I grew up in a society that taught me the respect of all religions. The present world context is giving me second thoughts!
Why not change my religion:
- It carries the moral values that forged my personality.
- It reflects my beliefs and defines my human identity.
- It is a flame passed onto me by my ancestors.
- It is the celebrations and festivities that I enjoy, it is the prayers and hymns that lift my spirit up and carry my soul beyond the boundaries of this world!
Why change my religion
- I would like to put an end to the cause that led to the killing of hundreds of thousands of my ancestors, compatriots, friends and family members.
- My predecessors hid in mountains and lived in hardship for over a thousand years! They fought hard for their lives and their very existence. Yet thousands were executed in hundreds of massacres.
- Other than my own faith, I have no proof that those who perish or simply pass would in fact move to a better place, or would be rewarded for their religious commitment.
- I have no proof that the aggressors and mass murder perpetrators would endure the deserved retribution for their crimes!
Which religion I am ready to join?
Perfection signs from God’s creation are everywhere around me. The way galaxies move, nature’s reproduction and regeneration processes, creatures excellence, evolution… are signs of the Creator’s perfection! Thus, should I make a move towards another religion; I should first read signs and find clues namely where God gave the right followers an edge over fake ones. I am not asking for much. If any of the following exists in a religion, I would be ready to change my convictions.
- A religion that’s temple is indestructible by nature forces.
- A religion where believers enjoy a longer life than that of others.
- A religion where believers are immune from diseases.
- A religion where the believers do not contract illnesses.
- A religion with at least a prayer that heals the believer from sicknesses.
- A religion where believers lead happier lives than others.
- A religion where believers life hardships are vanquished.
- A religion where believers win all their wars.
- A religion with a worship sign that protects the bearer from disasters.
bachirvision 
My dear friend, this is very deeply philosophical. Wow. Please allow me to be equally a “failasoof” (philosopher) like you.
I know that you are writing also in humour, so let me humour you.
The statement about a religion whose “believers are immune from diseases” and the one whose “believers do not contract illnesses” is one and the same, you can eliminate one of those bullet points.
The following statement to those two, about the the religion whose “prayer heals the believer from sicknesses” would also not be necessary, since its believers would already be immune from disease as above. However, there is the special case when one is a non-believer in this religion and falls ill, and only afterwards converts to this religion while being sick. Then the question becomes, would this person be immediately healed because he/she turns immune or is a prayer necessary for healing? If the case is the first, then this statement is also not necessary; if not, then it is almost equivalent to the ones above but not at 100%.
All wars in history were made in the name of the deities that the people who waged those wars believed in and worshipped (very frequently, the leaders of the warring sides thought themselves to be those deities). Sometimes, the deities were even the same gods, the fighters just believed in different prophets or interpretations. If God created us in his image, how come he did not create us with His/Her goodness? In other words, if God is the almighty, all-knowing (past, present and future) and the supreme good and all-love, how come evil exists? This is the fundamental question that lies behind your writing. I think that that issue needs a profound theological debate, which can go well beyond the scope of this blog.
And finally, if I think hard about what you wrote, to change your religion, you are basically asking to go back to Paradise. I think that the Creator already punished humanity for daring to taste the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge.
And that issue my friend is a whole other can of worms. Do you really want to start going there?
But let me say this: Please do not change. Those who care about you and love you (including this writer) do so precisely because of who you are and what you so sincerely believe in.
Thank you my friend for your comment.
However, I might have failed to clarify some of the statements that I wrote about:
– A disease was meant a sickness that somebody contracts from others or from his environment: like cold, AIDS, Cholera etc…
– An illness is meant the kind of sickness that comes from inside the body: like heart problems, diabetes, cancer etc…
Regarding the “prayer”, it is about performing a special appeal that we believe it heals the sick from his illness. However, when it helped, it was called a “miracle” because it did not give the same result at each time.
In my article I was looking for a sign of God that clearly gives an edge to one religion more than the other. Unfortunately I was not able to find such thing.
And about paradise, I believe that in this life there is a part of if. But with the wars we are waging, we are turning our life into hell!
As you usual, you make me think a lot. I like that. There are not a lot of people left in our modern society who want to think and think critically.
I look forward to our meetings, which I am starting to miss.
🙂
I am looking forward too!