Religion is often cited as a selfless thing, giving yourself over to god, helping the less fortunate, being an instrument of god (whichever you choose to believe in).
I believe the truth is quite the opposite. I believe that at it's core, religious belief is a very selfish thing. I also believe that there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Selfishness has become this evil thing, taboo. Like so many other sociological fallacies, the very idea of selflessness goes against our very nature. I would even go so far as to say it's impossible for a human being to be selfless.
Why do people believe? It provides us with guidance outside of ourselves. Faith allows us to let something else take the reigns of our fate. It allows us to have the cards fall as they may; this can be a source of great relief. It can also be a very dangerous thing.
The problem is that if one puts too much of their life in the hands of 'fate', it can lead to powerlessness. Prayer has it's place, but it never has, and never will, be as effective as action.
An unfortunate side effect of the idea that 'everything is gods will' is that it completely removes the power of the individual.
But I think that this powerlessness, this succumbing to fate, is not an inherent flaw in religion. More likely, it seems to me, that it is the rhetoric of priests and clergy who desire to consolidate power, who want to take the choices away from their flock... the preachers force their faithful to look to them for guidance, and not to themselves, or to their personal relationship with a higher being.
And really, organized religion is the problem. Turning a persons relationship with their god into a social thing, taking something that is individually tailored and turning it into a one-size-fits-all event. Personal belief is a beautiful thing, but organized religion is often merely a tool for the manipulation of others.
Faith is an extremely personal and individualized thing, with each person having a person relationship with their god or gods. To take that unique and special individual relationship and turn it into a social-wide phenomena is a very sad thing.
One of the problems with monotheism is that it can be detrimental to the idea of an individual, tailored faith. In polytheism, the gods are very like humans. They have stories, backgrounds, character flaws. They have families and feuds. For all intents and purposes they are very easy to relate to, to reach.
It's easy to pick one (Or more) god to identify with, to choose to invest your faith in. Monotheism is quite difference; it often features a grand, greater-than-human figure who looks upon us with a mixture of indifference and disdain from on-high. Polytheistic gods walk among us, clad in disguises and testing us, teasing us, learning from us as we learn from them.
The one true god, however, is beyond all of this. He is very difficult to identify with because he is aggrandized. Unapproachable. He is perfect and he will not hesitate to smite you down, into an eternal hellfire, for the littlest of slights. It's very grand and impersonal, frightening even. What it is not, is identifiable.
In the end, however, I encourage everyone to find their own system of faith. Or none at all, if that suits you. I believe that faith should empower you; not the opposite. I believe that faith is best looked at as a business arrangement; in return for your belief, your god offers you guidance and strength. Last and most importantly, I believe your relationship with your god should be a deeply personal and individual thing.
Anyone who presumes to intervene in that personal relationship is trying nothing less than to take the place of your god. To ensure that you come to them for answers, rather than seeking the answers yourself.
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