<p>I love religion. I'm a very orthodox Roman Catholic who likes to think of himself as devout -- the Catholic Christian faith is, by all means, the absolute truth to me -- but I love reading about and studying other religions, as well as mythologies (dead religions). I am fascinated with the phenomenon of religion in the world, past and present. I connect with it in a very warm and friendly way, intellectually and spiritually. As strong as my Christian convictions are, when I study Buddhism or Hinduism or Islam I do not approach them with a "Man, they're so wrong!" type of attitude; I genuinely try to find the truths in them, of which there are many, and try to identify with them. The same goes for the religions of the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Aztecs, and Native Americans. Studying this stuff is my idea of fun. I'm down with it.</p>
<p>We live in a world that increasingly looks upon religion with distain, contempt, and fear. I totally understand this thinking. I used to feel the exact same way, before I found my own religion and subsequently became interested in the study of other religions, and religion as a phenomenon. I was terrified of religion, and religious people. My worst fear was becoming a religious person, and so I spent much of my life running away from any remote possibility of that happening. I also recognized the fact that much of the violence and terror in the world is done in the name of religion. This, in my mind, legitimized my fear and contempt.</p>
<p>Yet everything has a dark side, doesn't it? Political thought and organized politics, for instance, has given us many great and wonderful things, like democracy and countless freedoms, but it has also led to Nazi Germany and Stalin's Russia. We do not condemn political thought and organized politics, or call for the abolishment and extermination of them, because of this; we keep it, because, in the face of the bad, so much good has come from it. Likewise, automobiles are probably the biggest cause of death in the entire world, but we don't stop driving or call for their abolishment, because automobiles have done so much for society. This, in general, is how I look at religion. Yes, bad things have happened and do happen because of it in certain circumstances, but the good definitely outweights it.</p>
<p>I believe that religion is one of the most important things in life that human beings possess. It deserves to be given respect and deserves to be explored without fear and contempt. So much of what we take for granted today -- art, science, technology -- was born and nurtured under the wing of religion and religious thinkers. Things lead to other things; religious thought led to philosophical thought, which led to scientific thought. Without the religious thought, the philosophical thought which led to scientific thought and its subsequent discoveries would probably not have happened, at least in a way that we would recognize. Without religion, our world would be a very different place -- and I don't think for the better.</p>
<p>I guess what I am trying to say is this: No matter what religion you practice, it is far more likely to enrich your existence on this earth than take away from it. And even if you aren't religious at all, you owe it to yourself to study religion anyway, if for no other reason than learning more about the world that you live in. </p>
<p>Thanks.</p>