I was raised on morals. Being a good person. None of my judgments in life are in consideration of whether I'll go to heaven or hell. Probably because I wasn't raised in a church. Apparently my aunt and uncle think my gay cousin is going to hell for his decision in life.
Morality is based on religion way down the line. If your parents weren't religious, someone who was set their value system.
I understand religion, my parents were both raised Catholic. I went to Catholic church as a real youngster. At some point, my parents decided they didn't want to go anymore. Church can be a great moral compass. In fact, I encourage people to go. However, I agree a lot with the Bishop here. The thought of heaven and hell is meant as a purpose of controlling the flock. The idea is ingenious, but I don't believe in either. Being a good person doesn't have a direct correlation with going to Church no matter how many years back you want to go in the family cycle. Raise your kids to know right from wrong, show them love. A majority of religious types are extremely hypocritical. Christians have this elitist attitude, but who's to say they're going down the truest of the holy paths'
Not only did religion invent hell, heaven, purgatory, and all the other variations, religions also invented gods.
I agree with much of this. I would only add my opinion that I believe Elitism is a learned behavior based more on the environment you grow up in, rather than anything to do with religion specifically. Although yes, religious people are capable of their own form of Elitism. Speaking only for myself, I grew up in a semi-religious house hold. My father dedicated us to prayer around the table before each meal when I was a teenager. As I was already in Boy Scouts at the time, this wasn't difficult for me to accept, as the Boy Scout Troop I was a member of was fairly religious. As I got older, however, my father became a practicing Pegan, and prayer stopped completely, and I moved on from Boy Scouts and into Explorer Scouts with VPD. There, I met a man who became my mentor and friend, who himself was very religious. I respected that and understood it, and thus, accepted it. In my 20s, I refound my faith one day when I took a chance and went to a Catholic church downtown. I consider myself a "Casual Christian"; meaning I believe what I want to believe regarding my Christian beliefs. And with that being said, I still take what the Bible says with a grain of sand. My reasoning for this is that the Bible was written by Man, and men with political agendas in their time, as well as problems which are not the same problems that we have today in our modern society. The Bible has also been used to justify many horrible crimes in the past, such as Witch Trials and military campaigns. And I don't believe that any religion should be a part of politics; especially Christianity. I had to get up and yell at my fucking neighbors, so I forgot what else I was gonna say. What was that about "love thy neighbor"?
Organized religion has been used to control the population for thousands of years. Long before Christianity. And yet..... people think that THIS God is the only real God and not Zeus, or Odin, or Ra, etc etc etc.
