Atheism

Most of the people I live around and have grown up around believe in a god in one form or another. In fact most people in the Unites States believe in some form of a supernatural force that guides events on Earth. A "God" of some kind is thought of as common sense. Some people say they aren't "religious" but that they are "spiritual". This seems to me like an even lamer way of saying "I've never really put any thought into it, and I don't intend to." The question really is a simple one when you get right down to it. Is there an entity of any form, anywhere, that is sentient, as well as capable of "creating" the Earth? (We will overlook the rest of the universe for the purpose of this post.)

 To me, the question is a valid one. It's an issue that I have invested a substantial amount of time thinking about. It is a question that I have had more than one conclusive answer to in my life. It is a question of what is "real" and what is...not real. There is no such thing as god, and I can tell you why I can be so confident with my answer.
First off, how confident am I that there is no "god" as "god" is commonly understood? Well, I was raised Christian, and so that is the religion that I had to patently reject. Had I been born somewhere else on the planet I'm sure I would have been raised to believe that another religion is the one true path. Christianity is what I was personally indoctrinated with, so it is the religion I am most familiar with. (This fact could also be used to explain why Christians in the US feel that American atheists pick on their religion. Christianity gets more attention because Christianity is the religion most of us were sold from a young age.) Christianity is NOT more ridiculous than others. It's not even the wildest of the religious dogmas in my opinion. It is simply the most popular in this country, and is therefore more exposed. I'm rambling. Moving on.

 I am confident enough in my assertion that there is no god that I am willing to risk hell, and all of it's horrors if I am wrong. I was raised Christian, as I said before, so I am familiar with how "bad" hell is suppose to be. I realize that if I am mistaken and I am greeted by an angel at the gates of heaven after my demise, I will be in a world of shit. I don't tell you that to make you think I am brave. Actually, I tell you that to highlight that I am NOT brave enough to risk such a terrible end. There is no way I would say out loud that god is not real if I had the slightest doubt that his heaven and his hell are fabrications. It would be very stupid to break god's commands and do this, unless I was pretty damn sure, wouldn't you agree? So now that I have cleared up my motives, or at least stated that I understand the ramifications of my beliefs, I can tell you why.

 The fact is that the "hell" itself as a teaching of Christianity reveals a bit about the mindset behind it, and the manipulative nature of the teachings. For instance, both heaven and hell are, or were, described to me as being unimaginable. Heaven is too glorious to be described! Hell is too terrible to be put into words! This says  a lot about the likelihood of the existence of these "places". (In the stars? At the core of the Earth?) The reason why hell has to be SO terrible, is precisely because it is so unlikely. Same story with heaven. If hell were a place that were believable it would really only have to be unpleasant to work as a threat. If there were a way to make it sound less like a fairy tale and more like a real place people would be scared to death that they would end up there. Because it's real! The hell that is described to us however has to be literally beyond words. Because as the whole world was slowly plotted on maps and the depths of the world were explored it became harder to explain exactly "where" this place is.

Some Christians may believe that heaven is a place on earth, or a state of being, but most Christians will not let go of the idea of a physical "heaven". I think I understand why. I am sympathetic to those who hold on to heaven for the sake of their loved ones. We all want to meet up with our people again, and I would never belittle anyone who "needs" to believe we will. More often, "hell" is described as a state of being, or a condition on Earth. Some say you can make your own hell right here, and there is no "lake of fire" as described in the scripture. That is all well and good. I actually agree with this notion. My problem with it is that it still stubbornly insists that there is a "hell".

 The reasons behind my atheism are too numerous for me to write about in one post, so I may come back to this subject in a day or two. I'm not sure what message I hope to get across by explaining my lack of faith. I have had a change in perspective, and I just want to share what I can now see. I was once a Christian. I once believed, REALLY believed, that there was a heaven and hell. I also believed that I had been "saved". It is not my intention to paint believers as stupid. I am not surprised by my neighbors' faith, I understand the way they have come to accept these ideas as true because I once accepted them myself.

 One fact that has become apparent is: The more you learn about religions and religious beliefs, the less sense they make. Belief in supernatural things depend on not being investigated scientifically. Supernatural beliefs depend on having an air of mystery, and being elusive. Those who believe in such things erect a wall in their mind. A wall that protects those beliefs from the rationality that guides every other area of their life. Some people are able to convince themselves that there really IS magic, miracles, ghosts, angels, and god. But belief is not a choice. Or at least it shouldn't be. There is either enough evidence to support a claim, or there isn't. You are either convinced, or you are not. The burden of proof is on those who are making claims that something is there. They have been claiming that a god is there for a very long time, but the evidence is not there. I hope that somebody out there will be honest with themselves and reexamine their own beliefs. You do yourself a disservice if you continue to believe things that are untrue.

 Regardless of my neighbors' opinion, I believe we are all in this together. Getting rid of these superstitious ideas would give humanity one less excuse to kill each other.