Jay Ware, Opinion Editor 

After carefully reading the many letters to the editor that pour into our box after we publish an article about religion, and after listening to many blowhards who claim to be spilling “truth” from their lungs about the religious issue, I have come to an obvious conclusion about such matters. 

We will all never completely agree in our religious faith.  Nor will we ever be able to discern the ultimate definition of our morality.  Our perception of the word “God” is probably the most subjective of any other word in the English language (besides truth, that is). 

The most popular religions in the world are Islam, Christianity, Hinduism and Judaism.  Except for the third, the others have virtually the same conception of God as an all-powerful, paternal figure that rules our lives indirectly and decides what happens after we die.  Hinduism does not concentrate on the idea of a single god, but rather believes that there are many gods and that we have the possibility to return to earth in different forms in another life. 

Other beliefs, such as Buddhism, tell us that an inner peace, a sort of heaven on earth, may be found through careful meditation and that there is no ruling deity that controls it all. 

The next question that we may ask is: why can’t we agree on what God represents to us?  

Well, that seems to be a loaded question but it also seems obvious that if there were a clearly defined “thing” called God that did conform to one of the many views of world religions, more than half of the rest of us would be living a lie. 

Now, that may make many of you feel like you should write to me about the grace and saving power of Jesus Christ, since he seems to be the golden boy of our time and place, but what is almost comical about this claim is that many of us cannot even agree on who he was!  Sure, he was a great man and had a tremendous impact on our way of life, but he never did write anything,  and what was written about him was mostly material written after his death and was extremely biased. 

To be honest with you all, I have done just as much religious study and introspection as possible, and if any of you were to approach me with claims to know the true nature of Jesus, Mohammed or God, I would almost certainly laugh at you (or I would at least do it after you have walked away). 

Anyone who does claim to have these answers should learn the lesson of being humble.  They need to ask themselves if their supposed certainty lies on their own ignorance or simply in their own fear of things that they don’t understand. 

I have always hoped that we would all get to the point where we are accepting of others and their beliefs because, as I have said before, no one has the ability to know religious truth!  Many of us cannot seem to accept that because they feel so comfortably numb in their own happy little corner of life. 

I suppose that what makes me the most frustrated are the mental midgets who choose to condemn others because they are different.  If you first say that you know universal truth and then say people of darker colored skin are going to some mythical place called “Hell” because they don’t have the same faith, then you have certainly lost my respect.  How silly is this notion that we can not only argue that we know God but that we are so informed and powerful that we can also condemn others because they have never heard of, or do not agree with, our westernized theories. 

What happened to humility?  What happened to the idea that religious perspectives should be kept personal and close to the heart?  What happened to acceptance ruling over condescension and loathing? 

It seems that the more  I read about Eastern philosophies of life and religion, the more I come to respect them for respecting the mystery of it all.  In our society, we too often look too quickly at the answers to our questions and the supposed conclusions to our problems without more carefully understanding why we ask these questions or why sometimes they just can’t be answered. 

In the end, my experience has shown me that the people who preach the loudest and condemn the most are the people who are most unsatisfied with their lives and their future.  They seem to be the most tormented about the very thing that they thrust onto others as the answers to all of the questions and problems. 

Also, I really don’t believe that it is possible to find revelation in a setting where others make decisions for you, such as when they tell what to pray or when to worship or what to read.  For God’s sake, strike out on your own and enjoy life for what it has to offer before you settle on some unhealthy conception of what is right or holy or moral.  Perhaps we could all find more fulfillment in our experience rather than what people tell us is experience. 

I constantly wonder when I see images and memorials to God;  I wonder whether God created men and women or if men and women created God to ease their minds. 

This university is not a safe haven for rebellious youth.  It is a thriving lesson in the schools of sex, drugs and rock and roll.  So give your kid some money and take them out to eat, but realize they are already not the same person that you once knew.