Religion

One's cherished beliefs about God, spirituality and morality is a touchy subject.  It's one of the "3 things" best left unspoken of at social gatherings; sex, politics and religion.
As you might have guessed already, ALL topics are fare game on this blog!
 
Observations in a nutshell:

1. When it comes to religious leaders, do as they say, NOT as they do.  Religion has an incredibly high tolerance for hypocrisy and deceit amongst it's leaders or "shepherds."  In fact, (dare I say it?) if Satan, the Devil himself were to devise a religious organization that would allow, condone and facilitate the torture of innocent people unto death, dictate how people should live their lives, set brother against brother, daughter against mother, insist incompatible people live out the rest of their lives in abject misery rather than divorce, force starving people to swallow his religion in exchange for food and shelter, and collaborate with the most heinous dictators in history (ie. Hitler, et al) he could hardly have done better than to start the Christian church.  Alas, the Christians beat him to it.  Better luck next time Satan!  That's right, I said it.  Think about it people. 
2. Religion excuses much nasty behavior by claiming all will be forgiven if you 'repent.' I've grown sick of Christians who commit atrocities and then glibly flash their "Get out of jail free" Jesus card - complete with a smiling Jesus sporting a thumbs up!  If Christianity ran the world criminals would run free, commit crimes and then beat a hasty retreat to the nearest church to do the 'I repent/forgive me' ritual - oh wait... they already do that - become a priest and you can sexually molest defenseless children with impunity!!!
3. And just when you thought the Islamic faiths were gonna get a free ride here.... Like Christianity and other honorable religious faiths, Islam has seen it's core beliefs obscenely twisted and butchered by extremists and power hungry individuals who care little for the ideals upon which these institutions have been built.  "Honor" killings?  Really!??  You are killing your own children!!!  What is wrong with you?  And how does the spilling of innocent blood in terrorist attacks get justified?  It is an abomination.  Extremists who commit these crimes against humanity have cast a veil of shame over an entire religion and over the vast majority of peace-loving Muslims everywhere.

Finally, although I could say much more about the failure of religious institutions the world over, be it Christianity, Islam, Paganism and so on, allow me to say that the story of religion on our planet is not all bad by any means.  There ARE good, positive stories to tell.  Many a person has had their life changed and enhanced by religious instruction or by the charity of religious individuals.  This cannot and should not be denied.  Having said that, I have come out of the institutional phase of my own spirituality and boy, do I feel better!  I am definitely a recovering religious freak.  But hey, to each his own.