An Atheist's View of ReligionMar 19 '00 (Updated Apr 04 '00) Write an essay on this topic.Religious wars will, in future, be fought between atheists with different beliefs. A cynic might say this is already happening in Northern Ireland between the Protestant atheist terrorists, and the Catholic atheist terrorists. Important Note: I take full responsibility for all that I say here, however it is merely my OPINION. I am happy to answer comments, and if you can convince me otherwise I will write a counter-opinion of my own to this one. I warn you now - my opinion will be hard won... To explain the differences between different atheists look at the religion they were brought up to not believe in. I am a Protestant Christian atheist, which means that I don't believe in God, or that Jesus was the son of God. I've always been to Protestant churches to not worship in. So that makes me a Protestant atheist. A Hindu atheist, on the other hand, doesn't believe in a great many more gods. You get the idea? Good. Because it confuses me.... Anyway, what all that means is that my view is contra-Christian beliefs. ~~Why do I not believe in God? i) Why should there be a God? What makes us so special that we should have our own big God, who will look out for us and help us in time of need? What have we done to deserve it? I certainly don't see much to be proud of in the human race. The only reason we all still exist is because of the MAD pact. Mutually Assured Destruction, the total annihilation of life as we know it, is all that keeps us from killing ourselves. ii) I truly can not comprehend that, if there is a God, who is omniscient and omnipotent, there should be such great suffering on this Earth. If there is such a God why has it done nothing to help the poor, the innocent, the starving or the suffering? Why has it done nothing to alleviate the hurts of this Earth? As nothing has been done, I ask of the believers, "Who is this great being, in whom you hold such faith?" For, if exist it does, I can not believe that any being could be so cruel nor so hard hearted. iii) Furthermore, I can not conceive of a being who has such power. (This may be purely a limitation of my mind.)How can anything be so great that it knows all, and sees all, and hears all? And then, on top of that, has the power to create, and bend all to its will. Such a thing is inconceivable to me. ~~Why do I think other people believe in a God? In the beginnings of belief... i) Humans saw that they were mortal and they were afraid. They feared to die. And, in the deaths of others they saw that yet those others remained. Their bodies did not vanish, only life was gone from within them. Hence, they conceived of a notion. That the body was but a vessel for the life force within it. And this raised a question, "When the life force leaves the body, where does it go?" It was answered by some that it, the life force, went unto heaven or hell. But this raised yet another question. As all on Earth is ruled by the leader, who is the ruler of heaven and of hell? Yet again this was answered, "God rules all." And yea they believed. ii) As time passed, a human made a ball of mud. By chance, this was dropped into a fire, and in the fire it hardened and took shape, and would not change again to mud, but endured. And this raised a question, "If I can make such a thing surely then so too was I and all created, but by whom?" And this was answered, "God made all." And yea they believed. iii) Ever on and on went time, and a human looked to the skies and saw a vast emptiness, and was afraid. The human feared to be alone on the grassy plain. And so the human begged and thought to be not alone. And, yea, forth came a hunting party, and they were well met. The lone one told of the wish to be not alone, and the party was afraid to have been so summoned. Yet they were glad. And so they said to one another there must be some else, in this vast space we see above us, we can not be alone. And this raised a question, "If we be not alone, who is with us always?" And this was answered, "God is with us always." And yea they believed. (((By the way, these stories are completely fictitious and brought forth only from my imagination.))) Yet children too believe....but they are young and weak in mind... iv) Their parents press their beliefs upon the child. Their parents’ religious beliefs will permeate the entirety of the child's life until they leave home. If an adult were kept in such conditions, it would be called indoctrination. And, when a religious sect holds an adult in such conditions, in keeping with their 'will', it is indoctrination. However, some parents do not press their beliefs upon the child in such a way, or have no beliefs of their own. In such cases there are two ways the child may come to be a believer. v) a They are indoctrinated within their school. They are compelled to attend church, and they are strongly encouraged to take Confirmation. To do so they must first believe. And they become convinced that there is a God. So many people around them appear to believe, why should there not be a God? They trust these people, why disagree with them? They are indoctrinated by peer pressure. v) b They are indoctrinated by society in general. They see that the world is so awful that there must be something better. The only way for something to be better, is if there is a heaven. If there is a heaven there must be a God. And so they believe. Again, these are only my thoughts. If they have offended be not so. Consider them as but the words of a fool. And imagine this to have been but a dream, which has now ended. 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