What does your religion mean to you?

In another thread in the Philosophy forum, I posted a long explanation about my way to religion. I thought I'd like to debate it here in the Religious Discussions forum too, and I hope it is not considered rude spamming when I just copy that posting.

I'd like to know: What does your religion mean to you? Why do you believe? And how did you come to embrace your religion?

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I used to be an atheist for most of my life, until I started a spiritual journey that eventually, after several years, led me to the Baha'i religion. I wasn't indoctrinated with religion in my childhood, but rather sourrounded by more or less vocal atheists.

As far as I can tell, I never gave up my fondness for science and reason when I became religious. On the contrary, I was unable to embrace religion before I found a way to reconcile both.

The Baha'i religion satisfied me on different levels: My journey started when I had an illness and was convinced I would die soon. Fortunately, this fear turned out to be wrong in the end, but it had lasting impact on me. I was looking for something that would help me to deal with this experience -- and you can't get that from other people when facing death. Call it solace -- and this solace does need to address the heart, not the brain. Religion has obviously provided many people over centuries, millennias even, with the strength to cope with mortality. And when it works, it's "real", regardless if it's scientifically proven.

So my starting point was Christianity and soon Islam too. I read the Bible and Quran. At that moment, I seeked for an understanding of religion that would not just address my heart, but be satisfying for my reason too. But soon, I would find both Bible and Quran, Christian and Muslim theology, contradictory. There were a few questions that couldn't be answered, which bothered me.

For example, the elementary problem that both Islam and Christianity cannot be right at the same time. Christians say when you believe in Mohammed and deny the trinity, you go to hell. Muslims say when you don't believe Mohammed was the final prophet and believe Jesus was God the son, you go to hell. So how do you know which is right? It's statement against statement. No way to figure out "the right way" by reason alone.

So what can you do? You can "recognize them by their works" -- so who contributes more to making the world a better place, Christians or Muslims? Again, it's hard to tell, as both religions have a long history of violency, tyranny and abuse in its name. No clear winner.

Then, there is a huge variety of different denominations or sub-factions in both religions. Mainstream Muslims and Evangelical Christians believe in literal interpretations of the respective holy scripture. When reading the Bible and Quran, I couldn't help but notice many, very many contradictions that can only be solved when you don't take the word literally, but look at it in its historical context. And should many of these archaic commandments and morals really still be viable today, in the post-industrial civilization? No way. So Christian or Muslim fundamentalism was definitely not my cup of tea -- I could not reconcile it with my reason. It's pretty obvious that the Bible cannot be the literal word of God, or an infallible inspired scripture -- I cannot help but see it more as a historical document, a mix of myth, historical chronicles, inspirational speech and law collection... an attestation of man's attitude towards God, more than it's "God's word".

On the other side, there are "watered down" (I don't mean to offend anybody, I'm just lacking a better word) Christian communities, which seem to avoid this problem by simply "picking and choosing". That didn't strike me as particularly honest either. Because ... once you pick and chose, where do you draw the line? And doesn't it become totally arbitrary at some point?


I came across the Baha'i religion, which I had never heard of before, by accident -- I was searching for a Quran translation online. The things I read made me curious, so I soon ordered several books about the Baha'i faith and read many of their religious scriptures.

The Baha'i religion managed to solve many of the problems I saw in Christianity and Islam: According to Baha'i theology, all other religions are true and divinely inspired too, the Baha'i religion is just the latest and thus most appropriate "version" of religion for our times. According to the concept of "progressive revelation", God sends prophets every couple of centuries -- Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Mohammed ... but also Krishna, Zarathustra or Buddha -- who bring the "best medicine for the ills of mankind in its respective stage of development". So all other religions are valid ways to salvation, and their differences are only because of the different capacity of the respective "audience" to understand it. No revelation is final and eternal -- not even the Baha'i religion, as the next prophet is supposed to return in 850 years or so.

So the problem about the mutual exclusiveness of the religions was solved for me, so was the problem of "fundamentalism": My religion explicitly says that I shall read the Bible or Quran through the glasses of their historical and cultural context.

Another strong statement in the holy scriptures of the Baha'i religion won me over: That science and religion shall never contradict each other, and that any religious belief that is in contradiction to science is mere superstition. (Yes, that really is written in the holy scripture of a monotheist religion -- think for a moment what that means!).

Also, I found the moral rules and guidelines in the Baha'i religion better suited for the modern world, and less prone to abuse, than the rules in older religions: For example, violence, religious fanatism and religious intolerance are explicitly forbidden(!) in the holy Baha'i scriptures. There is no clergy, and my religion emphasizes the individual quest for truth -- no priests or theologicians can tell you they know the better interpretation of the scripture. And all offices in the community structure are democratically elected.

So for me, the Baha'i religion worked well. It appeals to both my heart and my mind.


Now you might say ... "but it's not proven!" ... You are right! Religion is not science. It's "belief", else it would be called "knowledge".

But that's not how I look at religion anyway. I'm not sure I can explain it well, as I haven't fully thought it through, but I'll try:

I stressed the analogy with a poem and math before: When you read a good poem, it either pleases you, or it doesn't ... you either understand its beauty, or you don't. Now using a scientific, mathematical, objective yardstick to approach a poem and evaluate its quality is obviously the wrong approach. Pure mathematics will never tell you if the poem is good or not, nor will it describe the feeling you have when you read it and absorb it in your heart.

