Religion is Dead.

Religion is a product of culture. Period. Your religion is how you are raised. If you were raised in the middle east, you would be Islamic. Only when we accept this do we become tolerant.

This has been hard for me to accept. Growing up, I've always been taught that Christianity was the way to life, the only way. Now, I know that is not true. Religion is not synonymous with love. G-d is love (so say the scriptures), therefore, G-d is not religion. Religion is exclusive. Religion, in it's present day context, has become nothing more than politics. A campaign of persuasiveness.

What if I were to say that scripture calls us to be good people. What if I were to say that the gospel is an example of what a non-oppressive lifestyle looks like and that religion, of any kind, simply perverts that. As an example, the evangelical believes in showing people Jesus. However, by being so strongly convicted that you are to tell people about your culture (or religion), are you not just loving yourself? What if you just developed a genuine relationship with people. What if you cared about the things they were going through enough to not talk about your religion and simply love them. Does G-d not exist in that relationship? In that love?

This is not a call to hate religion, just to understand it.

Love G-d and love people. ALL of the law and the prophets hang on these. (Matthew 22:40)

Religion is dead. Jesus is alive.