"Here is a door behind which, according to some people, the secret of the universe is waiting for you. Either that's true or it isn't. If it isn't, then what the door conceals is simply the greatest fraud....on record."    - C.S. Lewis 

"The religions of mankind must be classed among the mass delusions."                                                                                        - Sigmund Freud

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."                                                                       -James 1: 27

MIDDLE EAST, July 9, 2011 — Somewhere in my journey of faith, other people ceased to be religious brands. I see no profit in allegiance to any religion and am skeptical about them all.  Every major religion is tainted with blood, and every one of them will gladly control your mind for life.

Should there be one common message every religious believer needs to hear, perhaps it could be something like this:

"If Christ cannot be glimpsed in the followers of Christianity, they should admit their religion is a mistake and stop faking it; Muslim's should not advocate Islam until Muslim against Muslim carnage ends and Salaam Aleikum becomes a reality in true submission to God's will; If Hindus want to prove their religion is the Sanatan Dharm, why not break free from Samsara by revolting en masse against India's caste system? That will eliminate a far more insidious form of apartheid than South Africa's, because the caste system persists in the guise of religion."

Nonetheless I attach great importance to genuine faith in God.  The Bible records several instances where the faith of outsiders is commended and rewarded. Confused by my stand, here, in No 2 Religion, Yes 2 Faith, people sometimes ask me what it means to have a simple, personal faith in God. 

Without a clear understanding of the difference between 'doing' and 'being,' we probably cannot figure out why personal faith in God is essential, yet religion is not.

Simply put, one places the onus on us, the other on God. Better to go with God.

Stephen Corson, Glendale, Utah, carrying a cross, taking turns with his wife, across the country.

But that is a choice - rely on God, or rely on yourself.

We have all heard the saying, "Know God no fear; No God, know fear." A person who is spiritually reliable is not a 'know-it-all' in the religious sense.  The hallmark is humility, not spiritual pride, teachability, not certainty.

And being clergy is not necessarily a qualification for being spiritually reliable.

'Doing' consists of various religious actions.  We all know what they are. Like obedient robots we all do what middlemen recommend regardless of what we believe.

'Being' sounds passive, but it is not.  'Being' requires a modicum of faith to trust that God exists and that he is a rewarder of all those that diligently seek him (Hebrews 11:6).

You cannot be diligent and complacent.

You can BE still and know that he is God or choose to DO nothing and those are two very different actions.

However, God is no respecter of persons the scriptures tell us.  Hindu, Muslim, Jew or Christian, he calls us to faith. He places us in different families, following various religions, so he bears some responsibility.  

Can we blame him if we have ended up in the wrong religion? Who decides which is wrong and which is right? 

Blaming God is futile, because man-made belief systems are not his invention.  Personal faith, though, is another matter.  That involves a divine call and a choice.

Him, and us.

Did God create stumbling blocks for people when it comes to various beliefs or did he have a larger purpose for permitting every imaginable human diversity, especially in people's capacity to think?

What does our amazing gift of a free will have to do with God permitting anything?

Do pride and violence against others betray false convictions or exhibit genuine faith in God?

You may object to this column, you can offer new insights, write me a hate email or something worse.  Whichever is your choice, you exercise your free will.

Does God permit evil, or does man choose to do evil?

Even doing evil in God's name.

Those questions have kept scholars occupied for a long time, but I believe that regardless of a person's religion, at some point there must come in every individual a longing for the truth, for our Maker.

If that does not happen or if it is not authentic, that person chooses to reject God actively or passively in one way or the other.

He or she could be anything - an atheist, a materialist, a fundamentalist, a post modernist or even someone just overcome by or exulting in life's myriad sorrows and pleasures and chooses to remain absorbed in them.

For some strange reason, religion makes people take pride in who they are.

Instead, we would be a lot wiser to reflect whether any organized religion creates genuine community, love and transformation.

Besides creating competition for religious power, and dividing the human race, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, etc., have made little difference in the world.

Muslims may currently hold the impressive world record for continuing to eliminate others in God's name, but in the past, other religions have also earned that dubious privilege.

Very few people go through life without changing their minds about something. Obviously, one must always be aware that the majority of people choose loyalty to a religion, which is usually inherited.

That option must be respected, but that should not mean it couldn’t be openly debated without violence.

For me, one of the greatest spiritual blessings was discovering I have complete freedom to follow the teachings of Christ, without showing up at a bricks and mortar made Christian church.

I freely practice my faith, preferably with a few believing friends.

One need not be bound by rituals that need 'doing,' to follow the Creator who incredibly trusted us with a free will.

But that wasn't always true for me - there was a trade-off first; giving up a man-made religion called Christianity for authentic faith in Christ.

Keeping Pope, Padre and Pastor aside in their non - priority place to know and understand my Maker directly was the best transaction I ever made.

Frank Raj is based in the Middle East where he has lived for over three decades. He is the founding editor and publisher of ‘The International Indian’, the oldest magazine of Gulf-Indian society and history since 1992. Frank is listed in Arabian Business magazine’s 100 most influential Indians in the Gulf and is co-author of the upcoming publication ‘Universal Book of the Scriptures,’ and author of ‘Desh Aur Diaspora.’ He blogs at www.no2christianity.wordpress.com

Read more of Frank's work in No 2 Religion, Yes 2 Faith in the Communities at the Washington Times.

Sign his petition at: www.gopetition.com/petition/44506/signatures.html