[fdpaq0580]

Originally Posted by ThirdOfFive

Don't confuse faith and religion.

Faith is a personal relationship between a person and his/her God/Higher Power/Whatever. It is "the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen". Faith, by definition, has to be sincere, or it cannot be faith. I respect faith.


Religion on the other hand, is a construct of man, not of God, and no matter how nobly or flawlessly they begin, the one thing in common is that they ALL, over time, become corrupt, profiteering in innumerable ways from how the sincerity of the believers is channeled to meet the ends of the religious hierarchy. Everything from temple moneychangers, to selling indulgences, to burning witches, to inflaming the masses to war by insisting that "God wills it", to convincing the "believers" that the more money they contribute the greater the proof will be of their faith and the greater God will reward them, to using adolescent boys as sexual objects, to overlook the crimes of persons in power because those persons have great value to their particular sect, to hiding behind various tax regulations while amassing huge fortunes, to...you name it.

I despise religion.

Same here. I think Dr Frankenstein's creation might have put it like this, "Faith good. Religion bad.