Is religion necessary or required to enable a connection to God, or can a person go rogue and wing it to successfully find God on their own? It’s one of the fundamental philisophical problems.

If you compare two of history’s greatest spiritual thinkers, Buddha and Jesus, they both reached their conclusions using deep contemplation and keen observation of human psychology and behaviors; they studied social organizations, read voraciously, and debated on the highest level. One was from the East and the other from the West, in very different cultural environments. One was a rich boy who fled that lifestyle to find truth, the other was middle to lower class and lived with the people amidst the bustling lands within the Roman Empire. Despite their differences, they both found God from different paths; hence, their understanding of God is varied.

The overall understanding of human suffering and desire is pretty much the same for both. Humans are smart animals with desires and needs that globally share a similar structure of family and societal norms that serves both individuals and those group-minded. Serving the needs of both made for similar norms with different cultural flavorings that matched their particular environments. Yet, both genuinely found God and came up with profound sound reasoning for their conclusions. Regardless of their approach, finding God was successful; like two people on opposite sides of the world discovering the sun. This makes sense, just like our experience of the sun on the whole Earth; God is everywhere.

• Who is right?
• Is anyone right?
• Can anyone be right?

Philosophy is like math; it’s designed to be free from all influences so that conclusions are universal. Math in this part of the universe is the same everywhere. Something that is true is simply truth, regardless of whether you’re a whale, an ant, a Martian, Chinese, Russian, or American. That’s what makes it so powerful and useful. You can rely on the results regardless of who or where you are. Religion is early inquiry into the existence of God that we decided to keep around, mostly because we’re too afraid to let it go. It’s been hammered into our psyches that we must not stray from religion because bad things will befall us. What of the age-old argument why there are so many religions and how they all can’t be right? Distill the argument to its essence, remove the cultural theatrics of religion, and you’re always left with nature as the final place. Religions are just outdated philosophies.

Stick to the fundamentals:

• God is true.
• God is real.
• God is nature.
• God created nature.
• He and it are one and the same.
• God exists and we exist.

It is universally believed that God designed us to be tethered to Him. A bonded relationship is beneficial for us, even vital. This is the foundation. Must we be Christians or Buddhists or any of the countless other religions and factions? It should be obvious that the answer is no. Religion is a human creation, but it can be argued that it was also divinely manifested. God forged a system through individuals like Jesus and Buddha to help humans get to see and know Him. It’s not unsound and it passes a philosophical test for the validity of existing religions; it doesn’t mean any of them are correct, but God’s will for a means of getting to know Him does make perfect sense. Religion also dispels the need for generation upon generation having to constantly reinvent and discover what was already discovered thousands of years ago. Would we throw out math once we’re done with it for our current needs? No, we pass it on for eternity and build on its discoveries. The problem is religions have the misfortune of cultural boundaries that refuse to allow for tweaking. Tradition is another word for staid.

Imagine if God was taught like a science class: “God exists, and humans should connect with Him.” How simple is that? Show the students the variety of ways humans have devised for connecting to God and let them sample what works best for them. Each individual will naturally go to what suits them, whilst others will naturally opt out. Ultimately, God doesn’t care about religion, only the end result. If you opt out, He’ll continue to be there in the hopes that you’ll change your mind. If you’re a good person, He’ll be pleased. If you’re a shitty person, He won’t. If you’re evil, you’ll have to answer to Him eventually.

Don’t shun religion. Think of it like schooling, from early development to a PhD. We should all fulfill our spiritual educations, and at some point, we have to go on our own. Getting a PhD is the end of school and the start of what now? Take the knowledge, continue to scrutinize it, and strive for success at applying it; refine and tweak it along the way for the rest of your time on Earth. Be open-minded, thoughtful, and diligent. Scrutinize everything philosophically. See the benefits for what they are.

There is a supernatural realm that surrounds and permeates us. Religion may offer a means of tapping into what is not readily visible. It is important to understand that it will be different for each of us. There is no one size that fits all, despite what religions proclaim. With that said, Buddhism and Christianity are great places to start. I’d included Judaism in there, but it’s only applicable to Jews. I do not believe one can choose to be Jewish. As for other religions, I have concluded that they are too esoteric, idiosyncratic, and agenda-laden for various reasons that are not part of this discussion. That doesn’t make them illegitimate or wrong (or right); they just require deeper unfolding and stray from the point.

I believe in getting to God by sound reasoning, less by emotional ploys, cajoling, finger-pointing, or scare tactics. Do I have important information to communicate that may cause all the above, absolutely, but I say them not to get you to God, but to impart what I think is sound information, of which I am obliged to impart, and I am always scrutinizing and revising when needed. Take the journey to God through religion or on your own; both are fine, but do so in a way that is active, diligent, and genuine. You can never lose with that approach. Believe in God because He is real. My ministry is to get you to God; that is all. No contracts. No rituals. No exclusions.

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©2026 Pastor Robert Perez