In the last moths or perhaps even weeks, I came to few important realizations. My journey to the Most Hight God hasn’t been straightforward and what you can call standard according to religious standards. Many of us are born into a religion and we are being taught by parents, school, church what and how we should believe. Therefore before we come to our own conclusions, we are being taught various concepts and doctrines. With time and depending on the individual, that might change, someone might question those doctrines and one might change religion or even faith…
Unfortunately we live in the world where nothing is straightforward and there are many lies within any ideology and religion. However, in my humble opinion it’s not the point of having everything put on a silver platter and being straightforward but we are here to dig deeper, to keep improving ourselves and the world around us through rising our consciousness and understanding. And to do that we have to be open minded to different points of view, different opinions, to critics and corrections. If we limit ourselves to the created constructs that unbale us to look elsewhere and that invoke fear if we do so, then we wouldn’t be able to form a rounded understanding.
What also stands in the way is our confirmation bias – which is part of our brain mechanism that has a tendency to search for, interpret, favor and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one’s prior beliefs or values. Therefore if someone was born into a religion, taught different believes and doctrines from a young age and later in life faced with opposing views, of course that person will look for any information and evidence to prove previously established believes.
We often hear that if someone believes in God, talks about God then that person must be religious. Well not necessarily..
What is Religion?
Religion is a system of shared believes and practices, usually exercised through created institution based on that system, like church. People who share a common faith are coming together to exercise those believes and traditions in one place. Therefore it starts with faith and a believe in God and that encourages people to create a set of practices, traditions and rituals that will strengthen that system.
What is Faith?
Faith is a believe in a higher power, God, Creator, that is invisible to the human eye and very often is coming hand in hand with assigning to various believes and concepts that this faith would produce. It’s a very individual concept and means something different to each individual. It’s important to say that faith is non tangible and it doesn’t require physical proof, as opposed to religion where it usually comes with rituals and traditions. We cannot measure faith from the outside as this is very personal and individual, however we can measure if someone is religious by frequently participating in any masses, rituals and traditions.
Through faith we come to religion, or should I say this is how it should be done but it today’s world very often is the other way round. When we are born into a religion, as children we are unknowingly accepting set of believes that our parents came into and we trust them that this is the truth. Why would we even question that? Our parents are the smartest people in the world during that innocent time of childhood. We also hope that our parents, before fully agreeing to a religion, that they have done their research, experienced various things and that their religion reflects their believes. And therefore at school, church or at home we are being taught various ideologies and doctrines that are connected to that religion. It’s not the time of critical thinking or even questioning but a time of accepting whatever we are being told to believe in.
When we grow up and see the world through our eyes, our experiences and exposure to various information, this is the time of questioning if the religion I subscribed to through my parents is the religion that reflects my inner believes. And now, depending on the house and parents, we question if we want to stay where we are or explore different religions. If parents are strict, if the environment, school and family allows, that person will either stay in the religion out of fear of breaking out and being the “black sheep” of the family and exploring different paths or taking the leap and changing the path.
The problem with religion is that someone can be religious through rituals but not necessarily having strong faith. Religiosity is not an indicator of strong faith at all. Similarly, someone with strong faith doesn’t necessarily have to be very religious. On the contrary, that person might be very private and not visibly expressing their faith. Religion is just an outward expression but not always done for the right reasons. Sometimes is the environmental pressure and not wanting to feel “left out”, so we go along.
Is it wrong to break out of the norm? I don’t think so. I think it is important to come to personal conclusions and the only way to do so is through breaking out. If the foundation of that religion hasn’t been established strongly, perhaps because of lack of any personal experiences or confusion that usually religion brings, then that person is more likely to chose different path. In the Bible we also see that not everyone had a straightforward path. Moses and Joseph had to go to Egypt and Daniel to Babylon, which in reality are God’s enemies. But God wanted for them to understand the enemy because only that way you can be sure that there is one true God. Contrast is needed, without contrast we wouldn’t be able to see what is right. That is why God created darkness and light. Without darkness we wouldn’t be able to appreciate light.
How faith fits into the concept of religion? Do we have to be part of religion in order to have faith?
The answer is no. We do not have to belong to any religion to have faith but very often people need a tangible aspect to the faith to strengthen that faith. As humans, we have 5 senses that help us with discovering the world and very often people have a difficulty in just believing without any tangible aspect like ritual. Unless someone had personal encounters with God, then they would require something else to believe. And here comes religion – a concept of shared practices and believes.
Religion is a man made concept that people came up with based on their set of believes. The problem with religion is that it can trap someone’s mind in carefully crafted set of rules and obligations. This can unable someone to want to, to be able to or even to have the courage to break free and see it for what it is. And the only way to see it for what it is, is to break free. Moreover, people are social creatures who like to be around communities, like cultivating traditions and forming bonds with people who think alike, so religion always had strong roots in social aspects.
The dark side of religion
As with any ideology or concept, there are always two sides of the coin. There is also the dark side which very often people are unable to see until something happens to them that allows them to break free from that concept. We all search for the ultimate truth and hope that the religion we belong to has that ultimate truth. Why wouldn’t they have it, since my parents, grand parents, great grandparents and most of previous generations belong to that religion. It’s part of the history, it’s part of the tradition and it’s our identity. But…you cannot assume historical and religious concepts are true just because they have been established centuries before. The danger of being stuck in a religion and tightly holding to a concept with a fear of loosing salvation or anything else that the religion is threating you about, is the danger of not being able to see the other side of that religion. Apart from the fear, there is also concept of a comfort zone. How could I leave the religion that has so many entertaining traditions. And what about the community and being the “outsider”? Sometimes there is more to lose than to gain which holds us back.
