Belief in Nothing

Everyone is a person of faith. Faith does not mean spiritual faith - a vital distinction. I have faith that I love my partner. I have faith that the chair won't break when I sit on it. I cannot realistically prove either of these, but they exist because a part of me thinks they do. People have faith in lots of things simply because they cannot prove them. But when questions of eternity and our place in the universe arise, certain faiths develop into religions which scare the crap out of me. These are the most dangerous faiths and don't answer anything.

I grew up in a household where we "practiced" Christianity. Going to church was terrible. I felt like I was in a cage of ideals. Something realistic would come up (i.e. creationism or science in general) and my pastors didn't have a REAL explination, but rather quoted me dogmatic prattle from the bible. They used the bible as this "answer" which didn't realistically answer anything but to serve it's own purpose. Here's the thing - you cannot answer the unanswerable. You can't tell people what happens when they die. You can't tell people that if they follow one set of ideals that theirs will be a fulfilled life. You can't do any of this and so much more. This isn't sad... IT'S REALITY.

Why do people deny what we have here? Why do people, instead of trying to answer questions for themselves, let religion tell them the answers? Not having the answer to questions shouldn't scare people. What SHOULD scare people is they are giving up their intellectual well-being for false answers. One of the main points many of the philosophers bring up is that we aren't much different from other animals. Some have a higher developed sense of smell, some of eyesight, for us it's a higher sense of self. I pose that we ARE MUCH different from other animals. We have the ability to create and unscreate at a moment's notice. This isn't just some different ability, it is THE ability. So, how are we to create real answers to questions by using unrealistic means? We can't. We shouldn't.

People need to pay attention to what's in front of them. We only have here and now. Some of the "rules" of Christianity and other religions have good intentions, but so do basic ethical guidelines. Humanity's quest for knowledge is not furthered by religion - especially religion that promises things for "good" deeds. You should do "good" deeds because you have real knowledge of the value in doing the deed. You help someone across the street because you see the value in helping one less mobile than yourself.

The motive behind these and other major faiths is simply one thing - fear. People are too afraid to face reality and face the fact that we are finite creatures. We are obsessed with death and instead of accept it as a reality, we've "found" ways to live eternally. If this is you, then listen carefully... WAKE UP. Get yourself out of that dream-state and into where your brain and efforts are best utilized. It is special to be a human, it is special to be you. If you really need a guide to live by, use some basic ethics. Use what you already know in your gut because in reality, you don't have much more than that. Believe in nothing unless it makes rational sense to you. If it doesn't, don't denounce it but rather UNDERSTAND IT. There is a power that you haven't tapped if you take things at face value, even if this face is that of God himself.