Beth’s Op-ed

Over the years of human existence one question can never me solved: Why are we here on this planet called Earth? In order to answer this difficult question (that seems to never hold an answer) people created ideas or theories which evolved to the term “religion”. Creating a belief system to help understand why things are as they are, and why things happen as they do; but as time went by the world evolved into a more complex and populated community, and as the world grew into several cultures so did religion.

For example, back in the day many people were pagans or polytheistic. The ancient Chinese people believe that there was a god for everything; like the god of the sun, god of fire, god of water, and so on.  As for the Geeks they believed in gods with human characteristics and were responsible for something on earth; like Zeus the god of the sky who controls the storms and lightning, or Hade the god of the underworld who traps the dammed souls.  As for the Catholics, Jews, and Muslims who are monotheistic; they believe that God created the universe and has complete control of life, and He has a plan for all of us.  

According to Webster, religion is “a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, esp. when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs”.  

Almost every religion is based off of an earlier belief from the past, but one can only see the similarities by looking at the foundation.  Every religion needs a place to worship, a spiritual leader who is connected to some sort of higher being, and follows specific guidelines to help members to live life as civil, obedient, and generally good people. But one can question the idea. For most people religion is a very sensitive topic because many individuals walk in this world as atheists, agnostics, or “nonbelievers”.  That they do not believe there is life after death, and there is no such thing as a supreme being. Like before, people have created religion.  Created a belief system to help understand the world of why things are as they are, and why things happen as they do.  In reality no one really knows the truth.  Who can say there is a Heaven or Hell?  Who can say that there is a God? What if the so called “chosen people” are really kooks that like the idea to persuade people to be good?

Again no one truly knows what happens after we die, and the question “why” will never go away.  Like the idea of memory for example, why can we remember? What happens to that memory when we die?  Why were we put on this mass called earth? Why do people experience supernatural events like premonitions, out of body experience, and a message from God? All of these questions are like trying to answer what came first: the chicken or the egg? Its never ending.

But again when looking at this in a different perspective, every religion is completely different but has similar ideas which can render the thought that maybe there is a higher being that controls every aspect of life; that this being has a plan which does not make sense to us now but will in the end.  Just maybe some one has a set plan for all of us, that can help us make right decision and has a place for us to go when we die- a great place to live happily for eternity and for every one who wronged us to live miserably in Hell.  But humans have a natural habit to find answers to things which do not make sense. 

This comes to the conclusion that religion is a theory.  A theory to give hope to the living that maybe there is a chance for a retirement.  I guess we will never know.

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