If you've not seen this you should.  You'll love it!

It's an age old debate raging in many circles, especially amoung spiritually-oriented non-religious people.  What good is or what's the purpose of religion if it causes hatred amoungst humanity?  The term organized religion is often used.  As opposed to disorganized religion?  I won't deny that tens of thousands of people use their religious beliefs to justify attrocities including war and millions more use their religious affiliation to set themselves apart in ways ranging from, "you're going to hell because you don't believe in (fill in the blank) to "that's fine for you but I believe in (blank)".  All those go from horrible to misguided to understandable, if not acceptable to your way of thinking. 

However, here's an idea that's not touched on in this debate; The difference between religion as misinterpreted by man and religion as intended by God.  I want to impress here  that all major and minor religions share the Golden Rule .  Also, I do not claim to have a direct line to God.  I leave that up to His Prophets.  My feelings and beliefs stem from my affiliation with The Bahá'i Faith and yes, you can say I'm biased.  We all are.  We Bahá'is believe in progressive revelation.  That is, we believe God has revealed to us teachings for our spiritual and social developement throughout history.  Thus in our religious belief all the major religions were given to us by God and the spiritual truths are the same but the social laws changed in accordance to what mankind was mature enough to handle at that time.

According to what God has revealed to Bahá'u'lla, the Prophet/Founder of The Bahá'i Faith, we have reached a level of maturity in which we can strive for the unity of mankind, promote the equality of women and men, know that science and religion can agree and work to establish an universal auxiliary language so we may all communicate with our sisters and brothers around the world.  Bottom line is that the Bahá'i Faith makes sense for me and appeals to my reasoning. 

Why do I need religion?  For guidance: spiritual, moral and social.  It has opened my eyes to the difference between religions as misinterpreted by man and religion as intended by God.  You may not need organized religion or may chose to pick bits and peices of different religions to fit your tastes.  If that works for you then good.  So long as your path fits your needs and you're not blindly following what others tell you to.  Independant investigation of the truth is of paramount importance and a tenet of the Bahá'i Faith. Use your head and follow your heart. 

Be Blessed!

This is was posted as a comment to my MySpace page by a very dear friend.  I want to share it with everyone; friends and strangers alike.  We are all related.