Freedom from Religion
I saw an ad on TV this morning for an organization that calls itself Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF). I was saddened by their message, but not particularly surprised to have it out there. I, also, subscribed to an antithesis of religion and all it seemed to stand for, back in my college “intellectual” days. I thought I was too smart to fall for the malarkey of faith in some nebulous spiritual being.
But by God’s grace, I got much smarter as time went by. It’s not faith in God that’s malarkey; it’s more the way it’s practiced and marketed and rammed down people’s throats.
So, in a sense, I can support the ideals of a group like FFRF. Our American forefathers were very smart (and I believe guided by God) to write into our constitution that there shall be no national religion. No one can force anyone to believe in any one way. Belief in God is an intensely private affair — it’s between each person and God.
The problem arises when groups like FFRF demand that there be NO religion in America; that no one is allowed the freedom to worship as they choose. Yes, church and state need to be separate, but church has the right to exist, and there need to be places where like-minded people can congregate and share ideas and learn and grow, and the ideals of Christianity — charity, kindness, devotion — need to be heard in this dark, cynical world.
In my opinion, the issue isn’t religion; it’s how we understand God. Is God the property of Christianity, and if so, which sect — Episcopal, Seventh Day Adventist, Presbyterian, Catholic? Is God exclusive to Judaism? Does God (Allah) belong to the Muslims? The Buddhists? The Hindus?
Therein lies the problem. We humans have taken the one universal God and tried to make Him the exclusive property of whichever group we belong to. Religion, as practiced in almost every separate religion, demands that everyone who wants to belong to that religion must think and act alike, behave as you’re told, until it becomes like an exclusive restrictive country club.
God’s religion — the idea of worshiping God alone — is universal, open to everyone, peaceful, undemanding, joyous, encouraging of independent thinking, welcoming of new ideas. The only criteria are that we devote our worship to God alone (no idols, human or otherwise), understand that there is a Hereafter (we are accountable for what we do in this life), and lead a righteous life as free from sin as we can possibly achieve.
So, I am looking for “freedom from religion.” Freedom from the way it’s practiced today, and a return to a more pure religion, an individual relationship with God. I’m not accountable to any priest or rabbi or imam; I’m accountable only to God, and I pray that He will find me worthy on the Day of Judgment.
And, by God’s grace, this is what I have found in the Quran. Not Islam as it’s practiced in much of the world, but in the book itself. If you read the Quran, it reveals its knowledge, wisdom, love and guidance. It is the authentic word of the infallible God, not the teachings of any flawed human. It is the truth. And the truth really does set me free.
