Benefits: Not only will you have a better understanding of your own religious beliefs, you will become more empathetic toward others with differing views.
So That You Can: Respect other points of view, which is part of the cycle of deliberate thinking that will lead to connection, belonging, authenticity, and the realization of your potential.
DON’T LEAVE THIS POST without some actionable steps that will get you closer to realizing your potential. Click here for our FREE printable worksheet! We also offer a convenient fillable worksheet.
PREMIUM CONTENT
Wouldn’t you agree…religion affects our lives more than any other social construct? Both our own religious beliefs and those of others.
Wouldn’t you also agree that nothing has divided this world, this country, maybe even your own family, more than religion?
Yet, our religious views are overwhelmingly taken for granted. We are anointed with them at birth, and many of us stay true to these views until our dying day. Without question or compromise.
Since religion defines so many aspects of our lives and holds so much potential to divide us, we should not begin to examine our expectations without challenging our religion.
Your most powerful expectation, the one keeping you from reaching your full potential, may just be hiding in your religious beliefs.
No . . . I'm Not a Religious Person
We’re not going to beat around the bush here — I am not a religious person. I was raised Christian, my family and friends are almost entirely Christian, and I live in a very conservative area of West Michigan. I don’t claim to be a biblical scholar. I only know what I have experienced and what I have been taught.
If you are a religious person, I respect that! Life is hard. We are all just trying to figure it out. We are all trying to find purpose and meaning, while also trying to alleviate our fears. And we all want to know what happens after we die.
If religion gives you peace, makes your life more enjoyable, and gives you the answers you are seeking, that is amazing! You can either stop reading and keep on keepin’ on. Or, keep reading, and challenge yourself to look through someone else’s lens, if only for a moment.
If you are a believer, yet struggle with finding peace and purpose, I encourage you to keep reading!
I suspect that the answers we all want are right in front of our faces, but we won’t see them if we don’t challenge our beliefs. As deliberate thinkers, we will filter the world through a different lens. We will be able to see answers that others can’t.
Maybe the 4 Powerful Questions I am about to present will help you find peace and purpose. If you are a believer, I contend that answering them will get you that much closer to your god. If nothing else, they will help you practice your deliberate thinking skills.
#1 Are these religious beliefs even mine?
No one is born with religious beliefs. We’re not born with any beliefs at all. They are taught to us, mainly by our parents and immediate family.
We learn how to navigate the world by mimicking whoever we spend the most time with. Typically that is our parents, or whoever took on the parental role in our lives. As long as these mimicking behaviors keep us safe, we will continue to follow them until we start to assert our independence, as we become adults.
When we begin to think for ourselves, we begin to discard some of the thoughts placed in our heads by our parents and the other adults we have been mimicking to this point. We begin to question whether or not those beliefs match up with our values and what we want to accomplish in our lives.
However, religious beliefs are very difficult to question, and therefore, may never be questioned. They are often so central to our culture, sense of being, and sense of community that our minds won’t even let us go there. Not to mention the societal flogging you are likely to receive should you call into question someone else’s religious beliefs.
So we don’t talk about the Jesus-shaped elephant in the room, and yet it controls and shapes our lives. I will give you more insight into my personal beliefs in a separate post, “Have You Opened Your Heart to God?,” but for now, I challenge you to sit quietly with yourself and ask the question: “Are these religious beliefs even mine?
#2 Why do I believe in Jesus any more than I do Santa Clause?
Full disclosure, I’m borrowing this thought from Ricky Gervais, who is a self-described atheist, but I am expanding on it. It’s an intriguing thought, isn’t it? (I used Jesus based on my background, but, of course, any deity can be inserted into this question.)
Let’s do a little compare and contrast. Both Jesus and Santa are beings introduced to us by our parents and the society we are born into.
We are given empirical evidence that they both exist. We go to church and find out that other people believe in Jesus, and we see his likeness on the walls, windows, etc. We go to the mall and find out that other people believe in Santa, and we even get to sit on his lap and get our picture taken with him!
We receive gifts from Jesus. When something good happens to someone close to us, we thank Jesus. When we have food on our table, we thank Jesus. We receive gifts from Santa. Actual physical gifts that we can touch and hold, all wrapped up in pretty packaging.
Jesus and/or God watches over us day and night, while we rack up the score to determine whether we will receive eternal peace or eternal damnation. Santa and his elves watch over us day and night to determine whether we will receive that beautiful new bike we are dreaming of or a lump of coal.
We gladly hand our hard-earned money over to God (our church), hoping to gain favor in heaven. We gladly hand our hard-earned money over to Santa, hoping to gain favor with our kids and see that magical twinkle in their eye.
No, Santa didn’t die for our sins, and no, he is not the key to our salvation. But you gotta admit, the stories we are told about each are pretty similar. And I would argue that, for a child, there is more evidence to support the existence of Santa than Jesus.
