Whether non-believing groups agree or do not in the guidelines of any of the known religions, the persistent facts dictate that bad religious practitioners do not necessarily represent the true characters of the practice. Without traffic laws, motorists may not behave in a courteous manner, and many accidents would be the outcome of the absence of the law that should guide and direct people to reach their destination without compromising the rights of others. No one can convert a bad act into a good one because it is faith-based. Religions were taken advantage of, which resulted in abuse, murder, and other crimes. For sure when scriptures are taken out of context, misinterpretation finds room, and wrongdoing may be the outcome.

Having said that, modern society thrives on contemporary operational systems that guides and defines the role of its citizens to preserve the rights of all disregarding gender, color, or race, while each exercises own privileges. While religions come into place to provide a point of reference, with preemptive measures that can contribute to preserve the integrity of the society, they do interact with, but do not necessarily dictate, day-to-day functions of individuals, and are able to propose solutions that people can make sense of, which would allow them to function with the continuum of guidance that religions have to offer. As our society deals with many social ills, including rampant cost of alcoholism, drugs, domestic violence, and crime, man-made laws fall short of proposing comprehensive answers needed to restore balance in the society. Such a gap identifies better the more active roles that faith-based initiatives can provide for the betterment of the worldwide society, especially that man-made laws tend to satisfy known human needs, abilities, and limitations for a given generation within a given time frame. Unlike divine laws, which are intended to maintain balance in the universe, man-made ones are ego-based, and do not encompass universal laws. When mankind took control of maintaining a clean environment, the black hole resulted, leaving countries scrambling to control global warming. As knowledge facilitates ability to seek the truth, it is interesting to learn that the Pew Research center found that 51 percent of scientists believed in God.

Moreover, the need for reaching out to a super power has been evident from early days of human existence. Way before the presence of the Ten Commandments, or the knowledge of religions, God or holy people, idols became the established powers that people made and reached out to in time of hardship. As time evolved, the very presence of powerful and eloquent personnel further found room in people’s hearts, exemplified by roles models such as Gandhi, and the Dalai Lama. As a built in desire within people, people tend to appreciate and look up to those of exceptional abilities, such as celebrities, information technology innovators (e.g., Bill Gates), artists (e.g., Michaelangelo), and peacemakers (e.g., Nelson Mandela). As an extension of this innate desire, people look up to their own manufacturer, give credit, and would accept guidelines claimed to be of his, as some of the best existing ones for their operations.

Even within the framework of religions, which in essence function as advisory systems for individuals, while some of the guidelines are mandatory, others are optional and “good to do,” rather than being punch of rigid guidelines that intend to police people. If it were not for the divine control over nature phenomena such as weather, humans might argue over the best direction and speed of wind, the amount of rain needed in each part of the world, which would give already imbalanced powers additional reasons that might be abused to control minorities and less powerful countries.

Many incidents and worldwide financial, civil, and political abuses reflect that where the checks and balances were not established, or when consequences were not known to wrongdoers, humans have found ways to act out of their human nature to realize ego-based needs. In the same way, as neither God nor religious act as the “step father” figure for people, both powers give room for individual decision-making, after which, people return eternally to him to assess how accountable each was towards what he or she was entrusted with. If it was not for such gatekeeping mechanisms, society’s moral compass may be left up to the media, Hollywood, or politicians to dictate. Such a problem would threaten not only to alter historically accepted “norms” in a given culture, but also the very sacred family-based traditions that we all value and care to pass from one generation to the next will be at risk of being deformed.

As equality is one concept that religions work on materializing in society, unlike the beliefs of some, after all, salvation after death is not for all. This very concept applies to those who contributed towards their retirement plans, in contrary to others who had no post retirement plans. Once those two criteria of people reach their retirement, quality of life will differ based on their contributions prior to retiring. Accordingly, fairness dictates that in the hereafter, people are treated based on their actions during their lives.

While There is no clear evidence out there to claim that nonreligious individuals have lower levels of morality, as some can be even more giving and contributing than others, there is much evidence indicating that people of faith who adhere to the guidelines of their faith perform with a higher level of morality and based on an ethical frame of reference.

The rising of the billboards can and should be an opportunity for each to contemplate his or her own contributions to the society rather than investing much resources in critiquing others, and to reconcile our records in accordance to the best available frames of reference that will facilitate one’s success in life and after death.