Lost Souls: Faith vs. Belief

July 13, 2012 3:32am
 
"The craziest war I've paid close attention to was not based off of money, but more so, based off the belief of one thing, and the disagreement between one another."


     One thing I can say is that as we gain knowledge, we tend to see many things differently.  I see many different individuals, have a diversified group of close friends, and tend to look into what people experienced in their lives.  However, one of the most difficult subjects to actually speak on is religion and beliefs.  Because there have been many beliefs and knowledge passed around from region to region.  Religion, from the knowledge of past and present historians, teachers, pastors, and religious leaders is something that has been taught and passed down to the next individual.  There are a few things that can be agreed upon, and then, there's a clash between who's right and who's wrong. 

     Morality is one thing that can be agreed on with the major religions of the world, which is Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.  Sin is the wrong, and understanding and growing in God is what's sought after.  Personally, I was born a Christian and raised in a African Methodist Episcopal church.  I have a lot of Christian friends, but I also have Muslim friends as well. With conversation with my good friend [sister], who is a Muslim, we've had discussions about what she sees as different between the religions.  She can only name the prophet Muhammad not being recognized in the Bible, and not really major differences.  I had the same discussion with another one of my good friends about the differences and he said truthfully, there isn't much of a difference besides the fact that the Quran is an extended version of the Bible.  In all, I had to look into the Quran myself.

     Thinking of the age of each religion, I've looked into what each religion provided specifically for the people of their respective faith.  I've noticed that the Torah is the stories from the very beginning, the Holy Bible is an extension of the Torah, which adds the New Testament and the stories of Jesus Christ, who is proclaimed "Son of Man" and the "Son of God" throughout the Bible.  The Holy Quran is the extension of the Bible, and explains in detail the stories that are also in the Bible as well as explanation the role of the Prophet Muhammad.  In all, the religions are all tied somehow.

     Now, here's the struggle between what the past teaches us and what the present presents to us.  That, with the knowledge of where your beliefs come from comes understanding that right is right and wrong is wrong.  With morality and the studying of a person's specific belief system, it's hard to accept what another person believes simply because we were trained to believe that what we know is all we know.  The problem with that is that we close our minds to seek the truth within what each religion really has to offer.  For example, as a Christian, we were trained to pray to Jesus Christ, and repent and ask for Salvation.  The difficult part of being faithful is that we forget the message behind what we were called to do.  Now, if we are fixated on our own personal mission, we tend to become stubborn and closed minded about the other faiths that incorporate the faith in God as a key.  Islam and Judaism have belief in one God as well as Christianity, and even with Polytheistic religions that aren't considered major religions, we've become judgmental and started to look down at individuals who don't share the same beliefs as ourselves.  That's where a lot of conflicts start happening.

     I believe that God has a plan devised for each individual that is suitable for their life, challenges and triumphs included.  We make mistakes, and one mistake is not taking the time to understand "why" and "what" makes us different as far as religion is concerned.  We can learn from each other and further enhance our understanding of ourselves.  I think that it takes a toll on society when we close ourselves up without fulling knowing potentials of other people and closing the book without even getting a chance to read the person's story.  I was taught, don't read a book by its cover, and I've focused on the bigger picture.  Hopefully, we can open our minds to become more effective on the calling and blessings we are presented with as we go forward in life.  At the end of the day, if you believe in faith, then faith will allow you to see a deeper side of yourself that you've never knew.  Ultimately, don't allow differences in religion to stop you from understanding for yourself.