On Religion

I've never really been religious.

Growing up, my parents were decent enough to let me forge my own path. They let me go to church with my friends when I felt left out, and let me stop when I didn't like it. They never read me a bible, though they gave me one once, and there were always a few in the house. It was always a self-motivated search, on my part.

Over the years, I've shifted back and forth across the spectrum, from atheist, to Christian, and even into Buddhist territory. Eventually, I came to a conclusion. Once again, humans are all wrong. Most religions are based on attempts to explain the mysteries of the universe, just like science. And, once again, we've gotten carried away. Somehow, a 4000 year old explanation for the sun rising became this monstrous, gargantuan thing, controlling the views and minds of billions of people.

And that's not to say I'm against religion. I'll be the first to admit that I think there is a world beyond what we can immediately perceive, and that I still don't know anything about dying. My problem is when people start organizing it. People begin taking what you're saying as the definitive truth, rather than a theory. And, if you haven't noticed yet, most people are pants-on-head-retarded. Which leaves you with Muslims blowing themselves up for virgins they know are going to be there, Buddhist monks lighting themselves on fire to make a point, and Christians camping out funerals just to let the surviving family members know that God hates them and their deceased loved one.

It is a folly of human arrogance to believe that we are somehow capable of knowing the answers of life's greatest mysteries. Hell, how many bible-thumpers out there use "God's will is mysterious" as a cop-out move? Then stop assuming you know his presence, being, form, function, intentions, love, rewards, punishments, son, or, even his existence. I'm just saying.

The fact is, life is a mystery. A mystery only overshadowed by the great mystery of death. Many atheists believe that humanity will move on when they accept that religion is accepted as an archaic mechanism, and be left behind for physics. But then, quantum physics fucks everything up.

So, instead, rather than choosing a side, think on it. Because the more you think, the more you realize you don't know the answers of the world. And when that starts happening, you start figuring out what the questions are.