Why I believe in God but do not practice religion.

This is a constant conversation I have with people, especially since growing up I have been surrounded by people who practice “catholicism“. For a lot of people the idea of me not going to church but actually believing in God and praying do not really add up.

I was baptised “catholic“, but I decided to stop practicing because I could not identify with the actions my “church” was projecting to the world. However, just because I stopped attending the services, did and does not mean I have forgotten about my spiritual life.

I believe there is a God, who gives us the freedom to choose our own destiny and plan our own life. I also believe suffering is caused by us, humans, and that as free individuals that we are, we need to face the consequences of our actions.

I believe in a God that does not discriminate on what nowadays people call “unnatural” or “abnormal“. I cannot believe that God will send an individual to “hell” because of loving someone. I believe people can be “good” without the need to be affiliated to a specific religion.

I am a strong believer of honesty and a defender of human rights; both of which were the main reason why I stopped practicing. Nowadays, we seem to have forgotten the main pillar of all of our religions; love and human dignity. It has come to terms where those can only be applicable to a certain “elite” that follows the “dogmas” of a specific faith. With that we have not only created inter-religious conflict but also made it an issue worth using violence for. And let’s not forget the fact that there is a religious economy; it is all about money and “followers“. Which is why churches try to keep their images “clean” and “pure“; even if they hide and protect those who have truly done something harmful.

I believe in God, but I do not think we can judge others; especially assuming that we have the power to do so. I also do not like the constant competition between faiths; and how each one assures to be superior compared to the others. Moreover, I cannot understand how anyone believes there is a connection between a person’s religion and whether they are terrorists or not.

Basically, I cannot be part of a religious group that considers love a “sin” when it’s between people from the LGBTQ+ community. I cannot affiliate to a group that considers birth control a wrongful act, and then turns away from those 13-year-old girls who were pregnant due to rape. I simply can’t identify with a group that would rather leave children as orphans than having a couple of the same gender as their parents.

Where has all the love, our God talked about, gone to? Why is it selective? Who decides whether one is worth or not of that love? The God I believe in condemns all of these actions and would like to remind us that we are free and the judging part will be done only by him.

I believe in God but do not practice religion because I do not think any human can play the role of a god. And obviously, you should keep this in mind: You see the mote in someone else’s eye, but you do not see the beam in your own eye.