I will start off here by saying this article is in no way, shape or form an attack on religion or those who are religious. It is merely just me stating my beliefs which I believe is legal via the 1st amendment (correct me if I’m wrong though). As Evelyn Beatrice Hall once wrote, “I disapprove of what you say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it”.
I don’t believe in God, I don’t believe in heaven or hell, and I don’t believe that the bible is an accurate historical account of events.
This might seem bold, but if you’re reading this and you know me, you most likely already knew that. But now let me tell you why. I don't believe in God- I believe in people. I may be one of the few people left out there who thinks this, but I truly believe that people are inherently good. There is so much conflict running amok in our world and every day it gets harder and harder for me to believe it, but I remain resolute. The important thing to me though is not to focus on the madness, but to see the harmony within it. To find unity within conflict is to obtain a moment as close to perfect as you can get. One where humanity prevails over all else.
While I may say I don’t believe in God, that doesn’t mean I don’t respect people who do. I think it’s incredibly important to believe in something; to have faith in something. Whether that thing is people, God, or even something like love- it’s important to believe in something. This is why I love the phrase, “whatever floats your boat.” Although it’s often used as a sarcastic and snarky remark, I think it applies here rather nicely. If believing in God floats your boat, ride on. If it gets you through the day and helps you go to sleep happy, that’s fine by me. What’s not fine by me is when people’s beliefs lead them into conflict. I’ll say it bluntly, but I think there is absolutely no point in arguing about religious differences. We will never be able to prove anything one way or the other. Everything you have to say on the matter is mere speculation. This is coming from a guy who is notorious for making bets that he will never be able to prove (e.g. Dude I’ll bet you a million dollars that I wore a green shirt that one day!). Don’t argue about something that is never going to be resolved. When was the last time you were in a religious debate and someone just went, “You know what? You’re right I was mistaken!”
I haven’t always had these beliefs though. Don't get too excited, I don’t mean that I used to believe in God. I have been an atheist for as long as I can remember. I mean that I haven’t always had this view towards people. I used to not believe in God because I never believed that a person could be omnipotent. Go ask your religious friends if they ever used to believe in people like Santa Claus who is also supposedly omnipotent…..
Seriously though, make a Venn diagram of Santa and God using the lyrics to “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.” He knows when you are sleeping. He knows when you’re awake. He knows when you’ve been bad or good so be good for goodness sake. THEY ARE THE SAME FUCKING PERSON. Anyway……
I didn’t have this view until last year when a friend of mine showed me a poem by a guy named Harry Baker. The poem is called Paper People and as Mr. Baker describes, it is the best poem in the world according to five French strangers. (5:40-9:15 of the video is the poem, but I encourage you to listen to all 14 minutes because it’s awesome).
Pretty cool stuff right? He says he believes in people. People like his grandparents who pray for him every day. Whether or not you believe in God or any form of religion is irrelevant. People care about other people. They may show it in their own way, but they care.
This piece resonated vibrantly in my head for weeks upon weeks after I listened to it. So much so, that I listened to it every day for over a month. I listened until I finally realized why I liked it so much. It’s because of one simply paragraph in the middle. Before I end the article with the quote for dramatic effect I’d like to point out that it is completely possible to believe in both people and God. For some of us, believing in people inherently is believing in god. For me however, I find it impossible to put my faith in something that’s intangible, while we have something as concrete as human beings all around us. So the reason I don’t believe in god is because….
“In the end it all comes down to people. I like people. Cause even when the situation’s dire, it is only ever people who are able to inspire, and on paper – it’s hard to see how we all cope, but in the bottom of Pandora’s box there’s still hope, and I still hope cause I believe in people.” -Harry Baker
