On the Nature of Religious Belief

A Story by tonymad11392

I've tried to edit this in an attempt to be as succinct as possible. This is, as of now, the clearest summation of my beliefs regarding organized religion.

The argument for a god inevitably begins and ends with an assumption. We assume. That's the key word. We speculate that a god exists. Furthermore, this god has to fit within our own personal context. For example, I have my own unique view, whatever that may be, of god. Although this god may represent something greater than myself, I will inevitably have my own image of a god. How can a universal being be perceived differently by literally billions of individuals? Isn't there one primary image of this god? This couldn't be further from the truth. The Christian believe in a Christian god. Their god is different from the god of the Muslim and the Jew. The Christian god is unique because the Christians believe him to be. There is no verifiable truth in this belief however. The Christians point to the evidence of this God from the bible. This bible is a religious document written several thousand years ago. It details parables and myths that are commonly seen in other mythological and ancient religious cultures. Yet this bible is the literal word of the Christian god. It was written by men but these men were divinely inspired. Thus the bible was written by god and it is his word, according to these Christians.

Again there is no verifiable, undeniable truth that the events of Jesus' life actually happened as described in the bible. Yet the Christians claim to have faith that this is true. Faith. Faith meaning that there is no proof; yet one believes anyway. They point to the bible and refer to certain passages, such as 2 Timothy 3:16 which states that the “scripture is without error”. This is by definition a circular argument and a complete logical fallacy. There is not one religious document, be it the Quran or the Book of Mormon that does not claim it wasn’t sent directly from god. Faith is a conscious and deliberate decision. Merely having faith in something does not make it true. Furthermore, any Christian can and may fashion an elaborate philosophical argument for the existence of god. This argument may be complex and multi-faceted. However the precise point at which this argument begins; the first thread of this great tapestry, is an assumption. In order to follow a Christian's logical progression, one must believe in a god. A god that we have no proof exists. The Christian also states that god's influence spreads forth and affects us all. The concept of morality differs from each individual. I may believe gay marriage is a moral issue because it concerns, in my opinion, civil rights. However others may not. Subsequently I may believe the death penalty to be immoral. Others could see it as moral because the victim is being vindicated and the convicted is punished. Morality is fickle. Morality is ambiguous. Morality is a gelatinous puddle that one can form into something that suits either them or our current societal values. A Christian cannot point to the fact that we are naturally inclined to evil when the very definition of good and evil has never been explicitly defined. This is because good and evil stem from a belief in a certain strand of morality.

One may logically and reasonably conclude that the so-called Christian god never existed. Or as Nietzsche stated; god died centuries ago. The Christian may embed or coat their argument in any and all sophisticated language, arguments, and personal philosophy. However their argument is a circular one. According to these people, god exists because he said in a religious document that he does. Obviously this is paradoxical reasoning. This argument is virtually never accepted in any other field of thought; yet Christian's rely endlessly on it. Their argument never reaches a conclusion, they merely expand it and attempt to regulate private and what they believe to be immoral behavior. Again, they point to god. And because there is no proof that this god exists his moral views on a topic are whatever the Christian believes them to be. So following my own logical progression, morality subsequently has no meaning either because it has been defined by a god that does not exist. Since god does not exist he has no power to regulate our behavior. Since god does not exist he never gave us morality or regulated, transcribed, or revealed to us any sort of divine commands. Thus the bible is simply the words of men; swayed by whatever political, social, or personal motivations they had at the moment they began to write this document. There is no such thing as a universal truth or universal morality. Everything that was once suppressed is immediately acceptable and encouraged. Since we all have our own views of right and wrong we can do whatever we deem to be “good” or “bad”. Everything is permissible and anything is allowed. Or more precisely, the only thing that constrains us from doing whatever we want are our own personal confines of morality. And since our personal views almost always change with time we are essentially free to do what we please when we please as long as it is within our own moral structure. And as stated above this structure constantly changes whenever we desire it to. There is no god. There is no universal truth. I beg you to break free from the shackles of religiously-induced guilt and moral absolutism; for this is the only way one can experience true freedom.