Conversations with religious people seem tend to bring up the comfort of not knowing. People have been taught about the “wonder” of God for years and seem unwilling to consider letting these ideas. Others are frightened by the idea of a limited life span and become angry when it is suggested there is no afterlife. I can relate to this in some respects, take the concept of love for instance.

I want to believe it is a truly magical thing that happens between people and it is all good. But that’s not how it really is. In the end it solely comes  down to chemicals and evolution. I guess it kind of revolves around that Carl Sagan quote

“For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.”

Sure it feels good to lie to yourself and say you will live forever. But is this a good tactic? Personally I’d rather accept the cold, hard truth of a happy little lie.  I accept that one day I will die and be buried. That’s it. Game over. Yet, this gives me inspiration. I know I only have one chance to live and that each day is especially important to not squander. I’m not working for the afterlife, I’m working to improve this current life. I’m reminded of an Einstein quote I like:

“Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death”.

Think critically and enjoy every moment of life you get. Trust those who seek the truth and question those who appear to know it.

Really if you think about it, Yahweh is a complete and total asshole. Why is it that he only chooses to help some? I heard a story about a woman walking alone at night who was almost brutally raped. She prayed not to and was able to walk down the alley past the rapist. Later she was called into the police station and was able to identify the man(who had raped another girl). Afterwards she talks with him and asks why didn’t he rape her. The rapist tells her, “How could I with those two men walking next to you?” I guess the moral behind it is God sent angels to protect her. My objection to the story would be the fact that someone did infact get raped. Why did that have to happen? Did that girl not pray, or was she a sinner? Are all people who are hurt and not protected by God sinners and deserving. I have heard of good people who are killed, robbed, or hurt. Why does God choose not to help them? It really makes Him an asshole to not help some people. If he is omniscient He already knows who is going to be raped. And lets just say He is also omnipotent. That means God has the power to save and protect anybody and any time. The story seems to be passed on because people like the idea of always having protection in an emergency. Yet most fail to see the fact that someone who very likely did pray was hurt. Why does God let good things happen to bad people and bad things to good people?

I completely agree with the quote which says we are all atheists, I just have one less god. I actually take it further and believe we are all born as atheists. I mean look at animals, they don’t have gods or worship. Then again, we have a higher level of consciousness then them so its not the best arguement. Really the only way religion can perpetutate is through indoctrination of offspring. I think instead all children should be raised agnostic until they are ready to make their own decision. Even if its an atheist family, this seems the best option to me. Indoctrination of ANY kind is wrong. Really it seems like child abuse, but good luck passing that in America. If children are told/taught agnosticism it’s really inbetween then. That way when they become adolescents or adults the decision is theirs. Indoctrination takes away the part of choice. Most people wind up with huge psychological scars caused by fear of Hell and punishment. When such things are drilled into your head from an early age, its difficult to break free from them. Religion may have helped us before, but now we understand our world. We don’t need pseudo-science bullshit attempting to explain our world. We have some of the answers. It’s just not fair to force beliefs on anybody, even if they are of atheism.