Religion, Truths or Fiction

By Morgan Levy

Morgan Levy provides and insightful non-fiction manuscript that takes a profound look into religions of the world and the affect they have on people. While placing the blame for most of the killing that has taken place in recorded history directly on religion, he offers a challenge to religions to save Planet Earth from the loss of peace and harmony among the people and the destruction of Planet Earth that is already beginning. The author offers solutions today that may sounds as impossible to achieve as landing a man in the moon was thought to be several hundred years ago.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Mar 18, 2008
• ISBN: 9781465318404

Morgan Levy

A first-time author at the age of 83, Morgan Levy built and directed three children’s summer camps, Wohelo, Comet and Comet Trails, 1947-86. in 1988 he founded the West Dade Federation of Homeowner Associations representing 8,000 homeowners, becoming a political activist. Morgan led an 8-year endeavor for his community to become the City of Doral, Florida. Happily married 53 years to wife, with children, Jay, Bari, Kerry and granddaughter, Haley, Morgan, working as the administrator of the South Dade Soil and Water Conservation District from 1994 to the present, still finds time for tennis and gardening.

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Chapter One

My Personal Questioning

I was raised in a Jewish family with all of the traditional religious training. My father was a practicing Conservative Jew and my mother was a practicing Reformed Jew. That aroused my first question about religion. How could one family share two different views and practices of the same religion? Upon reaching the age of 13, I was bar mitzvah’d twice, once at the reformed temple and again at the conservative synagogue. I have often joked with friends since that time when they ask, Why were you bar mitzvah’d twice, I replied, It didn’t take the first time. The truth was, it was to satisfy my parents and the rabbis at the temple and the synagogue.

My father died within that same year. I was suddenly the man of the house at 13 years of age with my mother and two sisters. How could that loving God that I had been taught about in both Hebrew School and Sunday School take my father away from me at an age when I really needed a father? I sold magazines, washed silverware and trays in the school cafeteria for my lunches and was determined not to be a financial burden on my mother. It was while selecting my lunch at the school cafeteria one day that I saw my friends enjoying the ham that was on the menu that I asked myself, why can they eat ham with no apparent problem and I am not allowed to eat ham? I summoned up my courage, asked for some ham, please, from the nice lady behind the counter and cautiously took it to the table with my friends. The first bite was the opening of a whole new world for me. Nothing that I feared happened to me. There was no great voice thundering in my ears, Jews are forbidden to eat ham! I did not get sick and I realized that ham tasted pretty good. My questions became more complicated.

Growing up in school, I had many good friends, most of whom were Christians. I was not aware of any of my Christian friends being strongly devoted to their church. We were all basically good kids growing up in the 30’s and 40’s. I was never confronted by my friends with any questions about my religion. We all got along very well in school. I began to feel less and less a Jew but not anything else. I continued to celebrate the Jewish Holidays, more in respect to my mother who seemed to also drift away from the Friday night Temple services.

For five years during World War II while in the navy, I was again surrounded by men with little or no strong religious feelings. In fact, there were many discussions on how any religion could allow a war that destroyed so many lives. Where were those ardent religious leaders of all faiths that apparently preached against the root causes of war but were either helpless or indifferent to prevent it? I was drifting away from my religion and any other form of religion.

In my twenty’s, I was engaged to marry three times but the choice of accepting the Catholic faith and raising children in that faith caused me to break two engagements. I thankfully fell in love with a beautiful Jewish lady and married in the Jewish faith because it was familiar to me and it was an opportunity to raise a family in a traditional way, with good values and some religious background. Our marriage has survived happily for 54 years. We have a great son, a wonderful daughter, a lovely Catholic daughter-in-law and a beautiful granddaughter, who, I fear, will be torn between following one religion or another. More questions are stirring in my mind about religions with no clear answers for me, my family or for the universe.

I do not want my thoughts and questions to influence my family in any way about what religious path they choose to follow. I have not tried to influence my son in dealing with his Catholic wife and how they raise their children. I will not question my daughter-in-law’s faith. She was raised a Catholic and will no doubt be a believer for her entire life. I am not sure that I would be able to give them advice since I still have too many questions regarding all religions. Maybe you too have had similar doubts concerning your religion. A smarter person than I am has warned not to argue religion and politics with friends. I therefore will not argue about religion but I must continue to question it. Only through questioning can one eventually come to closure on this subject that has so many following paths that others have created for them.

Chapter Two

Investigation

Many different religions have developed on Planet Earth. Some early Earth dwellers worshipped the Sun. I suppose that was because it was the dominant source of energy and no one had discovered the art of brainwashing yet. It is interesting to note that most of the so-called uncivilized societies worshipped nature’s objects that they could see, feel or experience. The sun, moon, nature, wind, rain, and even some animals were their gods and they paid homage to them. They gave thanks to their Gods for the benefits they believed were derived from those Gods. They respected and yes, they worshipped and feared their Gods. No one could question that the Sun God sustained life, brought light after darkness, warmed mother earth and made things grow. No one could challenge the Sun God, it was always there, day after day, year after year, generation after generation. And so it was with all aspects of nature. No wonder the un-civilized societies chose to worship nature’s Gods.

Then came the so-called civilized societies. Men, and some women, let’s be fair about this, discovered that they could retell certain stories about one person or another that would make that person appear to be a mystical being. Extra sensitive ears and eyes were required of that person to be able to hear voices that no one else could hear and to see things that no one else was privileged to see. A few magical tricks up their toga were also very helpful. Who was there to witness and record those super-natural events in every detail, even so much as recording the actual words that flowed from the lips of the mystic that are told and retold and retold in Hinduism, Buddhism or written in the Bible, the Koran, the Torah or any other sacred book. Those inventors of the major religions had a very willing and susceptible audience in the beginning. Those religions answered a need for the people on which to hang their turbans, their shawls and their wreaths to establish some semblance of order and rules by which to live. Individual religions in various areas became the supreme law of the land.

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Were any of those religions expressly handed down by some omnipotent being named God? Who did God speak to and who else heard him speak but the person who claimed to have heard the voice of God? Those religion inventors were masters at interpreting events in a manner that suited their purpose, to brainwash the population into believing the story that they created.

I am not attempting to discredit any of the major religious faiths as not serving a good and honorable purpose. The teachings of Buddhism, Hinduism, the Bible, the Koran, the Torah and many other good books of other denominations all teach very good moral and ethical behavior and for that purpose, they have been a good influence on the population of the world.

New religions are developed for one purpose or another, some even becoming cults that seek to control the minds of those who are seeking answers as they succumb to a dynamic personality. Unfortunately, this can prove to be disastrous.

Chapter Three

Doubt and Rejection

My problem in accepting one faith over another is that I am not satisfied that it is necessary for me to believe that I will go to heaven with the angels and God if I am a good person on earth. I do not believe that I will become a martyr and live in bliss with 20 vestal virgins if I follow the instructions of my religious leader at the moment. I do not believe that a messiah is coming and that everything and everybody will be OK after that. I do not believe in reincarnation or Nirvana. It is the preachings, dictates and rituals of all religions, other than just a reasonable facsimile of the Golden Rule, with which I have a problem.

For example: I doubt that Adam and Eve were the first humans and started all other human life on earth. They were probably too busy just surviving to have listened to a serpent tell them (a talking serpent?) to go and pick a forbidden apple that would bring