to the laws of the religion they believed in. People shouldn't be required to play the "guessing game" (or "guess the right religion")[1]. God shouldn't ask us to do something that is so much beyond our powers, especially when there are so many unknowns.

I could go on. The idea here is that people should be entitled to their version of Heaven [3], even though they don't believe in the same God. And no, non-believers shouldn't burn in hell either, as long as they are good people, that help others more than hurt them. Belief in God shouldn't be a requirement for salvation. And baptism shouldn't be the only way to cleanse the Original Sin (how about innocent babies that died before they could get baptized, for example?).

But my take on it is that God only requires us to love our neighbors, help them etc. By loving human beings you might as well love God. Even if you're not a believer.

Oh, and there are few things I find as scary as people preaching the Love of God by saying that all people that don't believe shall burn in hell (lowercase h on purpose, hell shouldn't be capitalized). They make me run away like crazy. God loves people. Whether they believe in Him or not. There should be more aspects to burning in hell than only being a believer or not. And going to the park and shouting at people on 4th of July that they shall burn in hell if they don't convert it's, well, wrong. God shouldn't give you points for that. You shouldn't make a big deal out of your belief... it is between you and God. And the Priest I suppose.

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Explanations:
[1] If one believes there is only one religion that grants salvation, then he should reconsider all he believes in. And it is not our decision to make, as was not which religion we were born to either. We are too little and too insignificant to even dare to know the truth. And you have no right to judge others, only God has. That's why I believe people shouldn't change their religion. Some do, but then, it's their choice... And usually the reasons go way deeper than just salvation (that's what they believed in all along, somehow that belief is close to their heart), or are way shallower (my husband is a Christian, he wants a Church wedding, I need to convert because I love him).
[2] A lot of people in the Bible turned from being murderers to being God's chosen ones. I believe one of the biggest flaws of the Bible is that it treats mankind as a mass, and not as individuals. And since we're there, sorry God, but if you asked me to kill my son, I'd think You are the devil (lowercase d).
[3] About Heaven alternatives, I read someone's theory on the mentioned blog. They said that it would be cruel to force someone to live with the God that they didn't believe in, so Heaven would be hell for some people, and that's what hell is, an alternative. How about having different versions of Heaven? No, no Purgatory. Not even different heavens. But if Heaven is a surface, you could have different sections. Or simply different takes of the spirit on the place where it's at. Since it's spiritual and not physical. I, for one, would be happy to embrace the truth, whichever it may be. Within some reasonable limits, though... (to avoid being tricked by the bad guy into believing he is the good guy)