Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Jainism, Paganism, Sikhism, Taoism. We’ve heard about all of these different religions with all of their different beliefs, rules and structures. Depending on where we grew up and who raised us, we learn to follow one of the paths to achieve a certain greatness.
For some people, committing to a religion is one of the most structural components of his or her individuality and ideals, but religion is just structured faith, the intangible feeling that instills hope and helps people understand the world around us in a more positive light.
My Jewish father and Catholic grandparents raised me in a primarily Southern Baptist town — I’m sure you can imagine the confusion. I participated in different holidays, prayed when I needed to and refrained from eating certain things when I shouldn’t, until one day, when it hit me: why was I doing this? Was it to appease my family? To ensure I go to Heaven? To make me feel not so badly about my poor decisions?
The religion I was practicing was nothing but a structure with rules, boundaries, can’s and cannot’s and leaders who ultimately act as hands of gods or idols to tell us when we’re being good and bad. And, quite frankly, it’s a load of crap. Maybe it’s because I suffer from what some describe as a “perpetual opposition to authority” or because I just never had an eye-opening experience with religion, but I cannot whole-heartedly believe in any of them.
Don’t get me wrong; I don’t have any problems with religious people. Seriously, it’s awesome that some have found a system that they can relate to so much. It’s wonderful that religion has allowed some people to find happiness in their lives, but having faith is a hell of a lot more important than claiming a religion.
Religion will always be a controversial topic. There are always going to be people who claim they are more religious than others or that their religion just makes more sense than others, but all of it is subjective.
If someone is religious, that doesn’t mean he or she is a better person than those who are not or that the person who is not religious is going to hell or wherever.
If someone attends a house of worship every week, it doesn’t mean that those who don’t are lazy, as some of us work three jobs and don’t get a day off.
If someone who is religious believes followers of other religions are stupid for their beliefs, then those being criticized for their beliefs could say the same thing about the accuser.
There is one thing that all religions have in common, and that is faith. No matter the religious affiliation, faith is the driving force that pushes us to become the best versions of ourselves. The whole purpose of religion is to establish specific outlines for people to follow, like a recipe for success, so that they can obtain that ultimate self. Faith is our conscious and subconscious beliefs and desires, and it is what reassures us that our decisions will ultimately benefit us and help us accomplish our dreams and goals.
Faith is a mindset. Religion is an organization. Faith is self-motivation. Religion is abidance of rules. Faith is understanding imperfection. Religion is the life-long strive for perfection. Faith is free. Religion costs time, money and, sometimes, freedom. Faith is what unites people for a better tomorrow. Religion categorizes ideas to prevent unification.
When life gets tough, it is faith, not religion, that reassures you that things will get better. When life is going well, it is upholding your faith in positivity, not religion, that creates happiness.
When it comes down to it, nobody is going to remember someone based on their religious preference; they are going to remember someone based on their beliefs, their values and their contributions. We call people individuals because we were created to each be unique and not to succumb to specific ideologies so easily. We were created to discover what our personal ideologies should be so that we can grow into the best version of ourselves.
For those who do follow a particular religion, why do you do so? Is it because that’s how you were raised, or because you fully believe and live by those teachings? If you fully believe in the teachings, then kudos to you because you have found yourself, and that’s truly an amazing accomplishment that should be celebrated daily.
For those who follow a religion because you were taught to do so, is it really benefitting your well-being, or just a way of appeasing your family? Nobody should subscribe to a religion or any other tradition or task just to appease someone else.
Religion is about reaching a certain enlightenment so its followers may live to the fullest based on their values, but if the teachings that guide you to enlightenment don’t truly resonate with you, you can’t truly reach that ultimate goal.
This article is not intended to undermine any religious affiliation. This was written to demonstrate why faith, not an affiliation, helps people grow to understand the world. No matter what one’s religious preference may be, a religion is nothing without having faith in the teachings.
Whether a religion or one’s own mind brings on faith, it is what creates hope and allows us to understand the good and the bad in this journey we call life.
