Religion is for yourself...

I suppose that this must have started because of the need to explain things without having a fundamental understanding or proof. I also think that any form of religion or believe can, will and shall be used at the time when necessary to create radical "solutions" .And than it will be taken to a point that enables members or adherents to feel that they are allowed to kill, torture and pillage. All in the name of an imaginary friend. Billions are spent to construct statues in all forms and sizes and are put in the most impossible places, billions are spent to create buildings of worship filled with ornaments, decorations and material to worship, following specific rituals and rites. Again, all in the name of an imaginary friend.

All religions, are based on sacred texts, scriptures or personal revelation.

Sacred texts and scriptures, contain stories upon which the rules and dogma's of a religion are based or contain directly these rules, regulations and dogma's. The oldest are to contain stories that were told and noted for perhaps a first time somewhere between 2150 and 2000 before common era. (BCE is used to stay on neutral ground and not to offend other religions. This is also known as BC, Before Christ.)

The stories that are written in these sacred texts and scripts, were told by... humans. And they were written by... yes, humans, again. The exact same species that is capable today of wiping out the entire human existence, simply by pressing on a button. The exact same species that tries to rule over less powerful and less materialistically developed humans with the help of all means it can lay its hands on. Rules and regulations, frontiers and barriers, lies and make believe and if all of that doesn't work, this exact same species will not hesitate to use weapons to kill in order to reach the target aimed for.

Concerning these personal revelations, how can one possibly judge this? The use of LSD can make that people have visions, as can certain mushroom types. How "true" is a revelation? How much is "real" and how much is, perhaps even unconsciously, added to give the story a more believable sound? And how much is added or left out so that the story gets better for personal gain? Starting from more admiration from fellow "believers" up to more respect from superiors on the hierarchic, religious, ladder, obtaining more influential power, or perhaps even obtaining material possessions and getting your followers to eliminate people who think differently or are opposite.

History has shown (I wanted to write learned but we haven't really learned from our history, we have  improved scientifically, yes, but learned from our mistakes, no, not so much.) that adhering to a religion that demands that the follower accepts the existence of a god, leads to war and terrorism due to misinterpretation and (mostly) personal interpretation of the sacred texts and scriptures. This creates a so called holy war and all criminal actions are deemed right because they're committed in the name of (any) god.

The only thing that can be considered right and we can trace this back in one form or another in about every religion are these five statements:

Do not kill. - Do not commit adultery. - Do not steal. - Do not lie. - Do not covet.

These are the only useful points to find in any religion that worships a deity. The rest is a mixture of stories, dogma's, rules and regulations based on those stories that over time were interpreted as was seen fit and has created the religions as they are interpreted today.

From the point of view that we are intelligent, human beings with the possibility to deduct certain reactions we can calculate that if we don't live by these Do not-rules, sooner or later it will bite us in the ass.

From the point of view that we are animals and still behave like that, obviously these five statements do not work but it is interesting to see that with these statements, somewhere in the history of human beings was realised that we are not obliged to behave like animals but can be superior. And that is fine, only I don't have that much trust in my fellow human being so here are my laws concerning religion:

Religion can only be practiced, by adults. 

(To avoid that children get indoctrinated.)

Religion can only be adhered to by voluntary choice.

(No peer pressure.)

Religion can only be practiced in the privacy of your own home.

(Those who are not interested in your believes do not have to be bothered with it.)

All buildings created to worship are to be opened and used for the benefit of every human being.

(Why having big empty buildings for most of the time while so much people have no roof over their head?)

Promoting, sponsoring or advertising any religion is prohibited.

(Those who are not interested in your believes do not have to be bothered with it.)

Exhibitionism of any religion is prohibited.

(You have made your choice, it is personal, don't bother others with it.)

No public funds are to be spend on any form of religion.

(Why should others have to pay for your personal believes?)

I, personally think that religion is a dangerous thing. I understand that the five Do nots are good. All the other aspects of religions make me wonder why so many people (more than half of our planets population) adhere to a religion.
The not believers are a minority and they will go to hell is believed by more than half of the believers in a deity.With that way of reasoning it is not a surprise that the scientific evolution goes anything but fast and is still deliberately refused and not accepted. As long as people believe like this, without any proof or scientific confirmation, it will be impossible for every human to develop him or herself in the way that is best for that person individually, at the condition that this never interferes in a negative way with the lives of other people. And without that there will never be world peace...