On Religion

Last night we watched Morgan Spurlock's new television show 30 days. I typically hate reality shows but I found this show to be wildly entertaining and educational.

In this particular episode, a Christian man from West Virginia went to live in Dearborn, Michigan as a Muslim for 30 days. Dearborn has the highest population of Muslims in the United States, and has had some controversy about Muslim prayer calls broadcasted over loudspeakers throughout the city. This Christian man struggled as he was forced to live with a Muslim family, dress like a typical Muslim man, learn Arabic, and attend prayer services five times a day.

What struck me was the Christian man's reaction to having to pray in the Muslim prayer services. He felt as if he was betraying Jesus by praying to "the Muslim God". His narrow-minded view of religion got me thinking about religious conservatism in general. Religions don't have their own separate gods although they may claim that theirs is the one true God. There is only one god which various religions explain in their own culturally-sanctioned ways.

I don't pray that often, but when I do, I ask God for strength and a clear mind. To me, God is an energy source that is present throughout all creation. God is not white. God is not a man or a woman. God does not have gender. The problem with all organized religions is that it try to pin down the definition of God and say "we have the definitive answer and everyone else is wrong".

How can humans explain the divine in human terms? That is virtually impossible. We are bound by the limitations of human language. We can't even begin to express the layers of divine complexity that do or do not exist. To experience God (or whatever you want to call it) I prefer to look at a beautiful meadow, sunset, or ocean waves, as opposed to worshiping in a church, mosque, synagogue or temple.