Travis Thompson put together some thoughts on belief and challenged others to share their personal stories
One day I started to think: Why is it that my religion is the right one? Why do I get the privilege of going to heaven while much of the rest of the world has to burn for eternity? These individuals were just being taught what their parents and culture taught them.
What kind of deity would create us and limit us to just believing in one total solution to the endgame of life? And better yet, that solution is only limited to certain parts of the world. This just can not be right. Either I'm right and the rest of the world is wrong, they're right and I'm wrong, we're all right or we're all wrong. What are the odds that I am correct in my belief while any other individual who does not believe what I believe is going to be tortured in hell.***
Then I started to think even more. Why would this omnipotent being even want to send individuals to such a place of torment? There was a time before I was born where there was nothing. Wouldn't a more reasonable solution be to just send individuals back to this place if they do not belong in your "Kingdom". Nope, that's not enough, these individuals must BURN for ETERNITY. What kind of all-loving god would do this? Not one that I want to worship, that's for sure. At this point, I rejected all religion and took on a new philosophy on life. This quote sums it up.
One day I started to think: Why is it that my religion is the right one? Why do I get the privilege of going to heaven while much of the rest of the world has to burn for eternity? These individuals were just being taught what their parents and culture taught them.
What kind of deity would create us and limit us to just believing in one total solution to the endgame of life? And better yet, that solution is only limited to certain parts of the world. This just can not be right. Either I'm right and the rest of the world is wrong, they're right and I'm wrong, we're all right or we're all wrong. What are the odds that I am correct in my belief while any other individual who does not believe what I believe is going to be tortured in hell.***
Then I started to think even more. Why would this omnipotent being even want to send individuals to such a place of torment? There was a time before I was born where there was nothing. Wouldn't a more reasonable solution be to just send individuals back to this place if they do not belong in your "Kingdom". Nope, that's not enough, these individuals must BURN for ETERNITY. What kind of all-loving god would do this? Not one that I want to worship, that's for sure. At this point, I rejected all religion and took on a new philosophy on life. This quote sums it up.
"Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but ... will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones."
This is my story of how I became an atheist. Feel free to share yours if you'd like.
Appreciation is a wonderful thing: It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well. See the link below for more info.
ReplyDelete#belong
www.ufgop.org