So why do we challenge and let go of our belief in Santa but not our belief in Jesus? I’ll save that for a later post ?. “4 Powerful Answers to Challenging Religious Questions” For now, I don’t want to influence your thought process too much. I want you to sit with the question for a bit. “Why do I believe in Jesus any more than I do Santa Clause?”
#3 Do I really believe the other 70% of the population is going to Hell?
Again, coming at this from a Christian perspective, approximately 30% of the world’s population identifies themselves as Christian. I was taught that if you don’t believe in Jesus and accept him as your savior, you will not get into Heaven. I assume that means you go to Hell. TBH, I don’t remember if that was actually stated in the sermons I attended or not.
So 70% of the world is going to Hell? And if that is the case, I would say that we’re there already. That’s a pretty overwhelming percentage of unholy people to be surrounded by.
Yet I have seen Christians do some very unholy things. Are they going to Heaven?
-
- Just five days before I wrote this, the Detroit Free Press reported that the Michigan Attorney General is pressing criminal sexual conduct charges against five priests in Michigan.
- No doubt we’ve all heard stories of church members stealing from their church’s coffers. I could give several examples here, but it doesn’t really seem necessary.
- According to the FBI’s hate crime statistics, religion-based hate crimes have been steadily rising since 2014, seeing an almost 23% increase from 2016 to 2017.
- Not to mention the Holocaust, the Crusades, the Salem Witch Trials, etc., etc.
On the other hand, I have seen non believers do some very Christian things.
-
- It has been reported that Ricky Gervais, the entertainer I mentioned above, consistently donates generous amounts of money to various charities, specifically those that support animals in need and cancer research. It is not unusual for him to give a substantial part of the proceeds from his shows to charity.
- When asked if he was a man of faith, one of my idols, Noam Chomsky answered, “I try not to have faith.” I think that’s a “no.” And he has worked tirelessly as a political/human rights activist for the majority of his life. I have heard him speak on many topics, and he believes more in mankind’s potential than just about anyone else I can think of.
- Even two-time winner of People’s “Sexiest Man Alive” title, Brad Pitt, has claimed to be an agnostic/atheist. He has donated a lot of his time and money to humanitarian, conservation, health, and LGBT causes, to name a few.
Where does that leave us. Back to the question — Do I really believe these non believers are going to hell? And what about all the other “believers,” who happen to believe in a different god than I do, but are just as righteous and devout. Are they going to hell?
#4 Is morality dependent upon one's religious beliefs?
In my experience, people tend to think that morality and religion are intertwined; that morality is dependent upon religious teachings. We don’t necessarily believe that all religious people are moral, but many believe that people have to subscribe to some form of religion in order to have a moral compass.
The only holy book I am somewhat familiar with is the Christian Bible. It contains great teachings of morality and offers us sound principles to live by. After all, the whole do unto others thing, Jesus taught that. He also taught us not to judge others or shun those we consider to be sinners. He taught us about forgiveness and loving our enemies.
The question is not, does religion illustrate ways to live a virtuous life? Of course it does. The question is, can I live a virtuous life without following a religion; without accepting a god as my lord and savior?
I will attempt to answer that question in my follow up post, but, for now, I’ll leave you with this nugget to chew on. Do you consider animals moral beings? They seem to have a concept of right and wrong. There are many examples of animals protecting each other, mourning the loss of their fellow animals, and even giving up their own food to feed others.
It could be argued that these behaviors are simply survival of the fittest at work; the perpetuation of the species. But isn’t that the same thing we are doing, with our religious morals? Trying to perpetuate our species in this life and in the after life? Hmmm…gotcha thinkin’ don’t I?
Truth and Dare Time
Do you dare to face the truth of your answers? I genuinely hope you will take the time to consider these four questions. You don’t have to tackle them all in one day. You don’t even have to tackle all of them. I think a lot can be learned by answering one or two.
The goal is not to give up faith but to give up blind faith. To understand why we believe what we believe. To find strength in this understanding that may help you break free of some of the societal expectations that have been placed on you by your religion. To become even closer to your god because now you understand why you have faith in him/her.
An added benefit, now that you have taken an honest look at your beliefs, you will find it easier to accept the fact that not everyone is going to agree with them. And that is okay. You will have looked at the world through someone else’s lens, if only for a moment.
If everyone were willing to do this, there would be no more religious persecution. There would be no need to fear others’ beliefs because they would no longer threaten our own. Can you imagine how much our world would change if that were to occur?
As I’ve said before, change starts with one person. Are you going to commit to making a change today and challenge your religion?
You know it’s coming…comment time…let me know which question of the four is the most powerful. What question would you add to the list?
And don’t forget to check out the follow up posts (links below).
