Religion... I've gotten nothing out of it!?

Question

So I've read and searched and experimented. Even so far as Scientology. Religion is currupt no matter where it is. There is nothing true anymore. Everyone lies, either for money, fame or reputation.

Jehova never shows himself anymore, or for that matter, any other "God" or deity.

Buddhism is a great religion... just seems harder to become enlightened anymore. I love reading up on what he taught.

The Gods are so facist, angry, and almost hypocritical when I've come to really look at it.

I don't know what to think anymore. Isn't there anything more than blind faith? Isn't there something that actually affects a person to have happiness. It doesn't seem so.

I've almost given up.

Answer 1

God does show Himself - but only to those who believe:
"But without faith it is impossible to please Him - for the one coming to God must believe that he exists, and that He is a rewarder of those who sincerely seek Him." (Hebrews 11:6)

"Praise the Lord! My name is Dolo Sono. I grew up in an area where nobody had ever heard of Jesus Christ, not even once in our lives. My fathers worshipped the spirits for countless centuries, and they encouraged me to follow them and become a priest of the Donyi-Polo (Sun-moon) religion. We didn’t know who the Creator was, so my tribe had no option but to worship His creation. We considered the sun and the moon our father and mother, giving sustenance and light to us.


My son developed a blood disease. He suffered terrible pain as his condition worsened over time. My wife and I could hardly stand to see the pain he was in. I called on the spirits to help, but he only grew worse. I visited other priests and asked them to pray for my son, but the more they prayed, the worse he became. Then, like a dagger through my heart, my precious son died. I was grief-stricken, and wept uncontrollably as I stared at my little boy’s lifeless body. I didn’t realize it at the time, but a Christian lived in a nearby village. When news spread that the Donyi-Polo priest’s son had died, the Christian came to my house and asked if he could pray for my son, who had been dead for four hours already. I didn’t see any harm in letting the follower of Jesus pray for him. He started to pray, and a short time later my boy suddenly came back to life! He sat up and was fine.

We later found that he was also completely healed from the blood disease that had caused him so much suffering! As you might imagine, when news of this great miracle circulated, everyone was amazed and rushed to our home to see my son for themselves. I didn’t know anything about Jesus, but from that moment I knew that He alone was the true God, and I decided I would serve Him for the rest of my life. The first thing I did was search for other Christians. I thought they must be really special and powerful people, because they followed the true and all-powerful God who has the power to bring the dead back to life and change people’s hearts on the inside. After searching far and wide, I was shocked to discover that there was just one church in my entire region, with only eleven people in it.

The eleven Christians were weak and persecuted. They met in a small, run-down building. I found this really sad. My own temple where I had served as a priest was beautifully decorated by comparison. I could scarcely believe that the followers of Jesus were so crushed and timid even though they possessed the Truth. My forefathers had followed Satan for centuries without any light from God. Those who followed lies were much larger in number than those who followed the Truth. This was wrong, and I decided to do something about it. From that day onwards I determined to help God’s Church grow.

From the day God raised my son from the dead, I started telling people about Jesus. This was the least I could do. I thought everyone would be excited to hear about Jesus, but I soon found that it made people angry. My own parents and family threatened to disown me if I continued to follow Jesus. I told them I must follow Him, because He is real and he raised my son from the dead! I started preaching everywhere I could, walking from village to village and encouraging people to abandon the false worship of our forefathers and to stop bowing down to the sun and moon. I didn’t know anything about the Bible, but I boldly testified to what had happened, and that Jesus alone was true and powerful. A short time later someone told me there were many Christians in Nagaland, a state south of Arunachal Pradesh. This news excited me, so I caught a bus there and met with many true believers in the Lord. Almost the whole of Nagaland was Christian, and I was greatly encouraged. I returned home with more Bible knowledge, and could better explain the gospel to people.

The tribes of Arunachal Pradesh have worshipped spirits and demons since the beginning of time. The only other religion that people respect is Buddhism, which came from Tibet many centuries ago. As I continued to preach about Jesus, I experienced many attacks and problems. People thought my conversion to Christianity had brought great disgrace on my ancestors, especially because I had been a priest. I was beaten on many occasions, and attacked with swords and spears, but God preserved my life, and there were always a few people interested in listening to my message. Jesus helped me so much in those early years. Once I visited some villages for the first time and found that God had prepared the people by giving them dreams in advance of my arrival. Because of this, the people were kind to me and listened to the Good News I had come to share. I believed everything the Bible said. I read that Jesus told his disciples to only take one coat with them when they went out to preach, so I only wore one shirt until it was filthy and covered with lice. The years went by and I was so glad that many more people in my tribe and other tribes started to follow Jesus too. In many places I saw people healed by the Lord and delivered from demons. Hundreds of people believed in God. In each place where people decided to follow Jesus, we organized small house groups for them to meet together in.

