My faith was pre-determined — Baptist — though my parents expose me to Judaism, Catholicism, and some mainline Protestant faiths. I have struggled with numerous religious teachings, faith vs. fact issues and pulpit pastors of various ilks.

As a result, I am comfortable CHOOSING to be faithful to the tenets of our Lord Jesus Christ, while allowing that the humans who lead churches and religious organizations are but humans.

I consider myself spiritual and absolutely Christian, while leaving room that “religion” seems to be a unified set of constructs and lessons designed to harness the broad human condition and provide a set of rules so we can live in civilized society, with a reasonably-common set of ethical and moral guidelines.

Obama’s struggle makes real sense to me, and based on my own walk, I absolutely believe that the early broad exposure to many faith systems trumps dogma and mindless zeal for one’s own handed-down set of uninformed or biased beliefs. Too much of “religion” has been bastardized to appeal one subset of a population or another.

I have heard people describe THEIR religion as the only true path, others describe it as a antidote for the weak to justify their station, and yet others define it as a code to oppress the masses.

Its all those things and more not because of its intent, but because we humans interpret it for personal gain.

At any rate, I feel the path I have chosen is highly ecumenical, yet steeped in the faith that God’s Word is real, and that I am intelligent enough to use it to improve my condition and that of others around me.

This doesn’t deal with concepts central to religion like after-life, proselytizing, and those sorts of issues. I have gone on too long anyway, but its most important to understand what faith means to the individual before applying it across a community or taking on the responsibility of bringing others to a true and accurate understanding of your faith.