God & Religion — Part ll

Obviously, it didn’t strike a chord, part I that is. Maybe it was the number 13, that’s how many took the plunge, read the 3-minute blurb. Odd since the title attracted, at this writing, 261 views, people who I must not have been able to reach or those with no interest in my point of view on the, seemingly touchy, subject.

Would they have indulged had I not questioned the very existence of an all-powerful, omnipotent, deity? In general terms, there are about 2.4 billion Christians (Catholics the largest), 1.8 Muslims, and a good number of Hindus. Squeezed between these last two, irreligion, my guess a combination of atheists, agnostics, and others which happens to be the most rapidly expanding sect.

People need to do whatever it takes to live happy productive lives, and religion a large part for many. As mentioned there are many positives, community, support, and betterment of the human condition, all admirable. Would be wonderful if that was all however, like many good things, they come in packages, packages that are not always free of malice.

As with the political situation in western countries polarity rules, and direction currently in vogue, no real attempts at listening to what the other side has to say, is feeling. Not too different from the stance of many religions, our god not yours. Whether this is what contributed to the highly skewed numbers I do not know, suffice to say it prompted me to reach out one more time, not that I need to get the conversation started, better if the tenor can be addressed.

We are all the same, ashes to ashes, intellectually it has to be clear, what isn’t is why we cannot follow the fundamental tenet of most religions, love thy neighbor, be kind, and all the other humanistic directives passed down from the dawn of our brief stint here on this incredible planet shared by me and my 8 billion closest friends.