Why religion can be messy

If there is a God, and this God does communicate with us... why then is religion so messy at times?

Some people see the mess and take it as evidence that there is no God and that ALL aspects of ALL theological theories are 100% fraudulent.

I have another theory to propose. This theory can be illustrated with an analogy.

Image a beautiful river with a pure and clean head that begins at the left. Then there are pools of water that drain into the river. By the time the river gets to the right... its not as pure as it used to be. Sometimes it is absolutely filthy.

Feel free to see my ideas about what some of these pools may be. (see illustration below).

Overall, for me, drinking water is better than the alternative, but its probably best to filter it a bit (or put a few pool-dams in). Its good to have an idea of what needs to be filtered or dammed off.

There are those who don't filter their water at all, and after one taste, spew it out and never drink again. I personally find the water to be refreshing and delicious, but I am judicious about which pools I allow to drain into my river.

Some people feel that there is no pure head of the river, and that the whole thing is just an outpouring from a pool of lies and delusions. This is possible-- anything is possible. But in light of a great deal of study and experience, I have not come to that conclusion, though I think it is a viable conclusion for some people to come to based on their experiences, it is not mine.