My Blog carries the words - Love, Joy and Peace. And it would seem that I have written practically Nothing on these subjects!
It would only 'Seem' so. ALL that I have written all along would contribute to LJP.
And today I write on Religion, and Call it the Answer to Everything! I hold onto it. And here is How it is So.
FIRST of all, Religion is NOT going to Church/Temple or whatever. Religion is Not merely Worship and Prayers. And being a Good Religious is Definitely Not posting holy sounding things on Facebook, etc!
The word Religion is derived from the latin word: Religare, that is, Relate, and thus, Relationship. Thus, Each one's religion would say just HOW he/she decides to RELATE to: 1. God, 2. Other Human Beings, and 3. The Rest of the Universe.
With regard to GOD, one may decide Not to believe in Him. Sort of Dropping the very idea of God into the Dustbin. Funnily, 'this' becomes this person's religion! Because that is how he is going to relate to the idea of God.
Some may say that Everything is god, Others, that they themselves are god.
And some want to relate to Him with Reverence, Respect and Love.
We are HUMAN BEINGS. So what Religions say about the Appropriate and Correct Behaviour towards Other Human Beings is of the Greatest Interest.
ALL religions teach Love. Some tell their followers to love only their own kind.
The Problem is, that while some profess, according to their religion, to love Everybody, they do so only in words. Like the man who said: "I love Everybody! Is not a Black man driving my car? Is not a Mexican my gardener? Is not a Chinese my housemaid?" etc.
Or, as Bill Maher put it: Christian values have changed from ‘love-thy-neighbor’ to ‘fck-off-and-die.' (www.mediaite.com/tv/bill-maher-when-did-christian-values-change-from-‘love-thy-neighbor’-to-‘fck-off-and-die’/)
As for the REST OF THE UNIVERSE, there are those who love Animals more than Human Beings(!), those who believe in killing a Whole Whale just for its fin, and those who would fell a whole forest and not plant a single tree in return.
On the other hand, we have Established 'Religions,' like Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism, Buddhism, ...the list is very long. Religions essentially derive from what is written in the Sacred Book(s), AND how 'Religious Leaders' interpret them. Religions 'become' what the religious leaders Say!
Today, and for a very long time, Mankind has lived by the principle: 'That is Not MY Wife. Why should I open my mouth?' You Understand what I mean. An Absolute Lack of Concern or Care, in short, Apathy.
And religious leaders, reverenced and revered most probably because of their seeming austerity, have basked in this reverence to such an extent that they have become fat like the politicos!
...In cuba and china, people HAVE to turn up for the political speeches, in the case of the former, sometimes 7 hours long. In India, the political parties make arrangements for travel, arrange food, and give each 'participant' a few hundred bucks. WHEREAS, People Spend good money and Willingly listen to religious leaders!
Being a Christian myself, I can and I should limit myself Only to Christian religious leaders. ...We are given at least 7 years of philosophy and Theology. Christ had Constantly said: "Go and Teach."
But what do I see? I had a priest 'Poking' me in Facebook for a whole 7 months! I have had 'bishops' suddenly surfacing from/in Facebook to say that I am too harsh or something, and then disappearing forever. We have had popes who kissed the ground but did nothing when Youngsters were being Sodomized. We have priests who keep building newer and bigger churches, while People have been 'Leaving' Christianity. We have bishops who have acres of 'Rubber Plantation,' (BIG income, folks), and some who take 10% from all grants from Misereor and Caritas, etc. Social service centres in dioceses take 'their' cuts! And all the while popes speaking in italian, in ways that appeal to Nobody.
If Only Religious Leaders would say to the People Repeatedly and Powerfully:
"Be Concerned, Be Concerned and Active, Be Active in Your Concern for Your Fellow Man,"
Then We shall see that Religion is Really the Answer.