Day 04 - Describe Your Thoughts on Religion

Eeek. Isn't this one of the two things you are never supposed to talk about? Religion and Politics, there you go. There's nothing more foreboding of arguments, fights, and heck, world wars, than opening up the religion can of worms, so I'll keep this short and sweet. I'll describe my beliefs and throw in a couple thoughts and be done with it.

***

Okay, so I'm Agnostic. In case you don't know what that means, I'll tell you. The dictionary defines Agnostic as:

–noun
1.
a person who holds that the existence of the ultimate cause, as god, and the essential nature of things are unknown and unknowable, or that human knowledge is limited to experience.
2.
a person who denies or doubts the possibility of ultimate knowledge in some area of study.

Basically I don't claim to know the where, how, or what of how we came into existence.

I'm not atheist, as I'm not doubting there is a God, but I'm also not claiming to know for a fact there is.

I grew up in a Christian family, and I know the Old Testament and New Testament fairly well. Growing up, I went to Sunday School, participated in Christian extra curricular activities, and went to Christian summer camp for many years. As I got older, the things I'd been learning weren't adding up/computing in my mind and I eventually made the personal choice to cease with what I'd been taught in favor of non-religion. (Or would Agnosticism be classified as a religion in itself? Probably not, as it carries no beliefs for or against a higher power.)

This being said, I value and appreciate all forms of religion out there. I don't look down on people who don't share the same thoughts of religion as me. I know they are just different, and differences should be respected, not demeaned.

What I like about religion:
-It provides structure for people in a very unstructured world.
-It can give people meaning and hope to move forward in times of crisis. A "positive escape" so to speak. It carries many people through extremely difficult times in life, in a healthier and more positive way then say, drugs or alcohol would.
-Most religions carry a morally sound code of ethics that it's believers are inclined to follow. The Ten Commandments and the like of different belief systems certainly never hurt anyone.

What I dislike about religion:
-how it segregates people
-that it can conflict with scientific progress and the higher education of society. (Happens less and less nowadays as science and religion are increasingly merging, BUT - this progression is still very new and "left sided" for some sects.)
-it's cause for all major world wars throughout the history of mankind

So there you go!

I usually like to end my posts with a question for my readers. Only respond with your thoughts on religion if you feel like it; I know it can be dicey. I'm just following the 30 day blog challenge!One of the reasons I decided to do this challenge was because I felt the questions were very intriguing, and would show a lot more about who I am.