Religion is like a lottery. Its like a quick pick, its not the kind of lottery where you pick you own numbers. It’s prearranged, with the same restrictions of a prearranged marriage. You don’t have a choice in the matter, that is what I said. “You will marry that man, and, you will honor him. It’s for your own good.” These are the rules, don’t let us down.
It reminds me of when the Maya were trampled by invading Europeans. They brought missionaries who forced Christianity on the Maya. They killed those that resisted. They questioned their beliefs, destroyed and defaced their temples, stole their artifacts and burned their codices. They called the Maya savages, who performed human sacrifice to please their Gods. So, they replaced the Mayan belief system with the one they brought with them. Christianity, the religion where a good man, named Jesus, an only son, is sacrificed on a cross, by his loving father for the benefit of mankind. That’s right, human sacrifice, all over again. “My human sacrifice is better than your human sacrifice.”
So check this, If I was born on this side of the world, I would believe one thing. If I was born over there, I would believe another thing. In both of these cases, I would be claiming to be on the right side.
Of those that are sincerely religious, half of them will kill you if you don’t believe like they do, the other half, will leave you alone, because “they know” that you will burn in hell, forever. Same difference. Have a nice day.
How can this be? Why does the truth have so many versions?
The reason religion is powerful, apart from the narrative, is that it is taught to us, by the people we love and trust the most, our parents. It is a powerful bond.
As a child, aware of the world and its people, I recognized that religion was like a geographical lottery, based on your place of birth. It made no sense, and I started to question, what it was, that I had been taught. I was more tempted to question the beliefs of others, but first it made sense to take a look at myself.
I knew one thing, all religions cannot be right. But, they can all be wrong. I could see others being manipulated by their religion. I needed to make sure it was being done to me.
The bottom line is, the way I treat people is more important, than what I believe. So, when I noticed that my religion was making judgments about people I did not know and had never met, I knew something was wrong.