A friend of mine recently put forth that 9 out of 10 people are wrong in regards to their beliefs (relative to your own).
I think that success rate is too high.
I'm not so sure anybody really knows what their relationship with the almighty is. Unless you are like Moses, and get it direct, you've got to rely on the interpretations of others to tell you what's going on in the higher existence. This often takes the form of written knowledge, in the form of Scriptures.
So what is religion? I think everyone is wrong about religion, since the word (and concept) has strayed an unknowable distance from design. Is it a system of beliefs? Is it a set of laws for life, or is it something else entirely? The current word comes down from either a Latin root meaning “to tie fast,” or from one meaning “conscientious exactness.”
Western society accepts very few variations on the theme. Religion = Judeo-Christian Ethos, heavy on the Christian. For many people, religion is the church. What many people know as the modern concept of the church stems mainly from the concept of the Tabernacle, as set down in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. Theese books, along with Genesis and Deuteronomy, make up the Pentateuch, or "Five Fifths of the Law." They are also the core of the written Torah.
For those not familiar with Leviticus, it is the Old Testament masterpiece that reminds us of such important rules as, "You rape her, you marry her", "Homosexuality is an abomination," "Don't look at your mother naked," and my personal favorite, " Blood sacrifices are cool, but screw them up and you are cast out forever." For those who pay attention, there's even a nifty section about vampirism. Numbers, on the other hand, doubles as the most popular published tax roll and census of the ancient world (For the record, there were some 600,000 Jewish males between the ages of 20 and 60.).
These books describe the journey of the Israelites out of Egypt and into the Promised Land, and the rules necessary to live in grace with YHWH.
But the vast majority of the rules existed so that you didn't eat things that would kill you, spread diseases that would kill you, or engage in dangerous practices with people you don't know that might kill you. The rules kept a fractious community of exiles and outcasts bound together for a common advantage, so that they wouldn’t die on their own.
It's a pretty good desert survival handbook. But in post desert exile life, it's a pretty lousy way to interact with God. (I know I haven’t taken a properly prepared burnt offering to the Entrance of the Tabernacle and handed it over to the Levites recently. I feel just sick about it.)
But there is the real disconnect of "western" thought. The Bible just makes no sense as written, even the five books purported to be written by the same person (the aforementioned Pentateauch). Jewish Tradition acknowledges and supports this theory, backing up the written torah with an Oral one, and there are those that spend their whole lives in study of the oral tradition (that's where the term comes from, in case you didn't know). But there are huge groups that swear to the veracity of the book as a whole, and the response often given to dissenting opinions is, "You just have to have faith."
Well, I've got it.
I just don't get it.
Previous to the “church as a community" philosophy, the faithful would go to a Temple, where you didn’t go to receive the words of your god(s), you went to appease them so they wouldn’t smite you.
Today, there is a fairly equal ratio between bars and churches in American communities. There are very few temples. All three usually serve as meeting places for people with common interests. Both churches and bars can lead to rewarding relationships. Both churches and bars can destroy lives fairly easily, when run improperly.
Many (not all) churches tell you that you suck (or are fundamentally flawed), and you need to follow the rules or you will be cast out.
Many (but not all) bars learn your name, and are happy to see you when you come in. They’ll also cast you out if you don’t follow the rules, but they’re more honest about why they want your money.
Many (but not all) temples consist of a tight knit group of believers who share in their spiritualism. In America, they usually get burned down by people who have just left a bar or church.
Go Figure. I went to the bar two or three times last week. I haven’t been to church since my friend Gina got married, about 12 years ago. I’ve never been to a temple in this country, although on a trip to England once, I visited a church that used to be one. I’ve been to sacred sites, lodges, and nexii across America (North).
It’s also interesting to me that the Koran (Arabic) and the Torah (Aramaic)are still studied in the original languages and form in which they were written. The Christian Bible (fundamentally the same book as the Torah) has been translated from German into English (and then into English, English, and American), after Latin, and then Hebrew (from Aramaic.)
For those keeping score:
Happy, Smiling Western God (with translators) = good and righteous
Angry, Vengeful Middle Eastern God (without translation) = fractious and cause of strife
For the record, I’m a pretty lousy Spiritualist who was raised Catholic by a drunk Irishman. I have no idea whatsoever what my relationship with the almighty is, save that I have one.