See, such things are completely false.
I was Christian for 16 years of my life. I should clarify...I was indoctrinated Christian for 16 years of my life. At 16, I observed what I felt to be obscene hypocrisy in the Christian majority (and the teachings on which it is based) and began a search for real and rational thinking.
The fact is that any line of thinking is not without flaw. Science does not have all the answers and is constantly evolving. Still, not all theories or ideas are of equal merit, and frankly I find religion to be largely without value. The morals it preaches are reached independently of its existence, and it unfortunately leads to extreme conflict. Worst of all, what is called "faith" should really be called "unthinking"....such baseless beliefs encourage people to avoid analyzing their existence...it encourages accepting a status quo. And worst of all, it ignores the real beauty of our existence by touting an even better life afterwards, while maintaining that this existence is provided by an omniscient omnipresent being.
Anyways...this unthinking is what I object to the most. You see, after I experienced Christianity (keeping in mind that I went through baptism and confirmation in an attempt to understand it better), I came out quite disturbed that I had wasted so much time in a baseless religion, while on the other side of the world, there was something equally (dare I say, more?) plausible: buddhism.
From 16-19, I looked at buddhism. From 19-21, I lost all faith in the value of religion. At that point, I was completely atheist and had no interest in reviewing or discussing religion at all...perhaps the truest practice of atheism. This transitioned into agnosticism, where I felt we have two approaches, neither of which can be proven within our lifetime.
And most recently, I have chosen to quit ignoring the harm that religion is doing. It is my opinion (and there is considerable evidence supporting this) that religion has not filled any human need other than the need to identify with a group, the need to control others, and the need to profit from these first two needs. Of particular concern is the basis on which these religions become embedded in the people: they are forced upon children at a time when they are genetically coded to believe authority figures and by the time they have developed the mental capacity to review such a complex topic, they have lost the ability to think independently.
A huge part of my belief in constant thinking (which is the polar opposite of undying faith) is that I am constantly reviewing everything on this planet. At any time, I will gladly acknowledge any line of rational and logical thinking; if it is the most plausible theory, I will adopt it. I will not, however, ever blindly believe something without sufficient supporting information, whether that is religion, politics, or what I should eat for breakfast.
So thank you....but please try again.