Historically we know that religion was a reason of many wars and conflicts between the regions. Strong attachment to ideologies and believes acted like like an invisible to the eye blinds, where people were unable to see and understand the other side. The “extremists” of that side could take radical steps in the name of that religion or God. And this is what we’ve seen historically and till today.
The differences in viewing the world, life, family, women and children due to religion can really disturb the balance. Both sides always think they are right and that their truth is the ultimate truth. No debate, conversation or argument would be able to convince the other side of their believes. It is only possible if one of the sides would have a significant personal situation or encounter that changed their mind, but it wouldn’t happen on the spot. It requires contemplation and balancing the thoughts of what would that mean if I changed or left my religion.
Is religion in the Bible?
You don’t see the word religion in the Bible and we see in the New Testament how Jesus was opposing religious aspect of the Pharisees. Therefore it’s not how God wanted us to behave and restrict our thinking through the barriers of religion. Faith is creating environment to invite God to earth, religion is trying to get to heaven. Through faith you are behaving in a way that would be worthy of God, creating your vessel and your environment pure enough for the presence of God. Through religion you are restricting your behaviors, creating opposing believes and with that creating intolerance to different thinking and different opinions, because the believes associated to that religion makes you think you are right and another religion is wrong. But God does not think through labels, institutions, nationalities and doctrines. God is a spirit and He wants to visit pure hearts. It’s all about the heart posture, love towards God and the others rather than which church and denomination you belong to. Religion is the weapon of the enemy to make it all very physical, by creating barriers and inadequacy to connect with God or to understand God’s word, but faith allows you to connect with God regardless of any institutions, doctrines and labels.
Collective rise of the consciousness
Our world is constantly going through collective increase of knowledge, wisdom, raising of our consciousness that enable us critical thinking. It’s never been easier to have access to so many resources as today, we’ve never been exposed to so much information as today and we have never had so many educated and knowledgeable people on earth. We are all going through different personal “discoveries” and we are able to share them with others and help others to see different points of view. But it can also lead to information overload and confusion at times therefore balance is very important.
From my personal experience I went through different paths in order to come to my personal conclusions regarding religion. I never lost faith towards God and I always wanted to understand God and serve Him as He would want to be served, but the concept of religion was blocking me from coming to my personal revelations. I remember talking to my fellow Christians and they viewed leaving religion as something so fullish because you are exposing yourself to the deception that is around, not even comprehending that they in fact might be deep in a deception through that religion.
It is so interesting how your view can change and shift and the same situation can be viewed completely differently. Some time ago I saw a video of Christians preaching in Israel, shouting about Jesus and at one point the situation became quite aggressive. In Christian’s eyes they were doing a great thing and working for God and trying to bring people to Jesus. However for Jews it was quite aggressive and pushy. In Jew’s eyes they thought poor Christians they don’t realize that they are in a lie and created idol out of Jesus and we should be worshiping one God only. In Christian’s eyes they thought poor Jews, they reject God in the flesh Jesus Christ. So who was right? Of course your view would depend on your religion. As I was watching it while being in Christianity, of course I saw Jews as the “blind ones” that are unable to see the truth. However, after changing my views on Christianity and leaving religion, I revisited that video and I was amazed that the same video watched at different times of my understanding was understood completely differently. I saw Christians as the poor ones not seeing that they are in deception through Apostle Paul. One video, different times and completely two different views.
The topic of religion is a very sensitive and complicated topic. It’s never straightforward and there isn’t one religion who holds the ultimate truth except one true God. We all dig for the truth, we all hope we have the truth, but the prideful idea that my religion have the ultimate truth is a dangerous concept. I think it’s so important to be open minded and humble in correction. We don’t understand spiritual realities but people have tendencies to fill any gaps of knowledge with assumptions and interpretations, which can then create quite delusional thinking. God did not ask us to figure those things out. Our job was to have dominion here on earth and to serve God and others through love. That is our task here and we are often distracted with those needs of filling the gaps of spiritual matters and looking into concepts we have no understanding of. The truth is we will never fully understand until God allows us to understand. The danger of trying to satisfy our curiosity is falling into different illusions or worshiping something we don’t understand just because on the surface is presented in one way. You must develop willingness to confront realities and be willing to walk away once discovering the truth. Only then you will be able to dismantle the illusions that keep you bound. Breaking free requires more than just knowledge but also shift in the perspective and the confidence to leave that comfort zone or community. Modern society thrives on concepts, ideologies and illusions. By questioning, educating yourself and not accepting everything just because it’s been formed centuries before, not only you empower your own life but also you contribute to a broader awakening. Awareness creates ripples, a butterfly effect that goes beyond individual, challenging the status quo and inspiring others to question the systems they inhabit. This collective rising in consciousness is the only way to dismantle the structures of manipulation and control. Every person who takes time to learn and to understand becomes a force of change no matter how small their actions may seem. The journey from breaking free from those systems and traditions is of courage and persistence, not being afraid to be left out in the cold. It allows to see the facade behind all the illusions we’ve been fed with. It requires complacency and embracing the discomfort of being viewed as different or strange. But in my view bitter truth is better than a sweet lie.
By Dagmara Z.