I was almost hesitant to write this article for fear of pissing off a vengeful god. But then I asked myself, is it really possible to piss off something that does not exist? I think Homer Simpson said it best when he stated, "God, my favorite fictional character." As much as I hate to disappoint all of you church-goers out there, I regret to inform you that despite popular belief, the thing around which you center your lives is nothing but lies and hollow promises. God is about as real as Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny, Heaven about as real as Never Never Land. Though the concept may seem tempting to believe, it has absolutely no basis in reality.
To begin, let's examine the source of these beliefs by which so many people are willing to live and die. Religious people (Christians specifically) base their entire lifestyle on a book. No one has ever verified or made any attempt to verify the validity of the "word of God." Why, you ask. Because it would be impossible to do such. The Bible has no more validity as God's spoken word than does a Steven King novel. Who's to say that the so-called prophets who supposedly wrote the books of the Bible are legitimate? Perhaps they were lying and just wanted to make a name for themselves. Perhaps they suffered from schizophrenia and their miraculous prophecies are nothing more than hallucinations. Perhaps their visions were the result of drugs commonly used in the time period. I am also very wary of the so-called miracles that were performed by Jesus. In reality he was probably nothing more than an excellent showman, able to stun the masses of dim-wits with his clever trickery. As a magician, Jesus probably was the king of kings. But as a prophet, nothing more than a fraud. Personally, there are simply too many what-ifs for me to center my life around such a sketchy belief. Religion is nothing more than a blind acceptance of a ridiculous belief.
But just for the sake of argument, let's pretend for a second that the Bible actually is legitimate. It contains many fascinating and entertaining stories. I mean, people rising from the dead, that's some crazy shit. The stories are quite captivating and never fail to prove their moral lesson, but are nothing more than fables. Are we really supposed to believe that it rained for forty days and forty nights and some dumbass named Noah was the only one to survive? As if no one else had access to a boat back in Noah's time. In addition the stories that are clearly fictional, the Bible itself is vague and full of contradictions. The Bible asserts free choice, but also insists that God controls all that happens in the universe. It states that seeking vengence is acceptable (and eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth), but also directs people to "turn the other cheek." The Bible claims that God is love and yet portrays him as extremely vengeful. How can anyone begin to make sense of something that is so contradictory? This vagueness was not a mistake, but rather an integral part of the Bible. When something is vague and contradictory, it is impossible to disprove. The way in which the Bible was written has prevented it from being definitively proven to be a hoax.
As much as I despise religion, I feel that everyone is entitled to their beliefs. But it seems that religious people do not share the same respect for the beliefs of others. They constantly preach about how the lifestyles and beliefs of other people with supply them with a one-way ticket to Hell. They continously try to convert others to conform to their beliefs. Missionaries are perhaps the best examples of this phenomenon. Christians travel around the world trying to deny other cultures of their beliefs, coercing them to instead adopt Christianity. Forcing your beliefs on other people is never justifiable.
I have also become aware of the fact that several characteristics exist that are common among religous people. They tend to be irrational people who believe what they are told rather than what they can see or what can be proven to them (wouldn't you have to be to accept the Bible as truth). To believe that one knows the answers in life that religious people claim to know is nothing more than arrogance. They also never take the time to educate themselves on other viewpoints, thus becoming very narrow-minded. Take the theory of evolution for example. Any Christian would be quick to dispute this theory of how man came to exist in our current form, but how many of them actually understand the subject they refuse to accept. A common misconception is that the theory of evolution claims that man evolved from apes. This is not the case. Evolution asserts than both man and ape evolved from a common ancestor. There are many facts and massive amounts of evidence to support this theory. By carefully examining the fossile record, one can almost see evolution occuring before their eyes. Another good example is the concept of life after death. Religions embrace the belief that some form of eternal afterlife exists. However science has a much more logical and methodical approach to the situation. Everything that makes us who we are (our personality, intelligence, memories, habits, etc.) is a result of chemical and electrical reactions that occur within our brains. When we die and our brains cease to function all of the things that make us what we are no longer exist, making life after death an impossibility. Though these are still technically only theories, they are both logical and based on concrete scientific evidence. What is religion based on? A single book. It makes much more sense to base your beliefs on what is known to be true rather than a vague and contradictory book.
In reality, God is nothing more than a security blanket for people who refuse to accept reality. It is a poor attempt for people to try to make themselves feel like their lives have meaning or to ease their fear that life ends with death. But despite many devote followers, religious institutions have lost sight of their purpose. Instead they now focus on creating as large of a following as possible and generating profit, in the process becoming nothing more than a cult with tax-exempt status.
Bible...$10
Offering at church...$5
Realizing that there is no God...pricelessess