Serious barriers created by Religion

Religion was a tradition first, just recently became a culture for the preservation of one's identity, and now it is a matter of faith induced. Religion has always been pointing out a way for deliverance from people's deepest fears and claims to reach the unacquainted truth, while the purpose of life, in my view, is to find the truth, that is within ourselves and reach salvation by doing selfless deeds and contribute to the betterment of the world; doing something good for others and this world, so that kindness reigns supreme in a world full of vices.

I hate to say this, but religion has become a brand nowadays. A brand of beliefs to say. And whether the person really believes in the codes and norms of their religion or not, is not guaranteed. The way religion is misleading our modern-day world, our lives are being controlled by fear and temptations, by people and organizations with an ulterior motive, selfishness of people seeking name or power, and commercializing the "brand" of religion they so blindly believe in and their desire to dominate the world by making others convert to their "brand". Ethnic minorities are also being affected by this directly as people with more reach in power and numbers are in some of the dirtiest plays of conversion games. And while one religion can not stand the other, they turn a blind eye to the virtues in the teachings given by one another, let alone remain in harmony with one another. Religion has become only a tool for the gratification of the sinful than a spiritual practice of virtues.

The problem with the concept of religion itself is flawed, as they preach about God and the traits carried by God(or Gods) as if God is someone whom they have met. Yes, people might find this unpleasant as since time immemorial, the concept of God has existed and I am not denying the existence of God, but I am only questioning why the concept differs in each religion. Isn't God the same for everybody? Whether we call Allah, Messiah, or Bhagawan, shouldn't that have been just a difference in language? But it seems it is not so, as there are people arguing and fighting over their righteous genuinity and claims of truth in their faith with disregard to the other. Why are they not able to exist in harmony? I think I might have an answer to that, not as an absolute fact, but in a relative way. I think that there is no harmony between the different religions and even between the sects within any religion because they believe(or claim) their doctrines to be the truth foremost before any others' and disvalue any other teachings by anyone with insight, which is pure arrogance that brings forth ignorance than learning and wisdom. And another reason is, their religion is their "brand" and not love, and they worship the "God of their brand" and not good. I have always wondered why love isn't a religion and why isn't good revered as God.

This may seem vague or unimportant to many, but I think many others are already beginning to understand my point and why it is important. The concept of God in a specific religion is what brings chaos when it doesn't adapt to the concept of another's. Then conflict arises when two or more communities who don't agree with one another have to exist in the same society, followed by inhuman acts of atrocities and riots. A war of religion is evident if we do not keep in mind that faith should not be tampered upon and we all should seek as well as give any insight we can to make each and every one of us enlightened in our path of being human, and not savage beasts and monsters.

There are extremities in most religions throughout the globe that have created serious barriers to the people within the religious community to function well as an individual as well as to adjust with the cultures of another community to co-exist. I want to point out that we are humans foremost, the offspring of mother nature, and only then comes our nationality and religion. But we do not see this and end up desecrating and destroying the precious home to us and countless others, the bosom of Earth where we grew up and dwell, in the name of religion and differences. We end up hurting our brethren if the name of God, while it should have been just the opposite. God, if exists, does not want to see his children murder one another but wants them to cherish, protect and uplift one another. But people are so occupied in their doctrines they forget to see the most and simplest need of every living being, which is freedom. Islam women in some countries are forced to stay inside homes, devoid of freedom to even walk out in a park, have to wear burkas when they have to go outside and have been even barred from getting an education. That is pure injustice in the name of humanity. Who said that God has created men to be superior to women? Bible? Kuran? or the Vedas? It is nothing but an act of domination in the name of one thing or the other. And one doctrine, the followers of which want to reign over the other, have always used the conflict as a means to gain power and influence, for example, many Christian mercenaries want to establish their brand as the strongest one, as they have done in the past, using force, exploiting the flaws in another religion or using fear to accept people to follow their doctrines. The Nordic countries had their own religion which was later dominated by Christianity through force, which the Norse people haven't yet forgotten. The same is being done in many parts of the world including Korea, Japan and rural areas of Nepal where the government eyes cannot see what is going on.

If someone converts by will, it is fine. Like Buddhism made an impact 2000 years ago and the influence reached far-afar from Nepal and India to countries including China, Japan, Sri Lanka, and Thailand and spread wildly across Asia, where people were still following Shitoism, Hinduism, and many other religions. Secularity is important at this time, due to the existence of multiple religions as people have to co-exist. So an extremist shouldn't be trusted or it will bring about feuds between communities and even nations. Islamic nations have laws based on their religion which makes it harder for any foreigner to survive in their country. Hindu communities too, have cultural vices and discriminate against people. People are even barred to enter a temple based on their castes, and religious beliefs. These vices and discriminations that became part of the religious costume weren't made by God, but by people claiming to have known what God has made for mankind. They wanted to remain at the top of the hierarchy of people around them and wanted to gain influence. Such was the rule they made which became a doctrine later on. Frustrated by this, many people do not want to even believe that there is a God and become atheists or just turn out apathetic, while some ponder the mystery of life, and reaching the depths of Philosophy, they turn out agnostic. A few people through the practice of a good lifestyle and meditation, a life of asceticism or sacrifice, are able to reach a level of spirituality to be able to glance directly and clearly into the soul. I couldn't explain it more clearly and am certainly not an expert on this, but I keep hearing time and again from many intellectuals and ascetic spiritual practitioners that spirituality is the cure for the scarred soul while religion is the poison.

To sum up, the matters of religion need urgent attention but also must be handled with the utmost care, as it concerns the most fickle ideas in the world; the deliverance from sin, salvation, ideas of sins and virtues, protection from evil, and the ultimate cure of a person, as it is said to provide a person with eternal peace if God has protected a soul. These topics require deep research and considerable coordination from people of different backgrounds but all with the same motivation, that is, a priority of humanity, as the barriers created by religion have become too strong to break due to the deep roots of religion throughout history. Guidance for people is necessary but not as a missionary, but as a common soul vouching for compassion and justice. I hope that humans will act for humanity as their ultimate cure, and the goodwill of people and their good deeds will overpower the power-hungry puppet masters controlling indecisive and unguided human souls from behind the curtain.