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Tuesday, 05 February 2008 |
Dead religion needs a personal redefinition
Religion. Some hate it. Some love it. And some die in its name.
But what is this definition of religion that causes such division among the people of the world?
In this day and age, I personally believe religion is dead. It’s been brutally murdered by modernization and political correctness and coldly buried under an unmarked tombstone.
The true essence of religion is nothing more than a forgotten idea from the good ol’ days.
What used to be
a meaningful practice of devout love and faithfulness, now has morphed
into monotonous church visits because it’s simply the “thing to do.”
People are content with just going through the motions.
Religion also
turned into a label with many people identifying themselves as a part
of a certain sect with no backing or meaning behind it.
I don’t know how many people I’ve heard say, “Oh I’m a Christian. I just don’t believe in this, this and this.”
And yet this
person, happy with their comfortable label, just renounced the core
beliefs of the religion they identify themselves with.
What makes that person a Christian then? Just saying the words?
Religion is dead and has no meaning.
Even I hate religion for what it has become.
There are so
many people brainwashed simply by what people tell them. I cannot count
the number of times I’ve been to a church where if you did not do
something exactly so or said something that- although not against the
Bible- is not deemed “Christian enough,” you get dirty looks.
Once when I was
visiting an unfamiliar church with a friend, everyone was going up to
the altar for communion. At that point in my life, Neither my friend or
me had ever been to a church where they had communion at the altar. So,
since my friend and I were nervous and figured our hearts were not in
the right place, we just stayed in the pew to pass this time. I saw a
little old lady in the back give me a death glare.
That horrified
me. I was always taught you should pass on communion if you weren’t a
Christian or your heart wasn’t in the right place.
But since
everyone in this congregation did it and we were the only ones to pass
on the event, we were judged by a single glance.
Whether or not I
take some grape juice or bread once a week, once a month, or even once
a day, no matter how “good” I am at taking it, I still won’t be a
Christian just by doing that action.
The Bible does not say, “Take this and you will be saved.” It says, “Take this in remembrance of me.”
This is the same
for baptism, rehearsed prayers or any other type of rituals for any
religion. Those practices don’t make you a member of your religion.
Sure, they are nice to do and some hold meaning for many people, but
there is a difference between outwardly broadcasts of what you say you
believe and actually believing it in your heart.
Religion has become more about doing certain things because you’re told rather than the faith that drives your everyday life.
I don’t consider
myself religious. In fact, I’m bad at rituals in general and, to be
honest, some rituals don’t hold much meaning to me because of what they
have become.
What I do
consider myself is a follower of my faith. I don’t need a building to
define me. I don’t need to chant something to reassure myself that I
won’t burn in Hell.
All I need is faith. Faith is going back to what religion used to be all along- devout love.
God doesn’t care about labels.
Just because you
put a peanut butter label on a jar of mayonnaise, it doesn’t
automatically change the contents to mayonnaise. You could put the
mayonnaise on a piece of bread with jelly like all the other peanut
butter and jelly sandwiches, but it still wont be a delicious PB&J.
You could also set the jar on the peanut butter shelf at the grocery
store where all the other peanut butter jars sit, but it sill won’t be
anything other than mayonnaise.
The real question is who are you? Chuck the labels and think about what you’re actually doing.
Are you just
going through the motions out of traditions sake or do you
whole-heartedly believe in the faith you claim to be a part of?
Don’t fall victim of dead religion. Redefine it for yourself.
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