"god" Does Not Exist

"Lighthouses are more useful than churches." - Benjamin Franklin I would like to make a point of stating that I am an atheist and not an agnostic. I don't think there is no "god", I KNOW there is no "god". I also know that most of the rest of the world knows that as well, but they just won't admit it they know something else. They know they are eventually going to die, and it scares them. Most people don't have the courage to admit they know there is no "god". Instead, they try to suppress that feeling and, if you bring it up, they get angry. Why do they get angry? Because it freaks them out.

Life is filled with tragedy, and life is also filled with something worse than tragedy: the unknown. Every time you get into your car, every time your parents get onto an airplane, every time somebody goes off to do anything, every time Natasha Richardson goes skiing, there's a chance they won't come back. And when you see something like that happen to a talented, famous and seemingly healthy person, such as Mrs. Richardson, you realize that that could have been your mother, your sister, your wife or worse, you. Therefore, you feel the need to make sense of it. Is it not easier to think "well 'god' had a plan for her"?

Religion was created thousands of years ago; before the discovery of science and mathematics. I want to stress the use of the word "created" because no one discovered religion. Instead, people invented religion to give meaning to events (such as: life, death, sickness, weather, the stars, etc.) that couldn't be explained at that time because the science we know today, which can explain all of these events, hadn't been discovered. Yet somehow, religion is the only thing which remains today from the earliest days of the Homo sapien. (I'm pretty sure we've all accepted that the Earth isn't flat.right?)

Humans are the only creatures on Earth who are aware they are going to die, and it freaks us out. Ask yourself this question: If, thousands of years ago, someone came up with a religion that said "Be good to others, stay out of trouble, don't worry about those spots in the night sky, and when you die, it's over. You just turn into dirt." Do you that concept would have been embraced? Confidently, I can say it "no".

Humans are able to put almost anything into a context. If someone loses a limb or their eyesight or their job, we are able to put that into a context. The one thing humans are incapable of putting into a context is nothingness. All human beings, me included, find it difficult to understand the concept of "nothingness", and we can't deal with that. Yet, since we were old enough to understand death, which was before the age of ten for most of us, we were being asked to deal with that.

It's hard to live with the fact that you will go on with the next 80 years of your life and at the end of those 80 years there is nothing. People just can't seem to logically wrap their brains around that fact. But people try to understand that concept. How do they try to understand that life on earth doesn't have a higher meaning? They lie to themselves and create a "god". Then they go through life, and when tragedy strikes, or a loved one dies, they reassure themselves by saying, "Its all part of his plan".

One, extremely condescending, argument religious people make is that religion keeps people "in line". That if there were no religion crime rates would go up. Guess what, it doesn't keep people "in line". Answer me this: How many atheists are in jail? How many wars have been fought by atheists? Robbery, rape and murder are all still prevalent despite the presence of religion. In fact, I am confident that the number of murders would fall dramatically if "god" was taken out of the equation. How many people kill others in the name of "god"? How many people strap C-4 explosives and hundreds of ball bearings to their chest and walk into a crowded area in the name of "god"?

People will ask me, "Where's your proof? What makes you an atheist?" My answer to them is: Nothing special makes you an atheist. Having a brain, using deductive reasoning and common sense make you an atheist. It's not that something made me an atheist; I just chose to use my brain and not to be herded like sheep. Religion doesn't make sense to people who use their brain. That being said, I understand why people on death row say, "I have no one but 'god' in here with me." They are looking for comfort in their life, which is a 15 x 20 jail cell. What I don't understand is why perfectly rational people, like Muhlenberg students, who are educated, have resources, friends, family, professors, etc.; turn to the completely irrational product of "god" for comfort.

People like me are detested for speaking the truth. I don't believe in "god" anymore than I believe in anything else that doesn't exist. I know there is no "god" because I took the time to use my brain and think for myself. I suggest that everyone does the same. So shoot me for my beliefs.and someone quite possibly will, because they are that freaked out about their fairy tale and protecting the lie.

"Christianity is the most perverted system that ever shone on man." - Thomas Jefferson