Religious Conviction

Or distrust, as it were.

God. Gods. A God.

El. El Shaddai. Elohim. Adonai.
Hera. Hermes. Demeter.
Amun. Ra. Isis. Osiris. Bast.
Vishnu. Shiva. Lalita. Rama.
Allah. Tanri. Khoda.
Jehovah. Yeshua. Despotes.
Zeus. Apollo. Aphrodite. Ares. Athena.
Jesus. The Holy Trinity. Yahweh.

A Mist. A Shroud. A Veil.

Unknown.

Simply Being.



I mistrust religion. It is an institution that in many ways controls a lot of people. Which ever religion you come from, sit back and think about it.

Think about those people who live and die by what your religious doctrine says. Those who worship and feel punishment based on bad deeds. Those who think every horrible event in this world is God's wrath.

You, yourself, might be among those people.

I don't disrespect you but never will I agree with you.

Nowadays, religion is a strategic ploy to control people. Example: the Christian faith.

How many different fractions of Christianity are there? How many different translations are there of the Bible?

Simple answer: too many to count.

People like to create their own beliefs of religion and change the good book for their own purposes.

A God's purpose is not to be divided but to love and be fulfilled.

This independence from the true roots of religions into separate entities has created more divisions than ever should have come from a belief system.

People have started wars over religion. Over forcing entire peoples to believe this "one right religion." Over seeking control over land, resources and human laborers.

Tell me this isn't true. Tell me religion hasn't been corrupted many times over.

The purity is long lost.
The belief has long been tainted.
The trust has forever diminished.

In this bleak outlook on religion, I must be an atheist, correct?

No.

On my good days, I am simply a Christian. A believer in God and his relationships. He died for me and therefore expects nothing of me but to love him and love all others. I don't need to attend church or read the Bible to hear my weekly gospels. I am a child of God. He expects me to sin and to ask for forgiveness and continue living. He is the light and gospel within.

(I've never put my convictions of my faith that loud in writing or in voice...what a step. I guess. Chances are those feelings will change).

On other days, I believe in "A God" or a being or a cosmic force that is more powerful than anything else. I find comfort in knowing something is around us but distrust in what it actually is.

And still there are times I'd like to be a follower of Judaism, of Islam, of Hindu, of Buddha. I am educated on many beliefs, but I'd like more. I'd like to drown myself in texts and soak up the information like a sponge.

I'd like to wallow in the confusion and all the unknowns. I'd like to compare the creation stories and the likenesses of "God(s)" in all religions.

I'd like to become a wanderer. A person believing in nothing and in everything.

I may be blasphemous or a heretic but I am a believer in simplicity, in relationships, in love.

And I believe that is what religious institutions have lost and squandered on money and power.