Preview

Personal Narrative: I Am Against Religion

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
468 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Personal Narrative: I Am Against Religion
I received interesting feedback, and had one-on-one conversations about my post regarding God's call for us to suffer well. I would like to thank everybody for taking the time to read my post and for offering commentaries. I wish to start off by clarifying my position on religion and giving you insight into my personality, and by responding to some comments I received.

I do not believe in any gods or the supernatural—I believe god is man-made and it shows. I am against religion, I believe it is the cause of much evil and suffering in the world, and I think humanity can do without it; but I will defend your right to practice your faith as long as it doesn't impinge on my right, and the rights of others, to be free from religion. I try to live an evidentiary life, a life of learning
…show more content…
I read the Bible the same way I read The Iliad, The Odyssey, or Beowulf. And in my readings of the Bible, Jehovah is a tyrannical, sanguinary, homicidal war god. Jehovah drowns to death the entire human species, save Noah and his family, in Genesis, the first book of the Bible. Now, I don't believe this event ever took place, but I do know benevolence when I see it.

If God is benevolent, then why does he allow human suffering to exist? If God is omnipotent, then why not eradicate human suffering?

I have no memory of a previous life and there is no credible evidence of an afterlife. Everlasting life does not appeal to me because I do not wish to live forever, not because I have a death wish, but because human expiration is a biological fact. Humans are finite beings. We die, and I am comfortable with that truth. Given the evidence, all there is, in my view, is what we as a human species do between birth and death. In my brief stay on planet Earth, I feel a great burden, a great responsibility to do my part to make this world a better place for future generations. I think it is mistake and shortsighted

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    do not believe in the concept of a personal God, Enlightened being, who vows to save all sentient beings from their sufferings…

    • 11747 Words
    • 33 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    I'm sure everyone has wondered in their lifetime, “Is there really a God?”. I know I have! There are many religions like Buddhism and Hinduism, but most people believe in Christianity. Christianity follows the teachings and miracles of Jesus Christ with the belief that He is God. There are many branches of Christianity. I'm writing this to tell you about why I am a Nazarene Christian. The things I will be covering are wildlife, the spread of Christianity, and the planet Earth's perfect tilt.…

    • 532 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Religious folk claim that God is all-benevolent. If this is the case, then why is evil permitted to exist? When faced with this question, believers state that evil exists to promote “the greater good”. The greater good is the idea that some pain and suffering must exist in the world for us as humans to access our second and third level “good” platforms. These levels consist of human qualities such as courageousness, charity and sacrifice. Believers claim that life would not be as good, or as whole, without knowing these feelings, however, I argue that if we never knew any of the “higher level” qualities, then we wouldn’t miss them. If, from the beginning, we only knew the first level good, and knew no pain and suffering, then we wouldn’t know any different. Could it not be a better life, a better world, with absolutely no pain, suffering or evil? So, the question remains, if God is wholly good then how does evil exist? It is possible that God is not completely good, it may be that He permits some evil to exist so we can reach our “greater goods.” On the opposing side of that theory, is it actually that there may not be a God and that evil is a product of our human nature, as well as the good in the world.…

    • 690 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A grocery store is probably not the first place most people associate with entertaining stories, but in my family, there have been quite a few tales that revolve around our local Kroger. For instance, hearing my sister, Mary Jean, recount the loss of her beloved parking space when Kroger built their gas station has been the cause of much hilarity. Approximately two years ago, Mary Jean and I went to Kroger for just a few items, and found the place teeming with other shoppers. The holidays were approaching, so the lines were four or five shoppers long and more than a few of them had carts that were almost overflowing. The overhead lights were noticeably bright, compared to the overcast sky outside, and all…

    • 852 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    If God is omnipotent, how can God let evil happen while he has the power to stop it? A proper definition of the omnipotent God is given by Thiessen: “God is all-powerful and able to do whatever he wills. Since his will is limited by his nature, God can do everything that is in harmony with his perfections.” I believe that the 3 beliefs of God limit him because they contradict each other.…

