What do you believe?

My close to 40 years roaming this life isn't exactly a long time, but it is long enough to have met enough people and experienced highs and lows capable of granting me what I hope is perspective.  Along my travels I have been struck by many strange things, one of the strangest is the idea that any one religion is the TRUE religion.  How anyone who has never personally met or interacted with their god can claim not only what their god looks like but also that their beliefs are more right than anyone else's baffles me.

I do understand how comforting it can be to have a religious group that you belong to and follow.  Having a personal support group during difficult times while following tenets that improve not only your life but also the lives of those around you is an amazing thing.  What I cannot understand is how almost every religion preaches tolerance yet teaches judgement.

I wonder, how does one go about condemning another based solely on a difference in religious beliefs?  That's like vehemently arguing with another because they enjoy Cocoa Pebbles when Cocoa Krispies is the obvious choice.  I mean, think about it, both are a choice based upon a preference.  What's more, both probably taste about the same...  At least with cereal there is something tangible to debate, by tangible I mean something other than stories.

You see, that's all religions have, stories about ancient events.  Yet these stories seem to be meaningful enough to debate, fight and even kill over.  Which is strange to me.  Think about it this way, ever hear a good scary story over a campfire?  The best ones are the ones that have been tweaked over and over again, to get the message juuuusssssst right.

All religions are built upon these stories.  I get it though, history has to be passed down somehow.  There weren't video records to show us the speeches, rife with tone and inflection, so we had to create our own renditions of the events.  These stories, be they real, exaggerated or fanciful, are what we have to go on.  I understand this and actually think it is great that people have found something that gives them such positive guidance.

It is the interactions BETWEEN religions that gets me so.  Just like cereal, all religions have the same purpose, they just all go about them in different ways.  Knowing this I wonder why so many are willing to condemn others simply because their god is a different god?  Isn't the most important thing what your god teaches you to do?  And isn't the most common message one of love and acceptance rather than judging?

It is almost as if these people lack common sense and empathy.  Think about it, if someone came to you and told you that Buddhism (Taoism, Islam, Hinduism, Rastafari) was the one true religion, what would you say?  Would you argue tooth and nail for your beliefs or would you give them the floor and listen?  And, if you listened, what would you hear?  Would you notice the similarities between their god and your own?  Would you be able to notice that, at the core, you and this person in front of you want the same thing, you both just choose to go about through a different support group?

Let's go a little deeper, and think about this for a minute, where did you get your beliefs?  Did God come to you in a dream?  Were you touched by an angel, or did you find God's word somewhere?  Chances are that you are of the religion you are solely because it was the one you grew up around or it was the one that changed your life when you you hit bottom.  Think about the boy who grows up in the mountains of China.  All his life he has been taught the teachings of Confucius.  One day, while out gathering firewood he comes across some Christian missionaries who follow him back to his village and, over the course of a few months, preach the teachings of Jesus.  At the end of this time, this boy realizes that he is being told he needs to make a decision.  Give up the teachings he has grown up with in favor of "the true Lord and Savior" or be eternally damned.  Which would you choose?

Believe it or not, I am not trying to discredit those that feel they were miraculously touched, I am merely asking you to contemplate this, are you certain it was it YOUR god?

You see, I believe that there is indeed something greater than the whole of us all.  I believe that something helped create all that is around us, seen and unseen.  I just don't believe that this spiritual entity has a title.

I believe that every life has a purpose, and I believe that each purpose can be accomplished no matter the religious upbringing.  This is because these purposes do not contradict any of the religions out there, in fact it is at the core of them ALL.

We must realize that we are all a part of the same existence.  We are all interconnected.  Think about this, how many times have you been in a car or walking along and felt someone looking at you and, looking over, found that person quickly?  How many times have you felt your ears burn and know someone was talking about you or, as a parent, felt that your child was in danger?  How often have you come across someone that you swore you knew before?

We are all a part of the same existence, the purpose of each of existence is to find your true self and figure out how you fit into this world.  Listen to your inner voice and let it guide you.  Realize though that your inner voice, much like the religion you align yourself with, teaches love and tolerance rather than selfishness.  Look at the CORE of your religion and abide by the teachings you learn.  Accept others as they are, love thyself, have an awareness of how you can help those around you, protect those that cannot protect themselves, stand up for what you believe is right.

Religious preference does not matter, all that matters are an individual's actions.  Don't judge the individual, judge instead the value of the individual within the world around them.