My Religion?

Religion
• noun 1 the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods. 2 a particular system of faith and worship. 3 a pursuit or interest followed with devotion.

-Compact Oxford English Dictionary

Religion, according to the great philosopher Karl Marx is but "opium for the masses". However, the pursuit of socialism that he had so fervently tried to spread throughout the world is also technically speaking a form of religion, thus making him another addict based on his own description. Hypocrite... Religion, in popular usage though generally refers to the first two forms mentioned above, and it is these forms which generally make me extremely uncomfortable when discussing them. Whenever anything religious is brought up in a conversation, I cannot help but feel cynical. It is as if the person who is trying to discuss religion forgets part of his rational self and indulges him or herself in what may or may not be true. Oftentimes I myself wonder the "Buddhist" stated in my ic is an accurate reflection of my own religion...

Do not get me wrong, for I have nothing against the various forms of religion. The moral leadership displayed by the various religions have led to much good being done in this world. For in the aftermath the recent Tsunami tragedy, various religious organizations have contributed greatly to the relief of the victims by different means. The problem though is that sometimes I wonder why must it that only through religion are people willing to do good for others. Very often we see on television former criminals who turn over a new leaf when some fatherly figure spread the word of god to them. While I applaud the religions for helping those who have strayed, why can it be done in a secular way?

The main reason I believe is that it is easier for someone to accept advice when it is deemed to come from a supreme being instead of a mere mortal, with the fatherly figure being a messenger of god. It seems to give more weight to the words spoken, as evident by the abundance of people quoting from the different religious scriptures, justifying anything from donating grandiose sums of money to the needy all the way to mass murder. The examples are too numerous to list. Therefore I wonder why people cannot just rely on common sense instead of following the so called words of God (with so many variations, how can one be sure which one to believe?).

Truthfully, I am not very sure whether I believe in the existence of God. From a Reader's digest article that I have read, it seems that there is a part of a brain that is responsible for our spiritual needs, perhaps explaining that religion is merely fulfilling a biological need. Which may explain why me, who is quite skeptical about all things religious can't help but pray before major examinations or tests. Or as the Chinese put it: "Hugging Buddha's legs at the last minute". It somehow always manages to soothe the jittery nerves of mine.

Then again, many things happen which cannot be explained in a scientific manner, with people resort to the supernatural for explanation. Which brings up something which irks me no end: how could certain religions claim to be superior to other religions which they claim are primitive when they are all trying to explain the same phenomenon through the supernatural? Just because more people with greater power believe it does not make it any more real than other religion. Even when most people in the world believe that the earth is flat, it did not make earth any less round. This type of attitude just smacks of hypocrisy and explains my misgivings about believing in any form of religion.

All these basically explains why I call myself a free-thinking agnostic Buddhist. My brain tells me I am a free thinker, my heart is partial to being agnostic while my surroundings shape me as a Buddhist. Whatever my religion is however, I sincerely hope that should I meet whoever God may be, I would be able to tell him that while I could have been a better man, I would be able to face him with as a clear a conscious that could be reasonably be expected from a mere mortal that is myself.

P.S: My other religion is the Arizona Diamondbacks... GO D'BACKS!!! (see the 3rd def above)

Quote of the day

" The opposite of the religious fanatic is not the fanatical atheist but the gentle cynic who cares not whether there is a god or not."

-Eric Hoffer (1902 - 1983)