To the Editor,
http://www.economist.com/index.html

In your article Is There a God? the writer clearly knows little of the subject matter. Miriam-Webster defines religion as:

Etymology: Middle English religioun, from Anglo-French religiun, Latin religion-, religio supernatural constraint, sanction, religious practice, perhaps from religare to restrain, tie back -- more at RELY
1 a : the state of a religious religion> b (1) : the service and worship of God or the supernatural (2) : commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance
2 : a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices
3 archaic : scrupulous conformity : CONSCIENTIOUSNESS
4 : a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith

Interesting that the word is derived from the Latin for "supernatural constraint". Religion has nothing to do with God, Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, etc. Instead it is the bureaucratization of the ideas of great spiritual/moral teachers and leaders. Whenever an ultra-charismatic spiritual/moral teacher arises and the power of their message is demonstrated, secondary characters, enamored with the power and status that association with the teacher's message can bring, found the religions in which more often than not, the teacher's message is corrupted for worldly gain. For example, it is hard to imagine that Jesus would have approved that the "Vicar of Christ" live in gold-leafed palaces while millions starve. The same sort of corruption plagues all religious institutions.

I am a follower of Jesus, Moses, Buddha, Mohammed, and many other great spiritual/moral teachers because they lift the human condition out of ferality and toward a higher purpose and enlightened life. If we can shake the grip of religion and return our attention to the functional teachings of these greatest sons of God, perhaps we would find it easier to experience the Heaven on Earth that we all long for.

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