Can Religion save us?does religion really matter?

[4everblue]

For me, I don't think religion really matters. What I think matters more is whether one has a personal relationship with their God or vice versa. I mean, if having a religion is all about doing good to others and being "holy", how is it different from the moral or ethics class that most of us might have attended some time or other during out school years? Religion does teach us to be good, but I don't think that's all to it. Besides, we can see a phenomenon of people embracing religions just for their own desires or perhaps pressure from others. All in all, I don't think religion is a means to an end.

And besides for me, religion can not save us it is our faith. It also doesn’t matter to me what religion you are, whether you believe in God or not. I respect others opinion when it comes to belief and cultures, to each its own. I don’t also force anybody to believe in something they don’t like.. We don't need to be so religious. The important is how you understand what life is about and what God means to you…

[agta]

The question boils down to how a person understands or defines religion. According to Wikipedia,

"A religion is a set of beliefs and practices, often centered upon specific supernatural and moral claims about reality, the cosmos, and human nature, and often codified as prayer, ritual, and religious law. Religion also encompasses ancestral or cultural traditions, writings, history, and mythology, as well as personal faith and mystic experience. The term "religion" refers to both the personal practices related to communal faith and to group rituals and communication stemming from shared conviction."

From the above definition, it is clear that religion is not "all about doing good to others and being "holy", whatever that phrase means. True religion also encompasses
personal faith. Therefore, true religion has faith in it. They are not opposed to each other, in the contrary, they go together.
Yes, it is not religion that saves. For their is only one savior, Jesus Christ. But when we journey to Christ, or to God, we are actually already practicing religion.