Faith

Welcome to the Fork in the Road Blog: Reflections on Life, musings based on my perception of life, spanning decades of active life. This episode – Faith – muses over a strong belief in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual conviction rather than proof.

The answer to the question: “What is religion?” is not readily found. Over time, religion has come to be defined in terms of cultural or social behaviour relating to supernatural and spiritual aspects of human life. Individual religions have specific prescribed beliefs, behaviours, specially sanctified places, and some with written texts laying down their teachings.

For most people the religious faith they belong to is determined by their parents and the societies of their birth. A few, when they grow up and discover their true beliefs, or a complete lack of belief, convert to their chosen faith.

There are three categories of religious belief: theism, which in its most general form is the belief that at least one deity exists. Atheism, lack of belief in, or a rejection of, the existence of gods. and agnosticism, the view that the existence of heavenly God, of the divine or the supernatural is beyond human knowledge.

Belief is an integral human factor. Not knowing what religion to believe in, is not the same as being a non-believer, an atheist. A true non-believer must know the religions he/she does not believe in, just as a true believer should be able to differentiate among the different religions to be able to select the one to believe in. Genuine faith is a personal way of life choice, it is not embraced for third party benefit neither is it bequeathed by parents. You do not claim to be a true believer because your ancestors were leaders in your religious faith.

One does not have to be a theologian to be a genuine believer, but one must be able to understand what he/she believes in. The holy religious books with written texts laying down their teachings address the issues in a broad sense and using symbolic language. Parables of Jesus’ teachings are a prime example. Interpreting them verbatim misses the big message they contain. A full understanding of the meaning of the writings requires theological approach and guidance.

A brief observation on parental or family influence with one’s faith. I had no say in the choice of the religion I grew up in. I am not different from millions of people who were initiated in the religions of their parents’ choice and remained in those religions with no regret. There are, however, many who eventually regret their parents’ decision and change to a religion of their choice, which can also include not being religious at all.

When I grew up and was free to make decisions about my life, I kept the religion my parents chose for me because I was satisfied with what I saw in it as a guide to good and acceptable societal behaviour. I could live with the tenets of the faith despite agonizing over the depth of my beliefs. Right now, if I took a test in religious belief I probably would be categorized as marginally agnostic because I believe that not all that I believe in is fully humanly understood or understandable.

I judge people by their behaviours not by their religious faith. I go by the sentiments I mentioned in my blog on TRUST. I consider one’s beliefs and religious faith to be a personal issue. I do not subscribe to behaviours that are tantamount to shoving one’s beliefs down another person’s throat.

Religious beliefs, of all religions, are supposed to be a guide on how to live within a society. A guide on how to behave with each other and how to treat the environment we live in and the rest of the object on earth.

Some people, as they stand at the fork in the road of their religious belief (making choices) and look for the view ahead (setting goals), based on their current belief, the view that comes into focus may be influenced by those around them, physically and virtually, rather than their own insights. They end up not deciding on the faith path to take according to their own view. This could be a collective societal influence where daily life is governed by an established religion, where deviation from the expected behaviour would mean an automatic isolation from the society or denial of access to services and resources. In this case, survival may depend on acquiescence to a religious faith one may not believe in. It is like travelling on a road that you have no idea where it will take you, but you are on it because you were told to take it. It is a daunting experience and yet millions of people are in this situation.

Of all the “views round the bend” (the goals we set) in our lives, the religious view, the view of religious faith, is probably the most complex. It is dependent on interpretation and easily influenced by misinterpretation. Wars have been fought and millions of people killed in the name of religion.

Charlatans are springing up every day fleecing unsuspecting people of their money with promises of getting them to heaven with their prayers and blessings. All in the name of religious faith.

People believe in their opinion or accept that certain things are true even though they have no physical proof but the written Holly Books. Christians have the Bible, Jews have the Tanakh, Muslims have the Quran, and the list goes on. An excellent biblical definition is Paul’s letter to the Hebrews 11:1 where he says, ‘Now faith is the assurances of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.’ This verse highlights that all proofs, or proven formulae, have a foundation. If someone appears to confirm something fundamentally sound, it has a foundation to be built upon.

Individuals should be free to decide the religious beliefs to follow, yet, to make an informed decision they need to be well guided. It is the nature of the guidance, the mode and extent, that can turn harmless religious upbringing into indoctrination. Lives have been destroyed through misinformation and radicalization.

Thank you for being part of the Fork in the Road Blogs: Reflections on Life. Be sure to look out for the next episode when I will be writing about Family. And if you gathered something useful, please feel free to share the blog. My books, Fork in the Road: Creating a future of value starting from where you are and A view round the bend. Setting goals for your life’s journey are available for purchase at Aristoc bookshops in Kampala, Uganda and online at Amazon.