My take on religion

To eat or not to eat…beef, pork, fish, etc, etc…..Religion and their mysteries….

I read a book given to me by my dad called “How the great religions began” by Joseph Gaer and it pretty much summed it all up for me.

We (Man) first began to pray to the sun. When we discovered that it rose everyday, we stopped.
We then prayed to the moon and stars. That soon stopped as well.
Next came the rain, wind, clouds, trees, mountains, fire, water, etc, etc. When praying to the rain god couldn’t bring rain during the draught, when it couldn't stop the rain during the monsoon, we got creative again.
“There must be a supreme, unseen, all knowing, all powerful god” Out there somewhere. Surprisingly, this concept appeared at about the same time all over the world. The changes occurred in civilizations where the poor and weak were being oppressed and seem to always have one key person making the change. So, are we going to consider Richard Dawkins (The leading atheist) and Barack Obama (The man of “Change”) in similar light?
I believe that Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha, all the swamis, etc, etc, were teaching people around them to be good. I learnt from their words and deeds, used my intelligence and let logic do the rest. Organized sectarian religions (Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism and Taoism) although having initially good lessons, just seem today, to have a greater disruptive potential rather that anything else.

As my topic suggested, this is MY take on it and I think the entire “One God” concept is just plain weak.
Books like “The GOD Delusion” by Richard Dawkins and “In GOD we doubt” by John Humprey further drove the point home. My Mainland Chinese friends and colleagues during my sailing days also helped me understand the “No religion” concept.
I haven’t prayed in years and so far, my up’s and down’s in life have been pretty much the same as the last 30 years of my “believing” years.
“Shit happens”……yup…and life goes on. “Good stuff happens”…yup…life goes on too.
An old friend once told me, “Nanda, do you know what the difference is, between you and me?”……”You believe in GOOD and I believe in GOD”

Well, I’ll take GOOD over GOD anytime. But for those who still believe in the One God concept, by all means, carry on if it makes you happy.

So, whether you eat beef or pork, drink alcohol or don’t, smoke weed, fornicate like rabbits, listen to “Death Metal”, are gay or bi, go to church or temple….. you’ll be my friend if:

1. You are sincere and trustworthy.
2. You don’t lie or cheat.
3. You care about the things and people around you.
4. You’re polite.
5. Respect your elders.
6. Respect the views and opinions of others.

Generally, just be nice and life as a human being on this crazy planet is easier to handle!!