    • 1092 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Bible says “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God” also, God reveals that suffering carries with it a noble purpose: It should help us to grow in brotherly love, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ (Galatians6:2) I think that when we support each other through suffering we form closer relationships. I believe that suffering is a part of life that needs to be embraced and that for me, I find comfort in knowing God allows suffering to serve a divine purpose. When we return to God it will bring an end to sadness and suffering. I suffer every day with anxiety. It makes me a better person because I know what it’s like to suffer, and because I suffer, I am a more compassionate person to others. I go out of my way to try to lift others in spirit because I know what it feels like to be down. I try to be a wonderful friend because I know how shortcoming in friends can be a letdown, and how having a good friend has kept me safe on bad days. I think sometimes when people don’t suffer they become self-centered and think they are above others. I think it is often when we suffer that we are drawn closer to our families and given a reality check. Suffering helps us to fulfill our potential as children of God (1John…

    • 540 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    I've been studying Christianity for over 20 years. In my youth, I jumped into it with enthusiasm and blind faith. Growing up in the buckle of the Bible belt, it seemed to be the right thing to do to seek a responsible path to adulthood.…

    • 3198 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    When I was assigned this assignment I was skeptical, but this assignment really helped me understand myself. There wasn't much information to go off of besides, show who you are, so this is who I am. This picture displays me hanging from a tree, with water behind me, and it's featuring my BYU hoodie.…

    • 499 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Galatians 2:20” I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” Knowing Jesus on a personal level is the greatest thing in the world. When we come to know Jesus all the angels in Heaven rejoice. Having a relationship with the Lord can change your life forever. I love knowing that There is a God up in Heaven that I can go to when things get out of hand. Glorifying God for the rest of my life will be something I will always cherish.…

    • 522 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    I never thought how interesting it would be to visit a different place of worship besides Christianity. Since the day I was born I’ve been a Christian and whatever anyone else believes in is wrong and that they are going to hell if they don’t believe in Christianity. About 3 years ago I visited the International Buddhist Progress Society a Buddhist temple in Naperville. Buddhism from what I learned looks more like a way of life or guidelines to it rather than a religion. Buddhism tells you how you could live life better but doesn’t scare you with the prospect of hell instead you live with ignorance. My own history with Christianity still made me doubt or fear the conquences of going to this temple. Part of me believed that I be punished by…

    • 926 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    On Being an Atheist

    • 1378 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The purpose of the paper is to answer several questions arising from an article by H. J. McCloskey entitled “On Being an Atheist”.…

    • 1378 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    My collage is Freedom of Religion, why I chose this freedom is because everyone has a religion, even though some people don’t choose to have a religion, it is important to them. ¨With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.¨ by Steven Weinberg. I chose this quote because anyone can have a religion it does not matter what kind of race they are, gender, or how they look. They choose what to believe in not what others believe in. Not everyone will believe in God, others may believe in something else and they cannot change that.…

    • 438 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Patel’s lecture made me realize that it is critical to being a human being and living with other human beings to have an awareness and a great sense of respect for all religions. Not being aware of other religion’s practices is like walking through life with your eyes closed. It is not possible to be a well-rounded human being without taking the time to learn about religious traditions of multiple different religions. This is especially important if someone wants to travel to a different country or attend a new church that they have never been to before. According to Patel, people that plan on attending football games should have some sense of different religious practices. Religion is everywhere and if a person isn’t careful or knowledgeable,…

    • 433 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    According to the report, Shawna Hardesty who was employed as a nursing assistant at Fountain City nursing home for a year was fired in August 2010 after she punched a 93-year-old patient in the head three times leaving a large “baseball-sized” bruise on the forehead. Hardesty would punch her patient every time she came into her room. The administrator of the nursing home was interviewed and said they train employees how to deal with stress, and how to treat patients properly as safety is important to them.…

    • 626 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The topic of suffering probably is the hardest for me to bear as a Christian, because it is the result of evil in the world, and since God’s allowance of evil is hard to explain, it is an atheist’ best argument against Christian faith. My views on why God allows suffering are based on C.S. Lewis’ book “The Problem of Pain”. Lewis’ thoughts basically show that there is sufficient evidence that God is real and that pain exists because the all-powerful God created creatures that aren’t happy. Since the fall of man, we are never content with what we have and are always in on the pursuit of happiness that even our forefathers recognized. This explains evil in the world; that we feel like we deserve more than we have been given, so we fight for and take what we can get, often wickedly. Our general discontent leads to evil, which leads to…

    • 717 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays