I’ve stated that my religious evolution has been from Christian, to agnostic, to atheist. And I was asked how I arrived at my current state of mind, believing there is no God (specifically the Christian God, but it can apply to others).
I started out as a Christian the same way that most people do, I was born into a Christian family. I was actually raised in a church founded and literally built by my family. But being a Christian because I was born a Christian is actually a key to the puzzle of why I don’t believe today. You see, if I had been born into a Jewish family, I’d probably be Jewish, with no belief in Jesus. If I had been born in India, I’d probably be Hindu, with a belief in Vishnu and other gods, reincarnation, and wouldn’t enjoy the steaks and burgers that are so delicious.
If I were born on a Pacific island a couple of hundred years ago, I might be worshipping Pele the volcano god. If in Greece a couple of thousand years ago, Apollo and Zeus might be my gods. If I had been born in Haiti, I might practice the strange art of Voodoo, with its associated gods. And what if I had been born 20 thousand years ago? I’d likely be worshipping gods that man has long since forgotten.
So, which religion you belong to, and which gods you believe in depend on cultural, regional, and temporal factors. In other words, people don’t believe in certain gods because those gods exist, but rather that’s the local gods they are taught to believe in. Gods are the creation of man, not the other way around. If God were real, you’d have the same religion springing up independently all over the world. Everyone should already know about Jesus, or Apollo, or Vishnu, or Thor. But instead, people don’t know about these gods until the knowledge of them is delivered by man.
I have no need for gods. I’m not sad. I’m not lost. I have a good life. And even if the complexity of the universe means there must have been a creator, or creators, that’s where it stops. We don’t know the mind of these creators. We can’t claim that for some reason they’re sad if we fornicate. The bible, the Koran, and other religious texts are not the word of gods, but rather man telling you what they think the word of the gods is. And they all claim that their particular god is the one and only, the true god.
I know people will claim that their particular god is real. But what makes that one real, but the thousands of others are not? Why is Jehovah the one and Vishnu not? The simple answer is that’s the prevalent god in this country. You might claim that your god gives you comfort and happiness in life, but to me it’s the spiritual equivalent of a lucky horseshoe. I have the same fulfillment without the need of a god.
This article is more rambling than I like, and I really haven’t covered a lot of other associated things, but it gives the basics. I simply don’t believe, see no need to believe, and definitely don’t see any proof. Before someone tells me why their particular god is real, I’d rather hear their reasons as to why all the other gods are not!
