Gaining Faith Without Religion
Science shows that it all came from one point of origin as if someone just snapped their fingers and said, “Let there be life.” And so there was. Yet most of what is around us is not even detected by us. We define it as dark matter and dark energy but it isn’t dark at all.
The universe and everything we know live by codes and are mathematically defined. It’s not random. How did this design come into existence? If matter and energy cannot be destroyed or created, and there is no end or beginning to time and space, everything is eternal.
Why does evolution need to prove or disprove anything? Perhaps life here was born from a seed that grew into different things much like the universe itself. Who planted the seed? At what point was man as we know him created? Perhaps it’s as DNA and the human genome point out — East Africa a long time ago. And like the Universe, like life on Earth, Man multiplied and spread.
Our original parents on the homo sapiens family tree may have been told the truth of our creation, what is expected of us and what will happen to us. So those who stayed in Africa and those who ventured from Africa had with them an oral story to be passed down.
Have you ever sat around a table and listened to members of the same family with the same experience describe it differently and debate what really happened? For goodness sake, they were all there. Yet they recall it differently. And with great passion.
Perhaps we are all imperfect children recalling the original story inaccurately. Yet there are many common threads in all the stories. Whether it is the followers of Jesus Christ, Allah, Buddha, Native American or African tribal lore and faiths, we are all touched by God — even those that don’t believe in God follow many common beliefs as well.
There is no mistaking that man feels good about himself when he performs kind gestures and helps others. It has a positive impact on the mind and body. It’s a fact.
But we struggle daily with the other side too — greed.
Why do we fight amongst ourselves differentiating and alienating each other based on the differences we observe? Physically, we are said to be virtually identical no matter our race or sex yet we have prejudices. And so it is spiritually too.
I may find salvation through MY lord Jesus Christ. This is because it is the story my member at the family table tells because that is how they remember seeing or hearing the truth. But a brother or sister at that table also may have a savior by a different name or perhaps no name at all.
Why can’t we all be right and wrong? If you are agnostic and practice a wholesome life, why can’t you be judged by our God for your conduct? Who am I to condemn you?
It is the non-loving side of what we are that is greedy and begins to judge and rule and create dividing lines between “us” and “them.” To win our battles we bear false witness, we lie, cheat, steal and even kill. We see it in politics, religion, race, sexual orientation, social class, education, status and in everything we seek to define ourselves.
If we can look beyond intolerance, we can embrace the universal belief system we share and apply it to all walks of life, not just to those who walk like “us” — “Do onto others as you would wish them do onto you.” In my religion, it is known as “The Golden Rule.” And when practiced with every living thing you encounter, this simple rule can move mountains.
By Frank Rocco Satullo
