Do we all use religion to suit our own use? I only bring this up because I met a woman today who is going through a divorce and recently became a Christian she says it is the only thing that is helping her deal what is going on in her life. I find that most people find God when they face trauma or change in their lives. If you were brought up Catholic, Protestant or Jewish or what ever it does not matter it just seems to me that people use religion to suit thieir own devices. Whether it is Osama Bin Laden using it to fight a "Holy" war or someone using it to explain the difficencies in what is wrong in their life. I am sure that there are people who truly feel devout in whatever religion they chose to follow, but at the cost of getting lambasted here I think it is a very easy way to try to explain the questions that people can't answer about life in general. I was raised Catholic but I am letting my children make a choice if any for themselves. In a way I envy people who have blind faith but I also think it is a way of coping with things they have no way to answer. If this was not the case, then why are there so many different religions? Take Henry the 8th for example he was not allowed to divorce his wife so he started a brand new religion so he could marry wife number 3 I think. I would think that with all the scientific knowledge available everyone would question faith, but even in myself I still wonder if there is a "supreme" being controling us.

Good grief Charlie Brown & jeeze louise, you trying to start a religious riot? Just messin' with ya
I see nothing in your questioning that would get you lamblasted. Actually, this has even been brought up in other thread about different religious aspects.

I do agree with you, that often people turn to religion in times of need, example would be prison - countless number of people all of a sudden become religious (per se'), weather it is legitimate or not I don't know.

Others turn to it for just as you mentioned, times of crisis, feeling of loss.

As for me, I didn't turn to it, was not in need, was in no type of crisis, was not alone or lonely, was not yadda yadda. Looking back, I have been in my religion since the age of 14, I just did not know "what" the religion was until roughtly 20 years later, when I found the things that I believe to be true, on the internet.

So, many times yes, sometimes no - in short is my answer, my opinion.

Bright Blessings

Misfit

Thanks Misfit, your name does not fit, but I just wonder why people find find "God" and why, I hope it is not for the wrong reasons!

IMO, I see relgiion in very much the same light...For some, it is all they have to cling to in their lives - when everything else has left them, they can confide and conform into their religious shells...

It is something that is very personal to everyone...many people in many different religions believe that they cannot only speak to God, but that He speaks back to them...therefore they feel that their faith is unquestionable...

The reason we have so many religions is b/c he have so many cultures...so many different aspects of life and our purpose in life that every culture uses religion to be a sort of "dictionary for life" - morals, rituals, prayers...

It has been seen, and I see it today as an opiate for the masses...a safe haven for the unexplainable and the magnificent...

But it's also ingrained in our very bodies at times....it's only natural for someone to look for guidance from those we assume exist and are more powerful....if I were instantly transported to a trench on the front lines of war, I'd be praying to SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE to keep me safe....and if simply by means of survival I made it through, I would probably not thank myself, but that unknown someone/thing to which I prayed....

In Buddhism, the first noble truth is "Life is suffering". I think that it is part of the big plan - without it, our stupid minds would never search for our God - at least for most. I realized this when I also turned to God when I was in troubled times. It was that realization that made me wait till a neutral or good time in my life to search - is there a God?

Most just form an opinion that there is no God without searching - or there are those who believe when in times of trouble, but slip out when times are good, hence 'convenience'. It is those who take the time to quiet their human minds during good or neutral times and listen and look that find a real answer.

So, yes - religion is a convenience. However, for me, getting past 'religion', past the 'humanized' bible, past main stream churches, and seeing to the other side was when I began to see that there is more to the Creator than we were meant to understand. Like a guitar trying to its own tune. However, seeing the answers I did get when I called on God in times of trouble did help me in my decision of 'Is there a God or not' when I sought him in good times.

I hope that makes sense - gettin' tired.



[edit on 26-10-2004 by godservant]

Sure is. How many times have you or your friends prayed over the porcelain thrown praying and telling God "I will never do it again!"