Replying to Religion and Faith

I have been contemplating this topic for quite a while. If you really dig deep in the past and look at religion objectively, in a historic perspective, religion has caused hundreds of wars, segregated so many and generally speaking has been a means of controlling any population that was governed by a church or influenced by one.

The many religions that are prominent today all started with a single person, his voice and his vision. I truly am sorry to those who I might offend by writing this but why do so many back up the visions of a single person.

For example: Jesus Christ ( single man, convinced many thousands of years ago), Abraham and later Moses,  Muhammad ( convinced many that Islam was the proper religion)

People laugh at Mormons but in the end what is so different about the beginning of their beliefs from the beginning of other beliefs other than the fact that there is a large time difference.

Nonetheless, these three major religions are also centered around "holy" scriptures which are notably said to have been handed down from the gods to humans. People have based and sacrificed their lives for these writings, which in the end show no proof of divine intervention and seemingly show many signs of formal rules that are today outdated and useless which further seek to control the population.

I don't see why so many choose to defend religions other than the obvious fact that this how we are brought up in our households. We are brought up believing in what our parents believe, this might change over time but many do believe what they have been taught.

I digress, faith on the other hand, is something that no religion, no scriptures, no stories and certainly no rules can define, control or manipulate. Faith is what exists in you and what you think of the world. Faith in others around you, faith in nature, faith in yourself, faith that without knowing what happens when you die, you choose to life a healthy life and better yourself each and every opportunity you can. Faith has long been separated from religion and many fail to see this. Sure some have faith in current religions but how are so many blind to the fact that they solely believe in someone else's ideals and beliefs established centuries ago?

As I currently write this, I can assure you I have faith. I have faith in certain aspects of life. I go to bed each and every day knowing that there is no need for me to bother myself with religion but rather concentrate on how I can better others lives around me and just how beautiful life really is. I have faith that in others and this might be the single most important flaw in human nature, because so many have lost sight of what faith really is.