On Religion

What religion should be?

1. A vehicle for communication between an individual an G-d
2. An inspiration to motivate one to heal the world - Tikkun Olam (in Hebrew).
3. A reminder of our non-material linkage
4. A recourse to reason - G-d is after all the ultimate source of all logic.
5. A format for reaching out on a common level to our fellow human beings.
6. A pathway for us to interact with our environment especially the Flora and Fauna of our beloved planet.
7. The antithesis of all that that is self-destructive.
8. A partnership with science.
9. A belief open to questioning. G-d seeks questioning. Hence the presence of our brains.
10. A methodology to increase our sense of self and decrease our desire toward excess (often the cause of many problems).

What religion shouldn't be?

1. A device to create ill-feelings between believers and non-believers
2. A hierarchy of knowledge controlled by a few
3. A platform for dogma and lack of tolerance
4. A war ideology
5. A battering ram against science
6. A tool that over emphasizes the afterlife at the expense of the physical life
7. A tag of superiority
8. An argument to restrict necessary progress that will benefit humanity (eg. stem cell research).
9. A byzantine system of rituals that are lost to the participant.
10. Stagnant