Everything After - A 9.11 Youth Circle - Does religion make this world a better place?

I am a Christian, so most of you will know my point of view on this. What I am wondering is, with all the wars today focussed on religion, and all the bad things people do in the name of religion, would the world be better if there was no religion at all?

My point of view is, religion wouldn't be a problem if people actually FOLLOWED it and didn't twist it around to fit their own devices. Momentarily setting aside the fact that there is a Truth, every religion is good (even if not true) in it's pure form, before humans mess with it and screw it up.

I think religion is one of the great strengths of human society, when followed, as by most people, in a peaceful and harmless fashion. However, the fact distresses me that many people are also very close-minded and refuse to accept the validity of other forms of religion and spirituality. We need to find a way to be passionate about our own relgion, without feeling that we have to convert the whole world. Of course there is one religion that is true and others that are not, but many religions are founded on the same basic concepts and even tell the same stories. Besides that, every religion I have learned about teaches peace. I don't think that the religion people group themselves with is as important as their individual beliefs and deeds. The things a few people do cannot be used to dismiss a whole religion or culture. We owe it to ourselves and the world to study other religions even if we don't follow them. That way we will have some understanding of what other people believe, and understanding is the first step to peace.

In it's truest form, every religion touches on the truth. One of the aspects of many religions is uncovering mystery. (that's basically how religion started, as explanations) Maybe there is still mystery to be uncovered. Every religion I have learned of teaches the same basic principles - peace, love, etc. Although they are all taught in different ways and based on ideas that seem different from the way they are presented, all religion teaches the same at heart.

Kalidah, I have a question concerning Islam.
For our church, we are doing a neighboring faiths program to learn about other faiths. We visited a mosque this past Sunday. From what our guide told us, it seems like Islam is really a way of life - a beautiful one, no doubt. But as a teenager, how do you go about practicing all the ways of Islam? How do you perform the mandatory prayers every day, and how do you explain to people what you are doing since you converted?

You're right about Islam being a way of life-- that was one of the things that appealed to me about it. My Muslim-ness affects every part of my daily life, and every decision I make. I try to follow the rules of Islam as closely as possible, i.e., praying 5 times each day, fasting during Ramadan, memorizing the Quran, and not eating pork or drinking alcohol. I changed my name when I became Muslim, and I am learning to speak Arabic, since there are Arabic words which have no correct English translation.

I think of it not as conversion but "reversion". I believe every human is born sin-free, in a state of Islam, which means "submission to the Creator". Thus I have simply returned to the religion. It is very difficult to explain my reversion, especially in the area where I live. Conservative Christians share some (not all!) of my ideology, and are some of the best people in the world-- but they can be a little, um, provinicial in dealing with "weird" people like me! I usually just tell people that I've found a belief system and a way of life that works for me and helps me to be a good person. For the most part, they'll accept that.

Its funny the minute a situation like 9-11, or around holidays everyone one wants to run to church, but after they are over the situation they forget about God and go about their daily lives. If you're not going to make an effort to go to church every other week, don't even bother to go to church at all. I think that religion is very important and without it the world well wouldn't be the same.

I think that religion is what keeps people in line with themselves. If you are a devout Christian, Jew, Muslism ,or whatever. if you follow by the "rules" of that religion it gives you a sense of responsiblitly to keep yourself a christian or jew. religion is very important to me because I know that it keeps me healthy in life mentally and physically and it helps me get by. I knwo that when everything goes wronge I have my religion , my God there to listen .