Religion is YOU

A couple of days ago, Evan, my 10-year-old son, said to me, "I don't believe in, like, five different religions. I believe religion is just YOU!"

I've been thinking about this ever since. I've had people ask me what I think he meant by that, and question what he believes. I do think that your own interpretation of his statements is the right one...that is, whatever it means to YOU exactly IS what he meant!

Yet that still begs the question, what DOES it mean to you? Only you can answer that, and I think I've answered it for myself today.

I was having a conversation about the perception that Islam is a violent religion. You can guess which side of the discussion I took...and I pointed out the violent passages of the Bible to the woman with whom I was speaking, ready to point out passages in the New Testament as well when I figured she'd give the usual disclaimer about the Old Testament being off the table , since Jesus's teachings became the new convenant (which to me is an invalid argument since Old Testament readings are still frequently done in many denominations, thereby sending a mixed message). She was surprised that I would claim that Jesus isn't portrayed 100% of the time as a bringer of peace. I was particularly recalling a portion of the book of Matthew where Jesus says to his disciples (in the ASV version, verse 34) "Think not that I came to send peace on the earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword."

(Please note that I do not believe Jesus was advocating violence here, but merely speaking a reality that the passion his teachings would bring would result in violence...like the Crusades! He even says in this same chapter that "brother shall deliver up brother to death, and the father his child: and children shall rise up against parents, and cause them to be put to death." My point is that the statement itself leaves room for different interpretations...much as I expect most Muslims would argue about Koranic passages in question...not to mention that the Hadith is considered just as important a text for how to live you life, and is full of Muhammed's fair judgments of cases brought to him)...

I quote this not to argue, but to make my point of what Evan's statement means to me. That it's precisely because each individual interprets scripture differently, interprets sermons differently, interprets parables differently, that religions is JUST YOU. If you want to hear debates about how the Quran is more violent than the Bible, the Bible more violent than the Quran, that the Bhagavad Gita condones war, or that reincarnation promotes apathy...you can find supporters of whatever you wish. But what it comes down to is YOU.

And by all means, continue to participate in lively, intelligent discussion about religion, because you just might find that in your journey, you learn something new, and your own perception changes...not to mention that we learn to understand each other better, promoting a society of tolerance and respect! But I strongly caution against going into such discussions to change another's mind.

And for the record, if I had to guess, I'd say that Evan didn't really mean that by his statement...I think he was simply referring to God Within, but that's what it meant to ME, and I know he'd be totally ok with that! LOL!

I see a side discussion coming about the whole nature of some churches, and how the whole point is to take the individual thought OUT of scholarly studies of scripture...since we're born evil and have to become worhty of the divine, in their eyes, correct? Interesting...

Thanks for reading!