World religions - NOT amateur radio

From a very young age I was brought up as a Church of England Anglican. In my late teenage years I had quite a strong belief, if unconventional!  

As an adult I am more aware of other belief systems, sincerely held by those who believe in them. I am sure if I was brought up in the Middle East I would probably be a devout Muslim. Likewise if I was brought up in the Jewish faith or in India I would have been equally devout in some other religion.

They cannot all be right or wrong.

What puzzles me is the holy books. In every world religion (I think) there is a holy book that is very thick, composed of writings written down for adherents to follow. What makes something sacred? 

It is only a few hundred years since we believed in witches and supported slavery. In the last century we put to death millions of Jews.

Although I still remain agnostic in my beliefs I prefer to think that all religions are attempts by humans to explain their place in the universe. Hints.  I think every religion has compassion and kindness at its heart.

No, religions puzzle me.

Ultimate questions - NOT amateur radio

From time to time I ask myself ultimate questions. As a teenager, I had quite a strong (if unconventional) Christian faith. These days I am far less sure. To me, I cannot square up the Christian faith with a vast universe. Life on Earth seems so tiny. Christianity seems so narrow.

I also cannot square that here on Earth what we believe seems to be an accident of where I live. If I was born in Saudi Arabia I might well have ended up a devout Muslim. If I was born in Israel, I would probably be Jewish. If born in Siberia, I would probably have no faith at all!

There are some mysteries than our human brains just cannot ever understand. My philosophy is try to leave this life making it a little better than we found it and do to others as you would have them do to you.  Be kind to everyone.

Everyone is different and they must be free to believe as they want.

Puzzled - NOT amateur radio

In centuries past, there have been some amazing places made in the name of Christianity and Islam. There is little doubt that these we made by very devout believers.  What puzzles me is that these amazing places got built at all!

All the religions of the world have incredible places and statues. Probably most people on planet Earth have some sort of religious faith. I cannot believe any one of these is "right" and the rest "wrong". 

So, as I have said many times before, I prefer to think that all faiths are hints at the truth, not the complete picture.

At the time many sacred texts were written, people believed in witches and things which today we would find bizarre. 

Maybe there is a better explanation of events so long ago that was interpreted differently back then?

Too small - NOT amateur radio

For many years I was a Christian.  These days I am perhaps better described as agnostic.  I am not sure what I believe.

Christianity seems too small for me in a world of many faiths. Then you have the probable existence of trillions of planets in the universe. There are probably billions of planets in our galaxy alone and billions of galaxies!!

My view currently is that all religions are hints towards the truth. Christianity seems too parochial these days. I cannot believe that all the religions in the world other than Christianity are wrong.

My own view is that we are all capable of evil given the right triggers. We would rather this was not true, but history proves us wrong. Just shortly before I was born, millions were put to death in gas chambers by the people of a civilised country. I can imagine us being just as evil had circumstances been different.

Throughout history, religions of all sorts have been the trigger for evil against fellow men.

In many ways I envy people with strong religious beliefs, but to me, this is not enough. 

I am a strong believer of the existence of good and evil. There is clearly evil in the world, but often (always?) this has its roots in evil done to the perpetrator. It is my firm belief that there is far more good in the world than evil. Sadly, good deeds are rarely newsworthy.

All we can hope is we leave this world having worked for some good within it.

Religions - NOT amateur radio

As a youth, I was quite a good Christian. As I got older, I have become less sure what I believe.  I think agnostic best describes me: I am unsure.

It seems to me that all world religions hint at something beyond ourselves. It puzzles me that, depending on where we are in the world, we are Christians, Jews, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, Taos, Dos etc. All cannot be totally wrong. It seems amazing to me that in different cultures different religions take hold. 

There has always been an element of trying to "sell" a particular religion to a different culture with the chosen religion always being "right". 

Most wars and conflicts have religions at their heart, sadly.

No, I think all religions are hints and try to explain our finite lives. Not one religion succeeds in my view.

Religions - NOT amateur radio

My wife is just off to church. As a youngster I had quite a strong faith. These days I am agnostic. 

I find it hard to believe that the Christian faith is the one when there are so many other faiths in the world. If I had been born in India, Iran or Japan for example I would probably believed just as strongly in some other religion. 

I have said before that it is almost as if all religions are hints at a greater truth. They are all reflections of a belief that this life is not the whole story.

In all honesty, I just do not know. I try to live a kind life, am fully aware of my imperfections and accept (sort of) that death and endings are painful parts of life.

Lack of faith - NOT amateur radio

Our local church is now very "happy clappy". My wife got me to go today as it is Easter Sunday.

Although I used to be a regular attender at our church, these days I hardly ever go. In some ways I feel more spiritual, but I now feel no religion "cuts it".

This last 12 months has seen the death of two young sons of friends in very sad circumstances. Life seems cruel.

In many ways I envy the simple faith of many, but I am finding it harder and harder to feel that I fit in. To me, all religions fail to provide me the answers I need.

As I have said many times before, I feel all religions hint at a deeper truth and are, maybe, attempts to come to terms with our finality.