God and Religion  

OK, here's what I believe and how I got there:

We are all on our own, there is no god. Since the beginning of time, cultures have had their specific gods and religions (created by humans) that flourish only as long as that culture exists. Religion spreads through the armed conquest of other lands and peoples. The Greeks worshipped their gods until the Romans came along and conquered the Greeks, bringing their new and improved Roman gods. The Romans cleverly sold this concept by relating their new gods to the old greeks, Juno =Zeus, etc. -and life went on.

Well then the Christians came along, the Roman Empire fell and suddenly everyone was Christian. The Christians brought a new twist to the game -previous cultures went with a multiple god system, and were more tolerant of the concept of other deities than their own. The Christians said' NO -our god is the only god, all others are false.' This was a radical change, and allowed whole armies to be raised up in the name of the new god to go spread this religion. But if you look closely, there's really nothing in Christian mythology that hasn't been done before. The Christians even manipulated their holy days to coincide with pagan holidays that their conquests were already celebrating.

What has allowed the Christians to persevere through the ages has been luck, coupled with the speed with which they originally spread throughout Europe. Frankly, Christians are still around because a)the various Churches are rich and powerful enough to go on forever, and b) Nothing else big enough has come along to conquer all the Christians at once.

I'm sure all the true believers will say it's Divine Providence that brought us to thsi point, and arguments for both sides abound, but this is about what I believe!

I believe in myself and my own heart, mind and actions. I need fear no supreme being's wrath to make me have honor and morality -these come from within. My inner peace comes from my own being, and the love of those around me. I am a human being, and by no means an island, but self sufficient.