Daily Meditation

Depending on the Use to Which it Is-Daily Meditation 7.18.23

Today’s quotation:

Depending on the use to which it is put, religion can be a demonic force.  Religion should unite us, but some exploit it to create more significant schisms.  Nothing could be more unfortunate.  Religion must always be for the people.  People do not exist for the sake of religion.  This must be the fundamental guideline of religion in the twenty-first century.-Daisaku Ikeda


Today’s Meditation:

We’ve all seen ways in which religion can be exploited to harm others.  It’s truly a shame that people do this, but it seems human nature to use elements that are supposed to exist for our good to do bad things.  Over the years, many human beings have used religion to make themselves feel better, spread their personal beliefs, and make other people suffer–for almost any lousy purpose you can think of.  They use manipulative strategies such as guilt, intimidation, fear, and ignorance in the name of their religion, all the while making people’s lives less fulfilling rather than more so.

And of course, this is an incredible shame because religion should be something that we trust.  It should be a part of our lives that we don’t doubt.  Its motives should be pure, and its effects should always be positive.  When we find out that some people in a religious group are trying to manipulate or harm us, unfortunately, we lose faith not just in those particular people but also in the religion.  It’s little wonder that people are leaving religious affiliations in droves.

Religion can play an essential part in our lives. Still, we’ve seen enough people who are caring and compassionate and who don’t have any religious affiliation to know that religion isn’t necessary for us.  We can be Christians, Moslems, or Jews without belonging to any particular church, without spending our Saturday or Sunday mornings in a specific building listening to someone else’s version of our faith.  We’ve often seen religion bring people down, limit, manipulate, or even abuse them. If that’s what religion is doing to someone, it’s time to drop that religion.

Religion could be a very positive way of bringing people together in love in a spirit of service. Still, our “religion” is very often little more than a social club where we meet with like-minded people.  If we are part of a religion, we must give to that religion and ensure that no one is harming our loved ones or us.  I don’t believe that religion is irrelevant. Still, I know that as long as religions stick to dogma and allow themselves to be used, they will continue to become less and less important in our lives and the societies in which we live.


Questions to consider:

Why do fewer and fewer people identify with established religions nowadays?

What kinds of positive things can religions bring us?  Negative?


For further thought:

There is no religion without love, and people may talk as much as they like about their religion, but if it does not teach them to be good and kind to person and beast, it is all a sham.-Anna Sewell


If you missed our last Daily Meditation, it is here.

BeckyWillis

BeckyWillis is a "glass is half full" type of person, so she decided that she would share that with others. After going on 15 years in the blogosphere she decided it was time to make a change and in doing so help uplift others. Her husband is her biggest cheerleader; you can visit his site at https://lifeasrog.com.

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