Does Religion Matter?

Yesterday, I was having a conversation with a dear friend of mine about what it means to be healthy and what one must do to live a balanced life. She is a Christian while I am nonreligious, though I am closest to Buddhism if it matters. We both have worked very hard over the last couple years to become balanced in life, though neither of us have been as successful as was hoped. My question for today is whether or not religion has any effect on living a balanced life.

The short answer, in my opinion, is possibly yes. I do not think people of any particular religion would be unable to live balanced lives, but I do think certain religions emphasize it more than others, which means Christians may go their entire lives without even realizing the necessity or blessing of it.

Meanwhile, Buddhism very much emphasizes everything being in moderation and the dangers of having anything out of whack – it leads to trouble and suffering. So while a Christian may have just as easy a time, they may never know it exists.

But for somebody who knows what balance means and is struggling to reach it, I do not think religion has an effect. Perhaps some teachings would be especially helpful, but they are common to all religions, like many other things.

Do you think religion matters when you are trying to reach Enlightenment? We all have different words for it and different ideas of how to get there, but I think it is meant to be different for all – the state of unconditional joy is a reachable goal for all, not just those who receive happiness from certain things.

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