The fear of God

Why is it that the most judgmental people I know are those who proclaim to be living their life for God? It seems that the more someone spews the "word of the Lord" the less decent they become. How is it that someone can genuinely believe themselves to be better than me simply because they wake every Sunday morning and go to worship in a building with 100's of others, being told what to believe, what to say, how to act and who to accept? I wish someone could explain to me how it can be that they are going to be ushered into the gates of heaven while the rest of us are turned away? This seems like it would be a very unjust thing for this loving God of theirs to do. And it seems frightening and dark, this outlook on the world. This belief that being different means that you are beneath them. Even though as I said, some of the most ruthless, judgmental and cruel hearted individuals that I have had the misfortune of meeting in my lifetime have always claimed to be "self respecting, God fearing Christians".

Does it not bother anyone else, that term..."God fearing"? Why on earth would I want to willingly join a community of people who fear God? And who live their lives to please something or someone that in the end will ultimately be judging them to see if they meet the requirements for entrance into the heavens? These requirements apparently have very little to do with compassion, understanding, forgiveness and acceptance...but instead have to do with conformity, self righteousness and hatred.

Maybe I just didn't understand my studies of history, (which would be a shocker considering I taught history for several years, lol) but I really never thought that the teachings of Jesus, Moses or Mohammad were meant to scare people into acting one way and only one way. One way that would completely deter them from accepting any contrary point of view. How is it that this egocentric belief system originated from teachings about men who spoke of love and understanding, and wanting to bring people together has basically divided the entire world, for centuries. How insane is this??? And so insane is it that people are willing to die and or kill others in the name of this pursuit?

I have thought all day about this...and decided that it comes down to character. I believe the character of a person outweighs almost anything else. I won't say that the religiously devout are weak minded or uneducated, because they aren't. I understand the desire to have something to hold on to, a belief in something bigger than ourselves. Something to gather strength from in tough times. I value all those reasons. And for those who find comfort in religion I applaud you, and I wish you well. It those who hide behind religion that I dislike, and those who cloud hate behind devotion.

Basically, it comes down to your character not your dedication to your religion. If you live your life the best you know how, and you treat others with kindness and respect you won't have to worry about who is there judging you in the end because it won't matter. You will have already lived your life.