Religion as Ideology

[Jitendra Hydonus]

I just brought this topic up with a dear friend and would like to start a thread on it. I have recognized over the years that people use religion as an ideological and political tool at the expense of loosing its spiritual experiences and purposes. It is approached more through the lenses of a political and moral stance rather than a spiritually experienced phenomena that accompanies daily spiritual practices. Therefore we have concepts like Christian national interests and a Muslim nation etc. Isn’t it more important to remember that the United States like many other Democracies in the world was founded for freedom of religion. This did not mean just freedom for Christian Religion but was meant to mean the freedom and acceptance of all religions. In reality the most important part of religion is spirituality and that is what brings all religions together. In matters little to people of different religions their different customs if they experience spiritual experiences that bring them together rather than divide and separate them!