I am not a theologian. I do not pretend to any understanding greater than that of the next person, but I have been thinking about the nature of religion as practiced today by many people.
What concerns me is the line between religion and superstition. It seems to me that sometimes people believe in such a simplistic way that they believe that specific actions, words, or contact with holy objects or people will cause G-d to act in the way that they wish, thereby making their lives more pleasant or perhaps just more bearable.
If one looks at the vast human tragedies that have occurred, both manmade, like the Holocaust or natural, like the recent tzunami, then those beliefs become even more problematic. Are we to assume that all of the innocent victims didn’t pray right, touch the right objects, or perform the right rituals?
And where do such beliefs lead people? There are a large number of people who prey on those who have such naïve beliefs. There are those who only sell their amulets and charms. There are those who claim that they can affect what G-d will do by putting people through all sorts of trials and humiliation. There are others who try to sell them special water, laying on of hands, fortune telling, and “healing.†People give them money, sometimes thousands of dollars, for the miracles that they promise to perform, and the people are left not only poorer, but hopeless and betrayed.
But how does all of this influence what G-d will do? Well, my guess is that if someone had found the formula to persuade G-d to do what any individual willed, that person would not keep it a secret. The fortunetellers would make all of their fortune on Wall Street and stop taking money from people who believe that they can know the universe in some secret way.
I do not pretend to understand how G-d works, what His plan is for the world, nor how to get what I wish or pray for. I do know that I feel a sense of awe and wonder at the world He has created, and if I know nothing else, I know that I should be grateful for all that He has given me.
