"The Tree of Life” If We Took Religion Out of The World and Replace it With Just This
I don't believe in religion even though I grew up with different tastes of evangelical fervor and views. I always wanted to believe and when I had a chance to study it in a formal way I took it. As a pre-teen when we moved to a building in Brooklyn in which our neighbors were Evangelical and my sister not far was also of the same evangelical sect even though you would never guess it by its name.
My neighbors (not my sister, my family never saw me accomplishing anything, I felt resentment from all of them. Maybe it was the age difference I was so much younger and maybe it was something else they saw which I didn't at the time or until I was a grown man having lost my virginity to a woman and experienced sex as I was taught by a brother).
Well, my neighbors saw things in me that push them to make an opportunity available by having me work to pay for my studies because I was a kid with no income and my mom had her hands full with sending me to school.
I understand anyone who does not believe in anything. I don't believe in a lot of things and definitely anything that is being said in the old religions or the now religions.
If I was going to believe, the following is what I would believe:
Salvation is closely related to the idea of redemption – a saving from the state or circumstance that destroys the value of human existence. God, as the universal spirit and Creator of the universe, is the source of all salvation for humankind, provided we honor Him by observing His precepts. In other words, redemption or salvation depends on the individual. According to Judaism, salvation cannot be obtained through anyone else, or in believing in any outside power.
When faced with danger, evil and suffering, Jewish Prophets advised people to walk in the way of righteousness, to help the poor and needy and to repent for their sins and waywardness.
There is a figurative passage in the ‘Book of the Prophet Zechariah’ in which Joshua, the High Priest, is standing before the Angel of the Lord, with Satan, the evil influence standing at his right hand to accuse him. Now, Joshua was clothed in filthy garments, symbolizing the iniquities of people who hamper the completeness of redemption. The Lord enjoined that the filthy garments should be taken off the High Priest, and not only should he be clothed with clean robes, but a crown should be placed upon his head. In other words, what was symbolized was the removal of people’s sin and resultant forgiveness that entitled them to redemption and a life of general felicity and security.
Salvation would also connote a society free of oppression, fear, hatred and threat of war, in a state of peace when people would live together in harmony and friendship. As the Psalmist puts it, “Behold, how good and how lovely it is when brethren dwell together in unity” (Psalm 133).
What could be a nobler concept of salvation for humankind than the wonderful words of Prophet Isaiah, “And He shall judge among the nations and shall rebuke many people and they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more”.
This brings to mind the idea of the Messiah; as developed over centuries. The Jewish concept of Messiah visualizes the return of Prophet Elijah as the harbinger who will redeem the world from war and suffering, leading humankind to universal brotherhood. The Messiah is not considered as a future divine or supernatural being, but as a powerful human influence in an age of universal peace, characterized by the spiritual regeneration of humanity.
In Judaism, salvation is open to all people and not limited to those of the Jewish faith; the only important consideration is that the people must observe and practice ethical patterns of behavior, as summarised in the Ten Commandments. When Jews refer to themselves as the chosen people of God, they do not imply they have been chosen for special favors and privileges, but rather, that they have taken it upon themselves to show to all peoples by precept and example, the ethical way of life.
Salvation from death means that death is not the real end of life; the soul lives on and returns to the Creator who made it. In the end, on the final day of Judgment, there will be a resurrection and life will be restored to all righteous souls; but it is not within man’s intellectual capacity to conceive of how exactly or when the resurrection will take place.
(By Rabbi Ezekiel Isaac Malekar)
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