According to a 2008 poll by The Washington Post, 92 percent of Americans believe in a higher power; around 75 percent of those people believe Christianity is the one true religion. Although the Christian God has never made itself known through direct contact, each person chooses to live his or her life through the wishes and demands of this deity. Holy wars, abortion clinic bombings, the lack of rights for gay people and other crimes of hate and intolerance are not uncommon to those who blindly believe. Religion makes slaves of the masses. They rarely question what they are being taught, they’ll swallow any tripe that’s put in front of them and they think their callous, sanctimonious behavior will actually be rewarded with eternal life. The rationales behind their beliefs do not justify the mindless existence in which they live. It’s time for people of faith to wake up and realize there is nothing out there.
Having faith in a belief is the cornerstone of any religion, but one could argue that faith itself is more harmful than it is helpful. The term “leap of faith” implies that one must ignore logical reasoning and hope that good things will happen. It is this kind of willing delusion that keeps people from questioning what they have been brought up to believe.
When I think of faith, I think of a lack of personal responsibility. Naturally, people of faith will turn to God when a challenge comes their way. I think it would make more sense, though, if they took actions themselves to fix whatever problem they have. A perfect example of misplaced faith is the Wisconsin family who felt that prayer (also known as talking to yourself) would treat their daughter’s diabetes better than medicine. Needless to say, their daughter died as a result of their inaction.
When faith alone is not enough to keep the masses believing, there is the almighty miracle, which can surely sustain the fires of righteousness in the hearts of the doubting. It goes without saying that I do not believe in miracles in any way, shape or form. For something to be truly miraculous it must occur only through a supernatural force while many people will undoubtedly claim that they have witnessed or taken part in a miraculous event, chances are it was only a great coincidence and nothing more.
The most ridiculous miracle Christians believe in is found at the very foundation of their faith: the resurrection. While I can’t argue that Jesus rising from the dead is merely a coincidence, I can argue that it probably never happened in the first place. There has never been a single case in history of a man dying and then three days later coming back to life. It would be impossible. Aside from the scientific debates, the Bible was not written until several decades after Jesus died, leaving the storytellers as unreliable and unable to be trusted. I want to know why we no longer see miracles of Biblical proportions today.
Where modern-day miracles are concerned, those who are easily impressed and don’t have a knack for critical thinking will consider the recent plane landing in the Hudson River a miracle, which it’s not. The pilot was obviously not without skill and I think most people will agree that the plane was not put down safely because of some supernatural force.
The religions of ancient civilizations were comprised of nothing more than superstition and ignorance, so why is it that we are unable to draw parallels between those stories of creation and the ones people currently believe in today? While we’ve advanced to the point where the sun makes more sense as a burning ball of gas than it does a God, we still haven’t come to the conclusion that our presence on Earth is merely a stroke of luck rather the plans of an invisible force.
Ultimately, it’s hard to see how someone can hear the story of Christianity, or whatever religion they choose to believe in, and think it’s true. Religion is no more than a fairy tale for adults. Like any belief, thought must be put into it before it can be believed. I think it’s time we start to put childhood comforts away and start dealing with ourselves and the world around us with a rational and reasonable perspective.
