If you are deist, you believe in a Creator. Not the ones mentioned in all the major religions of the world.
If you are a Christian, you believe in God.
If you are a Muslim, you believe in Allah.
If you are a Jew, you believe in Yahweh.
If you are a Buddhist, the universe is eternal, infinite in its existence, there is no need for a God, nor is there a need to explain the universe.
The lists goes on.
People of different faiths believe different things. Thus, a Buddhist would reject whatever the other faiths believe, the Christian would reject whatever people of other faiths believe. No matter who you are, you are an infidel to someone. For a Muslim, a Catholic is an infidel. For a Christian, the infidel is the Muslim. And so on.
There are suppressed feelings from all religious groups. They feel that others are misguided in their belief, that they need to be 'enlightened'. Or else why would we see pamphlets distributed by the Catholics outlining Muslim violence? Why would we see Muslims strapping bombs to themselves and blowing up buildings?
Religious leaders around the world have called repeatedly for tolerance among the various faiths that exists within this world. The Pope, for example, has always called for peace and understanding between all religions. The Dalai Lama is convinced that all religions can prosper and exist side by side.
But there is one point that all people of faith have missed. How are all these different faiths going to be reconciled? Of the 6 billion people in this world, almost all are religious. History has shown us that no compromise has been reached between faiths. The human race is killing one another, to this day, for the sake of? Religion.
Perhaps the solution to some is to convert everyone else on earth to their faith. But how would others react to that? They would reject this fervently. So how can different faiths reach a stage of reconciliation? This is for the faithful people to answer, because they believe that all religions can live together in peace and harmony.
However, thus far, this has not been the case. Catholics from the Church of St. Francis Xavier in Malaysia and the government of Malaysia are on a standoff. Over what? Over the use of the word 'Allah'? Religions are still far from reaching compromise, much less tolerance.
Atheists all have different views. The only common thing about us that we believe that a God does not exists just like how we believe Zeus, Hercules and Dragons don't exist. There is no way to disprove their existence, but we can almost certainly say that they don't exist. But we leave room for the possibility that they exist as well.(Actually we don't, seriously, Zeus? Dragons? Thor? Pfft)
Why am I being so vocal about religion? Bad things are happening in this world in the name of religion. It's as simple as that. When the Pope makes a statement which is scientifically wrong, what will be the impact? There are about 1 billion Catholics in the world, and the people who trust the Pope's every word will also absorb and preach the Pope's absurd stand. If a science teacher believes the world is 6000 years old and tells that to his/her students, what will be the implications? If the Irish government is helping the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland cover up abuse carried out by priests and nuns on children, is that acceptable?
Why should religion be treated with respect, if it has no respect for human rights, science and ultimately humanity? Time and again, we read about corruption taking place within our governments, and we curse those corrupted politicians! But when religious leaders commit a crime, we are asked to keep mum about it, we are asked to respect religion, but has religion earned that respect?
I always thought Malaysia was safe from the insanity going about the world. That Malaysians understand that religion cannot be used to explain science. That religion should always be separated from it. But in recent years, that seems not to be the case. There are seminars conducted to explain science with religion. There are people who claim that evolution through natural selection and a 13.7 billion year old universe are wrong, and how do they prove their claim? Scripture.
Earlier, I said all atheists are different. Indeed we are. Some believe that it is only the matter of time before religion becomes irrelevant and discarded by society. Some believe that religion will cause the downfall of mankind. For me, I believe that religion will never cease to exist. I only hope for an understanding of religion's role and a change of attitude towards science. That evolution is true, that the world is indeed 13.7 billion years old, that the only way now to slow the spread of AIDS is through the usage of condoms, that religion should always be separated from science, that scripture should not be taken literally and thus distorting science, that there is a dire need of compromise between religions, that not enough is being done for that to happen, that religion has a huge responsibility towards the world and religious leaders should speak responsibly.
Religion is here to stay. My only wish is that never again will someone come up to me and say, "All evidence for evolution were planted by God. God made it seem that the world is 13.7billion years old. God made it seem that we evolved. Everything was God's doing."
In short, people should not be expounding this.
In fact, not only do religious leaders have a responsibility so do their congregation. If a B-grade politician is voted by the voters of that constituency, the responsibility lies within those voters, and come next election, they vote him out. The same goes for churchgoers. If someone in their congregation is promoting creationism, it is their responsibility to tell this person why creationism cannot explain anything.
Are atheists happy people? I cannot answer that, as I have said, all atheists are different. But I am not happy. I am saddened by the state of Earth, by all the atrocities that are being committed by mankind and by the stark reality that it will continue.(More often than not, in the name of religion)
I hope people of faith will understand what Galileo meant when he said, "Holy Writ was intended to teach men how to go to Heaven, not how the heavens go." and when Einstein said, "God does not play dice."
Finally, atheists are often thought of as arrogant know-it-alls. Well, I do find it very arrogant of the Abrahamic faiths(and other religions) to proclaim my grandmother burning in hell. The Bible says she will suffer eternal damnation in hell. She did nothing wrong, her sin was to be a Buddhist.
It is hard to believe that this being most likely evolved from a strand of RNA that came into being roughly 4 billion years ago. The origins of life in earth are still being debated and studied upon, but as science has shown us, it will be resolved in the near future.
