Organized religion is, as it has always been, the status quo. It is all too easy to go along with the crowd, go through the motions, and be another sheep. I, however, must take a leap of faith. That's right, faith in nothing is a greater leap than faith in God. Belief in God is the easy way out. It's easy to just chock it all up to a Creator, without regard for scientific inquiry, but it comes with a great daring faith to say that there is nothing out there in the likes of a God.
There are people who go to church all there lives and never get it. So I say it is better to have no opinion of God at all than one which is not worthy of him. I at least have a belief system and a moral code. I at least am consistent in carrying out that moral code. I think about life and the world and what it all means. And for those of you who are devout in your faith, whatever it may be, and conduct yourself in a manner appropriate to that, then more power to you. But I say it is not the non-believer who is your enemy. It is the man who masquerades as a believer - the man who makes a mockery of the Church by claiming membership but does not act accordingly.
I have great respect for the traditions and mythology of all cultures, but when the members of a church do not even understand their own religion, it is impossible for them to uphold any standard of religious integrity. Look at the cultures of the East. Their religion is not just a religion to them. It is life. It consumes every facet of their lives, and they cannot imagine it any other way because they truly believe it and they live it. Western religion, on the other hand, does not take itself seriously. Church is now more of a pop-culture phenomenon and less of a religious center. Religion only happens on sundays and holidays, and even then they just say a prayer and feel good about themselves and then go back to being 'sinners' the rest of the time.
I uphold the same standards of conduct every day. The funniest church moment of my life came when we watched a video about teens and Christianity. It told us to stand up for our beliefs and not go along with the crowd: that Christianity might not be cool, but it's the right way of life. Afterwards I told the guy in charge that I was done going along with the crowd and pretending to be something I'm not. He was excited because he thought I was making a profession of my faith in Christianity. I love irony. I wont follow you just because there's a lot of you. I'm going to stand up for my beliefs because I have a powerful faith.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
