True Believers: Do they truly believe?

I was talking to a self-proclaimed religious person yesterday and as always I became frustrated with hypocrisy. I asked the person if she was religious and she said yes, I asked if she truly believed in God, Heaven, Hell, Angels and the whole nine yards and she said yes. Then I asked her if there was any doubt in her mind that her belief is wrong and she emphatically said no. Those answers you will undoubtedly get from any religious person.

The interesting part of the conversation came later though. I asked her about a series of duties that her religion requires her to perform. I asked her whether those duties are optional? She said no, I asked her whether those duties could be put off until a later date? She said no. Then I asked her, why does not she perform all said duties? Her answer astonished me, mainly because of her audacity.

She told me that she was not ready and she did not want to commit and then stop. She said that she realized that those responsibilities were required of her and she recognizes that she is being a bad religious person when she does not perform them. That answer is not as impressive or significant if we did not preface the conversation with those questions. If she did not spend the first twenty minutes of the conversation making sure that I know her belief is unwavering, her answer would not be as hypocritical.

If someone believes in a monotheistic religion fully and does not perform the duties required by that religion, then they do not really believe in that religion. If I knew (not thought but believed) that a certain religion is correct then I am sure to follow every bit and piece, every nook and cranny required of that religion, because I would know that I am making an investment for the afterlife. I would think that every rational person would do the same being in that situation.

Please stop parading your belief in my face especially if that belief is all words and no action.