It has long astonished me that people will believe some of the most incredibly unlikely supernatural mumbo-jumbo. And the believers aren’t all half-wits, idiots and imbeciles. Clearly they are either people with poor critical thinking abilities, those who are just too lazy to make a focused effort at analyzing the facts, or those who believe the ludicrous stories they are told for no good reason than someone else told them they are true.
Many of them are fundamentalists who believe their holy books were the work a God (their God, of course the only true God) created as their manual; how to live and survive as a human being. Despite the overwhelming evidence that multiple people created the Holy Bible over decades after Jesus Christ had descended wholly into the sky one sunny afternoon, millions of people believe it records ad verbatim the instructions from God.
The Quran is in much the same boat. It has short, unconnected suras that don’t appear in any real order as though they were each a card in a pack of cards that fell on the floor and was swept up haphazardly.
If I was God, I would be highly insulted to think that millions of people thought I would put out such shoddy work. And that I had never upgraded it and left it alone for a few thousand years. All the hatred, violence, terrible things recorded in both texts and the very bad examples are all attributed to me … or my son or prophet. I would be devastated.
If I was God and wanted to impose a religion on my creation, it would be so obvious that everyone would follow it without having to think about it; they would want to do it from the bottom of their hearts. There would be only ONE religion available to everyone and everyone would be treated equally.
Let’s face it. If there was a God who personally looked after each and every one of us, wouldn’t the world be in much better state than it is? Doesn’t the earth, nature and humanity look more like the product of evolution than the product of a supreme being who is omniscient, without flaws and capable of anything?
Why would the most intelligent article in existence let us fall into the trap of original sin, threaten us with an eternity of misery and suffering, create us imperfect with design flaws and more, allow animals and people to suffer needlessly?
Why would I have weeds in my garden and only two sets of teeth to last me for 80 years?
It is obvious to increasing numbers of people. It’s all a delusion we have created for ourselves to explain our unusual and unlikely existence. It makes us feel happy about ourselves thinking that we are part of some amazing plan rather than just pieces of thinking meat that age, deteriorate, die and return to the base matter from which we originated.
These are some of the reasons why I am a non-believer. However, the good thing is that I’m also open minded enough to explore new options. Give me some credible information and if it is logical, consistent and based on reason and science, I’ll be happy to change my mind if the evidence presents.
Unfortunately, the deluded will often not even consider alternative propositions.
Dark Horse
