Think about it

By Brenden

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I'm just about to turn 19 in a fairly religious close-knit family, and I'm an atheist. I don't particularly like the word atheist, because it places a label on the exact people who don't want one.

I used to believe in God and all that jazz. Although I never read the Bible, I did attend Sunday School, and I even got confirmed a Lutheran -- by orders of my mom.

That's when it all started. She forced me to get confirmed against my will, but I did it anyway -- went through the classes and what not. But, as I got older, I started thinking more logically. I was (and still am) a huge fan of The Science and Discovery channels. I'm fascinated with space, and the thought of other life.

If God does exist, why can't He just show me? Why do prayers go unanswered?

I started asking myself these questions and more, and realized, "Duh, all that stuff isn't real."

Think of religion as the game Telephone. Someone says something, and as it gets passed on it changes. Over time it becomes so twisted that it's nothing like the original statement or purpose. That's what I believe is happening with religion. Here's an analysis of a story. In one story, Jesus healed a paralyzed man -- so says the Bible -- but what if the original events were not that he healed him, but helped him cope, and after many years, the story gets twisted.

I completely believe that religion is holding us back from truly exploring the universe and other scientific achievements not yet possible. It also goes back to the question, "If God created everything, then who created God?" But if God created everything, he must've created evil, too, because if He didn't, He wouldn't be omnipotent, and therefore not perfect, and therefore not worthy of our worship.

I'll let you think about that for a second.

See? It contradicts itself! If He did create evil, then why did He create it? Should we be afraid of Him instead of loving Him?

Just think, what will happen if we could somehow disprove the entire Bible. What will Christians say? They, of course, will get scared, and find some radical religious explanation (excuse). Even scientific evidence won't make them happy if it means destroying the one thing they love most, but can't see.

I have some friends who believe that Earth is less than one million years old, and that Earth has the only life in the universe because, "If there were more life, it would've been mentioned in the Bible, which it's not." That's a very naive statement. What if we find some? What then?

Think about it.