Truth About World Religions

                                                                     

1) Commonly Accepted Data: Here's a rough estimate of common statistics on Earth's people who do or do not adhere to various religions:  Christianity 32%, Islam 25%, Hinduism 15%, Buddhism 5%, Nonreligious 19%, and Other 4%.  I see myself in the other category.  Some break it down further between Protestants and Catholics, Shia and Sunni Muslims, Judaism, Chinese folk religions, Zen, tribal, liberals and conservatives, and so forth. Regardless, it only indicates what TRADITION one does or does not likely adhere to, NOT the full person or their convictions.  

2) Definitions: A religion does NOT require belief in or worship of a God or gods. It does not even require belief in the supernatural.  It is a pursuit or interest to which someone ascribes supreme importance, or personal system of beliefs, practices, and devotion.  It is one's relation to that which they regard as sacred, special, or of absolute importance.  Religion is a set of core beliefs upon which people base their lives, involving personal commitment, dedication, devotion, mentally and emotionally, of something or someone.  So, EVERYONE has a religion.  The two dominant major world religions are obvious: That of $Money$ and Human Relationships.                                                       

3) The True Picture: While worshipping money needs no explanation, idolizing human relationships diverge into the following categories: child/parent connections, jobs, nationalism, popularity, romance, sex, and sports teams. The money idol and human relations idols of popularity, romance, sex, and sports teams help nobody and hurt others via selfishness. The job idol only helps one company, while possibly harming other companies through competition. The family idol helps your family only and might hurt others if you side with bad family members over righteous others. Race based nationalist idolatry would actually be the least bad, since it would help the most people. And nobody loves everybody, virtue signaling liars notwithstanding. 

4) Mixed Loyalties: Many feel a benefit in mixing spiritual religious traditions, such as mixtures of Catholicism and Protestantism, or of Buddhism, Confucianism, Shintoism, and Taoism. I have no problem with this. However, the problem is trying to mix spiritual religions with worldly ones. Quoting traditional Christian scriptures:  Matthew 6:24: No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate one and love the other; or else he will hold to one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." That is, the idol of wealth. Matthew 10:37: "He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me."  Galatians 5:17: "The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary one to the other."   James 1:8: "A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways." 

{{ 5) How to Tell One's True Religion:  Often you cannot tell, but here are tells:  We can safely conclude that Atheists, agnostics, and those who avoid all spirituality hold to the religions of Money, Human Relations, or both by default. As for marrying someone from a different religious discipline: I wouldn't say that a Christian cannot marry a non-Christian, or they'd no longer be Christian or saved. I wouldn't even say it's a sin. What I'm saying is that anyone who professes to be Christian or other spiritual religion and purposely marries someone who they know is not of that faith, they have exposed themselves as fake. For example, a young woman named Lisa had a grandfather who was a church elder living close and adamant about his beliefs. >>>

So, Lisa was very involved in church and acted very Christian. But she married Bill, whom she knew was agnostic. So, it was a mask, under pressure to conform. As for the many mixed marriages between Catholics and Jews in New York City, their religion is either Money, Human Relations, or some of both, not Catholicism or Judaism, even if they still go through the motions. This is also true of those who live lives in striking contrast to the teachings of their supposed faith. Also, those who never fellowship with those of their supposed religion, only with those who don't belong to it. And women who had little or nothing to do with men until a late age, then suddenly marry a man upon their being in financial straits. Despite the men professing the same religion, the women's true religion is $Money$. }}

6) Solutions: Recognize the truth about yourself and make changes for the better accordingly. Recognize the truth about others, and either admonish them, avoid them, or connect with them, depending on what the situation calls for.