A strange thing happened right at the time when God was moving so powerfully and saving many people. Other Christian leaders started to attack me and tried to stop me preaching. They said I was not qualified to preach, because I had never been to a seminary. I told them it was a shame I didn’t fit into their mould, but that there was no way I could stop preaching because Jesus was in my heart and He must come out! This only seemed to make these religious people angrier and they even traveled around different villages, telling lies about me and warning people not to listen to me. People in many places turned against me and refused to welcome me. God encouraged me from the Bible, as I read how many of His children in other times had experienced similar opposition from those who claim to be His followers. Jesus was always attacked by the Pharisees, and I realized that there were many people like Pharisees operating in Arunachal Pradesh. I wept many times because of the lies being spread and the great opposition. I became depressed. Then one night I had a dream where I heard a voice saying, "Dolo Sono, I have called you to preach. Get up and preach!" I replied, "But no churches want me any more. The religious people have told the unbelievers not to listen to me. What is the point?" I then heard the Lord say, "God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble."

After this dream I knew that I could no longer bow to the threats and intimidation. I read in the Bible that if God is with me, who can be against me? I obeyed the Lord and started preaching again, and God helped me and opened many doors and opportunities. In many villages, people who had worshipped the sun and moon were saved and Jesus entered their hearts. For years now I have been travelling all over Arunachal Pradesh. People know me as the former Donyi-Polo priest who found the true Way. By the power and grace of the Living God we now have more than 60 fellowships, and more people are meeting Jesus all the time. Please pray for our state, and the 60 tribes who live in it. Please pray that everyone in Arunachal Pradesh would soon love Jesus. Thank you and God bless you!"

Answer 2

GOD is the one to turn to. They say the bible is the only book that reveals so much that will happen and is already. You have to have faith. God puts you through test to see if you truly believe and love him. First we will start with the two main ways the earth came about. First the scientists say the big bang. Second there is some type of God. Well boom the earth came to shape, formed humans/animals, air to breathe, trees to grow, and flowers to form. Ok lets try this with a car! Take some parts and put them in your garage. Ok leave. Now come back 10,000 years. (Just for this instance). Wow you got a car put together! NOT! Just like the earth didn't get here and us and everything else put in place by just a big bang, OR energy. HA HA! So now we know something had to put this all together. A "creator". Which would be God, because of all the proof from the bible and Jesus. Why is there historical stuff over seas? Why is revelation coming so true? (The last chapter of the bible) Everything mentioned in the bible is so true. I mean we can even go farther with decoding the bible and it reveals the dates of stuff that will or has happened. Live a little, do some research, and you will truly see im speaking the truth! God bless!

Answer 3

Hrm...

Well, If you wanna believe...and it seems like you really do after experimenting and searching...it looks to me that God is testing you.

I've been in your situation too. I've even done research on scientology (but, that was because I was writing a story in the paper about it.) I actually was just certain there wasnt a God. Everything just seemed to go downhill after a loss of my father and an abusive boyfriend, but one day I just decided "Hey.. I'm gonna study the bible...maybe I'll have something to live for & if it doesnt work then fine." So far, my life has turned from rock bottom to pretty good.

Maybe it's just not you're time yet.

Answer 4

Interesting question, and you make some very good points. I cannot imagine a God, who requires us to believe totally on faith. The miracles in the bible are verbal stories handed down, and getting harder to believe. Many people question the existence of God and with good reason. . .

Consider this, of the three Abhramatic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam two of the three are wrong. . Christianity contradicts judaism. . Islam contradicts both. . . and in any case, either God is loving and just (as in Christianity) or jealous, vindictive and a war monger (per Islam. . )

I could go on and on, but that would not really answer your question .

You might consider Sikhism. . check out some of the basic tenets at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikhism

As a religion, it is highly individualized. . it does not demand you pay a fee as Christianity does. .

When you start to look at things like scientology, you see that it is a money making scheme for those at the top. Ultimatly Scientology teaches that, get this, Ron Hubbard is God. . yeah, right. . . to learn more, you have to pay more. . does not sound like any true religion. .

Then there are things like mormanism. . Now the bible tells us that we are to know a tree by its fruits. . and Joseph Smith made several predictions which did NOT come true. Either he was a prophet or not. . (more likely profit!)

good list of failed prophecies at:
http://www.irr.org/mit/jsfalpro.html

Then there was all that stuff about him receiving golden scrolls or papyrus scrolls written in Egyptian. and using a seer stone to read them. . none of which exist today. . (wonder why, It would seem that God would want us to believe if Smith were a true prophet)

Too many others to name. . . but I think you get the point. .
I wish I could honestly say, that Christ has spoken to me, but nope, never happened. . even when I was a Southern Baptist. .
I have never received a message from the other side. . dead parents, ancestors etc. .

Faith and science are two sides of the same coin. On one side, Faith requires you to believe all without evidence or proof. . Science requires you believe only what is provable. . And in spite of what some may say, They are not mutually exclusive. .

Recently there was a special on NOVA about Intelligent design. . . there are many people who really believe the earth and universe is only 6000 years old. In spite of the science they still insiste the bible is right. Now a person has a right to believe what they want, but just for the sake of this argument, let me restate that of Judaism, Christianity, and ISLAM, two thirds of those believers are WRONG. . .which one is it? Each tells that theirs is the ONLY way to heaven. . and someone is wrong. . in fact most of them are wrong. . If there is a God, do you believe that he would allow for this much confusion regarding his word??

