Ok JWein, I have some stuff for you to look at. Feel free to pick apart my interpretation that I posted a while ago in a different thread:
Here's the thing: I believe religion was first created out of the fear of the unknown. The fear of what happens to us when we die. When we became self aware as a species, we had the drive to figure out everything around us. Since then it has been a debate of to-know-or-not-to-know; a fear of the unknown but also a fear of knowledge.
I look at Religion in one way: it is a set of rules to live by so that we may stand as a community against the fear of the unknown, and a warning to stay human instead of seeking out all there is to know about our Universe. It's like saying ignorance is bliss because ignorance is safe.
Not the best example, but look at most Japan, a culture that seems to have always been very accepting of death; much more so than Western cultures. Japan has little to no Westernized Organized religion, only adopting such principles as Christian Weddings. Japan is spiritual; not religious.
Now onto religious stories that warned us of knowledge.
Look at the Biblical story of Adam and Eve. They follow the rules and live in blissful ignorance. The snake (which I see as Natural Human Curiosity) tells them to eat from the tree of knowledge, which makes them self aware of their true existence, and they get thrown out of Eden.
Pandora's box in Greek Mythology; a myth that has many different interpretations, one such being this: Prometheus steals fire from the heavens and gifts it to the humans, which angers the Gods, and Zeus decides to punish them to compensate for the boon they were given. The Gods gift Pandora (the first woman on Earth) to the humans, and she brings with her a box which contains many evils. She was told to never open it, but she grows curious of the gift which she brought with her, and opens the jar, unleashing disease/famine etc upon the world.
With so much unknown in the world we are told to place our faith on a deity, so we might feel safe and communal. This deity is the only thing we have to believe in. We miss out on all the other knowledge, but we stay blissfully ignorant of all the evils that may be lurking within that knowledge.
So many people grew so many different interpretations of religion over the years. Wars were fought over holy ground, ideas and people were rejected because perhaps they were a little different to what they had grown up believing. It is hard to advocate change in a system that I believe is all about keeping things the same; staying safe and secure.
There are also good things that I take away from religion. I do like the feeling of community that one gets while going to church. I do like many teachings from Jesus (the person) and Muhammad, who preached a peaceful existence. Siddhartha Gautama and Guru Nanak also preached many good things. Pope Francis (the current one) is a very bright spot on the Catholic Church.
Like everything else in life, I am free and welcome to accept some aspects while rejecting others. This is how I see it. I grew up going to Church and believing in God, and I still think that there are some things that cannot be explained. Is that because I was conditioned to believe so? Who knows, that is a conversation for another day.
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