This is not the Belief You're Looking For

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3 years ago

I had to look it up. Anytime a question arises in my mind where I am unsure of the answer, I conduct research to find the answer. The question that came to mind today was: How many religions are there in the world? I quickly found that there are presently some 4,200 of them. Egads!

Why so many?

#Psychology argues that the reason there are so many religions is because there is an inherent need for humanity to be religious due to the evolutionary theory. It sounds plausible. Other psychologists argue that the reason is because humans seek their own path to God. That is probably more in line with the truth based on what may be observed whenever the topic of religion pops up (as it eventually will). People have their own idea of what they must do or believe to reach an afterlife of a blissful eternity.

It seems to me based on observing people and by studying history that there is a natural tendency for humans to be restless. Social media, stories in the news media, and even here on read.cash reveal this to be true, if a person is paying attention. We see people speak about their "bad day", anxiety, worry, lack of finances, poor relationships with loved ones, and the list can be quite extensive.

Anyway, these cares cause people to seek an entity or belief system outside of the self, and this is a natural phenomena. And there is nothing wrong with wanting to alleviate the ever-mounting concerns we experience and think about how a person may live a better life, right?

But then again, some people throughout history (and even today) believe they are God. Can you imagine? The Roman emperors believed they were gods, as did many leaders throughout history. Additionally, self-deluded others believed they were gods. In sum, there is a natural penchant for us humans to be religious.

Modern societies

According to Worldmeter (link below), the present population of Earth at the time of this writing is 7,893,368, 827. Wow. Scientists and theologians believe the number of all humans who have ever lived is double this number. That is close to 16 billion people. Let's look at a graph to give us some perspective.

Just as there are billions of people, there are billions of perspectives and opinions. It can get pretty confusing when you think about it. Who could possibly believe they are right among so many opinions and beliefs? I mean, everybody that leans on a specific religious belief honestly believes they either follow the true path to God or that there is no God.

Primary religions

There are essentially four main categories of religious beliefs in the world today. These major religions are: #Christianity, #Islam, #Judaism and secular #humanism. Of course, there are many more religions that have in excess of 500,000 adherents, but the 4 listed are the so called major ones.

One of the more interesting religions began in the 1970s, The Force and the Jedi religion. This religion was created by none other than George Lucas and his enduring Star Wars franchise. His debut film introduced the world to a new religion on May 25, 1977.

The Religion of Star Wars

Many never saw the underlying meaning behind Star Wars and still do not. But Lucas knew what he was doing. Most of the above-mentioned major religions recognized their belief system in Star Wars. Watkins (2017) writes: "George Lucas’s vision of his saga as a “mono-myth”: a story with broad themes and characters that would have echoes in nearly every belief system."

Take a look at this brief exchange between Luke and Yoda after Yoda uses The Force.

Image: Yahoo Entertainment

Luke Skywalker: "I don't believe it!"

Yoda: "That is why you fail."

Luke initially lacked faith. All religions have at their core a need to believe in some set of tenets. Luke eventually believed in The Force. And so did Lucas. He stated: "The conclusion I’ve come to is that all the religions are true” (Watkins, 2017).

The truth is out there

Is Lucas correct? Are all religions true? It's a far-fetched concept. Truth is not relative; there is one truth when it comes to religion or else the God of it is not sovereign - all knowing, all seeing, all powerful.

Buy Lucas had a different idea. The Force is described by Obi-Wan Kenobi in A New Hope as the source of a Jedi’s power, “the energy field created by all living things” that “binds the galaxy together.” In The Empire Strikes Back, we learn that the Force has a light and a dark side. We see the parallels of most religions in the latter.

Of all the 4,200 religions, all of the gods are dead and in the grave but One - Jesus Christ. Christianity is not a religion but rather a personal relationship with the risen Christ.

Like most religions, Lucas had the quest for a belief but fell far short of it. You don't have to make the same fatal mistake. "“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16, ESV).

Trust Him today and taste the sweetness and hope in Christ Jesus

References

Watkins, G. (2017). The Religion of 'Star Wars': Why People of All Faiths Embrace the Force. Yahoo Entertainment. Retrieved from https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/religion-star-wars-people-faiths-embrace-force-172420366.html

Worlmeter. https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/

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3 years ago

Comments

Sometimes its really confusing when we talk about religion especially here in the Philippines we can see different kind of religions that basically rooted on Christianity we have the same God the we worship but we differ in beliefs.

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3 years ago

Allow me to correct you. We do not worship the same God. All other religions, and even some so-called Christian sects worship a god of their own making.

Why do you think Jesus said, "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it" ()Matthew 7:14-14, NIV).

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3 years ago

Nice overview of world religions. Star Wars is definitely a form of ecumenism - a mix of various religious beliefs.

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3 years ago

I like the way u used star:wars to explain. May the Force be with u✌

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3 years ago

Thank you. I used it because it is very popular among all people.

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3 years ago
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3 years ago

This talk about religion is deep...nice write up.

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3 years ago

Thank you, Prisca. Much appreciated.

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3 years ago

I knew there was something up with Star Wars films, like good and evil as a theme, but I never knew the beliefs of Lucas until now. Thanks.

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3 years ago

Yes, good and evil seems to be a theme in all films.

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3 years ago

Religion is a very broad discussion, it may leads to arguments and debate but nothing happen in the end, it's a matter of belief to something that no one can change except if that belief is proven wrong, when it comes to religion, I don't know why they are people making their own God, believing in different perspectives and seeking for other answers than argued to what they against, for an instance Christianity and INC, I don't know the difference between it however why INC religion opposed the belief of Christians, the only thing I'm sure is, religions making gap to humanity, due to different beliefs there's a war and misunderstanding, due to religions there's no unity, I believe that in future, religions will be added and added. I watched a documentary about people who treating their selves as God, there's a man which called himself as Jesus Christ and many people believed in him but in the end, he fooled them and get their money, in other instances, there's a man which proclaim himself as a God but in the end, he poisoned all his followers that leads to their death.😔😢

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3 years ago

INC is a definite cult.

They deny the divinity of Jesus Christ (as do all cults and false religions) and assert that Jesus was created by God and enabled to do miraculous works by God. They deny the doctrine of the Trinity. They claim that the Holy Spirit is an impersonal force.

They also claim that the Christian church in its current form has apostatized, and that the Iglesia ni Cristo is the reinstatement of the true church that was lost in the first century; and this by means of God’s last messenger, Felix Manalo—the founder of Iglesia ni Cristo.

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3 years ago

If all religions are true, then it's chaos for there are conflicting beliefs in every religion. I think it's all true because we seek the truth we wanted to believe and some may find it in a religion they are in now.

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3 years ago

We all definitely have a choice to make. As for me and my house, we will serve Jesus.

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3 years ago