by Harry Hullabaloo

Created on: January 22, 2007   Last Updated: May 11, 2007

I for one find it incredible that in this day and age there is still continual debate over religious beliefs. Is it not clearly obvious now to anyone without preconceptions that the idea of a sentient God is laughable?

Religion is rarely a choice. Rather it is generally thrust upon us when we are far too young and impressionable to question the opinions of others. Let's be honest - there aren't an awfully high percentage of people out there who believe in a god of some description for any other reason.

Granted there are a small number of people who discover religion when they are at a particularly low point in their life, but with all due respect people who are so disturbed that they'll hop on board the first religion that swings by are not really going to be the world's foremost thinkers on the subject.

Contrary to the tone of this article however, I am perfectly happy for people to believe in whatever they wish. Generally I find though that if the discussion does arise then it is those in the pro religious corner that leap to the defensive, and it seems to me that it always boils down to the same inane argument in the end - "You just have to believe", or "you have to have faith" or words to this effect.

Whenever rational objections to the concepts of religion are raised this seems to be the stock answer. The slight flaw with this argument though is that it is rubbish.

What is being said then is that if you already believe then you don't need a reason to believe, which is a rather pointless statement (although it does fit quite well with the "get them before they're old enough to start questioning things properly" ethos that most religions seem to thrive on).

Personally I find the entire concept of "you just have to believe" as offensive (if not more so) as my views are no doubt found by devout followers of religious faiths. This is an entirely circular argument that can in no way begin to address the massive issue of the nature of the universe.

Seems fairly clear to me that when you look at it objectively there is no god, there's just physics.

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