Stories
Wrestling with the gods
I was born free and then Methodized. Now, I am an Atheist, an Empiricist, and a Scientist.
Mom took us to church every Sunday. I struggled with the church at an early age but accepted this Sunday ritual as something that I just did. I sang in the choir, went on youth choir tours, and went to vacation bible school, but I never gave god much credence.
In my last high school days, I began to doubt that a god existed and formed a small group of like-minded friends. Unbelief was a very unpopular stance in 1970s Alabama, so we kept our thoughts and discussions within the group.
During a coffee break at Motion Industries, while reading a book called King of Kings, I reacted emotionally to the description of what Jesus did in his last hours. I became a believer. I studied the Bible for years. Though that brought many good things to my life, I had doubts. There were inconsistencies, anomalies, and down-right lies in the scriptures. The more I studied, the more I struggled.
I took a break and invested more time in science. I tried to justify the two, but they were too far apart. I called this Wrestling with the gods.
Science won.
For a while, I adopted a scientific agnostic approach. I thought it was the safest position since there is no proof for or against.
A few years ago, I took the next step to free my mind from the tether of Religion. I adopted a four-point position -
1. There is no god nor has there ever been a god.
2. gods and all holy books are the work of man.
3. Heroes of holy books, if they existed at all, are only men, deified by men.
4. Religion is based on temporary scientific ignorance.
To that end, I wrote the following treatise to myself. Perhaps it was an admonishment. Before you read it, know that this is for me and that I respect your right to believe whatever you want, as long as it does not step on my toes.
Blind Faith
"It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." ~ Carl Sagan
You do not believe in god. There is no supreme being.
You've always had doubts. Years of indoctrination have ridden you with guilt for them. How dare you not accept our savior's sacrifice, risking eternal damnation? How can you betray almost everyone you know? Yet, you continue to have them. Why? Because everything around you points toward a different conclusion.
Your omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent god is conspicuously absent, inactive, and uncaring about what is happening.
Why are hospitals full of little children suffering horrible diseases? So that their parents can prove their faith and lean on this god of yours for comfort and hope, for the miracle that never comes? What kind of messed-up shit is that?
People die in war every day over ideological, economic, and religious differences. No matter what the reason, "god is on our side." god has real problems making up his mind.
You have already recognized the inconsistencies.
Discarding god means throwing away your security blanket. You will have to stand on your own two feet. You become responsible for your morals, ethics, and decisions. You are your strength. Stand up for yourself.
You must willingly disregard all scientific evidence to hold on to your beliefs. You know the deal. You know there is no god like you know that Helios doesn't drive the sun across the sky in a chariot.
Man created gods and religions to explain the explainable. Bad weather, famine, drought, disease, and death were all mysteries. Religions explained everything—the sun rising, the seasons changing, the inconstant moon, crop growth and failures, stars, wandering stars, and what happens when we die. Before scientific discovery, it was the only thing people had.
People still point to areas that science can not yet explain as proof of the existence of god.
"If that's how you want to invoke your evidence for god, then god is an ever-receding pocket of scientific ignorance that's getting smaller and smaller and smaller as time moves on." ~ Neil deGrasse Tyson
The more we learn, the more we discover that we do not need or have room for a religious explanation.
But your particular holy book will help you maintain your ignorance. It says that if you have the faith of a child, you will receive special blessings. When we were children, we waited for Santa to bring presents but dropped him when we took a closer look. All evidence to the contrary, Santa did not pass the common sense test. Neither does a god.
1st Corinthians 13:11 says it best - "When I was a child, I spoke like a child, thought like a child, and reasoned like a child. When I became an adult, I put away childish things."
Religion has been and continues to be the primary source of suffering in the world. Why? Because people like you have convinced themselves that they believe the writings of a bunch of ignorant camel herders from centuries ago, who did an unconvincing job of telling stories and then told us these were the WORDS of GOD! Because you are a believer, when some holy man, preacher, or leader says, God Wills It, you march off to perform every manner of atrocity in His Name.
"I put no stock in religion. By the word religion, I have seen the lunacy of fanatics of every denomination be called the will of God. Holiness is in right action and courage on behalf of those who cannot defend themselves, and goodness." The Hospitaller, City of Heaven
Typically, holy scripture tells you that the unbeliever is the fool. Psalms 14: 1 calls them corrupt, vile, and up to no good. Jesus supposedly said to Thomas, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have believed." When writing this, I think it is clear that the writer of John (John 20:29) knew there was a problem with a lack of evidence.
The writer of Hebrews claims (paragraph 11:1) that faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. Whoever wrote this knew there was no substance and no evidence. It should read “assurance and evidence.” If you are true to yourself, you know that god offers you neither.
Look for the evidence. Finding none, come to the obvious conclusion that there is no god. Look at the world and universe and think for yourself. We are just a winning lottery ticket. What you do in your time on Earth is what matters. There is no second chance. You are not going to see your loved ones ever again.
Put away your childish things and make the best of your remaining days. Here is your answer - Now is all there is.