Being born and raised as a Catholic, I've been widely exposed to the religious practices of the said religious sect. Baptism, Holy Communion, Sacrament of Marriage, Confirmation, Anointing of the sick.... name it, I probably have attended it.
I am a Christian, but I guess I'm not the "cultural Christian". I am not sheepishly obedient/observant of the culturally Christian practices, but I must say that I aim and try to be a "practical Christian." I do not want to moralise; I am here to let out my sentiments about the sometimes-tainted religion of people.
Hear me out:
Most wars have religious underpinnings in them. Most wars are rooted from the inability of people to be civil and accommodating of other people's beliefs. People want to insist that what they know is right and all else is evil and heretic.
Split-Christianity. I know a few people who are keen enough to enforce their religious system on others. Think about this:
If you were born as a muslim, say in another continent dominated by muslims and buddhists alone, and have never been told about the Holy Bible, or of Jesus Christ, would you "go to hell" or not meet salvation?
Yes, I understand that it is the goal of Christians/Catholics to evangelize, but my point is - what if hypothetically this really happened? Why should an individual suffer eternal damnation if a God beyond his knowing, exists?
Is it really about our creed, that we get to achieve salvation? Is it more about knowing by heart, "the Word of God" or through "the Acts of Man?"
Contrary to how the average mind might process this, I am not questioning the authenticity of the Bible. I am not attacking any religion. What I am saying is that there must be a greater measure for salvation, than how much we know about God.
Hence, the practical Christianity.
We are true Christians by action.
We cannot claim to be Christians, and yet be greedy. We cannot claim to know the Word of God, but be ignorant in our ways. We cannot say "God's will be done", while renouncing our responsibility over human actions.
We cannot be Christians, and yet accuse our neighbors of ill.
We cannot be Christians and have prejudices towards race and creed.
What was so great about Christianity is not that we have it set in the books. What makes Christ so great is not only because he is the Son of God, but because he wasn't discriminatory towards people, but He welcomed everyone - the whore, the sinner, the thief, the tax-collector, the crippled... How can we be Christians and not even share the same values?
Practical Christianity - that means I will stop talking. That means I will not say I am better than you are. That means I will not show people how good I am - I will just be.
