Who created Religion - Man or God?

Religion can be seen from two perspectives; God and Man. I have interviewed and met many people who were not conditioned with any religion or any versions of God. Both were alien thoughts to them, however, it helps us see Religion from a different point of view.

One view holds that Religion is man’s attempt to understand God and the nature, about life, death, sickness, incomplete things in life, the love or hate for each other and where we fit in the scheme of things.

The other view can be seen as an expression of God’s love for his creation. Creation can be broadly categorized in to matter and life.

Every piece of matter that has evolved or created is designed to have its own balance, whether it is Jupiter or the moon or other objects of nature, they were designed to remain and operate in balance without any interference.

Whereas humans were not put on auto pilot like the matter, instead we were given the freedom and ability to think and find our own balance.

Even though the creator gave (or evolved out of necessity) the free will to humans, the goal remained “harmony” or “balance” among humans and its environment. Just like the mother loves the well being of her children, teacher wants every student to excel, a chef wants every patron to enjoy his or her food, and the creator wants every one of us to live in peace and harmony. 

It was this love of God that he chose to restore trust in the society through peace makers, prophets or messengers to give us guidance, in the form of religion, wisdom or tradition so we can live in the “Kingdom of heaven” where no human has to live in apprehension, anxiety, discomfort or the fear.

These thought are derivatives from Bhagvad Gita, Bible and Quraan.

A few more details at: http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2012/05/texas-faith-how-far-should-religious.html

MikeGhouse is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. He is a professional speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, civic affairs, Islam, India, Israel, peace and justice. Mike is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News and regularly at Huffington post, and several other periodicals across the world. The blog www.TheGhousediary.com is updated daily.

Did the King James Version of the Bible change the world?

Did the King James Version of the Bible change the world?  Bill McKenzie of Dallas Morning News asks this question, here is my take:

Even if Jesus, Muhammad, Krishna, Buddha, Confucius, Moses and the others had the opportunity to print the holy books when they began their missions, the Bible and the Qur'aan would have remained the most influential books in changing the world.

Both the books inspire the followers to believe that the word of God must be spread to all corners of the world. Even though Buddhism was taken up by Asoka, one of the greatest kings of his time who sent emissaries around the world to preach the word of enlightenment, it did not add adherents as fast as the other two perhaps because it addressed the enlightenment within an individual whereas community building was the focus of Christianity and Islam. Since Hinduism does not have the conversion component, it still remains in the top slot mainly because it is one of the oldest religions.

As a pluralist who believes in the divinity of all religions as the pathways to becoming part of the larger energy called God, I believe Qur'aan seems to be the book that leads the pack in changing the world, while the Bible runs toe to toe for many reasons; the biggest of all the reasons was reliance on the book.

Prophet Muhammad was crystal clear in his last sermon, to paraphrase him, "O People, I am leaving this book and my practices to you, that is all you need to know to lead a moral life, and you cannot go wrong with it if you follow them." The responsibility to be a good human being was placed directly on shoulders of the individuals and hence reliance on the book.

Neither Jesus nor Muhammad encouraged the establishment of clergy; it was between the individual and the creator. Indeed, many Christians and Muslims refer to the book more frequently than the followers of other religions. The profession of clergy was bound to happen with a need for getting the word of God out.

The Muslim prayers require one to recite at least a few chapters during the prayers and without an exception every one of the 1.6 billion Muslims can recite at least five chapters, and about 5% of the Muslims have memorized the whole Qur'aan; word for word.

The phrase "People of the book" was indeed coined by Prophet Muhammad, meaning those who follow a book to live a moral life. The emphasis was on the book. The King James Version of the Bible certainly became available to the masses bolstered by the printing press and it will continue to be number one book in hands of the people.

A majority of Muslims, if not all, start every activity of their day by invoking the blessing of God and place themselves under the trust of God. As a result I place Qur'aan as the book that has changed most people.

Mike Ghouse

www.MikeGhouse.net

12 Opinions including mine are included in this piece at Dallas Morning News;

http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/03/texas-faith-did-the-king-james.html