Yeah, it’s kind of funny a guy who writes under the pen name “Archangel” is writing about faith. I can’t even tell you how many times people have asked me, “What’s an Archangel?” I just smile and tell them, “They’re messengers, defenders, believers, but most of all mysterious.”
But it doesn’t escape me that I can’t write under this name if I’m not going to at least be the embodiment of what the entity actually is. While I understand that fact, those who know me know that it has never been part of my nature to be one who is really into his faith. I believe in what I believe in because of what I have experienced and what I have been taught, but how I chose to believe and how I chose to live my life is still up to me.
That is one of the major problems with religion in this day and age. We’re so lost in the idea that if we don’t follow The Bible word for word that when our time is finally up, St. Peter will look over our life and if we did one thing out of place that we didn’t feel we should do, we will not be granted access into Heaven.
I, using the title that I call myself, don’t believe this in the slightest. I believe that our faith will define us as a person. The morals that we hold dear and how we treat others will be how we are seen in the eyes of God and those who watch us from Heaven.
It’s for that very reason that I don’t claim a religion. You see, religions make you follow so many different rules that I just can’t get into. Church for the most part is just a chore. Have you ever noticed that there are some people who go to church in these days mostly because it is out of habit? They aren’t getting anything out of it. I wasn’t raised to go to church every single day, but I wasn’t raised without the understanding that I don’t do anything in this world without God watching over me. The things that I do against myself and against people will be the evidence that is used when I make my final journey from this world and into the eternal realm that is Heaven or Hell.
The other thing that I never understood was confession. I don’t understand why it was that God needed a middle man. If God says that I can come to him for any reason and at any time, why is it that I need to report my sins to a preacher? I think telling God that I’m truly sorry for the things that I’ve done and am asking for forgiveness from him directly should be good enough. What does the preacher or deacon want? Is it in the event that he should die before me that he’ll speak to God or St. Peter on my behalf? I don’t think so.
What angers me more than anything is when Christians try to convert people forcefully. When you are a believer in God or in any religion, I don’t believe that you have the moral right to try to convert as many people to your side as possible. When a man or woman realizes that they aren’t anything without God in their lives and they need to be around people who believe the same way, that is the power of God. That is the power of faith. When we realize for ourselves that we cannot function in this world without knowing that there is a force out there that is watching over us and will help us if we ask for it and are deserving.
I know there might be some of you who are probably skeptics and are saying “You can’t make me believe in something you can’t prove to me exists.” You’re absolutely right. But that’s what I’m trying to say. It’s not up to me to prove to you that God exists. It’s not up to any of his followers to prove to you that he exists. It’s completely up to you. But you do not have the moral right to tell me that I’m crazy for believing in something that I cannot see or touch anymore than I have the right to tell you that you’re going to go straight to hell if you don’t find God.
So if I don’t claim a religion, how can I possibly follow God? That’s easy. I don’t have to follow a religion to believe in God. All I have to do is have faith. My faith makes me a believer, not my religion. If there is one truth that is evident in this world, it’s that faith was a fantastic idea until we decided to make it into a religion. Man’s need to be social has caused him to ruin so many things. Having faith is one of them. I’m not saying there is anything wrong with having a religion. If you need to have that in your life then that’s wonderful. What I’m saying is that you don’t need to have one if you just want to believe. You don’t need to say, “I’m Christian, I’m Catholic, I’m Baptist, I’m Methodist.” What you need to tell people is, “I’m a believer. I believe that if I do right unto people and I live my life to the best that God has given me the wisdom, knowledge, and the ability to live, then in his eyes I honor him by doing good in my life.”
I won’t have a problem joining you on a Sunday morning at church and listening to a sermon. But do not expect me to help you convert the masses. Do not expect me to stand on street corners in front of bars or in front of rallies of people who go against what your religion says is wrong and tell everyone that they’re going to Hell and they need to believe like you do. Even those people who don’t believe like you can have faith. They have the faith to know that one day, you won’t see them as different from you because they think a different way. One day… one day we’ll stop and ask ourselves, “Do I really want to know the meaning of life? Or did someone already tell me and I missed the point?”
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