Religion vs Human nature

Before I begin this article I would like to begin with a little insight on how I grew up. Religion was a must in my house. I was raised Roman Catholic and a very good one at that. Church every Sunday, confession once a week, every catechism class was never missed and I was an alter server for 6 years. So I can comfortably say I understood the idea of religion even if I did not want to. I always did what I was told and followed the rules. What I did not understand was why it was so important. I remember when I was about 10 years old my friend had invited me to her church, she was Christian and I didn’t know the difference at the time but the word “church” meant a whole hour of boring. I agreed to go anyway and hoped it would go by quick since my church was draining enough.

At 10 years old I was introduced to a religion that was different than mine and I LOVED it. There was music and happy people clapping their hands, singing with joy. Opposite of what I was use to in a traditional catholic church. I returned home with excitement to share my experience with my grandfather, sure enough that interest went straight out the window and did I get lectured about it. It left me with unanswered questions that I kept into my adult years. Why were we different from others just because the place we went to every Sunday was not as interesting as theirs? Wasn’t the message the same, to teach about “God”? From that moment on subconsciously I knew there was more to religion then what I “believed” in.  Over the years I was introduced to different religions such as Jehovah witness and Muslims I knew better then to mention my interest about the different religions to my grandfather and absorbed all the information I could without the guilt of my curiosity. Once again I found myself getting the same concept in different forms. I loved learning about what people believed in and why even if I didn’t agree with some of the very “interesting” rules they followed.  My last experience that really painted a picture for me was getting the opportunity to be on the inside of an Hasidic follower’s holiday. Now I have been around orthodox Jews since 16 and never had a problem with them. Infact one of my best friends is a practicing orthodox and probably one of the kindest and intelligent person I know today.  Because of my experience with the orthodox followers I didn’t have a close mind to the Hasidic group as many of my peers did.  

One of the advantages of being an emergency health provider is the opportunity to interact with people of all cultures and religions. I did a standby by for the Hasidic community during their new year. What I experienced was not at all what I had expected and what a lesson did I learn of just how much our reality is based on our perspective, making our reality not so much of a reality at all. I entered their world being a “Helper” but an outsider was exactly what I was. I was stared at as if an alien had appeared to their place of worship, I knew why I was their but at that moment my pride of my career choice was soon gone and the feeling of not being accepted was one that hit me hard. I felt hurt, offended, and judged by a look that didn’t need words. What happened after was one that taught me the true lesson I was meant to receive, the lesson of humbleness.

With pain in my heart and judgment in my thoughts, four little kids approached me with fear and curiosity. The innocence of these kids was so powerful, I immediately forgot all those negative emotions and warmth filled me once again. They knew I wasn’t like the rest of them but the curiosity and embrace they had towards me made me realize how false our perceptions of each other were. They looked at me the same way I looked at them. they had questions for me just as much as I had questions for them. It was all the false perception of each other that was the only difference. The looks of judgment were not judgment at all but curiosity and fear. Fear of the unknown, Fear of accepting something that felt so real to not being real at all. What if our hope and beliefs were not true? Would you still have hope even if it was not supported by a religion? Well that just leads to a whole new set of ideas and possibilities that are not so guaranteed to offer instant gratification.

Human nature has no judgments, rules, or expectations. We are born curious and open to whatever this world is supposed to be. It is not until we are influenced by the people around us to a life that has been chosen for us and instills a false truth we become enslaved to. As much as I respect the personal beliefs of each individual which their entitled to, I don’t share the same confidence of definiteness. Of course there is something so much greater than us, what we label that is one thing but to define and limit something so incredible is a disadvantage to our species.  It’s easy to apply coincidences to a certain belief since a lot of times it seems fitting. To only accept the good as a sign is not enough evidence to prove the truth of religion.  A book, Good outcomes, or story tellers are only as strong as the evidence behind it. Which in theory, does not hold much strength when only one part can be explained. Good things happen to those who pray, believe, and do good, how about the bad that happens to the good and the good that happens to the bad? Is that just one we choose to leave up to “gods” hands to understand? Are we that satisfied to settle for half of what’s understood to consider it truth? Why not? If a little bit of objective thinking was applied maybe a lot of things would not really make sense at all. That would leave a lot of unanswered questions that would take away our comfort of knowing.  Without knowing human nature would question, search, and discover new possibilities that were once impossible.

So here is what I have proven so far, Humans are created to accept and embrace everything and anything, Good and bad happen just as much too good people as they do to bad even with different perspectives of their meaning. The only difference between male and female is there structure of survival and reproduction as well as their traits linking them as a whole either way, without male or female you can’t reproduce, without  gentle you will destroy, without rough you will be destroyed. Life does not stop or change no matter how we feel, while trying to understand that we self-destruct.  Science proves theories that later on are disproved or proved to only be a part of a new fact.

My point is this, Religion or not, we do not have the answers we think we do. While it’s a good story and makes sense at times, it’s not the truth we hold it to be. To live in ignorance is the only limit we have put on ourselves. Unhappiness is the result of our perception only. Stop looking for answers in the same place that has not been able to provide them for decades. Step out of you comfort zone, Embrace the new and learn from everything even if it leads to more questions, that is what satisfies the nature of our species.