I believe John Lennon was onto something when he made the statement below. I believe that God is something in each and every single one of us. We are creatures made for love. If this were not true, we would not have a guilty conscious every time we did something wrong.
I believe that God and Religion are not the same thing. Religion by definition is the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, esp. a personal God. At one point I suppose this was true. However, I believe that throughout history the meaning of religion has more or less changed. For many years there was no separation of church and government in many western societies.
I believe that there is a lot of truth in what religions preach but I also believe that because there was no separation, many institutions took advantage of this system for their own personal gain.
Many christian religions contradict themselves too often. God is supposed to be an all loving soul. Why then does God in the Bible require so much bloodshed and death? This is not love. An all loving soul would not require torture and sacrificial death.
Spirituality does not require sacrifices and the shedding of blood.
Are non-religious great minds, artists, inventors, scientists and leaders put on this planet to share their gifts only to be punished in in Hell for an eternity? How can a person feel safe when they live in such a way just to avoid an eternity in Hell.
Do you believe that an all loving soul would want us to live in fear? Living life in fear is not living at all.
Another contradiction is that we are taught to be selfless. However how can we be selfless when we live only to get an eternal reward or to escape eternal punishment. This is selfish and very self-centered.
I believe in God but not in the traditional sense. Spirituality and religion both grant you free will. However spirituality will not punish you if you use your free will and do not agree with what you are told. Religion controls you. Spirituality puts you in control.
