Personal Narrative: I Am Against Religion
I received interesting feedback, and had one-on-one conversations about my post regarding God's call for us to suffer well. I would like to thank everybody for taking the time to read my post and for offering commentaries. I wish to start off by clarifying my position on religion and giving you insight into my personality, and by responding to some comments I received.
I do not believe in any gods or the supernatural—I believe god is man-made and it shows. I am against religion, I believe it is the cause of much evil and suffering in the world, and I think humanity can do without it; but I will defend your right to practice your faith as long as it doesn't impinge on my right, and the rights of others, to be free from religion. I try to live an evidentiary life, a life of learning …show more content…
I read the Bible the same way I read The Iliad, The Odyssey, or Beowulf. And in my readings of the Bible, Jehovah is a tyrannical, sanguinary, homicidal war god. Jehovah drowns to death the entire human species, save Noah and his family, in Genesis, the first book of the Bible. Now, I don't believe this event ever took place, but I do know benevolence when I see it.
If God is benevolent, then why does he allow human suffering to exist? If God is omnipotent, then why not eradicate human suffering?
I have no memory of a previous life and there is no credible evidence of an afterlife. Everlasting life does not appeal to me because I do not wish to live forever, not because I have a death wish, but because human expiration is a biological fact. Humans are finite beings. We die, and I am comfortable with that truth. Given the evidence, all there is, in my view, is what we as a human species do between birth and death. In my brief stay on planet Earth, I feel a great burden, a great responsibility to do my part to make this world a better place for future generations. I think it is mistake and shortsighted
I do not believe in any gods or the supernatural—I believe god is man-made and it shows. I am against religion, I believe it is the cause of much evil and suffering in the world, and I think humanity can do without it; but I will defend your right to practice your faith as long as it doesn't impinge on my right, and the rights of others, to be free from religion. I try to live an evidentiary life, a life of learning …show more content…
I read the Bible the same way I read The Iliad, The Odyssey, or Beowulf. And in my readings of the Bible, Jehovah is a tyrannical, sanguinary, homicidal war god. Jehovah drowns to death the entire human species, save Noah and his family, in Genesis, the first book of the Bible. Now, I don't believe this event ever took place, but I do know benevolence when I see it.
If God is benevolent, then why does he allow human suffering to exist? If God is omnipotent, then why not eradicate human suffering?
I have no memory of a previous life and there is no credible evidence of an afterlife. Everlasting life does not appeal to me because I do not wish to live forever, not because I have a death wish, but because human expiration is a biological fact. Humans are finite beings. We die, and I am comfortable with that truth. Given the evidence, all there is, in my view, is what we as a human species do between birth and death. In my brief stay on planet Earth, I feel a great burden, a great responsibility to do my part to make this world a better place for future generations. I think it is mistake and shortsighted