My strong beliefs about religion… do you agree?

I’m not a religious person, in fact I don’t believe in any sort of deity at all. My belief is that religion was and is something designed by man, to control men and women. That’s just my opinion of course, but it is an opinion I hold quite firmly. Having said that I still think I can claim to be a good person, just as much as anyone religious; I am aware of the difference between good and evil, I try to do the best I can for other individuals, and I try to be as honest as it is possible to be. (I know it can be unkind, or even cruel to speak the truth sometimes, so I admit to the use of an occasional ‘white lie’ when absolutely necessary).

I sincerely believe that the world and all the life on it, is here by pure chance, as a result of two basic laws, evolution and the law of physics. I believe evolution, is still going on all around us, but at such a slow rate that it is virtually invisible, tiny changes which may take a million years to complete. As for physics, well I believe that this is the engine that makes it all work. A tiny but important example of how I see physics working – take a pool of water and lower the temperature to zero degrees Celsius or below and the water has to turn into ice; and that’s just one rule in millions of others, concerning everything!

Considering all the dreadful things that happen, and have happened round the world; if I am wrong and there is a God, then I think that He/She/It must be a truly awful being, to allow such things to occur! What all loving God would allow paedophiles to attack and even kill, young children? What all loving God would allow wars, the inquisition, the crusades and the extermination of whole races in South America? What all loving God would permit the different religions that exist? What all loving God would attack us with a myriad of diseases and genetic faults? And what all loving God would pestilence, famine and flood? If, as we are told God is all seeing, all hearing, all loving and all forgiving, what is the point of all these dreadful occurrences? Oh the priesthood will tell us God moves in mysterious ways and we should have faith, but if he/she/it is going to forgive us anyway, why make us live in this way?

Remember too, that the Bible, (especially the Old Testament), is actually a history of the Jewish race, but it was written at a time when virtually all writings were of a religious nature as it was only the clerics who could write. The New Testament, I believe, was written a long time after Jesus had left this world and while a lot of its content may be true, nonetheless it was embellished, to make a point.

At least there is logic in evolution and physics, it all works together and has done so for billions of years, governed only by chance and coincidence. Even religious experts tend to concede today that many of the stories in the Bible are rhetorical rather than factual, as in the stories of Creation and Adam and Eve – the evidence for a very old world is clear to see.

So, I intend to go on living, to the best of my ability, doing harm to no one, giving help where I can and enjoying the beauty that nature has provided for us – purely by chance, but wonderful nonetheless! And when my time is up, as far as I am concerned that is literally, the end – no eternity, no heaven and no hell. I will be quite satisfied with that, my life is not filled with regrets, in fact, apart from money I have been a very fortunate person – who could ask for more?

What do you think? Share your thoughts below.