30 Days of Truth - Day 19: The Good Far Outweighs the Bad

The prompt for day 19 of 30 Days of Truth is "What do you think of religion? Or what do you think of politics." Yes, it's been a while since my last post (or any post for that matter), but I want to knock out the rest of my 30 days!

I have had an interesting religious journey. I became a Christian in my mid-20s, and I spent most of my life trying to figure out how people believed in God. Here's what I believe now...

Religion is personal. Everyone believes what they believe. Even within one church congregation, I believe that each person will have slightly or widely varying ideas about what God is. And THAT IS OKAY!

As far as Christianity goes, I believe there are a lot of people out there who like to proclaim loudly that they're Christians but behave in a very non-Christian way. I wish that more people could understand the difference. In fact, this goes far beyond Christianity. In EVERY religion - Mormonism, Muslim, Christianity, whatever - there are believers and there are EXTREMISTS. They are NOT the same thing. Disliking the actions of an extremist sect should not be grounds for dismissing an entire religion.

I believe that it's okay to talk about your beliefs, absolutely. However, I don't think that trying to FORCE beliefs on people is the way to expose them to them, or make them understand what you believe or how you feel.

I believe that when it comes to religion, we should all focus on the POSITIVE. As in, how do my beliefs guide me to something that will make the world a better place? The basis for my personal belief system lies with Jesus and the lessons he taught about how to treat one another. I hope that in the end I'll be viewed as a good person, and leave the world at least a little better and brighter than it was before I came into it.

I think that religion is a valuable tool, something that brings us together, provides community and a guide for us to remember to be selfless and love each other. Unfortunately, not everyone looks at it that way and it can be used for nefarious purposes. As a whole though, we shouldn't let the small percentage of bad outweigh the mass of good it can (and does) do.

For the other 29 days, click here.