¶ … Religious Beliefs
I was raised Catholic. I still believe in the Catholic Church, though it appears that the Church is going through some sort of identity crisis today -- and especially since the 1960s. I define religion as that which unites man to God -- so religion is something that reattaches, so to speak, us to our Creator, whether through thought, word or action. I define faith as belief in that which has been revealed by God, and I define spirituality as the habit of transcending the earthly and material in contemplation or meditation of some aspect of God.
I view the role that religion and personal faith plays in the world as very important. In the West, it seems that religion is not as important as it once was. Modern ideas and philosophies have taken hold, which are very earth/man-centered rather than God-centered. This, to me, appears to indicate that we in the West have lost our perspective. A strong faith is imperative in being a good Christian (which is really the only religion that I can speak of). Other cultures, such as the Hindu culture in India, have different beliefs which are manifested throughout...
Religion can shape entire continents because it plays a crucial role in how people behave. It offers a guide, a belief system, a worldview, a set of principles, a code of law, an ethic -- and if an entire community believes in this way, that will affect the way that the community governs itself. In America, there is a freedom of religion, which essentially means freedom from religion. There is no truth upheld within the community because such is exclusivity is deemed to be offensive to the "freedom" that Americans are supposed to enjoy. The problem is that one must either choose such "freedom" or religious truth.
Because I was raised Catholic, I was taught to pray as a child and taught what to believe regarding the Person of God and the Holy Trinity, saints, the Church, etc. When I became older I questioned these teachings because I saw that many others did not share them, so I wanted to know why. Today, I have reaffirmed these teachings but it is something that I must continually do because it is easy to lose focus of what…
