I’ve heard people say that it’s a profound sight to see a map of the world with the predominant religions noted. If you sincerely reflect on it, there is a message. Religion is similar to a communicable disease. Or put in a more polite way, we tend to inherit whatever belief system we grow up with. It is quite rare to embrace a religion that you were not raised up in. And unfortunately, a recent study about children confirms what many of us already suspected: children who are exposed to religion have difficulty distinguishing fact from fiction. And why wouldn’t they? The major religions of the world each have some bizarre tales that play a significant part of their belief systems.
Unfortunately, religious believers look at maps like these and immediately rationalize it away, or ignore the message. When believers look at a map of world religions, they think far too highly of themselves and conclude “Gee, I was blessed to have been born in the right country with the truth!”. And the pathetic thing is, the other people of the world think exactly the same thing about their faith and holy book.
Dear believer: What evidence do you have for your truth and for god’s existence that the followers of other religions don’t also claim?
“What evidence do you have for your truth and for god’s existence that the followers of other religions don’t also claim?”
I’ve seen this challenge to believers before, but never put quite this way. KUDOS!!
Thank you Tania!
Readers: please do check out FinallyCryingOutLoad’s new blog at http://finallycryingoutloud.wordpress.com/. She truly has a way with words, and her social anxiety wounds run deep due to her past. Tania, you have my care and support.
I can’t speak for the other religions, but I would suggest if you want truth, read the Bible with an open mind. Ask God to reveal himself to you. God does not speak as a “voice in your head.” You’re likely not going to hear a booming voice from the sky. You may want to heal a past relationship that has been broken for years, or help a homeless person you pass on the street. God often moves in our lives through our harmonious relationships with other people. That is proof of God’s existence, that a person puts others first.
You are correct that many people assume they belong to a religion because that’s what the culture around them does. People who call themselves Christians are prone to this problem as well. Truly following Christ means acknowledging him as your savior and serving others who are in need; it’s about putting Christ first, not your selfish desires. It’s not about sitting on a church pew once a week listening to a preacher and assuming you’re better than other people.
Thanks for reading and for the reply Jason. In response, I was a Christian for over 30 years (my story here). I didn’t read the Bible. I prayerfully studied it and received my college degree in it, and I served part time in ministry. But during a 7 year period, I decided to analyze the tremendous resource of current sciences about or world, and I took an honest look at the contradictions and disturbing things in the Bible. I finally reached a stage where the rationalizations I had been making for Christianity were toppled by the overwhelming mound of scientific evidence about our cosmos, combined with the enormous number of issues with the Bible as a supposedly inspired, inerrant book.
Brilliant. Love it. ?
Thank you much Dannie5775!