Demystifying religion

The first definition I ever heard of religion was "a way of life". After so many years of rationalising aspects of it, discussing with others and also practising a bit, I believe that this definition is perfect. It is not "a way to reach God"; I see God and religion as two separate things which have got undistinguishably intertwined.

The trigger for this post was an interview I heard on NPR (thanks, LazyGeek) today. Bart Ehrman talked about his book Misquoting Jesus, which details how the Bible is not the spoken word of God and how it has been evolved by humans over the centuries. Though the fact isn't shocking to me, I was impressed by the proof laid out. Listen to the recording of the interview off the Web.

Shaking the beliefs of Christians makes a big splash all over the world, just like Dan Brown did with The Da Vinci Code. Another book that I'm reminded of is Chariots of the Gods, which has been an influence for me.

When a religion involves a prophet, which is mostly the case, I believe that the person just preached what he believed in. This is not to say that the preachings are not worth following. I just mean that I don't think God was involved. It's the same story, whether it's Jesus or Mohammed or Buddha. Hinduism, which doesn't have a founder really, reinforces my belief about religion. Many saints and prophets have appeared over the ages; but whatever be the variations, the common strain is the way people live.

[I see more posts on religion in the future. One on Islamic terrorism has been brewing in my mind almost since the day I started blogging.]