Okay. I still have to get to your post. Will come back to this. : ) I'm enjoying this exchange. Thanks!
Kaniths, change has to start with me. I can't speak for others. So again, if you ask if I am religious as a follower of 'organized religion' replete with rituals, discrimination etc. then the revised answer to that question is NO, I am not. If the question is do I believe in God? Yes, I do. Am I a spiritual seeker as in someone seeking to grow as a person, Yes, I am.
The degree of 'bad' to know how good can be variable. Personally, I don't need a rapist/serial killer to know I am good; a chronic liar, a thief is sufficient to prove to myself that I am not so gayi guzri.
Deleted below line before submitting a previous post.. (because deleting is my thing) A friend once told me that he felt deep sadness when he realized that life has no meaning. I told him that I felt liberated, to be able to make my own meaning, however insignificant.
I totally agree on that. No one is saying it does not exist and if I had my way, I'd ban public displays of religious practices, be they any kind of public festivals, processions etc. to start with. P.S. Ouch, you deleted your original post after I had quoted and replied. Well I agree with KashmirFlower too that the majority of people do not follow the thinking/rationalizing brand of religion. However, I am glad that a number of younger people are, though of course, we have a loooooooooong way to go.