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Rated: 13+ · Essay · Personal · #1076788
I'd like your comments on this.
I am an agnostic. I believe that knowledge is the enemy of faith.
This conviction may not be easy to grasp and I myself have thought about this.
I believe I have my own reasons why I don't need a god; whether he exists or not wouldn't make any difference in my life.

Religious faith is blind. It is forced. It is encultured. Religion, after all, is created to account for mysteries we cannot answer and promise us the eternal happiness we cannot find here. But God is dead, as Nietzsche has said. We don't need a god to explain things today.

How can I believe in something I cannot see, hear, touch and smell?
The definition of a god for me is a force, but not necessarily a positive force. It must be both positive and negative. Good and evil. Darkness and light. Placing human attributes to a god is no different to the Greek Pantheon. And the word "god" is inappropriate. God is a "he". It is a male. And the creator is neither a female. Like I said, it should not possess human attributes. The creator should be an "it". It should be amorphous. And most of all it must exist outside the consciousness of man. And it must not interfere with our daily affairs.

But people like magic. They want miracles that can solve their problems. (That is why if someone out there wants to be a god or a goddess I can give you some tips. Requirements of becoming divine: virgin birth, some sort of book, magic, ability to persuade and deceive, resurrection, and a promise of eternal happiness and life.)

People search for perfect happiness. What fools! They spend their lifetime doing sacrifices. If for some it gives them peace of mind, I think it will be impossible for most of us now.

And what if we don't have souls? What if the idea of eternity is not true?

And why does it always have to be good vs. evil. Is good really good? Is bad really bad? What are our standards of good and evil anyway?

Some religions have pagan rituals and stuff. Do we really need that for the salvation of our souls? And what are repeated prayers for?

Children should not be baptized at an early age. They should not be admitted to some group they have no idea of what its history and intents are. I am not against people who want to be a part of such a group but each one should be given a choice.

Why is the Catholic church trying to hide Jesus' marital status? Is celibacy also a requirement of being divine? He can't be single at that time. The Jewish law requires that all young men should get married. Rabbis too should get married. It's impossible for him not to follow that law.

If you want eternal happiness you cannot find it in any religion. Prayers, ritual and the like won't save your soul. We don't even know if there's heaven or hell or a purgatory. Sometimes these things are lame excuses for our mistakes. We cling to them when we're faced with problems we cannot handle. And because we do not want to think that our lives have no purpose. That when we die, everything we have worked for will cease to exist. With a promise of a second life, we have given meaning and purpose to our existence and yet we have no proof that there is eternal life. It is just like gambling. We invest in something we are not sure of just because there are great rewards.

Are these things created to instill fear in us? How can a god be merciful if he cultivates fear?

We can only formulate guesses until someone comes back to save us all from eternal damnation.
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