Religion- What is "faith"?
I don’t believe in religion.
To me, all religions stem from stuff that happened millions of years ago, that has since been misconstrued by generations of people. Basically like a case of broken telephone.
These are the key reasons why I think all religions are nonsensical.
1) Most of the time, your religion is determined by that of your parents’.
For those who let religion play a key and guiding role in their lives, it is important to note that 90% of people follow the religion they were born into. People believe what they are taught at a young age, and these things then become habit. Wash your hands before you eat, flush the toilet, pray to God… after a while it seems unnatural and wrong to NOT do these things.
If you were born into a Christian home, and are now a devote Christian, has it ever crossed your mind that if you were born into an Islamic home, you most likely would have ended up practising Islam?
2) People pray/ fast/ perform sacrifices to get something out of it
I was born into a Hindu home, so I am most familiar with Hindu customs.
I believe that the only reason most people perform religious fasts, is in the hope that God will grant them something in return. Surely if you are performing these fasts it should be a selfless act and you should not hope for money/ health/ anything else that is not in your possession already?
I think that if you are a good person with good morals and values, you will not be punished by eating meat on a Monday, or missing mosque on a Friday.
3. Religious people are hypocrites
If you are going to call yourself a Muslim and abstain from alcohol, don’t do drugs either. People seem to conveniently forget the root reason these rules were imposed (alcohol alters your state of mind), and find other ways to get the same effect.
If you want to be a good Christian, don’t gossip or wish bad things upon others.
Lots of people also adapt the rules of fasts etc to suit themselves.
Why even bother? It’s like you want the supposed benefit these sacrifices promise, but you don’t do them wholeheartedly.
4.People do not have enough inner strength to rely on themselves
What I’ve always believed is that religion, or God, offers people an invisible or illusive “crutch” to support them through life. If you have problems that you feel are overwhelming, seek within yourself and give YOURSELF the strength you need, instead of hoping that God is going to perform a miracle. I can assure you that the former will yield more tangible results.
I am aware that many people are convinced that by praying or performing a fast, some miracle has happened in their lives- they fell pregnant after years of trying, they won the lotto or whatever else.
What about the bad things that happened? Car accidents, family deaths etc.
Life is made up of good things and bad things, and one should embrace both and realise that the bad things are going to happen, with or without God’s blessings.
On that note, merry merry Xmas!
H
December 23, 2011 @ 7:00 pm
I salute you for posting this, Hasmita! If it was possible, I’d have signed my own name underneath yours there. (I followed your link here from the News24 article.)
One of my main problems – though there are many others I can list – with the majority of religious folk is that they use their belief systems to avoid taking responsibility for their own actions. You know, all the “it was god’s will”, “it is preordained”, “the devil made me do it”, kind of convenient excuses to wash their hands of accountability.
Of course, they’ll deny this, but any outsider can see clearly how they use their so-called faiths for convenience’s sake.
Please excuse my being unhandy with blogs & stuff, but how do I become a member/follower/subscriber/etc of your blog? (I do not have a twitter account – not yet part of my social networking.) Anyway, I approve of what I’ve seen so far.
Jaco Wium
December 24, 2011 @ 1:12 am
hello Hasmita,
a second salute from me I too followed you from the News24 article.
I’d love to have a discussion on the subject of religions and beliefs, I’ve had my period of searching for the truth… and have come to similar conclusions as you have.. if you wish to contact me my email address is cyntay123@gmail.com
Cynthia Taylor
December 27, 2011 @ 4:18 pm
Fabulous post and all so true!
Great blog hun 🙂
December 28, 2011 @ 7:02 am
Hi all, thanks for the feedback 🙂
Jaco, below the comments section you’ll see a button saying “join this site”. Click there.
Cynthia, you can contact me on hasmita.bhana@gmail.com anytime.
One Stiletto At A Time: Thanks for visiting my blog 🙂 🙂
xx
February 13, 2012 @ 3:45 pm
This comment has been removed by the author.
February 13, 2012 @ 4:00 pm
Keep an open mind when you read this article:
http://www.krishna.com/god-objective-fact
June 13, 2012 @ 11:26 am
Was just reading this article and for the most part it is true. although I just feel there’s no harm in believing in god :).. better to die believing and know that he doesn’t exist than not believe and end up regretting it ;).. Just a quick question on that note, what do you believe will happen to you after you die? and what is the purpose of life for you?