I have an idea that there is some kind of supreme being. This idea has nothing to do with what anyone else has taught me is right or because 'everybody else' thinks there's a higher power. I think this because everything has to start somehow. In the beginning, there was nothing. Or was there? There are way too many creation theories out there for me to choose one, so I won’t choose any. Stuff happened, things were created. Those things created other, better things and so on and so forth. A long time ago, some men heard voices and saw visions, wrote them down, traslated it about 10 different times, and eventually called it the Bible. Around the same time, other men heard other voices and had other visions, wrote them down, and called it the Koran. See a pattern yet? Religion is merely a personal set or institutionalized system of beliefs, attitudes, and practices. Wasn't man given the power of choice? If someone tells you the way they think something should be done, wouldn't you use what you know to try to improve upon that concept? So wouldn't it stand that if the will of the Almighty doesn't match someone's personal outlook, they could distort it to fit them better? Then what if that someone took it a step further and wrote their beliefs down as the will of Almighty? Bingo-bango, you get the Bible, as well as all other religious texts floating around out there. I find the Bible to show the will of God to be very biased and insular. As free-willed as He supposedly created us, I just see the mass's interpretations of how God says we should live our lives to be extremely fanatical. As for worshiping something as our creator, I find that unnecessary. Things get created all the time and it's foolish to expect any creation to pay homage to the author. Start a forest fire and does it obey your every whim? Of course not. Ah, but us humans have a choice, don't we? We can choose to follow the straight and narrow-minded path a particular religion has set before us, or we can do things our own way. And what's wrong with doing it your own way? Plenty! There are some real nut-jobs out there that have a twisted sense of right and wrong. Many religions have some decent beliefs that translate to very good guidelines. It's from those I base my own system of ideals upon. I like to feel in control of my own life, but when things start to get out of hand, I admit I do call for help from above. Lots of things influence my decisions, but in the end, it's still up to me what I do with my life. And when my life is over? Dying doesn't really frighten me. It may piss me off if I die and I don't feel I'm done with all I'm trying to do with my life. I have some ideas about what will happen to my consciousness when my body dies. Whatever will happen, I'm not going to find out until it does, so there's no use in agonizing about it now. Bottom line, you can be a good person without being religious.