The Religious Ones...

Why is it that religious people keep trying to convince me to join them? Maybe it's because I like listening to people when they are passionate about something, and I guess in order to fight the general carelessness you have to be pretty passionate about religion these days. It's just that I am not, and I find it difficult to get this whole devotion thing. What is wrong with just being a good person and doing your bit to make this a better world? Why do you constantly need to pray for guidance to your God of choice, I mean, most of the guidelines are pretty commonsense anyway, right? Why does it only count when you do something good in honour of your God? Mmh... 

So, I started talking to this Indian guy who was selling tau fu fa from his little bicycle stall, about where he came from, and why he was selling tau fu fa which I thought was more of a Chinese thing... He was obviously a Muslim, wearing that little cap, I am not sure what they call it in this country. It was real interesting, he talked about his daughter who went back to India, and his parents who had brought him here. He asked if I was Christian, and when I said no he apparently thought I needed a God, and gave me a book with little sayings about prayer and why you should do it. He was sure that once I thought about it for a while I would be back and ready to learn more... Well, so far no such urges have come up. 

He is not the only one. I've met several people, of several faiths, trying to convince me that theirs is the true way to paradise/enlightenment/whatever you want to call it. I am glad that they have found their way, and are apparently happy with it. But a common thread emerges: They all put so much pressure on themselves to follow the rules, whichever these are in their specific religion, and feel constantly guilty. They all feel they have to pray so and so many times a day, and if they don't their God will be cross with them. Why do they stress themselves out so much? To me any religion is a guideline to be a good person, help others in need, be kind, and let your mind grow. So if you are a good person, and I believe many of these people are, why does it only count what you have done if you do it for your God? Is it not enough to do something good just for the sake of it? If you do something good just because your God demands you to, isn't that selfish, and pretty much the opposite of what it was supposed to be? You are not good because you are a good person, you are good because you have an ulterior motive, for your own benefit. But this is the action that counts. I just don't get it.

Nonetheless, I like talking to people about their religion. As long as they actually talk about it and don't preach. Sad to say, but the tau fu fa guy started preaching, which may be due to his lack of English, but he could not explain to me why he thought you had to follow all these rules. You had to if you wanted to get to heaven. The concept that I didn't believe in heaven was unfortunately beyond him...