Making Time For God

Religion is something that I constantly circle as a topic for idle pondering during the day. I was trying to figure out how to articulate how I perceive religion and it's taken a long while but I feel like I'm getting a little closer...

As a basis for for this argument, I should clarify: I believe that much of science (until proven otherwise by better scientists) is fact. Like Bill Hicks, I don't subscribe to the concept that Dinosaurs were put their to test our faith and that God is just fucking with us (and, moreover, that if we happen to believe plausible explanations for the things that are in front of our face, we will burn in hell). The "Creation Science" theory just doesn't hold water - not in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

Now, I know a lot of Christians will be sitting there nodding sagely and believing that those who espouse Creation Science are misguided zealots who are holding onto antiquated views. To you I ask this: if you don't believe the message in the Bible (or Old Testament, if you want to be specific), just how Christian can you be? Are you less Christian than the zealots or are you some other religion that should be properly defined...? God knows there's a lot of "Christians" who are turning to Buddhist teachings and faith healing in this modern age and just how far can you go and still be classified a Christian? How much lemonade do you add to a lager before it becomes a proper shandy? How much before it's just lemonade with lager in it? Anyway, that's a whole other argument. My argument today is why I AM agnostic and why I AM NOT religious.

I have a finite life. I might get to see 100 years, if I'm lucky but, more likely, I'll get bored and die a long time before that. The Universe, however, seems to be pretty damn infinite and even within the realms of our planet there are more things than I can ever hope to see or understand.

In my - for arguments sake, let's say - 70 years, I have the task of discovering the answers to a number of enormous questions: Who am I? Why am I here? What makes me happy? It's hard enough without the whole makeup of my life changing with a certain amount of regularity - people come, people go, I get sacked, I get a new job... And on and on.

In the midst of trying to find my place in the world and understand this life, I don't buy into the concept that we should stop or pursuit of answers and give thanks to a deity. I strongly believe that our pursuit of answers is our thanks.

Understanding and appreciating the miracle of our lives and the world around us is the greatest tribute we can give to the marvel that is life. To this extent, many of the original churches and cathedrals mimicked this - they were the pinnacle of human architecture for their time (however, the flat-pack, North American style are not). If you're doing something you love, with someone you love and you're enjoying the life you've been blessed with (and you're not pissing on others trying to do the same!) then you're giving your tribute to any deity that there may be in the next life...

Quite why you'd bother defining yourself as belonging to a particular religion above and beyond that is an elusive concept to me. After all, it's quite possible that you really don't share that many beliefs with the others in your religion... You might as well just be happy being you and believing what you believe: you don't need a priest to validate that.