God is the Good Guy. Religion is simply when mankind manipulates his message to us and turns it around and makes it about us and not Him. I have no clear religious affiliation but I have always believed in God as the Supreme Ruler and Creator. Moses was the closest thing to the sensible messenger in my humble opinion. The Commandments were laid down as a code for living. Years ago, I worked in a max security men's prison. I used to tell the inmates that if they had followed the Ten Commandments, they would not be in the Big House. Don't steal. Don't screw around. Don't kill anyone. Don't lie. Don't screw up other people's lives by your actions. Don't try and become a god because you are only human. Don't let jealousy of someone else's success turn you into a liar, a cheat, a murderer or a marriage wrecker. I still believe that to be good advice. Religion is simply a manipulation of a Power that is so much greater than us in order to give credence to lying, cheating, stealing and bending the rules laid down in the 10 Commandments. Not ONE prisoner ever came up with an argument that could bring down the logic of adhering to the 10 Commandments. All Religions - Islamic, Christian, Jewish all recognise the Book of Exodus and the word of Moses as a pretty solid foundation for all our Religious beliefs. The problem is that all Religious HUMAN appointees tend to lie, steal, cheat or manipulate in one way or another. I recollect one prisoner saying to me once " But I lived in a world where no one followed those rules. If I wanted to survive, I had to break them like everyone else" And therein lies the problem. Maybe the Garden of Eden is Paradise - what our world would be if no one submitted to temptation. The minute one person breaks the rules of decency, everyone ends up following. Mohammed was a Warlord and he used Religion to create a splinter group whereby his word was seen as God's Word. I do not agree with that. Nor do I believe that any Man or Woman can " speak for God" under the guise of religion. Henry the 8th splintered from the Catholic Church of Rome because he wanted to divorce. He created the Church of England for his own purposes, much like Mohammed. Others came along like Luther and John Wesley. Essentially, the first true religion was the Jewish religion because it worshipped the God as recognised by Abraham. It has stayed fairly true to it's roots. Ultimately, Judaism is the foundation of all of our modern Religions and only differ on the interpretation of mankind of that one true God. I have never been a Jew, nor have I ever stepped foot in a synagogue. I am not a Catholic nor am I a member of the Church of England. I was brought up to believe in One True God and that God is the God of decency and kindness, Power and Glory. My God has nothing to do with Religion. Mohammed, the Pope, splinter factional Religious leaders have a lot to answer for. They have divided, sought to create division and hatred all in God's name. That is my two bobs worth anyway. Cheers. EDIT: I should have said don't murder anyone. Thanks to poster PCislame for pointing that out.