Religion - Good or Bad?

Some people believe in God, some people don't. Some people are more religious, some less. In every culture, in every part of the earth people believed in something greater and more powerful than themselves, something they never saw or heard but believed it is there. What does the belief do to us? Is it good or bad?

Religion is not necessarily all about believing or not believing in God or more gods. It is an ideology that basically affects your entire life - daily prayers, things you should and should not do, weekly or daily services, holidays, people you should and people you should not marry etc. Why do people allow religion to take over their entire lives? Some people do it because others do it, some people do it because it makes them feel better, some are simply scared.

Some religions say that God or gods will punish them in life, some say that God or gods will punish them in after life. It is unbelievable how all these religions contradict one another yet still each individual believes only what their own religion says. And all other religions are wrong. It is unbelievable but it makes sense. Yes, it does. What does not make sense though is people being part of some religion while they do not really believe in everything what that religion says.

So why does it make sense to believe in something while most of other people on this planet do not believe in it? Simply, because it is your own personal belief. What do we believe in? We usually believe in something that cannot be proven. If something is proven, it would be stupid to believe that it is not true. Once we prove that 3 x 4 = 12 because 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 = 12, it would be stupid to believe that 3 x 4 is something different than 12. Therefore, we believe in things that cannot be proven, like "does God exist?" for example. And since it cannot be proven, let all people in the world believe in X and I will believe that they are wrong and I will believe in Y instead and nothing will change it. And also it makes complete sense - nobody can prove X and nobody can prove Y.

What does not make sense though is being part of a religion and not believing or not agreeing in what that religion says. I could be a Christian but Christians believe that Jesus (Jesus is one important guy in that religion - don't screw with him) was Jewish and I for example wouldn't believe that he was Jewish. Does it make sense for me to still be a Christian? It doesn't. Religions usually want to have many members - more members they have, better it is. So if it is some small difference in your belief, it will be fine with them. But in reality if your religion is X, it means that you believe in everything what that religion X says - not half of what it says, not three quarters of what it says, but everything.

What also does not make sense it telling yourself you believe in something while you do not. Some predefined Christian prayers start with "We believe in...", which tell you what you believe. But can you really tell yourself what you believe and then really start believing in it? Sure not. Go ahead and tell yourself that there is a pink elephant flying above your head. After you say that, maybe you will look up to make sure the elephant isn't there, but it doesn't mean that you believed in it. Taking into consideration how detailed beliefs some religions have and also taking into consideration what different people believe, there is no way that 20% of people in the world would believe in the same thousands of things that the particular religion proclaims. This simply means that the most popular religions in the world are made of members who really do not believe in what these religions proclaim.

Now let us go to the last and most important question: are religions good or bad? Religions are good in one sense and bad in the other and it only depends on the amount of the good and the amount of the bad it causes. Being a Crusader and killing people in the name of God is not a good thing. Being a terrorist and killing in the name of Allah isn't either. Letting people find their way in life after relative's death, divorce, depression etc through "connecting with Jesus" (I suggest looking it up, but it simply means by having an imaginary friend) is actually a good thing. When something bad happens to people they tend to go towards religion and many times that helps. Many religions (but not all of them) teach people what is good and what is bad better than the law or parents for example. Are religions good or bad? I would say both - it just depends what religion and at what time.