Day Four: My Views on Religion

Day 4 of the 30 Day Writing Challenge

Day 4: My Views on Religion

Oh boy! I could talk until the cows come home about religion! Let me start off with some full disclosure: I majored in World Religions and I have a Masters in Theological Studies. So right off the bat you know my bias. I remember going into CEGEP discovering I could take courses that studied the bible! Buddhist goddesses! Jainism! The historical Jesus! It was a revelation that I could study these things. I could get credit for it. People made careers out of it. Ever since then I have been hooked. I think one of the things I'll always remember from that time is a teacher who challenged us to ask ourselves what we believed and why. It was the beginning of a more focused spiritual journey.
At McGill, I tried to take as many different religion courses as I could. I soaked it up like a sponge. I thought it was fascinating.
At Concordia, I wrote my thesis on the persecution of the early Christians. A word of advice for anyone writing a thesis or 100 page document: love what you're writing about or at least come pretty darn close because you'll be spending a lot of time on it! I thoroughly enjoyed writing my thesis. There's something satisfying about doing research. I know, I'm special. Anyhow, I met some great people during my Masters and had a lot of encouragement and support. The great thing about moving up in your education is that the number of people in your classes gets smaller so you get a much more intimate setting. It's like having a discussion in someone's home.
Now on to my rant. Religion in and of itself is nothing. It's the people who practice said religion that make the difference between good and bad, life and death, love and hate.
If there's one thing I abhor, it's ignorance. I hate the way the media picks and chooses items out of context. I hate that anyone can get me so riled up about religion. I hate feeling that I have to apologize or defend myself to anyone. Human institutions will be flawed. Governments are flawed but we trust them. Schools are flawed but we go to them for learning. The police are flawed but we depend on them for our protection. Our families are flawed but we love them. In my mind, you take the good and try to change the bad. It irritates me that people who have given up on religion refuse to give it a second chance or at least remain open-minded. Most people reject it when they're young, immature and making judgments before they're thinking like a mature adult. Sometimes I think that people focus on religion's flaws to justify their own unbelief. It's easier to ignore or criticize instead of giving it some effort, some time, some serious research. I can't respect an opinion that is based on hearing only what one wants to hear and not the entire story.
Okay. That's my rant. As I said, I could go on and on but when it comes right down to it, I think religion has value and for myself personally, it's terribly important.
I really like this image I discovered not long after taking religious studies courses: