Food for Thought : Religion

Zzzz.. Ahh.. How I wish I could be able to go to sleep every single night without wondering if this week is an insomnia week or a hypersomnia week. The countless sleepless nights of constant thoughts running through my head followed by the countless days and nights where all I do is sleep and dream horrible dreams. Of late, the sleepless nights have not gone to a complete waste. The running thoughts actually have topics of philosophical sense to it. The questions of life as we may put it in simple terms. Last night and all of today (well for the most part where my mind isn't occupied by other thoughts), I have been plagued by the ever curious topic of faith and beliefs.

*I will mention here that my following thoughts and words are of my OWN opinion and it is an OPINION not a FACT so if there are people reading this who are pious I warn you now that you may not like what I have to say. I also state that I am NOT trying to hurt anyone's feelings or talk bad about any religion at all. This is all just my opinion and nothing else. Please do not proceed reading this particular blog if you feel that you may be sensitive to the subject. *

Religion and faith run together in one long parallel line. Without faith, religion cannot exist and without something to believe in, what is faith? Growing up, I followed my mother to church every Friday (in my home town, Friday is a weekend and Sunday is a weekday.. God forbid :P ), joining in the youth group after the morning service, going to church/christian camps, becoming a member of the youth committee and the worship team band.. basically dedicating myself to God Almighty and his son Jesus Christ. The rest of my immediate family, however, were Buddhists, not althogether pious/religious, but nevertheless having an altar at home with, if I am not mistaken (correct me if I'm wrong someone), the Goddess of Mercy (Quan Yin), the God of War?? (not entirely sure) and a few tablets which I presume are the family ancestors (again I apologize for the lack of knowledge on my part - truth be told I used to be really scared of the altar). We celebrate all the known Chinese celebrations and I used to attend the yearly ancestral worship where we visit the graves of our ancestors, clean them, retouch the paints and offer them 'hell money' (as I was told it was translated into English) and food and stuff.

Growing up in this diverse religion family, I began to wonder and question the point of religion in life and the importance of religion to most people (Atheists, I cannot speak for as I have not entirely counted myself as one). So sometime in high school, I began to do a little bit of research here and there into the different religions in Malaysia that I know about (Islam, Christianity [both Catholicism and Protestant - Assemblies of God denomination, I cannot vouch for any other denominations], Buddhism and Hinduism. I do not claim to be an expert on any single religion mentioned above but rather the contrary. I am more of what they call the 'Jack of all trades but the master of none'. I have brushed the surface of all the religions mentioned and probably delved a little more deeply into Theology of Christianity. I would also mention that I had and still have a curiousity about Paganism and Wicca which, I believe, to the Christians and the Muslims are a form of sin as it is widely believed that Satanism falls into one of these categories and the worship of other idols/Gods aren't permitted. This has led me to question once again the true meaning of worship and faith and to delve further into solving this mystery of why each person follows a specific religion and believe in what they are thought.

Now, at the age of 21, I have slowly begun to form my own opinions about this subject and although I have no clear conclusion of the entire subject. I find it at the back of my mind and I still constantly pick at this topic whenever it pops into my mind.

Christianity and Islam both talk about the ONE God, The Almighty God and that there is only THE God to worship and adore and thank for all that we have. Both Christianity and Islam believe that Jesus does exist albeit differently but Jesus is mentioned in Islam as well (believe it or not). In Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God, our Saviour and He died for our sins and rose again and is coming again near the end of days whereas in Islam, Jesus or more commonly known as Nabi Isa is a prophet and only a prophet but he is known to be sinless and pure (which is what is also believed in Christianity). However, in both Christianity and Islam, the ONE God is also known by MANY names (I think 99 for the Muslims, not really sure how many for the Christians) - The Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, The King of Kings, The Lord of Lords, Father in Heaven, etc. etc. (I do not know what the Muslims' names for God is) but all of these names belong to the ONE God. Now, that is entirely believable to have a supreme being in control and because there is one being, different people may use different names for this being.

Now, all the other religions (that I know of excluding Judaism and those that still believe in God albeit slightly differently than Christians - JW and the sort) have different Gods for different things. The God of War, the Goddess of Mercy, The God of Chaos and Destruction etc etc. What makes this so different from Christianity and Islam? In what way does all these different beliefs be so different from the rest that each of them have their own 'name' to the religion?

Let me put it this way, if God has so many names, why not He (or a reverently 'It' as God isn't exactly a male or a female, God is neither male nor female nor is God both and .. oh you get the picture, there isn't a word in English that I can think of to describe it) be known differently? Why can't the same God be known to be a God of War and Goddess of Mercy at the same time? I mean He does have different names doesn't he? All religions (not including Satanism here), preach the practice of good instead of evil whether it be Karma or Sin or any of the sort. At this point, I can hear some say, but God (Christian) proclaims that there be no idol worshipping because He is the one God and is a jealous God! Therefore, the Buddhists and Hindus who worship specific dieties are wrong! (again this is just in layman's terms and I do NOT say they ARE wrong)

Well, this part is where the word Faith comes in. I will put it as easily as I think I can. To believe in anything that cannot be seen, heard or touched can be hard. It takes a considerable amount of faith and strength on one's part to actually believe that God exists much less that there be no specific idol/being that can be depicted as God (Jesus Christ not included because He came to Earth as a Human and therefore having a physical body). Some people just do not have that massive amount of faith needed to actually believe in something that is NOT there (or at least to us lesser beings, cannot be seen, heard or touched) and therefore they turn to making particular images of Gods and Goddesses that they can worship and these images or idols can be SEEN and TOUCHED if not heard. I am touching a very sensitive spot here (even against my thought beliefs as a Christian) when I ask, can all these Gods that each person worships, religion notwithstanding, be the one and the same?? and if not, WHY NOT??

There are people out there in the world who are cynics and atheists and do not believe in certain things because they require proof of existence and possibly scientific proof or a personal experience in the matter before they can believe in the 'supernatural' much less in God. So again I ask, why can't there be just the ONE GOD which is worshipped by every religion, in every shape and form and these only differ because some people need something physical to manifest their faith in?