Even Atheism Is A Religion

After reading the news about the sign an atheist group put up next to a nativity scene In Olympia, WA, I was curious and had to check out the group's website. The sign that had been put up dismisses belief in gods or devils, heaven or hell, and claims that there is only the world we currently live in. It claims that religion only "hardens hearts and enslaves minds". Looking around, it would seem that a lot of awful things have been done in the name of religion both in recent times and throughout history. But is God really the author of such hideous acts? I really don't think so. All of these acts have been committed by people. They might cowardly blame God (or the devil) for what they do, but no supernatural being can force them or any of us to do anything. We all have our own free will and are responsible for our own actions. As powerful as he might be, God cannot force us to obey him.

Meanwhile, these atheists have their own "religion", if I may call it that. I define the term religion here as a gathering of people who think or believe alike joining together to share their beliefs as well as attempting to influence others to believe likewise. This is pretty much what all religions do. This group has a website and a radio show. On their website, they invite people to join their "religion" and to make a tax-deductible donation. So they are really doing some of the same things that the other religious groups they criticize are doing.


So Sayeth The Shack

One God For All?

It really bugs me when I read or hear something like the following excerpt from a letter to the editor in the local newspaper written by Donal Heller: "In his recent letter, Ed Emel asked whether we let mankind or the will of God govern us. Whose god is he referring to?" (Click here to read the full letter)

What do people mean when they ask "whose god?" Do they think that there is a different god for each of us; a different set rules or commandments to live by for each person? No wonder this world is such a mess!

If there is a god, which, by the way, I am far from certain of, then is there not only one? Ancient peoples worshiped multiple gods, but for the past few thousand years, the major religions have been monotheistic. This means one god. The same god for you as for me as for everyone else. And even though there are still many different religions, I believe that they all basically worship the same god, albeit in somewhat different ways. The existence of a god is not affected by our belief or lack thereof. We choose whether or not to believe but that does not affect the fact that a god either does or does not exist. We, at this point, can neither prove nor disprove the existence of god. But if there is one, I believe, as do the majority of others, that there is only one. So when someone asks "whose god?", the answer is "your god, my god, everyone's god", and his rules for you are the same as his rules for me and for everybody else. Each religion may have their own interpretation of things but that is because these interpretations have been altered by man down through the ages. So for those who believe, the question "whose god?" is meaningless.

So Sayeth The Shack