Point of View

I am giving you (the reader) fair warning. What you are about to read may offend you. If you are offended by religious beliefs, or lack thereof, then read no further. You have been warned.

Often life throws things at you in such a manner you just can’t believe it happened. But that is the essence of each of us and how we live our lives. Things are thrown at us, we react, and sometimes come out the better person than when we started, but sometimes not. What we do get is more experienced in life as we know it. I have lived my life in a way that I always felt was the right way to live it. Were there bad choices made? Certainly there were, but I learned from them and moved on. I didn’t trust in someone else to get me out of whatever that bad decision was. I did it on my own through perseverance and hard work.

This brings me to my topic for this session. Religions and the power they hold over each person on this Earth of ours. As a boy I was raised in a Christian home to worship God and, “you will be rewarded with eternal life in Heaven with him.” I will tell you that as a small boy, or any small child, to hear stories of Heaven and God were awesome! It made you feel like anything was possible and no matter what you went through in life here on Earth, you were guaranteed eternal life and happiness after death or when God returned to take his followers home, whichever came first. Then something happened. I grew up and became educated and realized it was all stories based on other stories or made up by other men.

This is when I realized that the belief in an entity greater than mankind itself has little to no chance of actually existing. Sure, people can argue that science is speculation on the scientist part and I will agree with them but it still does not change my stance on religion.

I once heard someone say, “Religion is used to help control the masses and provide a sense of hope to those that have none.” When I first heard that statement, it never made sense. It wasn’t until years later when I got to thinking about that statement and began observing how people that follow religion interact with others. They all have the same foundation: You believe in something and trust in it to the level that everything revolves around that belief and anything that goes wrong in your life is left for your “god” to help with.

I suppose my overall point is asking the question of how can there be a “god” of any kind to help with a problem? Case in point, there was a boy that went missing yesterday in the city I live in. Thankfully he was found the next morning safe and sound and all the postings on Facebook^© said were, “Thank God!” and “Praise the Lord!” I could hardly believe my eyes when I read this. Can a person seriously thank a “god” for keeping someone safe after they disappear? Where was this “god” when they went missing? It is just absolutely ridiculous in my eyes. If an entity truly loves their creations, then why would they torture them? To see if they can get more love from them? Preposterous I tell you. Sounds to me like nothing other than something made up for others to believe in to make themselves feel better. Hmmmm, I think I may have said that before. (Or something similar)

Anyway I think you get my point so I will jump off of my soapbox now and see how many of you are now offended and ready to burn me at the stake. Just remember, if you are ready to ensue violence against me, you are no better than the “devil” you hate so much.

Shiyan out!