You may have heard that organized religion is on the decline in the United States. Some people are celebrating this. Others are worried. I have mixed feelings.
I don’t consider myself a religious person. I haven’t attended church since I turned eighteen and had the choice not to go (nearly twenty years ago). I love sleeping in on Sundays and having breakfast with my family at home. Yum.
I am glad I went to church as a child though. My church was relaxed and cool. We learned about other religions and even had speakers visit us from other faiths. I never heard anybody at my church say another faith was wrong. There was no talk of guilt or hellfire. It was more about being a good, moral person, praying and having faith. I’m grateful that my experience was positive.
So what is faith?
For me, faith is the belief that we are all in this together. We’re all connected on some greater plane, beyond our comprehension and being kind and considerate to others leads to a higher quality of life. Faith is this belief without proof.
Yes, there are loud obnoxious religious people giving religion a bad name every day. That’s why some of my friends are celebrating the decline of religion.
I think these obnoxious people are the loud minority. There is a silent majority of people who use faith to give their lives meaning, believe in something bigger than themselves and live richer lives
Faith has been an integral part of the human experience as far back as we can look, in every culture on the planet. I’m not saying that the decline of religion is a bad thing.
It’s worth asking ourselves why we have had faith and religion since the beginning of human culture. And also, what would our world look like without faith?
What would fill that void?
published .
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