Freshman English #2

What does religion mean to me? I like religion. I don't understand it but I like it. I used to understand religion. I believed there was a God who would do anything I wanted, from blue skies for a picnic to owning a pony. To me God was sort of a Santa Claus. I thought he had his eye on me all the time and if anything bad happened he knew it. That never bothered me except on my birthday and Christmas. But now I don't understand religion. It's hard to tell what you believe. All my Sunday School theories have been blown up. My memory verses don't mean as much. The Golden Rule seems a little out of place. The Bible stories don't seem as true. Still I believe in things, that there is God and Prayer. Prayer is the backbone of religion. If you want things you have to go out and get it, but instead of having it handed to you I realize you have to go out and help God get it for you. But going back to religion. Just what am I to believe in? That religion tells right from wrong and right will prevail. If so, are Japan and Germany right and America wrong? Is it right for two countries to destroy the people of the rest of the world? Religion as I understand it helps others but this seems an act of help yourself first. Is religion something that only the very young and the very old believe in? All these things need to be straightened out in mind before I can decide what to believe. I received a B-.