A Time When I Challenged the Idea of Religion, Essay Example

Religion has for a long time been an influential factor in the lives of humans. For centuries, religion has influenced the moral standing of society. There is no problem with this, and in fact, I find religious values immensely valuable to society. Be that as it may, there was a time when I questioned religion, especially its place in the lives of humans. When I challenged the belief of religion, it was not in a way that I thought religion was incorrect or bad, and it just was not something that I had sat down and decided to question or criticize. Rather, it was one of those random thoughts that cross the minds of people when the mind is idle. One starts to hypothesize about possible situations and eventualities, perhaps had religion not been existence.

I was taken to a Christian church for ten years or so as a kid, and for a long time, I just assumed I was religious because my family was, but later (during middle school), when I was introduced to a more diverse atmosphere at the school I went to, I realized that there are other ways of thinking. As a kid brought up in strict family life, there were things that I had known not to be appropriate. For example, I had learned that all music that does not praise is bad music. I could not entertain it, perhaps out of fear of offending God. My mind was closed, and I could not entertain the thought of questions these foundations that defined my belief.  Besides, all of my family and friends were religious, so it was difficult to begin questioning and realize that I might not agree with them.

While religious communities can be a wonderful place, you can’t be born into ideologies. Forming your own opinions takes time and a deep understanding of your own mind, needs, and emotions. I thought that humans ought to be let free to think, to reason, and to decide on what makes them. I thought that our society is so diverse that making all people think to follow the same moral foundations would breed conflicts. I think a healthy amount of skepticism is important in life. I thought that questioning the foundations and meaning of religion may as well lead to a better and more purposeful practice of religion. I think that when people practice a set of religious principles because they were born in them rather than as a result of questioning and understanding the religion may lead to an incomplete practice and less purposeful adherence to a set of religious principles.

Thus, this questioning of religion allowed me to open myself to many new ideas that I had not considered before. Having an open mind allowed me to mature into a kind, accepting person. Besides, it started me on a path of searching for knowledge and my own truth. I do not take answers as they are; I try to understand how and why something could be true.

I have since realized that many questions in life do not have correct answers, different people have differing opinions, and we are supposed to respect how they have decided to live their lives. Accepting diversity is an important value that we must all desire to attain. We must not use our religious values to castigate those who think differently from us. I think my questioning of religion did not reduce my value for religion but it helped me to develop a purposeful practice of religion.