by Donna Marie Gray

Created on: October 14, 2010

Having considered the seriousness of this question, I am struck by the idea that there would be anyone who doesn’t have faults and failings. Yet, a great many of those people do not belong to any religion.

In my opinion, those who have very serious faults and failings usually end up in the legal system, not the religious setting. If they are not taking responsibility for these character flaws, they obviously think they have none. Thus, turning to religion is probably not an option for them.

Being a religious person is simply a path chosen to become enlightened in areas of our lives that we want to explore. It gives us the incentive to live our lives in a positive way. We are able to show compassion for others. It does not, however, change the fact that we all have faults and failings in our lives. It is part of living life.

One cannot pass on their own responsibilities to a person or to any organization. Taking responsibility for our faults and failings, like anything else, is something we are taught at home. A parent’s responsibility is to instill good habits and behavior in their children. Without this guidance and teaching by parents, we grow up with negative views of interaction with others. We eventually will run into those who will not tolerate our faults. They will not accept our failures as their responsibility.

Although religion teaches us that God accepts all of us and loves all of us, no where does it say that God take responsibility for those faults and failures. He will show you the path, but you are free to ignore it or accept it. We know that we only need to believe and ask for guidance and God is there to assist. But if we do not acknowledge that we have any faults or failings, and take the responsibility for them, it is unlikely we will ask for God to help us.

Religion is not something that is completely tangible. We either believe there is a God or we do not believe. We believe in an after-life, or we don’t. We pray for guidance in our lives and work toward resolving issues, or we are non believers (atheists) if you will, and feel perfectly comfortable blaming others and trying to hand off our faults and failings as someone else’s responsibility. Those who elect to blame others are not likely to belong to a religion.

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