I’ve been through a religious re-conversion lately.
The thing is, I am very interested in the life of Christ, in who he was as a person. I just can't accept all of the tenets of the faith, and don't see Christ in most of the people who proclaim to be Christians.
Over the last couple months, I've become less and less tolerant of religious intolerance. The purpose of religion is to help one to be a better person. I feel that all religions are constructions, mankind's way of trying to give shape to something that is shapeless, to explain what cannot be explained. The idea of God as an independent and superior entity takes power away from the people and puts it in the hands of something greater and grander than ourselves. It makes us powerless as individuals. What I feel is that God exists to share power with us and live through us. The energy of God is of course infinitely more intelligent, creative, and benevolent than us, but it's something we can tap into and align ourselves with. Yet religious people who get too serious about what religion means, who morph its purpose into a mythology of gods and demons, of appropriate and inappropriate behavior, are missing the point. Religion is not a tool by which you judge others; it's a tool by which you improve yourself.
Over the last couple months, I've become less and less tolerant of religious intolerance. The purpose of religion is to help one to be a better person. I feel that all religions are constructions, mankind's way of trying to give shape to something that is shapeless, to explain what cannot be explained. The idea of God as an independent and superior entity takes power away from the people and puts it in the hands of something greater and grander than ourselves. It makes us powerless as individuals. What I feel is that God exists to share power with us and live through us. The energy of God is of course infinitely more intelligent, creative, and benevolent than us, but it's something we can tap into and align ourselves with. Yet religious people who get too serious about what religion means, who morph its purpose into a mythology of gods and demons, of appropriate and inappropriate behavior, are missing the point. Religion is not a tool by which you judge others; it's a tool by which you improve yourself.