There are plenty of people that profess that they are religious, of which, some of these very same people are indeed, quite religious, in the best sense of the word; and then there are so many others, that despite their given belief, fall far short of what it means to be a true and good faithful servant to their faith. So then, to the degree that any religion insists upon certain formulaic rules to be followed such as in eating, or words to be spoken and thus repeated back again and again, or rituals to be followed -- we find that this then provides the congregants with value and purpose only to the degree that they help structure in these people’s behavior that which represents correctness, wholesomeness, and wisdom.
Indeed, there are far too many religious people that take the formulas and rituals of their religion, much too seriously, without ever comprehending the actual purpose behind these things, or the good purpose of their religion in the first place. The central purpose of any worthwhile religion is to essentially make those that are its adherents to such, to be better and more complete people, with the sensibility to conduct themselves in the way and manner which is not only beneficial to their being but also to the society that they are a member of. That is to say, any religion, which insists that all those that don’t believe in their sect or don’t believe the tenets of such, are therefore then unworthy of respect and consideration, because they are lesser than, is a religion that is incorrect in its application.
So too, religions that simply want their adherents to strictly follow rules and guidelines under the belief that this thus will bring them to the “Promised Land” have got it essentially wrong; for to actually proselytize that in the simple following of rituals, we therefore become closer to our God, is misguided and mistaken. Rather, the very essence of religion, is to provide us with the good foundation to become a better person, that then through our conduct, we will thus consistently demonstrate our generosity, our respect, our consideration, and our justice, one to another. Additionally, we are meant to be a guiding light to others, of which that light can only be bright, if it contains the attributes of those that have enlightenment, which means that we must utilize our mind to take in the eternal wisdom that is freely available to all of faith, and then help to distribute this wisdom through the insight that has been revealed to us.
Each religion, is a living religion, of which, the rules and regulations of a given religion, are only really meant to provide us with the structure and foundation for us to apply ourselves then to the proper building of that structure, best done hand in hand, with others of like-mindedness, so that together, we will help to make our society a better place for not only our participation in it, but also by the very gifts and wisdom that we display in our interactions with one another, day by day.