Of Alienation and Truth
I feel I must confess, in true livejournal fashion. I am an Atheist. I don’t believe in God.
It’s not for a lack of trying mind you, I’ve spent the last year or so trying to find a dogma I could roll with, but I’ve come to the conclusion that I cannot logically accept any of them. It just doesn’t make sense.
Now that’s not to belittle those that do. The majority of family is very christian, and they are very good people. More power to them I say. But I just cannot roll with magic sky guy, anymore than I can honestly believe in unicorns or the Flying Spaghetti Monster (may you be touched by his noodly appendage). For the existence of God creates more problems than he solves, and frankly seems to reduce the greatness of what the universe has created. The Universe fills me with far more awe and inspiration to know that it was the process of billions and billions of years of slow change, that we are all made of star stuff, and are a piece of whats all around us. That’s a far deeper truth than to believe were magically put here as is, taking all the wonder out of just what nature can do.
A QUESTION OF ETHICS:
We do not need God or religion to be good people. Rather, we are good people IN SPITE OF Religion. The Bible, The Quaran, The Torah, these books do not tell us how to be good and decent human beings, rather – as Richard Dawkins put it – the Zeitgeist of the times tells us our ethical truths. And these truths change as we as people change. Not so long ago, women couldn’t vote, the races were segregated, and the theory of a superior white race was the norm. Abraham Lincoln himself stated that the white race was superior, even as he freed the slaves. And he stated it because it was the Zeitgeist of the era, but it is one we have since moved away from. Yet those who would say we take our moral standing from the Religious texts choose to be blind to the fact that these same books encourage Racism, Sexism, and incredible amounts of violence and sadomasochistic behavior.
So we choose to be good in spite of what the text tell us, rather than because of what the texts tell us.
I am an Atheist, and I’m proud of it.
