God & Religion - The Dilemma

If anyone’s preparing to roll up their sleeves & start a brawl before reading this, let me tell you that I don’t intend to berate anyone’s belief or religion. I’m just stating that certain people literally hound others to make them believe in an entity that might not exist & confine things down to a rigid religion. Eventually they tie their formerly reluctant victims (now “pious”) to that religious anchor & drop it down the lake of theology & drown them in their own fervor. Now, I do believe in God. It's something that gives me strength although there's no "proof" of a supernatural power. But it irks me when people claim that I SHOULD have "A" God specifically in mind along with a religion. I understand that most people need an image in mind. I don't. I’m spiritual, not religious. I almost regard God as air. I refer to that entity as “he” or “Jesus “since that appealed to me as a child but I don’t exactly assert it. I don't have a form in mind. I believe in one God. I don’t believe that everything is black & white. I have questions that are matted in my head. I understand others’ beliefs & truly respect them, but I'm not thrilled when they attempt to implant their ideas in me. I ignore their scoffs at how I view God, but if they get all vindictive about it & insist that I SHOULD do it their way, then my patience eventually runs out. You have your convictions about God. Let me have mine. I'm sure God (whoever it is) won’t mind & I don’t think I’ll burn in hell for it. So atheists who are noble for the most part still go to hell because they don’t believe in God?? I recently had a conversation with someone from school who tried to convince me about heaven & hell including other stuff. He said that hell is “where you burn for eternity with an enemy.” I’m puzzled with the whole life-after-death phenomenon, let alone enduring endless flames after death with an archrival; not that I’m aware of any. I’m not mocking that belief. I’m just saying that I can’t fathom it & it doesn’t invoke fear in me. I don’t treat others well because I’ll be penalized. I do it because I don’t want to hurt them. So I tried to be civil to him about my skepticism about hell. But when he really pushed his way through, I told him pointblank: “I don't know much about heaven, I might even believe in it but I definitely believe that earth is hell.” He was speechless for a moment. I never get to say this, but “he asked for it!” Now I don’t literally mean that earth is hell. It’s a beautiful world if you let it be. It just feels like hell when things go awfully awry around the globe. My point is that if you’re really pious & have compassion for others, you’d rather just make suggestions to those who are willing to cling on to something that will let them find hope in this world. If you were really that religious, you would stop hurting others by slandering their convictions. I don’t think your religion commends that. If it does, then you’ve entered the wrong sanctuary. As far as I know, most religions loath spiteful remarks. Before you start ordering me to read your book AKA the “word of God,” you better go read the part about how crude it is to disrespect others. You’re allowed to defend your own faith if it’s questioned, but it’s not your business to intrude in others’. You talk about how “superior” your religion is compared to others. Religion is designed to teach you to be unbiased & not to degrade others’ beliefs. Instead of wasting your energy trying to lure people into your web with your malicious speech, expend whatever you have left in helping someone out. If physical work is too hard for you, then a kind word to someone might be easier. For once, try listening to someone else talk about their religion. You’ll be surprised at what it’ll teach you even if you don’t believe in that religion. If you want to use your religion for good, then do good & say good things without interrogating other’s convictions. Just LIVE & LET LIVE…