In this process I feel I have stumbled upon an idea that has really helped me come to terms with all religions as well as seems to be an idea based on rational thought and logicality.
The fact of the matter is that as of yet God cannot be proved. In a sense, when following a religion, whether it be Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, or any other religion, you are agreeing to follow a system that their is no basis of proof of. No one truly knows the origin of the holy books each religion claims is the proof that their belief is the true one. And most of the texts have no doubt been influenced by changes made by people to fulfill a certain political agenda. I think that most people are aware of this fact, or at least aware of the fact that their belief system does not resonate with people of other beliefs, and for that reason the search for proof of their belief system is always going on. The human instinct for validation that your idea is right is really being played on here. And who knows, there may be proof out there, but as of yet nothing concrete that can be accepted by everyone, regardless of their personal belief, is there.
And for that reason people should aim to be good people and let the idea of religion evolve as time passes. Bo Burnham, a comedian with a dark sense of humor covers this topic and mentions that it should not be that hard for people to know that they should simply be a good person and that is the basic purpose of religion. There is no point in fighting over who is right or wrong. And I agree. My personal interpretation of whatever higher entity is there will change as I grow up and I might even lose the belief that their is a higher entity at all, but that does not mean that I will stop being a good person. I will still try my best to be tolerant, and to be a hard worker that does not get greedy. I will try to enjoy all the little things in life and be satisfied while at the same time striving to a higher goal of leaving a positive footprint on this earth and making sure to leave it better than when I came.
Each person's personal interpretation will differ according to life experiences and what they have been taught. It will differ based on what they have seen and what other people have told them about this sensitive topic. What religion or lack of religion a person has in their life is not related to how good a person is. A person can be good and just, whether they believe in Allah, Ram, Jesus, or no god. And a person can be corrupt regardless of whether they are religious or not. For that reason, their are good and bad people from all religious and non-religious beliefs.
A lot of the bad things that have happened in the name of religion are not in the name of religion but rather because of the fact that a corrupt person is generalizing their belief to everyone. They do not represent everyone of a similar faith, but only themselves. And the same holds for their followers. For example, the 9/11 attack. This horrible tragedy happened not because of Islam but because the terrorists had a flawed moral system. Islam is not at fault. The terrorists are. Many followers of Islam were horrified at this incident. The actions of extremists do not define everyone who has a similar belief.
So for that reason, next time a horrific incident happens in the name of religion, I will make sure to remember it was the people involved in the execution of the incident and not the belief system. The reasoning being each person involved the religion in a different way in their life.
Religion is a complex concept and one that will be constantly evolving and changing how it effects our life. But in the end, I want to know that I was a good person when I leave this Earth.
