MY problem with faith

Disclaimer: No, that isn’t a typo. The following is MY opinion. Anyone who is happy in his/her religious beliefs and doesn’t want to hear anything to the contrary should STOP READING. This is not written for you. I’m not trying to offend you; this is MY OPINION. I have a right to my opinion as much as you have the right to believe whatever ridiculous crap you want. hee-hee! ;)

Ok, let me state right now that I am an atheist. People get all caught up in semantics and labeling. I consider myself an atheist because I don’t believe a god exists. Am I certain of this? No.

“Oh, but then that would make you an agnostic!” someone might say. Whatever! Call me what you want! I call it atheism. Since I have been completely unimpressed by what others might consider evidence of a god’s existence and see no reason to believe that any god exists, I am an atheist. But like the pope, I am not infallible. Maybe there is a god! Anyone who knows for absolute certain either way is at least partially insane. You can believe, you can't know.

Why write this? I don’t know really. I feel like it. I want to talk about why I don’t believe this and explore a bit why I don’t and maybe work though some feelings I have about people who do. If you do and you are offended easily (so many of you are), and you’re still reading at this point then don’t bitch at me! I warned you.

First of all what religion am I talking about? Given my geographical position, I’ve had the most exposure to Christianity but it sort of relates to all of them. Anything based on mysticism, but my comments will relate mostly to Christianity after all I went to a Catholic high school. Again, and this is my last warning, if any of my god-believing friends are STILL reading, don’t take any of this personally! If you do, I will be royally pissed at you. I speak in generalities and not about anyone specifically. ‘Nuff said?

Ok so someone has faith. Where did this faith come from? It was taught to them by their parents, and where did their parents, parents, parents get it? It was from some anonymously written ancient text passed down through the ages, supposedly written by god or by some dude god used to transcribe it for him. Without even opening the book, I have a problem with this already.

1. No one knows who really wrote it. The Christian bible (whichever version you want) had many authors and many editors over the years. How can I weigh the credibility of a text without knowing who wrote it let alone who rewrote it?

2. People are crazy. Some dude walks up to you on the street and tells you he’s talked to god. What do you do? You say, “Super!” and try to get away from that person as quickly as possible. Why are older wack-jobs given more credence? And even if the authors weren’t crazy…

3. People are liars. They have their own agendas. This goes back to that credibility question.

AND SO… I’m expected to believe at the get-go that god wrote this book. Why? Because it says so, in the book. Great! So already, I’m prepared to chuck the book out the window but instead I open it. Bad move! Holy crap! Have the people who put so much stock in this book ever read it? In a nutshell, here are my problems with the bible (old and new testaments):

- It’s insane. To quote David Cross, "What kind of D&D [Dungeons & Dragons] bullshit is this?"

- It’s wrong. Historically and scientifically.

- It contradicts itself. Read the four different accounts of Jesus' resurrection.

- It teaches intolerance, bigotry, playing favorites with children, subjugation of women, slavery, rape, murder, etc.

- It depicts an angry, jealous, childish, unreasonable, unforgiving god. How do you worship something when you don't even respect it? I'd think a "god" would have greater emotional stability than a human.

It's pretty much the same as every other religion. You have to put trust in a text when you don't even know who wrote it and it's full of mystical crap that doesn't exist in our state of being. And you have to put all of your love and trust into a god whom you have not met. How is this fair?

If there is a loving god somewhere and his litmus test for heaven is not the content of a person's character and deeds but instead their ability to suspend disbelief then he's actually pretty mean. It's like a cruel laboratory experiment...

Ok, so I will
1. make a sentient being with the capacity for logical thought and deductive reasoning
2. remove all evidence of my existence except for a badly written, kooky bunch of writings
3. see which still believe I exist and punish the shit out of the ones who use their BRAINS! heh heh heh!

Faith based on flimsy evidence is an unreasonable expectation from such an animal. Not only that but it's so strange a requirement. Why faith? It isn't a good judge of character and besides trust is earned, not bestowed. I'm not an omniscient being and I know that.

I realize I'm supposed to respect the beliefs of others. Or at least that's what's been hammered into my head. But I don't. I respect that everybody has the right to make up their own mind but I can't really respect something like this. And since the courtesy is rarely returned I feel much less inclined to comply.

Now I know some of these are probably just stereotypes I've invented but here are some reasons I think people "believe":

-Because it feels good: Sure heck! It would be nice to think there was all-powerful parental figure always watching your back. Gives you a warm, safe feeling.
-Because it’s old: Some people believe things because they've lasted a long time, which gives them no more credence if they haven't been examined and picked apart for validity but this is enough for some.
- Because everybody else believes it: We've got this horrible mindset that questioning things is bad or arrogant. Bullshit! If that doubting Thomas had a chance to shove his digits in Jesus' wounds, then why don't I? Why is the person who believes without seeing any better than a skeptic? Believe it because we say so! Sorry but I don't think so.
-Because it all has to mean something: This to me is the height of arrogance. Just because we're alive and possess the intellectual capacity to realize that we're alive that we must be a part of something great, a grand plan. "I" am so important, "I" am made in the image of god, and that god has a plan for "ME". Whoa Nelly!
-Because I’m scared: Nobody wants to die. It's a lot more comforting to believe that nothing bad will happen because Daddy's looking after me and after I die I go to a place where I frolic with butterflies and eat marshmallows all day! If I question it, I might not get it.
-Because it’s what I was taught and I just can’t let go of that: "Gimme that old time religion, it's good enough for me." We cling closest to the things we learned and loved as children.
- Because I'm covering my bases: Some people believe in this stuff simply because "what if it's true". If I were god, I think these people would piss me off more than anybody else.

Or quite simply (and perhaps unjustly) it may just boil down to stupidity or laziness. Some people are just stupid and will believe everything they read or are taught. Anyone who has listened to a raving zealot knows what I mean. And the laziness part comes in from people who are intelligent and believe what they were taught as children but have no interest in examining it. The latter drives me crazier. Stupid is one thing but willful ignorance is another. Again this may be a bit too simplistic and somewhat unjust.

And yet there is another classification of people who mystify me: Deists. These are the people who don’t believe in organized religion but believe in god nevertheless. My question is WHY!? I feel an overwhelming need to base beliefs on evidence and facts.

If I believed that the bible was the word of god and to be followed, I'd be one of those zealots who takes it all literally and not picking and choosing the parts I like. This is the book, the basis, for their religion written by god himself! I don't understand people who just believe the nice bits and I don't understand anyone who believes that there is this mystical being but not the one depicted in any religion. They base this belief on what? A feeling? Ugh!

I don't get it. Maybe I'm too logical. Maybe I took too many of those standardized tests as a youngster where you have to answer the IF/THEN questions. I don't hate people who believe in this stuff but it will always be in my way to really understanding them.

And besides maybe I'm wrong, but if there is a god I doubt it is a god of human understanding because they're just too silly.

By the way, I'm not really interested in debating with Christians. I've done enough of that in my life. Besides all of your arguments are based on scripture. Since I reject the bible as the word of god, you're just wasting your time. And you can dispense with your ever kind and helpful notifications that I'll "burn in hell" or that you "feel sorry for" me. If you feel like praying for me, go to town, but it's not necessary.