Egh..World Religions.

Indigenous Religion Comparison:
That is the topic of my first World Religions paper. I know this looks long, but I swear it's not. Could someone please read it and tell me if I make any sense, or do I just sound like a hippie stoner? It's not done yet and I wanna get feedback. Criticism is appreciated. Really, I swear, I won't be offended.
_______________________________________*

After reading the chapter on the religions of the indigenous people of the world, I had to admit, I understand their point of view more than I understand the more “modern” religions. I was not raised religious, so any belief in a God that I have is a search that I’ve done on my own. The indigenous people’s religions are unique for several reasons, and I think, more than most religions, their religion continues to stay true to their original word.
While I’ve never traveled the mountain top or a monastery to find God, I believe in God. My religion is not really a religion, but more of a hodgepodge puzzle of beliefs that I feel work with my life. I chose to believe in a God that was good and understanding, instead of strict and domineering. I guess I was never really swayed by the ideas of an organized religion, mostly because I never thought that God was something that could be organized. I never really understood our attempts to understand God, because to me, God was never something we could understand. Instead I choose to believe and to pray, and to hope that in the end, God understands me.
I think that the biggest similarity that my belief system shares with that of the indigenous’ religions, is that we do not believe that Christianity is a form of salvation. I’d much rather believe in a God who expects our mistakes, and forgives them, without punishment. I never understood why the Christian faith wanted people to wander the world in some sort of divine haze. That just never fit well with me. I know that I will fail and I know that I will falter, but I don’t think that God will punish me for being human; after all, he created us!
Of course, this doesn’t sit well with other people, and much like the indigenous’ people, I’ve had to sit through lectures on how my ways will surely send me to Hell. I’ve always had a lot of respect for other cultures and religions and I patiently sit through this before trying to explain (as delicately as possible) that their idea of Heaven is not mine. I’ve always been one to find God in nature, and like some indigenous cultures, I can find God everywhere. I believe that since God created the Earth and the Universe, anything that is, is also God. So, instead of floating around in a cloudy paradise, I’d much rather sink back into the Earth and physically become part of God.
October 9th, 2007 at 02:13am