@NoEasyAnswers You are so welcome to ‘Discover Yourself’. Our disagreements is obviously hinged on our definitions of religion. I tend to make a distinction between ‘religion’ and ‘organized religion’, what I call ‘religious uniformities.’ People will always be ‘religious’, what you prefer to call ‘secularism’ or ‘personal beliefs/religions’ – because I personally define religion as a way of life. Thanks for your comments

But none the less, a very thought provoking article.

@Iyabo According to the bible, there is true religion, and there is false religion. So religion is not really the problem, it’s man’s ignorance that creates what I call religious uniformities and takes away the mystery of God, as you rightly pointed out.
James 1:27 tells us that “Religion that God our FAther accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” It’s just as @Stephanie commented, love is the essence…

@Donna Thank you for your heartfelt prayer. I respond with a very loud and strong AMEN! God bless you.

@Maureen We are all essentially religious… religion is an integral part of human nature; it is after all ‘a way of life.’ As such, everyone has their ‘way of life’… IMO, the problem is with ‘organized religion’, what I call ‘religious uniformities’ which occurs when men with low spiritual awareness try to impose their personal perspectives on the masses. I agree with you that true religion for anyone can only be rooted in one’s own inner awareness of divine realities, and not in man-made traditions.
I pray that professed followers of Jesus will grow into the fullness of His stature and love humanity as He did while He was on earth.

As far as I’m concerned there’s too much religion in this world, and not enough spirituality. There’s a world of difference between the two. Religion demands submission to outside authority, whereas spirituality is about following your own inner authority. You won’t find your inner authority in any creed, dogma, sect, holy book, or anything else man made. The only place you’ll find it is in your own heart.

On another note, it never ceases to amaze me how so many who claim to be Christians love to proclaim that everyone whose beliefs fall outside of their own narrow-minded beliefs concerning what Christianity is about is doomed to perdition. Jesus excluded no one from the kingdom of God, including Samaritans, whom the Jews of that time utterly despised as the most unclean of the unclean. He taught that everyone is to be included in the kingdom of God, and took on a tax collector, even though tax collectors were also despised by the Jews of his day, as one of his apostles.

The utter hypocrisy of many who call themselves followers of Christ never ceases to amaze me.

I see religion as taking away the mystery of God and giving rules and regulations as to how to encounter and experience God. Spirituality keeps the mystery of God intact and reveals that there is so much that we do not know.

I agree with your post. I am a Christian who grew up in an atheist home. However, I have experienced many non-traditional christian experiences that I cannot explain, yet I know God was in it.

Thank you for your insightful post.

God Bless

Iyabo

The church where I now attend shares my vision and I think I found my place.