Learning to Think Rationally About the Existence of God
Faith is believing something you know ain't true. ~ Mark Twain
You've been disappointed by your faith. You've had countless prayers go unanswered. You've had a hard time believing many of the things projected by religion: talking snakes, burning bushes, walking on water, magic underpants, riding magic horses, turning one piece of bread into thousands, water to wine, etc.
You've doubted.
You've thought it all sounded a little crazy.
Don't lie to yourself.
Keeps it real, son.
Even after being disappointed time after time, you still chose to make excuses for your religion. "Well, God just answers prayers in His own timing. Sometimes the answer is 'yes,' sometimes the answer is 'no,' and sometimes the answer is 'wait.'"
How courteous of you!
So like, what's the point of praying? You claim that God gives you "free will," yet you also claim that God's Will supersedes your individual free will. Well, if that's the case, then your "free will" is pointless.
I mean, why pray if you don't get what you pray for? You're brainwashed into believing that "anything you pray for and believe in your heart you'll receive it, will be given to you."
So, you pray. You believe. You don't receive.
WTF, man?
Let's move to the sad story that inspired this blog.
Two days ago, Ariane Noelle Patterson, a college student at North Carolina's Gardner-Webb University, was celebrating her 21st birthday. Gardner-Webb is a Christian University, which helps us understand a bit about Miss Patterson. That morning she tweeted the following:
"Thank you God for another year of life."
Miss Patterson then went to her religion class at the Boiling Springs school, where she collapsed and died.
Thoughts of compassion and sympathy are with her family and friends.
But what are the conclusions we can draw from this tragedy? Religious-minded humans will likely rationalize the following:
"Ariane is in a better place. The Lord called her home on her birthday. What better birthday present could she receive than to be in the arms of Jesus? Hallelujah."
I know this is what they'll say, because I used to rationalize the same types of things when I was religious-minded. I spent my early twenties studying the various religions, and had a pretty hard-core Christian streak for several years.
Then I started reading the works of Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, and they were slowly able to help me awaken from the religious slumber. When I first tried reading Hawkins' book The God Delusion, I wasn't ready for it. I couldn't accept the truth:
That everything I thought I knew about reality was distorted.
I couldn't accept that I made excuses and rationalizations for reality in order to make it fit the model of reality, of which, I was "supposed" to believe.
So I put the book down; I clung to my faith — I held on to my delusional belief-structure.
About a year later, I picked it up again. This time, everything started to click. I finally gave myself permission to release the delusional belief structure that I desperately wanted to believe in. It gives us a sense of comfort to believe fairy-tales. You know, Santa Claus is real, and if we're good boys and girls, he'll give us presents.
You know, God is real, and if we're good boys and girls, he'll give us presents AND let us live forever with him in heaven!
Please understand, I love the teachings of Jesus. Ideas like compassion, tolerance, and forgiveness are at the core of how I conduct my life. The story of Jesus gives us a beautiful model on how to navigate one's life-experience — and how to interact with your fellow humans.
Just because I don't believe in a magical Santa Claus in the sky — who grants wishes (or not) based on my behavior — doesn't mean I can't live a life filled with compassion, tolerance, and forgiveness.
When we learn to accept responsibility for the creation of our life experience, we "grow-up" as humans. Adults who continue to believe in fairy-tales — especially when their own life-experience show the results to be inconsistent — appear to suffer from some type of mental disorder.
Think about it: If you prayed to a "magical" box of Frosted Flakes every day, and the results came back 50/50, would you still believe the box of Frosted Flakes was magical? Better yet, what if a beloved friend, on their birthday, thanked the magical box of Frosted Flakes for "giving them another year of life," only to die unexpectedly hours later, would you still put your faith in the magical box of Frosted Flakes?
I mean, when are you finally going to wake up and realize The Matrix has you?
You are a slave, religious-minded human. You are born into bondage — given a mental program by your elders — loved ones that you trusted.
It wasn't your fault.
However, to continue believing delusional ideas — ones that don't match up with your own experience — is a disservice to yourself. It's a disservice to your fellow humans. It's lazy. It says, "I'm not responsible for the creation of my life — my reality — some invisible being is responsible. I'm just gonna sit back and let things happen."
Yes, there is a force that keeps the Universe in perfect order. I call this force Nature — and it is my "God." Nature is predictable. It is a system. You, as the human, are responsible for planting the "seeds" of your life. Nature, or "God" if you must, is the force that brings those seeds into fruition.
Nothing more. Nothing less.
In the words of my great-grandfather, Albert Einstein, "I do not believe in the God of theology who rewards good and punishes evil. My God created laws that take care of that. His universe is not ruled by wishful thinking, but by immutable laws."
There is no magical Santa Claus that grants wishes based on one's behavior.
Were that the case, Ariane Noelle Patterson would still be alive today, because I'm sure she was a wonderful human being.
In the words of Carl Sagan, "It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring."
Free your mind.
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Posted by Brandon Merhout aka NN at 1/19/2012 12:20 PM 
Categories: Conscious Creation, Truth, Delusional Thinking, Compassion, Forgiveness, Evolution
Tags: Ariane Noelle Patterson dies after tweeting Why did Ariane Noelle Patterson die Why doesn't God answer my prayers Gardner Webb student dies on her birthday Why did God let Ariane Patterson die student dies after tweeting Thank You God
Categories: Conscious Creation, Truth, Delusional Thinking, Compassion, Forgiveness, Evolution
Tags: Ariane Noelle Patterson dies after tweeting Why did Ariane Noelle Patterson die Why doesn't God answer my prayers Gardner Webb student dies on her birthday Why did God let Ariane Patterson die student dies after tweeting Thank You God
Thank you. I don't try to explain my beliefs to others because most don't understand, but you get it brother. I couldn't have said it better myself, and I wouldn't dare try.
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