(Image by Berbux)

I don’t know if there is a god, or if there are gods. I do not rule out the possibility of his/her/their existence, but I’m skeptical mostly. Having grown up in a Buddhist / Taoist environment, and having been exposed to Christianity and Islam (in fact, I was once Christian, although not a very good one), I guess I’ve formed my own ideas about religions.

I’m accepting (not just tolerating) of all religions. And I’m not opposed to the notion of religion, nor the practise of it. I am, however, against meaningless rituals that harm people, and aggressive evangelism.

I believe that religion first came about as a means for rulers of ancient times to control their subjects. It’s plausible. But I digress. Religion encourages people to do good. However, more often than not, what we see is fanticism and obsession with the rites and with evangelising, which easily make its practisers and faith-followers socially unaccepted in secular/non-religious social circles.

Perhaps it’s the way people promote certain religions. I guess it all boils down to presentation and communication skills. A sales trainer once told me, “Don’t sell your product. Make people want to buy it.”

Perhaps evangelism is precisely that – marketing of a faith. And in my books, all religious people fail in that.