Religion and Gods

I have been a reluctant but a forceful speaker whenever my opinions on religon has been sought or whenever I have felt I need to express my thoughts in order to not be seen as endorsing a view that to me seemed narrow and untrue.

I have had a chat with a few people I have met recently and " I dont profess, practice or believe in any religion" seems to be a common refrain. I do not know if this is the latest fashion. May be it is...for I do not see any logical basis for people saying that they dont profess, practice or believe in any religion. Now before you howl your protest at this statement of mine hold on for a minute and kindly read the rest of the blog.

I am not a fanatic who professes a particular religion and hence sees anyone who doesnt agree with my religeous inclination as an infidel. I myself do not profess or practice any established religion and therein lies the trouble. I am not an atheist nor am I a member of any bizzare cult. I firmly believe in god and this belief is based on my interpretation of life. My interpretation could be completely incorrect. Conversely it could be perfect. That is not the debating point. My debating point is this.

Is it possible for someone to not have a religion? It is imperitive to answer this question, I clarify what I mean by religion. One of the definition given in a popular dictionary is thus:
The outward act or form by which men indicate their recognition of the existence of a god or of gods having power over their destiny, to whom obedience, service, and honor are due; the feeling or expression of human love, fear, or awe of some superhuman and overruling power, whether by profession of belief, by observance of rites and ceremonies, or by the conduct of life; a system of faith and worship; a manifestation of piety;

So, the pre-requisite for having a religion is a belief in god or in a force that is superior to self(even atheist would have a god in this case because there is human interactions that may be argued as being superior to self because that determines a man's destiny). I believe in god. Which means I should have a religion. I do, but wait I said I didnt just a paragraph back? I did and thats true as well! This isnt going anywhere is it? Ok let me take a step back. I believe in god and I believe that a religion is a set of moral codes that governs each man. This set of moral code could be logical or illogical. Self-made or made by someone else. Irrespective of its origin, this set of moral code is what constitutes a religion according to me. Now I do not have a religion in the webster dictionary mode. I do not feel any fear nor do I care too much about ceremonies or rites. Hence my first asseration that I do not have a establishd religion myself. Now if the people I met meant what I mean, I do not see any logical inconsistancy. But supposing a minority of those didnt?
Does that mean that they lead a life without having a set of moral codes. Lincoln when asked what he thought of religion mentioned a man called Glenn in Indiana who had a simple theory of religion. He said, "when I do something good, I feel good and when I do something bad I feel bad and that is my religion". This sums it up. A primitive and simpler form of a religion is a man's own conscience. This is the moral code that governs him. Coming back to my debate, anyone who lives should be living by a moral code? If he is then he does follow a religion, i.e his own moral code.

My point? When someone says they dont have a religion, do they say they dont have a moral code governing them? I think they mean they dont believe in any established religion. They better mean so. Wars, conflicts, suffering would all arise because of a lack of moral code in men. My fear is what provoked this blog. Is it just fashion that people dont have a religion? Do they just mean they dont profess any established religion? Or is it the case that moral codes that govern men are slowly vanishing?

I do not know. I am merely wondering. That is after all the easier thing to do!