Spiritual But not Religious

Spiritual But Not Religious.This describes according to the following article 25% of Americans including me. Since many ministers(if you actually talk to them about it) are atheists or at best agnostics I don't consider churches to be places of God(but that is just me). I'm perfectly open to you having a different experience. In fact 'Viva la Difference!' For those of you who don't speak French or Spanish, it means somthing like ,"Hooray for our differences", or "I rejoice in our being free to have different opinions".

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/
02/25/AR2008022501182.html

The above internet article talks about some of these statistics gathered through polling 35,000 Americans.

Though I haven't rejected my childhood religion in practice, I have rejected the organization and church I was raised in. I rejected my church because it rejected me for being an individual and having my own ideas and opinions about life and God. And since for me, God is a direct experience and completely un-useful in any other indirect way that is just fine with me. For me, God is written on every blade of grass, every living being and in their cells and organs. Books are dead things filled with symbols which can be mis-interpreted and misused. Even what I'm writing here will be misinterpreted by some because they don't know me and my life experience. Basically, I believe in live and let live. Have your beliefs but don't try to force your beliefs down my throat. So my personal belief is that unless you experience God firsthand then what you are doing is a joke on not only you but on everyone.I should clarify this to say,"If you go to church but don't believe in God and don't have any experience with him, her, it, then why do you go? To meet someone and get laid?" If this is the case then you are just another sexual predator.

I don't believe that the concept of God is useful to anyone unless it is a direct experience. And if your experience with God is a direct experience then you don't even need a church or a minister to constipate your relationship with God and to make it un-useful to you. Of course this is my experience and might not be yours.

I guess I'm asking questions because sometimes I question why I don't join a church. I think the main reason is that I got badly burned by the church I was raised in by being sincere and believing people were good and had good motives. I was wrong.

People(at least in regard to most churches are not sincere). They only appear to be. What appears as sincerity is usually something else entirely. Since I have seen this everywhere I have been to church(any church) I finally stopped going to any because I wanted something better and more honest in my life. Though this is a lonelier path I find more honesty and truth in it. Church life is based upon self deception. It doesn't really matter what church it is, unless you realize something entirely different is going on than what appears to be happening then you will just be another church victim. Because all churches in the end are businesses. Each church is in the business of making money. If it weren't it couldn't exist. Pragmatically speaking unless a church makes money it can't remain financially solvent. Once one understands and accepts that this is the bottom line for any church then one can start to become honest about going to church. If that church scares you into giving it money that is not God doing that. That is the minister or ministers using basic psychology to frighten you enough to give them money. That has nothing at all to do with God.

Now you might believe you are buying your way into heaven and expiating your sins. This might be true. But one has to be very careful of this sort of thing. I think you are beginning to see my point.

So, in the end each person's relationship to God is personal and not religious. Religion I believe is more about being a part of a community of like minded people. This never has worked for me as an adult. If it works for you then God Bless You!