by Ryan Richards

Created on: September 29, 2009

Religion has been around since Man's inception. Naturally, so have it's detractors. Since the dawn of Man, we have searched for an answer to unanswered questions. Many have turned to a path of faith, others have chosen to look within themselves for the answers. Neither is wrong.

As an agnostic, I have not been convinced that an all powerful being exists, nor do I feel I ever will be. However, that does not take away from my ability to decipher right from wrong or good from bad. Just because a man does not ask God for forgiveness for his misdeeds, does not mean he does not know they are just that, misdeeds. All human beings were instilled with a conscience, which tells us right from wrong. This is a case of nature vs. nurture, not belief vs. non-belief.

A person's morals are conceived during infancy and childhood. It is the people around us who tell us what is right and wrong, and from there we make our own decisions. For instance, a man does not resolve conflict with violence as he was brought up to believe that other means of resolution exist. The man who uses violence, does so not out of instinct, as we've seen we have the ability to ignore our instincts, but out of lack of options. If a man has not been taught other means than what he knows, he will use what he can at the time. His views on the Almighty have nothing to do with this. I have met many a "devout" Christian who rob, steal and hurt others without the slightest consideration for anyone, including God.

While it is true that religion does provide some great moral ethics to follow, how many within it's confines choose to ignore them? Take for example, the priest who molests children. These men are supposed to be regarded with the highest esteem for their purity of heart. These don't sound like very good morals to me. How about the religious fanatics that brought about the crusades and the slaughter of tens of thousands of innocents in the name of God? "To kill an Infidel is not murder, it is the path to Heaven." In today's day and age, would this still be acceptable?

Now, I must clarify here that I am not against believing in a higher power at all. We all have a void in us that needs to be filled, and some choose God to fill that void. What I am against, is the thought that you need God to be a good person. We have seen many men do great things and lead exceptionally pure lives without being in the grace of God, just as we seen many within his grace commit horrendous acts of violence and rape that would not be considered morally right. Morals are individual on a person to person basis, just as common sense isn't as common as we'd all believe.

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