Journal #9

There are many different kinds of religion, and the majority of them are organized. There are many that are popular and well-known, but there are also many that are followed privately and are not widely broadcast throughout the world. Some of the more popular religions are Islam, Buddhism, Catholicism, Protestant, and many other varieties of Christianity such as Presbyterian, Baptist, Lutheran, or non-denominational. Some of the less popular religions that are not well-known throughout the world would be more like worshiping the Devil, black magic, and other things like that. I am a non-denominational Christian, which just means that I would not be considered Lutheran, Baptist, or anything like that. I am just Christian. There are many people that are completely against religion. Some people follow Scientology, where that do not believe that there is actually a creator, they just believe that science can explain absolutely everything that can be conceived in the mind of humans. There are also atheists, who say that there is not God or anyone else, and after this life, one is just dead. Even though they say that they are completely against religion, technically they are all following and believing in one thing, so that would be their religion. While many organized religions are beneficial for the followers, some do nothing for their followers and some actually hurt their followers. There was a religion a while ago that had a large group of people following a man who said he was from God and knew what was happening and so they had to follow him. He led them all to an isolated place, and people outside of their group started to be concerned and realized that this could be a bad thing. They talked to governments, and the governments decided to get involved. Before the government could get there, though, the man made everyone drink kool-aid infused with something poisonous, so everyone there died. The man had brainwashed the people to such an extent that they would do anything that he told them to, so many, many people died all because he said that they needed to. Organized religions can be good or bad to their followers.