Particular religion Essay

I do not subscribe to any particular religion, but I believe in the transcendence of the human spirit, and that there is something greater than ourselves out there—an absolute entity that encompasses us all. Many could qualify this absolute being as a God, but the word holds many sociocultural implications such as worship or a personification of that being’s attributes that I choose not to call it as such. I believe in the universality of goodness and that the only way one could achieve happiness and fulfillment is by living an good and honest life. My life’s experiences led me to believe in the concept of an absolute being, however, religion is not integral to my beliefs. My beliefs are determined my my experiences and not by religion. I have realized that most religions are man-made, and thus do not have any legitimate claim to the truth. It is all too apparent today that there exist many different religions, sects, churches, and denominations, most of which have conflicting beliefs. I have not encountered any one that works for me. Growing up, I was initiated to the religion of my parents—that is, Christianity. As a youngster, it easy to unquestioningly accept whatever it was that was inculcated in me. However, as I have gotten a better understanding of the world and myself, I have realized that that religion is lacking—for me it does not provide the adequate explanation as to living my life in the fullest sense. Over the years, religion has become irrelevant. For me, religion is a matter of faith—something I have but not to the extent that I accept that everything one religion tells me is true. Being a generally empirical person, that is to say, that I believe that something must be proven for it to be true, the idea of a religion, as we traditionally know it does not hold any weight for me. Having qualified what religion means to me, I can say that my definition does not reduce it to what I, as Frederick Streng says, â€Å"happened to be acquainted with by accident of birth and socialization. † I recognize the existence of a myriad of ultimate realities and pluralities when it comes to reli ¬gion and that having an open mind is the key to understandings what each belief really mean to the people who have them. I would not say that I have an anti-religion view, but having said that I do not subscribe to one may give that impression. My belief does not mean that I eschew every other religion as being false. I believe that religion have redeeming qualities, and that anything that influences a human being to be good and be the best that one can be could not be that bad. I would like to believe that my open attitude towards the concept of religion eliminates any perceptual bias, or reduces in the least. In the same token, my definition encompasses all, since I do not believe in the absoluteness and infallibility of any one. I regard new and emerging religions on the same ground as the old ones. All provide the means to potentially transform an individual. While my definition attempts to encompass all religions, it may not have enough precision to address each and every one of them. Just as beliefs evolve as one matures, so does one’s definition of concepts and ideas. It’s possible that I still have not experienced enough to qualify a universal definition that applies to every one. However, I believe that the search for the true understanding of religion is an ongoing process, that a closer study of it would make a clearer picture of the religious life emerge.