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My Religion MAG
I have a magnet on my mirror stating, “Life is not about finding yourself – life is about creating yourself.” This is the statement I live by.
Many people do not believe me when I say I am an atheist. They don’t understand that I simply do not believe in any sort of god or afterlife. I also do not believe in the devil, in angels, or in souls. I believe in myself and the strength I have gained through the help of my parents, teachers, and friends – and my own hard work.
I am not going to try to dissuade anyone from his or her own opinions either. I know that people enjoy having religion in their lives; some need their faith to help them through hard times. And some do not want the responsibility of their misfortunes weighing down on their shoulders.
I do. I abhor the idea of fate – that everything is already planned out and you have no control to change anything. If you believe in fate, when bad things happen, it is not your fault; it’s just fate. When my life is not going well, I know that it is no one’s fault but my own. When I do well in school, when I fall in love, it is not fate and we are not soul mates. I worked hard and paid attention and did the homework. My love and I simply love each other – that is all it is, and for me that is all it needs to be.
For some, life is overwhelming. How can anyone be successful and happy in such a difficult, horrible world? They need someone to help them, someone to guide them, and someone to have faith in to make sure things get better. Placing my success and happiness in another’s hands breaks my heart. I need to be successful because of my efforts. I must be responsible for my own happiness. That is what I need from my religion.
Who will ever know what the truth really is? All I know is in the same way that some have full faith and trust in God to give them hope, I need to believe I am on my own to be truly happy – for how can I create myself if I spend my entire life just looking?
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This article has 764 comments.
Please don't pray for atheists or people of other religious ideas. No one deserves that sort of uppity pity, and it seems quite insincere.
I went to a Church event once with a friend, just so I could prove to her how unfitting I was for the Church. They separated the boys and girls into little session groups where everyone whined about their lives to a couple of 18 year olds preaching the Gospels.
Then one of them asked for a prayer to begin for her atheist brother, and another agreed that they should pray for her friend.
The prayer was one of the most hateful things I ever heard. It included digs at stupidity, race, and mentioned a few key homophobic remarks. Not forgetting the opinions revolving around my wrongful way of life.
I left crying.
So please, save your prayers, because we don't need to hear them. If you want to, pray for your God to save all the children whose parents disowned them due to religious differences.
I like the way you're thinking about faith; i think you're right, there are many people who believe in it, just to justify themselves and their acts, to get rid of the responsibility so they could blame faith for their own failures.
But, on the other hand, I am one of those who believe in faith which has ability to change toward our acts and decisions. It's inconstant, changeable and it's not written anywhere, except in you - it will be the way you want it to.
So, I admire you for not being weak and taking responsibilty for your life, even though it may be very difficult sometimes. Just wanted you to know that not all the people who believe in faith are cowards and with no sense of reality - they just believe they can manage it. You must admit it is also a big responsibility, isn't it?
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Favorite Quote:
" there are two things that are infinate; the universe and human stupidity"
~Einstien