Rather long...but you might agree, even if you are religious. I've thought of ways of tackling this question of religions validity. Many times, I have found that religious people tend to shelter around the concept that no one could prove them wrong in order to prove themselves right. This is not a good concept, because in the situation you base your life around concepts that lack any proof whatsoever such that neither you nor anyone else is able to provide substantial proof for your belief- a situation humorously metaphorical of the parable about the man who built his house on the shore vs the stone. But I have something better this time. First, we have to say that since it is not completely possible to prove that God does not exist in the vastness of known existence, we have to say that there is a possibility for his existence. So a belief in an overarching creator is not unfounded. It's actually the very first step in science- a hypothesis without proof. However, it's very likely that your realization of such a being does not go around that when you think about it. It is a belief, but as a person, surely you have had many beliefs in life that you sincerely felt were true only to be shown, upon maturity and with more experience, were false beliefs. So even though your belief in a God is not a crazy idea, it's when you begin to create facts supporting that where you begin a path to self-deception. For instance...you say you believe in a God who created everything. Where is the proof? This word inspires immediate resentment in religious people, or an overly disarmed account of a highly ambiguous or suspicious circumstance in which the faithful have individual experiences with God that remain incommunicable or able to be shared between two people at the same time. It would seem each person has their private God. Most of what people know of God comes from a 100% earthly teaching. First, they chose a book to base their belief on, then that boo begins to color in more of the ethereal being known as God. Almost always, the presence, suggestions, or the nature of the God people claim to experience privately is a reflection of their religion. In the US, people claim to see Jesus, and almost never see God. Others who don't believe in Jesus claim to hear or see God. People in different regions of different faiths claim to hear God, but he says two conflicting things to each. Soldiers on different sides of the same war claim that God actively defended them from death or aided in them killing another person. God, in almost all cases, is said to be the master of all things, yet is only given responsibility for the good things. Or he is said to be a loving observer of humanity that mourns our poor choice in free will...while at the same time is said to have created the rigid system of beliefs and social practices and laws that are not to be transgressed by humanity at the expense of paradise after death- another facet which has no proof of existence whatsoever. Take this case. If your lover comes home late often and tells you he has been working overtime, but is unable to ever give proof of this, is it better to be faithful, or is it better to be suspicious that you are being cheated on? Does this situation ever find a healthy resolution if it is allowed to persist, or does it find resolution when you are able to prove your lover is still faithful? This is what is known as being "strung along". You have no proof, you are handed a bunch of suggestions and emotional appeals, and you follow your heart rather than your head. You live by faith and not by fact. Now, no one is completely devoid of faith. But there is a difference between a little healthy faith, and absolute unquestioning, non-probing faith. I would say that true faith and devotion to a thing could never be unquestioning. If you put your heart into something, you want to find out as much about it as possible. The lack of true curiosity or investigation betrays a deeper truth in the religious that it is not "God" whom they truly care about or are seeking in religion. Religion is, more often than not, a form of escapism; a reassurance that there is something good waiting at the end of your trials. It is a hope. It is wishful thinking. But it is that, plus an administrative guild that guarantees these things for a list of varying official duties, fees, and rituals. In conclusion, faith in God is just that and that alone. There is no religion. Religion is the earthly lie that is corrupting your honest search o curiosity into the possible existence of a creator-being you call God. In a sense, science is your best bet. Observation and experimentation. When you observe the good and bad transactions between people in your family, or your neighborhood, or your world, do you say that your God, who created all, is only responsible for the good? Or do you say your God, who created all, is responsible for all? Instead of resenting the possibility of evolution, you should seriously investigate it. Why? Because evolution would not disprove God, it only disproves the false notion you have been taught to believe about God. Who knows if God is actually the creator of all?? Maybe he is a being apart from creation. Or maybe he was simply the initial spark of creation from which all things eventually evolved. Or, maybe, he is creation. The entirety of creation of which we exist within and as a part of, like pieces of an organic being. These are all hypothesis, but the difference is that I do not base my life on the belief that these are truths, nor do I reject truths or ignore inconsistencies in the way I would chose to believe in God. This is maturity and it is something religious pushers do not inspire in people. The provoke a godlike awe and reverence devoid of reasoning. And this is a manipulation and a deception. This is a societal evil, and if anything, it is one of the evils that you should avoid. In the end, religion blinds true vision and it is even antithetical to faith. Faith is belief in the unknown, but religion claims to know the unknowable. If you think about it, religion claims that God is unknowable and unperceivable and yet they know and perceive him at the same time. In my most sincere wording, I believe religion to be a hijacking in the general human faith in optimism. In a better tomorrow, or a better circumstance. Religion capitalizes of these facets. The very object of our faith is said to be a reward of happiness, peace, and contentment. Our hopes and dreams of a promising end have been hijacked by con-artists who have convinced you that they know of this place and they personally know the Lord of such a land, and that if you just do what they want, you'll as good as in there. They have you do good things...they have you do bad things...but as long as you follow what they say, you're good to go. Your faith in happiness is the earthly currency of manipulative parasites.
