I don't believe in God. At one time I did, now I don't, and perhaps, never will.
I have no exact recollection of when I stopped believing and why ...As a child I would think -- if someone was in charge, how could things go so wrong? I could never understand the concept of prayer; if he knows everything, why does he need to be told? And, if telling is everything, why doesn't he answer?
As years passed, I became more skeptical. Who wrote the scriptures and how do we know he wrote the truth? If some of it isn't true (proved), then how can we believe the rest of it to be true? If the Holy Books are not supposed to be taken literally and it is up to us to interpret it, then who is to decide who will make a correct interpretation of it? How do we know it is correct?
When I fall ill or things don't happen as expected, my mother tells me it is all because I do not have faith in the one above. I wonder if it's not enough that one is good, that one does one's duty honourably, that one wishes no harm to anyone -- it is also important that you pray regularly, fast on certain days and go to church on Sundays.
It would seem that people who believe in God and faithfully follow all the hundred religious rites have some sort of advantage over us. No matter that they have very little to commend themselves as far as human qualities go, we should expect to meet them in heaven, if we're fortunate enough to be admitted ourselves.
Isn't the end and aim of all Religion to produce a human being who believes in good and does what is good (for the moment, let's forget the definition of good), then when a human being is already that, is he to be condemned just because he does not claim to be a product of and party to the institution called 'Religion'? Well, it sure beats me.
posted by Sylvia D'souza at 1:13 pm
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