Religion is similar to me: Like a really good poem, but much more encompassing. It's an entire lifestyle. A good poem that follows you whereever you go, that is an endless source of inspiration and good feelings. You can curiously wait and see where it'll take you next -- and this wonderful journey never ends. And at least in my opinion, it is much more satisfying for your heart than cold science or empty materialism could ever be -- back in the times when I was an atheist, I didn't often feel inspired, I had less motivation to nurture and raise good qualities inside myself and was more often than not just after profane pleasure.

I have been a lover of literature and music for a long time, I appreciate the beauty of great works of art, and I found I can appreciate religion on a similar level too -- just that it's even more encompassing. Following a religion is even more of a lifestyle than being a literature or music buff is.

But just because it works for me, doesn't mean it works for you, or for everybody. That's why forcing my belief on others would not just be rude, but completely futile too -- either you see the beauty in a poem, or you don't. You can't "force" anybody to see its beauty. And if you tried forcing him, that would totally destroy the experience.

So far for my heart.

As for my mind and reason: Religion fascinates me on an "intellectual" level too. I have been interested in history and politics for a long time. And it can't be denied that religion always has been a driving force, a major ingredient of historical developments and political decisions in history, for good and bad. You can't really understand history when you don't understand religion.

And religion is condensed, living tradition. Now you can say "tradition as an end in itself is not necessarily a good thing", and I agree. Traditions should not just be emulated for the sake of emulating them. But on the other side, there is also something to the statement that we should honor the wisdom of our forefathers, to know where we come from, to know who we are -- in order to have a solid basis to progress and advance into the future, and to better understand what we should change, and what we shouldn't. And religion is the condensed wisdom of our forefathers, so to speak -- and not just the knowledge, but a living, breathing kind of spirit that you can live yourself.

I also see my religious journey as a way to honor the memory of my grandfather, who was a very religious man (Protestant Christian).

I also found religion satisfying as a solid basis, or better a "fixed point", to view the world, including politics, that helps me to avoid the traps of falling too deep into ideological illusions.

What do I mean by that? I have experimented a lot with different philosophies and worldviews in the past. I used to be a Marxist after I had read "The Capital" when I was 15 or so. But it didn't take me long to realize how flawed far-leftist ideology is. Two years later or so, I debated a lot with hardcore conservatives (the authoritarian German brand) and neo-Nazis and read some Nazi propaganda -- and although I was never inclined to accept any elements of this ideology, I can say I got familiar with it and developed and understanding for its ideas: Ideas of the ethnic nation as a "collective of fate", struggle of survival between nations and Social Darwinism. "Know your enemy", so to speak. Then I was a radical pacifist for some time. A while later, I became friends with a libertarian American and he explained his ideology to me, even sent me several books I read. And in college, I learnt even more about political philosophies and ideologies, including anarchism and weird things like communitarianism. Nationalism or constitutionalism aren't much better either.

What did I learn by all that? I think I became much less dogmatic, and as I grew older and I would more often than not see good points even in the opinions of ideologically opposed people. Or maybe I lost my own yardstick for orientation -- I didn't really know anymore what I was, in terms of political ideology, and even on the things I still passionately defend or oppose, I have grown increasingly open for good arguments to the contrary. Or, negatively worded, I lost the trust in my own opinions.

At some point, it would become so "bad" that I was reluctant taking any clear position at all. Because isn't it so obvious that all ideologies I have learned of so far have their obvious flaws, and the worst people doing the worst actions are people who have too much trust in their ideology -- no matter if they are Marxists, Nazis, libertarians or whatever else? On the other side -- when you don't have a clear set of core believes, how can you interpret the world at all? How can you learn and improve without some clear yardsticks?

So I decided I need some kind of solid basis for my views. And I figured it would be more important to have such a solid philosophical basis at all, than chosing the perfectly "right" or "true" one. So is there, at this point, an any more obvious choice than a religion? At least for me, that was the obvious choice.


Oh my ... now I have written a really long posting. Sorry ... I'm bad at making it short. :wink:

My faith is not based strictly on a religious ideology since it rejects the idea of religion as man based and therefore corrupt. It is instead a collection of what I consider to be the best of many different religions. My faith teaches me that there is a creator and that anyone who believes in a power greater than themselves believes by default for lack of a better word in God.

Since God is universal in the truist sense of the word It does not have form or substance. God gave all of us free will and a brain (intellect) and It expects us to use it to determine for ourselves what is right and just in our lives.

As I have said before the marguis on a Baptist Church said it all. Religion produces nuts were faith produces blossoms be sure you are among the latter.

That's a difficult question to answer.

My religion means to me, that I celebrate each day with thankfulness that I am in the here and now. It means that I have no idea what the future holds in store, and that it may be good, or it may be bad, but that either way, I'm at peace with it. It means that I have reverence for living and being what I am. It means that I find value in the big and the small, and in the simple pleasures of life, such as talking with a bunch of strangers on an internet forum, and finding comaraderie. It means that no matter how the wind blows, I am calm in the midst of it all.