How To: Create Your Own Religion

Personalize and customize your religion!

To start off, you'll need to look below for some simple facts about basic religious themes, arming you with the knowledge you'll need to make your religion one-of-a-kind!

Monotheism

Mono--One

Theism--The doctrine or belief in the existence of a God or gods

Monotheism, simply put, is the belief in one God. Christianity, Islam, and Judaism are three popular religions that fall under the category of Monotheism. These three religions, interestingly, have the same root. They all go back to the same forefather: Abraham. The Jews and Christians stem from the line of Abraham's younger son, Issac; while Islam was fathered by Abraham's eldest sun, Ishmael.

Atheism

A--Lack of

Theism--The doctrine or belief in the existence of a God or gods

The belief that there is not a Divine Being among us. From personal experience, Atheism can be stand-alone (i.e. someone who defines him/herself as an Atheist) or tagged onto other religions (i.e. Atheist Jew, Atheist Christian, Atheist Muslim, etc.)

Those who tag Atheism onto their beliefs may practice rituals of their religion out of habit, or keeps in mind the core values of his or her particular religion. It is a personal choice, made by the individual.

Buddha--One who has achieved a state of perfect spiritual enlightenment

Ism--A distinctive system of beliefs

Buddhism is an interesting religion because there is no "absolute creator God" in it.  It holds the theory that anyone can follow The Noble Eightfold Path and become a Buddha.  This means that this person will have achieved enlightenment, the ultimate state of bliss attained by extinction of all desires.

The Noble Eightfold Path consists of:

• Right View- To understand the law of Karma.
• Right Intention
• Right Speech
  
• Right Action- Abstaining from killing, stealing and sexual misconduct.
  
• Right Livelihood
  
• Right Effort- Zeal for arising & sustaining of wholesome states.
  
• Right Mindfulness- Contemplation on body, contemplation on feelings, contemplation on mind and contemplation on mind-objects.
  
• Right Concentration- Abandoning lust, sloth, worry and doubt.
  

I have put before you a virtual store of beliefs.  Now I want you to take what you like, and make me a nice bowl of soup with it.  Everybody believes something different. There's nothing wrong with breaking the boundaries of religion, reaching out to other doctrines and core values of other religions, while still holding to your own.

What's wrong with being a Christian that doesn't believe in God, but follows the core values of Christianity?  Why not take a stroll down the Noble Eightfold Path, while you're at it!  

Nobody should feel constricted to their own religion. It is every individual's right to believe what they want to, and even though you may not have realized it, religion is holding us from that right, it always was.

The Alchemist is an enlightening book that reveals the worlds biggest lie:

That your fate is decided for you.

It tells of Personal Legends, and the unity of Souls.  It's the story of a shepherd named Santiago, who leaves his sheep in pursuit of his Personal Legend.  I highly recommend the book.  It offers many deep insights while being a  light entertaining and easy read.

Paulo Coelho is a talented author that can get his message across in an enjoyable way.  It delves into religious beliefs without pushing a God, and provides much wisdom.  I give it a full five stars. 

So, now that you've cooked up a nice batch of belief stew, i would love to drink from it in the Comments and the Poll.  Tell me what flavor you've made.  I ask you, however, to keep things civilized. Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion.