Religious Superiority!

Since I moved to New York I've been exposed to more religions than I ever have in my life. And to hear all of them tell it they are THE WAY. Let me say here at the beginning, I am a Christian. I was raised Independent Baptist and am a preacher's child. I do not question my own beliefs in this post, that's not what this is about. When I was a child and was growing up, I was exposed to Southern and Independent Baptist, Methodist, Church of God and that was pretty much it. I didn't know many from the Church of God realm, but my Aunt Grace and Aunt Louise, if I remember correctly, were both members of that religion. Either way, I was raised in a very protestant world. I knew there were other religions, but had no exposure to them at all. I saw the Catholic Church down the street, but never went, of course. I went to a Christian School, that daddy started, and so my world consisted of church and school, all at the same place. I never knew I was sheltered, honestly, I assumed everyone was living the life I was. In high school I became friends with this girl, Monique. I had heard that she was Catholic, but had never talked to her about it. Well, in my sophomore year we became very good friends, Tammy, Monique and me, 3 Musketeers. I started going to Monique's house and slowly became aware of the Catholic church, but still not very educated about it. When I was 19 I met Monique, who had moved to Vermont, in NYC for a long weekend. The Sunday we were there, we went to St. Patrick's Cathedral for church. I have never in my life felt so out of place. I had no idea what to do, when do kneel, when to stand and oh my did I freak out when it came time to go get the wafer thingy, was I supposed to do that? Monique said, you don't have to do that, so I sat down and waited for her. Needless to say, it was quite the experience.

Since that time, I've been exposed to so much more, man 19 was such a long time ago! =) I am even more baffled at religion now than I ever have been. When I moved to Nashville I started going to a Southern Baptist Church and even that was so much more different for me. But ah, legalism still abounds! LOL Eventually I started going to a Church of the Nazarene, not too far from the Baptist world, and I really enjoyed it. I loved the people and really enjoyed the preacher. But again, all in that Protestant bubble. Well, then came my move to NYC and can I just say, bubble burst! LOL, talk about a culture/religion shock. I have met so many people that have so many different religions, honestly, just thought that was all made up, everyone at heart is Baptist, I just know it! LOL

In my job alone, my boss is Jewish, one of the attorney's that worked here was Hindu, I have co-worker's who are Jehovah's Witness, Catholic, Methodist, Agnostic, Atheist, and that's just the ones of which I know. In my NYC friends world, I have friends who are Atheist, Jewish, Wicca, Mormon, Catholic, Baptist, some that aren't associated with any religion, Inter-denominational, non-denominational, Buddhist, and a bit of everything else.

It's all so confusing, really it is. Since moving here, I've done a lot of soul searching and "religion" searching as well and I've discovered one thing, religion is so faulty. Yes, I understand, in case you are wondering, the difference in religion and spirituality. I don't know that a lot of people do, jmo. But that’s some knowledge I've gained since moving here! Thank God for that!

So, I say all of the above to say that it baffles my mind how many versions of "The Right Way" there are. I fully believe that, yes, my beliefs are the right and only way to eternal security in Christ, but I do recognize that with the same passion that I believe and will not be swayed, most people that belong to a religion believe that they have the "Right Way" and they believe it with the same passion I do.

I notice that when talking to others about their religion, or lack thereof, there is a major sense of superiority. When you believe with such passion, how can their not be, right? So, we all go around believing with all that is in us, that we are correct and all the other "lost souls" will flounder around when the end comes.

So, this begs the question, who really is right? What religion is the way to go and the one to follow? I, of course, believe that it is salvation through Christ and belief in Him. But ask a few others, they will tell you I'm wrong! LOL =)

I guess the main thought is how hard it is to accept others views when in reality you feel they are so wrong. People want to show you the truth, yet you feel what you have is the truth.

I would love to hear people's thoughts on this, so chat my people, chat!