One of the biggest problems humans face is purpose. You find yourself wondering why you're here, what you're supposed to do, and what's the purpose of your life.....Sometimes you can stare in the mirror for so long trying to comprehend the entity staring back at you until your face doesn't feel yours anymore, but still you get no answer. The concept of god makes answering these questions much easier, which is probably one of the reasons why people hold on to it. However, whatever reason is given to your existence by whatever god you worship is wrong. This becomes easier to see once you try to take a step back and look at the big picture. We are nothing but somewhat advanced creatures, living on a habitable planet, which is a part of a solar system, located on the edge of a galaxy, which is one of billions of other galaxies in the universe. There's nothing special about us but the fact that we want to be special so bad. Our hatred for loneliness led us to invent god, our hatred for the idea of death led us to invent the afterlife. But in the end that's all they are, human inventions....
Sadly, believing in this won't make your life easier, or more comprehensible. The only thing we can do, and the only purpose I see for us, as a species, is working together to move forward, to evolve. And if you're thinking: Why should I stop believing in something that makes me feel safe, happy, and comfortable, and replace it with doubt and loneliness? Then all I can say is what George Bernard Shaw said: "The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one.".....
3 comments:
"For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring."
Carl Sagan
I love Bernard Shaw's quote!
When you kill god, it's no secret that life becomes harder. Much harder that you often wonder if you were better off a believer. Life was easier then. More simple. There was some kind of explanation to everything you couldn't explain- only, you couldn't comprehend it, since it was larger than yourself. Somewhere out there, everything was being taken care of. Everything had a reason and was part of a bigger plan. You were never alone, god was your most faithful companion, the one that never left you, the one that always knew what's best. It was a comforting thought... so comforting that one must be crazy to give it up!
When we kill god, bitter truths start revealing themselves: we are mortal. We are not forever. Life is not inherently worth living. We are free... free, with no one to judge or reward us. We are not special- we're the same decaying organic matter like everything else. (Fight Club)
Life turns into a quest for finding a purpose, *making* a purpose. You teach yourself to create worth, to celebrate here and now, to know yourself. You're suddenly responsible for shaping your life, choosing your life, and cleaning your own mess. You figure out that him who knows you most intimately, who is aware of your next word before you say it, who loves you the way you are and wants the best for you- that's only another version of describing *you*. The way I see it, God's voice is but another name for your inner voice.
I don't think believing is harmful, as long as it's not imposed on others, and as long as one doesn't think themselves better than others because of it. The same goes to not believing. Happiness is man's ultimate goal, and people are completely free to seek it the way they choose, since we own our lives.
I completely agree. Believing, no matter how unjustified and illogical it may seem, is unharmful by itself. However, how can you coexist with someone who believes he/she has the right to control your school curriculum, your TV programs, your relationships, your daily life, or even whether you live or die, based on his/her own standards? Sadly, religious beliefs and society gave, and are still giving, birth to generations of intolerant, inflexible people who are unwilling to accept change, and would disagree deeply with you about the fact that you own your life. I believe making these people understand what is theirs to control and what isn't is one of the greatest challenges a person faces in his/her life.
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