It is not an easy question you ask, there are no easy answers. . the big joke will probably be on all of us, when we learn that when you die, thats it. . .lights out, your history. . you have purchased rural real estate with agrarian purposes in mind. .

In closing, remember this:

"The greatest tragedy of life is not death, but what dies inside of us while we live."
-- Norman Cousins

Hope this helps. . .

Answer 5

God is created by us, and therefore acts the very way we desire him to act. Couple of milleniums ago, we wanted him to be gruelsome and violent against the non-believers which he did as he was told. He was se*ist because it was the "right thing". Well, you should notice how Old and New testaments are completely different. In the Old, God isn't forgiving and unbelievably cruel, but in New, look at Jesus. Of course, he is "supposed to be" his other form(?) but still, God in both testaments are different in personality and you can't deny it. Why? Because during the gap of time between Old and New, the morals have drastically changed.

We needed God back then. He was like a police officer in the ancient world. In God's name, you can make the strongest people obey in fear. Now, we don't need it anymore because we have too much evidence to doubt him, which lessens the effect drastically, and also, we can't unite people in one religion anymore. It's a small world now, but it is still quite large for us. We can't lead people into blind faith or unite everyone in one religion.

Answer 6

How about using Reason instead of Faith? You know: not believing is something without evidence, that sort of thing.

You don't *have* to have a religion.

Science and reason are necessary, but not sufficient, when it comes to happiness, but why should do look to ancient myths for moral guidance and solace?

Through a non-dogmatic set of ethical principles, you can (hopefully) avoid both pure hedonism and nihilism. Be good for the sake of goodness. Life is for living, not dying. Treat others as you would want to be treated. Do not encroach on another person's liberty or health. Most religions use these elements in their doctrine, but they just as strong, if not stronger, on their own.

Morality and the pursuit of happiness are the baby and religion is the bathwater. We needn't purge ourselves of love or wonder or optimism (a sore synonym for religious-type faith) or cultural heritage (everybody loves the holidays) when we wash away the overrated virtue of faith.

Answer 7

the ideas I know of enlightenment deal heavily with the nature of the universe and the universal mind. i think you might like these ideas as it's not corrupt. my friend and i made these ideas based upon other ideas and i also had help from others. if you wanna know the nature of the universe give me an e-mail i'll tell you. i will warn you though once you understand the nature of the universe you run into paradoxes because you are trying to understand nondualistic ideas from a dualistic view. well there's not really paradoxes just truth but still paradoxes.

edit: buddhism is not a religion and neither are the ideas i believe in. they are both philosophies.

Answer 8

To be honest with you, I have the same view. The reason it is harder to become enlightened anymore is because of the increadibly stressful everyday life and world status in general. There is so much to worry about, so much that there isnt even enough time to worry about it all.

I became a buddhist to reach a bit more happiness, and so far it has worked, meditation alone even.

Don't give up though!

Answer 9

I'm sorry you feel that way Sean. God does show himself if you ask me, just not on the grand scale everyone expects. Yes people lie, if you are relying on a person to give you the truth, you will be led astray every time because no person is perfect. And many of the organized religions are full of hypocrisy, I can't lie to you about that. I don't mean to poke fun but G-d can't be fascist , he isn't a business. The people running his supposed "church" might be, but he is not. I can assure you of that. The Anger of G-d I can't deny either. But honestly ask yourself: "If I were looking down on all that is going on, would I be happy?" Would you show your face to a world full of murders, liars, rapists, mockers, haters, ect ect. Hypocrisy only lies in dogmas of what people teach what G-d is.

My only suggestion to you Sean is to pick up a bible (or a torah, koran, or other holy book) and read. Find what you think makes the most sense of what you believe G-d to be. I find G-d to be full of feirce anger when we go wrong. But he through his grace does not give up on those who put their faith in him and his son. Just a suggestion, maybe look into Judaism. Of course I'm biased cause I'm a Messianic Jew. I don't know what else to offer you except that I will pray for you, Sean. I hope G-d gives you peace.

Answer 10

Look again. And this time try looking at one and each religion without a preconception, try to put aside prejudice and bias.
Try to look for evidence of its authenticity. Why it is so?
Be sincere to yourself, ask the being that begins all this, the center of the argument in this R&S itself. The one we all call God, and back and forth saying the other have the wrong impression and meaning to His name.
Why don't you go and ask it of Him then, which of us held the truth. I'm sure He will show you something not long afterwards. Look for the signs from the ordinary things around you, that seems extraordinary for some reason. That is what happens normally, when He wants you to know. But first, be sincere to yourself. He will guide you.

Answer 11

Don't downplay the profoundness of Buddhism. I agree with you there, Buddhism has a lot of very cool beliefs. Fundamentalists may condemn it as satanic, but no reasonable person would ever find a problem with Buddhism, because one of the main virtues of Buddhism is not to bother anyone. Ever. No, really.

It's funny actually. Sometimes Buddhism gets a passing mention in a fundamentalist hate speech, which is ironic because you would hardly notice them except for the fact that their temples live on freely given donations from the local elderly Asian family.