by Kaitlyn

Created on: June 30, 2007   Last Updated: February 08, 2010

What is religion? Why does it exist? Religion is any specific system of belief about God. Most religions involve rituals, a code of ethics, and a philosophy of life. My mom is Episcopalian, and my dad is Catholic; they both strongly believe in God, but are not able to tell me why. Neither of my parents have forced me to believe what they believe, but I think they find it hurtful that I just don't care. I will never tell a person how to live his/her life, and I don't expect them to tell me. I think people take religion too seriously. I think religion divides people and can sometimes cause discrimination. I do not think religion should represent who a person is and it should not run a person's life; it says nothing about who they are.

Personally, I do not believe in God. I believe God is a myth that was created to explain the unexplainable; and what about the bible? The bible is basically a guide on how to live a Christian life. For me to believe, I need proof. I can't live my life based on a book written thousands of years ago. Thousands of years ago the world was run by men and everyone thought the world was flat. Hundreds of years ago blacks were slaves, and the scientist didn't have enough technology to know what they know now. We have come a long way. Nowadays, there are logical explanations for things, back then, they believed God did everything.

The thought of God is great! I would really like to have someone watching over me. I really love the thought of heaven or life after death, but I don't believe it. I do not know what will happen after death, but I don't expect clouds and bright light or flames and evil spirits. It's just "game over" for me. I think death is nothingness. I know it sounds horrible, but that is what I expect.

There is nothing I hate more than discussing religion. As soon as a bible hugging, church going-person finds out I do not believe in God, his/her response is always some form of preaching. They say things like "Jesus will love you anyway," or my favorite, "You're going to hell!" I find that one most amusing. I don't believe in hell so it doesn't really concern me. I usually ask people who preach to tell me why they believe; usually they say things like "You just have to believe." No, actually I don't. People believe because they are told to believe; they think they are forced to believe, or they think they are no other answers. I do think that every scientist reaches a point where they just can't explain anymore. I think everything

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