The problem with religion

The problem with religion is that it doesn’t allow for critical analysis. I was taught, and believed, that the Bible was infallible, science was anti God, the earth was around 6000 years old and questioning these assumptions could lead to eternal damnation. There was no room for complacency. You were either on fire for God, or a lukewarm Christian. Which, just like questioning your faith, could also lead to what? You guessed it; eternal damnation. So, armed with my new found faith, I began reading my bible regularly. I really didn’t understand it. In fact, some of it seemed downright contradictory. But when I asked the “tough” questions, I was always given the standard biblical answer; you just need to have faith. God’s ways are far above ours. Translation: I have no earthly idea, I just want to avoid hell. So I’ll just blindly accept and follow, and that’s all well and good until you cross one of the their pre approved doctrines. Then, for some reason, they know exactly what God is thinking . Nope, no mystery there.
One of the first things I learned in Sunday school was the golden rule, do unto others as you would have done unto yourself, and the next is just like it, love God with all your soul and your neighbor as yourself. If they would have stopped there, everything else would have fallen into place. But they didn’t, and I was left to figure it out on my own. Now I’m not complaining, because we all have to make our own way in this world, but the fear of eternal damnation if you get it wrong is a huge obstacle to say the least, and one most people aren’t willing to pursue.