Questioning God's Existence and the Importance of Religion

The past few years I've been on a religious journey, or perhaps a journey away from religion. Having been raised Catholic, I always felt comfortable with the church and its services, but felt completely disillusioned by its absolutely unconscionable handling of molesting priests. While reflecting on religion, I've come to the conclusion that while I like the rituals, the sense of community, and the feeling of belonging, there is much about the concept of God and religion that simply leaves me cold. As I reflected, here are some questions I had and my thoughts on the answers.

Why so much certainty that (insert your faith here) is the right way?

Even when I was young, and people would ignorantly tell me "you're Catholic, not Christian" I would question how there could be hundreds or thousands of different religions and factions, most of which believe they are the only way there. To quote Dire Straits, "Two men say they're Jesus, one of them must be wrong." Religions and denominations are the creation of man. The beliefs of most major faiths have been shaped and reshaped over years and continue to be shaped by the viewpoints of the leaders of the churches in question. People who believe they are the one true way are simply arrogant and/or brainwashed by those above them.

What is faith and religion?

To me, faith and religion are quite simply man's way of explaining the unexplainable and establishing rules for everyone to live by. How was the world created? Why are people mean to each other? It was our way of coping with things when we didn't know better, and of keeping people in line. When we know so much, does it really deserve a place in our lives?

Why are science and religion at odds?

The simple answer is that science involves facts and things that can be observed and supported with evidence. Religion involves mythical beings doing mystical things that cannot be proven.

What is irritating to me is that so many Christians today believe in a "literal" interpretation of the Bible. The earth was created 6,000 years ago, we all are born of Adam and Eve, and everything on earth showed up in a six day work week. These same people like to point to creationism as fact and then get into a semantic argument about what "theory" means. Does something have to be in the Bible to be true? The Bible is a book that reflects the view of the world mired in the time it was written. If the book was timeless and perfect, wouldn't it have at least given us hints to the things that we figured out later? Since it doesn't mention modern medicine, distant planets, and the millions of things scientists have uncovered in the modern age, isn't it safe to say that while it may have some timeless advice for life, it doesn't hold up as a document of the scientific history of the world, including evolution?

How does a "loving" God act this way?

I love my daughter. I love her more than anything on this Earth and I love her unconditionally. I would do everything in my power to keep her from being hurt. And I would love her no matter what she did in the future.

Not God. First he creates two people who can live life in paradise if they just don't eat a fruit. Boom! They eat it. Paradise over. God later gets PO'd and floods the Earth. Then, he sends his son to Earth to be mocked and tortured on a cross, so that he can forever be remembered by the symbol of his torture.

As for his people, they are loved as well, as long as they do exactly what he says. If they don't, then they'll burn in hell. This from a guy who is supposedly all powerful. What's in it for him to punish us if we aren't 100% compliant with his ways? Ego?

Not to mention Katrina, molestation, poverty, starvation, AIDS, and an endless list of miseries inflicted on people. If this is love, it's a very tough love.

The oddest thing to me is that we proclaim it is "a miracle" when people overcome a serious accident or illness and live, but then proclaim someone's in a better place when they do die.

War. What is it good for?

Muslims want to kill cartoonists for drawing pictures or writing books about their God. Our own "religious" president uses fictitious means to go to a war on that same religion, and seems to be pressuring for the invasion of Iran, which is full of religious nutjobs. With all of this strife in the world, can we truly say religion is a force of good?

Is the rise of religious candidates a good thing?

Upon reflection, one of my biggest reasons for disillusionment with religion is the rise of neoconservatism. The same men who have declared war on a radical religious state seem to want to establish one here in this country. They wish to curtail our freedoms, keep us under surveillance, control what we can watch, and create campaigns based on alleged moral issues of limited impact to the majority of citizens. While Bush and his idiot warhawk friends were hitting us over the head with gay marriage, abortion, intelligent design and other smokescreen issues, they were giving handouts to corporations, creating a fictious war that will have serious reprecussions for years to come, and running the economy into the ground. WWJD? My thought is that he'd probably kick all of their rears.
When I looked at how many people who claimed to believe in Jesus could find something to like in this disgusting individual with no morals and no conscience who has bankrupted what our country stands for, it just made me angry. Added into the horrible arrogance of my own Catholic church, and it seemed as though all of religion was suspect.

So Where Does That Leave Me?

Right now I'm in a limbo of my own. I pray about things that bother me, pray for people I care about, and talk to God in my car about things that anger me, sadden me, and challenge me. But I also read books like Letter to a Christian Nation and agree with 99% of what is said there. Wouldn't this world be a better place if our religion was helping each other, loving each other, and carefully reflecting on our own strengths and shortcomings? Maybe someday someone will create a non religious church that brings us together for good without all of the division that religion can create.

Is it essential to have a supreme being to pray to? Somedays the idea of a world without God is invigorating, other days it is downright depressing.

My guess is that I will always be looking for answers. And I'll always be talking to God, realizing that a request offered up to the heavens is no worse than no request at all. I'll be angry at him and the world when bad things happen, and thankful when the good things happen. My main wish is that when I die the world was a better place for me being there, and my daughter is better off for having known me.