Many feel that the religion they were born into is perhaps the true one. Is it reasonable to assume that the religion imposed at ones birth is necessarily the whole truth ? If you were born in Italy or South America, then, without any choice, you were probably raised a Catholic. If you were born in India, then likely you automatically became a Hindu or, if from the Punjab, perhaps a Sikh. If your parents were from Pakistan, then you would obviously be a Muslim. And if you were born in a Socialist country over the last few decades, you might have had no choice but to be raised an atheist.
Therefore, is the religion of ones birth automatically the true one, approved by God ? If that had been the concept followed over the millenniums, many among mankind would still be practicing primitive shamanism and ancient fertility cults, on the premise that what was good enough for my ancestors is good enough for me.
Hence, what is the measuring stick to determine the true religion, or as James wrote, the "pure religion" that is acceptable to God ?(James 1:27, King James Bible) While most religions have a body of beliefs or doctrines, these can often form a very complicated theology, beyond the understanding of the average layperson. Yet the principle of cause and effect applies in every case. The teachings of a religion should influence the personality and the daily conduct of each believer.
Thus, each persons conduct will normally be a reflection, to a greater or lesser degree, of that ones religious background. What effect does your religion have on you? Does your religion produce a kinder person? More generous, honest, humble, tolerant, and compassionate? These are reasonable questions, for as one great religious teacher, Jesus Christ, stated: Every good tree produces fine fruit, but every rotten tree produces worthless fruit; a good tree cannot bear worthless fruit, neither can a rotten tree produce fine fruit. Every tree not producing fine fruit gets cut down and thrown into the fire. Really, then, by their fruits you will recognize those men.(Matthew 7:17-20)
Certainly world history must give us pause and make us wonder what role religion has played in the many wars that have devastated mankind and caused untold suffering. Why have so many people killed and been killed in the name of religion ? The Crusades, the Inquisition, the conflicts in the Middle East and Northern Ireland, the slaughter between Iraq and Iran (1980-88), the Hindu-Sikh clashes in India, the Rwandan bloodbath in 1994, whereby almost 80 percent of the population professes to be Catholicall these events certainly make thinking people raise questions about religious beliefs and ethics.
Does it matter what religion one is attached to ? Yes. Just as a combination lock has only one set of numbers and in a precise order that will unlock it, so likewise there is just one true religion that is acceptable to God, "that is clean and undefiled from the standpoint of our God and Father " called the "pure religion" by James (James 1:27), and the "one faith" by the apostle Paul (Eph 4:5), that was established by Jesus, starting in 29 C.E.
