Let's Talk About Religion

My religion is one of peace. I won't force my religion on you, and I request that you don't force yours on me. ["Fighting for peace" is like "screwing for virginity"...perhaps George Carlin said that?] I wish to have power over no man, except myself; that is difficult enough a task for most days. And having reached this point, if I treat others as I would wish to be treated myself--offering a hand to those who need it, doing what I can to feed the hungry, and clothe and shelter the needy, to the degree that I am physically and financially able to do so--I would hope that by my example others would take up a similar way of life. 

IF there are any commandments in my religion, they are to treat others as we would wish to be treated, and to not infringe or attempt to impose my will on another. Does that make me better than anyone else? NO, not at all; it simply makes me different from the zealots of all faiths and denominations who feel the need to "recruit" others to their "way." And if others choose to also practice the same things I attempt to practice, they are not "followers" of my "way," but "brethren" [what's the comparable term in a feminine gender?...I know it's not "cistern"...] traveling a similar path. 

I try to live my life in such a way that my life itself is a witness to what I believe; and that as a witness, my life's testimony should not show my words and thoughts to be hypocrisy. Live, laugh, love...with that as my guideline, how could I condone war, or any shedding of blood over an idea, and not be a hypocrite? My fight is not with other men; my fight is within myself, to overcome the weaknesses of character that keep me from fully living as I believe I should.

I honestly believe this is the essence of what true Christianity, or any true religion, should be. As a Christian, I have hope of an afterlife, of a resurrection from the death of this frail body.  But I don't believe that it's something that can be earned, no matter how many good deeds I do in my life, or how well I treat others.  To me, that's akin to working for a paycheck, rather than working because you're doing something that you love.  You do what's decent and honest and honorable because it's decent and honest and honorable...NOT because Mommy promised you a sucker, or Daddy promised you a new car, or because Jesus promised you a home in Eternity.  It's a matter of changing what's in the heart, about going from "What's in it for me?" to "How can I be the best I can be?"

I think that was the essential lesson that Jesus came to teach us.