NOM

I read this quote last night and it has me thinking. Anyone else have any thoughts?

The trouble with religion is that we seldom get the opportunity to form our own beliefs. If we are religious then most of our views are shaped for us by our parents, school, or by society.-- Sig Sawyer

I could write a sizable book on this topic, as could most of us here who were duped by a fundamentalist and dogmatic belief system that has caused us much pain, time, money and many other aspects of our lives.

For me it boils down to religion supporting tribalism, holding back the human race from reaching a more altruistic state of acceptance and scientific progress.

...religion has problems with all the other religions, and/or non-religions

...that once it becomes organized into a hierarchical structure that requires money from its adherents and adoration of its leaders, it begins to fail at its original purpose of improving the lives of common people. Its goals become focused on making the organization stronger and providing its leaders with more power.

It has occurred to me that one possibility is that God wants us each to find or create our own religion. It makes as much sense as anything else that I've heard. So I look at the evidence, and use my own reason to try to understand what God/Creator/Reality is like. I've learned that nobody (or at least a very few) really wants to know what I believe in, so I don't feel obliged to convert people, although I'm curious with what others believe. I don't think there is a market for "The Church of Believe What you Want."