ABB
Mega Ultra Ultimate Magnificent Chief Moderator
I went to 8 years of catholic school as well, same experience.I'm telling you what was drilled into my head in 8 years of Catholic school. This is 100% what they taught me. You will not be accepted into heaven if you do not accept god first and foremost as your savior. Commandment #1. And you could pretty much do anything in life and it will be forgiven as long as you show penance and accept the lord as your savior.
That is how the message was delivered. Maybe the church has softened up on that message since catholic school in the 1980s but this was totally the message they DRILLED into your head back then.
But...in 8th grade we went on field trips to every different house of worship in the Bay Area: all sects of the christian faith, sunni and shiite mosques, jewish temple, buddhist temple, hindu temple, etc. So the end of my 8 years of Catholic school came with the realization that all these people were telling the same story with different character names. The underlying question that seems to drive all of them is:
What happens after you die?
I think it's human nature to believe that when we're done here the show isn't over. That desired belief seems to have been present in ancient civilizations as well.
What if...
The kingdom of God, or whatever you believe, is already inside of you. Man can't resist manifesting the concept of God as a tool to promote his own best interests. So if we were able to put away organized religion, what would truly be left?
Of all of the organized religions, the only one that separates itself from the pack, in my opinion, is Buddhism. They will be the first to tell you that they are not a religion but rather a way of life. Should you ask what happens after death, they will say "Whatever you think happens is what happens." They do not take power over or govern your actions in this current existence, but rather let you have what you believe while at the same time disclosing a belief in reincarnation of the soul for the purpose of self betterment.
Does that make me a buddhist? No, however it seems to be the most open and spiritually stable of all the faiths out there.