Gee,Thanks but No Thanks

I had such an epiphany sitting in a church the other day. The sun broke through the clouds and the birds sang out in praise. Hold on to your rosary, ma, but it turns out I don’t believe in god.  At least, I don’t believe in the storybook god everyone seems so obsessed with and hell bent on trying to please.

It has nagged at me for as way back as I can remember but it is only recently I have come to accept that I do not accept the dogma that was imprinted, cajoled, shaken and stirred into my young, impressionable brain. My older, experienced, more rational brain just can’t hold on to that type of hype any longer and it’s taken me 49 years to finally be able to say it out loud.  Hallelujah!

All organized religions spring from a bunch of old stories. People hear the stories, pick the ones that suit their needs, and fall into step. My personal conclusion is that the Bible is a collection of mostly appropriated stories, misinterpreted and repeated back incorrectly and in an extremely exaggerated fashion—like a really good game of telephone. I do believe the Bible does have some historical value but it is basically mostly comprised of a confused jumble of true tales peppered with huge doses of poetic license.

Was there a Jesus? Probably. He was undoubtedly a really cool guy and great orator, way before his time, who was just hoping to make the world a better place. His speeches caught on with a certain crowd, he was very popular with the ladies, he got too big for his britches and had to be taken down by the power-hungry, greedy Romans. Not a lot of real mystery there.  The rising from the dead part was added on at the end, though, as a really juicy marketing ploy to keep the buzz going. Nothing new.

Was there a great flood? Evidence points to yes. Did some dude build an ark to try to save some folks and survive the deluge? Seems it may have actually happened. Did this guy load the ark with two types of every animal because god told him to do so? Again, an editor’s spicy addition to an otherwise feasible story in order to twist it and use it as some kind of fable to preach obedience and salvation.

I figure some people cling to the idea of god because without it, they would be left with no one but themselves and other humans to be held accountable. No all-powerful and all-knowing being to turn to in good times and bad means it’s just us, living and dying like any other organism on the planet —a scary prospect too scary to even consider, apparently. Our egos and our need to feel superior perpetuate a need for a god who made us in “his” image and therefore better and more important than the other creatures that inhabit our world.  Got religion? Move to the head of the food chain.

So many folks happily and willingly forfeit logical, common sense when it comes to religion because then they get to say, “It’s in God’s hands.” It absolves one from having to seek other stories, figure things out for themselves and evolve. How convenient! Faith becomes a substitute for actually having to own up to the world around us and all the evils and pain we personally contribute. We are being “blessed” for our faith in God when something good happens, rather than experiencing the power we hold to create our own joy.

Adlai Stevenson said, “Nature is indifferent to the survival of the human species, including Americans.” I think that hits the nail on the head. Nature will be the judge in the end, not some great puppeteer in the sky. Natural selection.

Again, these are my personal conclusions and I’m writing them down because it feels incredibly liberating to do so. To me, it’s important to have the strength of your convictions and as Adlai also said, “A free society is one where it is safe to be unpopular.” I will strive to be an honest, loving fellow human being just because – no need for the threat of burning damnation or the promise of the pearly gates at the end of the rainbow.  

So, as I told the Jehovah’s Witnesses who came to the door the other day, thanks anyway!