<p>Ok. Look at it this way:</p>
<p>The dominant religions- Christianity, Islam, and Judaism- all have their holy scriptures- the bible, the Koran, and the Torah, and all have their respective institutions. </p>
<p>For me, it's impossible to think God doesn't exist. Who created us? Who created the Universe? But God's existence or his true nature may not be as described by either of the religions mentioned. </p>
<p>If religions are wrong, then why believe?</p>
<p>Religions are not "wrong" or "right". Remember that in Islam, for example, God (I believe this) talked to the Prophet Mohammed and recited the teachings that would later become the Koran. Only that between the actual recitation and the writing of these recitations was a span 40 years. Many people don't know this. </p>
<p>Think of humanity. Of the weakness and fragility of men: In 40 years, would you be able to remember something exactly they way they taught you? No. Would you therefore fill in the gaps of what you don't remember convincing yourself that indeed that's what you were taught? Perhaps. </p>
<p>The same goes for Christianity and Judaism. Both churches consist of men. The faiths have survived these thousands of years thanks to their institutions. But again, men make mistakes. </p>
<p>What I mean to say is that, if the Koran says at some point: "Hit your wife so that she could be obedient" this doesn't mean God said that. Obviously not. People have to use their common sense. That is obviously a fallacy that probably originated as a small mistake hundreds of years ago and eventually grew into that. It snowballed. It doesn't disqualify the whole Koran or more importantly, the whole concept of God. </p>
<p>The same can be said about Christianity and Judaism. The fact that somewhere in the back of the bible, it says that Jews need to be converted, doesn't disqualify the whole bible, or Christianity. Think about it: Doesn't something like that sound like it was an addition from someone who felt the Jews were sinning and therefore needed to be converted?</p>
<p>My main point is this: Before you decide to disbelieve, look at everything around you. Feel for yourself, think for yourself. Believing doesn't mean following a specific doctrine. It doesn't mean any doctrine is "wrong" or that its followers are "ignorants" either. </p>
<p>What I believe is the following:</p>
<p>According to science, nothing can be created nor destroyed. Everything- everything that we know of in the universe has had to come from somewhere else. Now look at men or creatures. You can have idential twins, brothers, anything. It doesn't matter how similar on the outside, no two people are exactly alike (in the "inside"). Why? Why is it that you can have two bundles of organs- two hearts, two brains, etc. And yet, these two "bundles of organs" (human beings), even when raised together and in the same environment, they are different persons?</p>
<p>It is evident (at least to me) that there's something more. There's something which makes us who we are- beyond anything material. "Soul" is the term we have come up with. </p>
<p>If nothing in the universe- nothing, matter or energy- can be created nor destroyed, then what makes you think that the "souls" would be destroyed? They couldn't. Because nothing just dissappears out of nowhere. If we have souls, and these can't be destroyed, then the questions is "what happens afterwards?"</p>
<p>I am not saying I have all the answers. I certainly don't. I don't think religion is "wrong". I think that with time, the human imperfections have surfaced and materialized into sometimes senseless rules. </p>
<p>To me, God certainly exists. Maybe he is not the way some religions have pictured it. Maybe it's not a "he" at all. But to me, it is the force that drives everything in the universe. No, it's not fate. He puts you somewhere and gives you the ability to create your own reality. </p>
<p>Christianity teaches that God is our father. I believe this; he created us. Do you really think that a father would "punish" his children- his CREATION- by sending them to a place called "hell" for say, having sex before marriage?</p>
<p>I personally don't. Remember, mem created the rules. With time, the rules snowballed. I don't think God would want to "punish" his creation by sending them to an "eternal lake of fire" I mean c'mon! Would a father punish his children by killing them? He couldn't. He created them. Every trait of their personality he created. He loves them. </p>
<p>If you dont believe in hell then, that doesn't mean you're an atheist. Or if you don't believe in the specific doctrine of any church, you are not an atheist either. I believe that each of us is a wonderful creation (Have you guys seen the human body from the inside? It's perfection. Just like any other creature on Earth. We could't never come up with it in a million years) therefore, we have a wonderful mind, and can discover the world around us on our own. </p>
<p>And that's my view on religion. I hope it wasn't too confusing. </p>
<p>=)</p>