Religion was created by humans, imo. The bible was written by one and I think the messages within it can be viewed any way based on the individuals' perception. Just because we have religion/faith doesn't excuse us for not thinking for ourselves. I was born and raised a Catholic but I started searching out my own beliefs at a young age. Catholicism refers to people as "sheep", I disagree. I think we were all born as leaders, in charge of our destinies and we shouldn't have to follow anybody but our true selves. I don't believe we NEED religion to keep our moral compass intact. We all have the potential to be good people, but we have to constantly make the conscious choice to keep it that way. I think the hardest thing with it is ALWAYS staying aware of your mindset and actions.
I agree with what Dino said about people fearing death and looking for something to believe. I personally would rather not sit in church and listen to some priest drone on about how I should live my life when Catholic priests have been known to play with little boys' bootyholes. I would consider myself more spiritual now than anything. I do not fear what created me because I see fear as a negative emotion. Motivating, yes but still negative. When people do things out of fear, it's mostly just to avoid getting punished... whereas if you come from a place of abundance and love, you do things because you genuinely want to. For me, that's the biggest issue with religion and my family sees this as blasphemy.
I'm an open minded person and the way I see it, if homosexuality was so wrong, it wouldn't exist. Nature wouldn't have intended it to be so but it's here. If the Universe deems it acceptable then who are we to say its' not? In scale to the Universe, a few humans on one planet when there are multitudes more? Who even set the standard for heterosexuals to be the norm? Let me guess, a straight male with a wife and most likely at the time, one or more mistresses. Again, humans are afraid of what we don't know. Heterosexual people don't understand that the love homosexuals feel for one another is the same. What people do behind closed doors is none of our business anyway so I don't know why people stress so much about it when it doesn't even involve them.
I believe that there is more to a human being than just their physical form. Health care professionals are being taught more and more about holistic healing. Alternative methods for healing are becoming more common. I don't see how these things could just take off if there wasn't truth to them. With meditation, I can see auras and so energy and all that is very real to me. Positive energy is stressed daily for HCP's. Everybody affects one another because that's our energies connecting. Proof of auras can be seen with Kirlian photography. I've done research of my own what colors of auras can mean before I had any clue and they are on point to a level where I feel a physical chill and my hair stands up. Ayurveda, Reiki, Theta, Acupunture, and Sound healing are just a few things that I can relate to energy healing. Proof that these work are seen in the people who practice these techniques and the people they practice on. I practice Reiki myself and on my family/friends who request it. I'm highly interested in being a professional practitioner for it because I've seen what it can do firsthand. If you're looking for proof in a scientific nature, let's talk about brainwaves. Alternative healers are subject to being researched of course and when someone enters a state to heal another, they fall into a different brainwave/level of awareness/consciousness. Beta brain waves (13-40Hz) are used during normal waking consciosness. Alpha (7-13Hz) is used for most healers/techniques (Reiki uses this). Theta waves (4-7Hz) are the state of REM sleep, lucid dreaming, and hypnosis. This is the brain wave that is said to have a connection to the Divine, create change within our material world, and for some, experience an OBE. I've only Theta healed once and had a very brief encounter with an OBE. It was as quick as a hiccup because I was confused and perhaps a little fearful, my intention was to meditate into an Alpha wave and I surpassed what I'm used to. I've also learned excessive amounts of information on Theta brainwaves, by playing MP3's of my book chapters THE NIGHT before my exams. I've maybe had to crack open my books once in 2 semesters and I was able to maintain a GPA of 4.13.
Also, more for evidence for the power of energy... our planet is what 70% water, humans are what, maybe 60% water right? Think about the things we say to each other on a daily basis that have a negative connotation. Dr. Masaru Emoto did an experiment with water in the 1990's. He discovered that water retains energy and intentions. Water in glasses with positive words said to them/taped onto them froze into beautiful snowflake crystals whereas water with negative words froze into ugly blobs. The Silva method uses water heavily to manifest changes in our lives and it works, I've used the technique and it's helped me greatly. It changed how I speak to others and the kind of intentions I send out every second of the day.
More on that subject here..
http://www.highexistence.com/water-experiment/
If you'd like more info, this is a great site. It's focused mostly on Theta because it's a Theta healing information site but helpful, nonetheless.
A Brief Explanation of Theta Brain Waves - Formula for MiraclesŪ
There's a group called Braveheart Women who have conferences in LA. My sister in law went to one in November and I'm hoping to get out to LA this year to attend one. She's currently being recruited by them for her vision and passion, supremely similar to my own. They are smart extremely educated women. My sister in law being 25/26 was the youngest one there. She had the opportunity to meet countless doctors, quantum physicists, numerologists who share the idea that there is more to humans and life than what we confine ourselves to. They've done group meditations where it's possible (and they did) hit fifth dimensional awareness. These are not run of the mill people either, they're intelligent people with life experiences that surpasses most of our own (the founder who is now a DR. was from the middle east and dodging bombs/watching her friends/family die off in explosions). If these people can open their mind up to more, what's stopping the rest of us?
My beliefs are mix and matched from different religions/view points. I research what I'm interested in and I collect ideas that resonate with me. I form and organize my own thoughts but I don't feel a need to push it on others like religion does. The most we can do is be aware ourselves and liberate others with our journey of self discovery.