Well it’s official. You called yourself out. You’re a close minded religion bashing biased asshole. My Grandma used to tell me that it’s better to keep your mouth closed and let people think your a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.
I really enjoy the irony of the word “teached” appearing in a paragraph explaining that you are above religion because you are more educated than religious zealots.
Here’s the way I see it being educated, a man of science, and a devout Roman Catholic:
I choose to see the church and religion as 2 separate entities. My religion is my faith in God and the basis of how I judge right and wrong for myself. The teachings of Christ are my moral foundation. The church is there to help me practice my faith and do what it reasonably can to help guide the masses that choose to look to the church for help with practicing their faith. I do not choose to believe everything that the church teaches, as it is by its unavoidable nature also a political vessel and must “stay with the times.” The church has evolved over thousands of years, so of course as mankind’s knowledge gains ground into the unknown what used to be faith can now be explained. There is a lot of conflicting history in my church. That’s fine. That’s inevitable when a single organization exists for thousands of years. There is not conflict in my religion. What Jesus taught 2000 years ago was to love your fellow man, remain humble, live for others, etc. He taught that God created the world. 2000 years ago he explained it in a way fathomable to people of that age. “God said let there be everything, and there was everything.” OK, fine. Easy for the average person to understand, still gets the idea across that there is a supreme being. Evolution, the big bang, etc would not have been understood and his moral message would not have gotten across. I believe that the church picks up where science leaves off. Maybe God did create man in the likeness of himself, but maybe he achieved it through evolution?
To me religion and the church are related, but not the same. Religion is my beliefs. Church is an organization.