by Vincent Culp

Created on: February 18, 2007   Last Updated: May 17, 2007

Every religious text has been translated and interpreted hundreds if not thousands of times; by men and women no smarter or well informed than you or I. So why is it that most people are willing to accept what they are told without question?

The majority of the time I feel that it is because they are afraid to dig any deeper than the surface. They are willing to accept what is given to them because they fear that if they were to question it they would be punished in some way. This is an understandable way to feel as most religions are quite overt in their opposition to questions and theories that they view as being dangerous to the tenants of their faith. Faith; that one word says it all: Believe and do not question for it is only through faith that one can achieve salvation. It is blasphemous to challenge the interpretation of the holy text that your particular devotion choose to follow. Which begs to ask the question: Why?

Why is understanding less important than belief? Why is it wrong to feel like there is something missing; that somewhere behind all the catechisms and parables there is a deeper meaning, something that along the way may have been lost in translation? What if it was all meant to be an educational reference, a story with a moral, not to be taken literally?

These are important questions that one must ask himself as he is walking the path towards understanding and enlightenment. We are not sheep to be led or we would not have the capability of discernment. It is the human mind's ability to perform logic beyond it's personal experience that sets us apart from animals. A person without doubt is a fool. It is that doubt that gives rise to questions, and from questions theories. Complete understanding of how things came to exist is beyond our reach at this time from a scientific perspective, but perhaps if we took the time to read between the lines and share our thoughts and our doubts with one another we could find a new road to wander together. Not a road of Faith, but a road of learning and of sharing our dreams in this mystery that we call life, for it isn't a closed book; it is a work in progress.

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