Should I Believe in God? : NO: Do I have to worship the Founding Fathers to believe in the Constitution? One can be moral without religion.

I do not believe in God.

From this point on, will I receive utter close-mindedness from you? Are my views immoral and blasphemous? Will you listen to my beliefs, my ideas, me as a person?

I cannot believe in something that does not exist to me. I can not believe in God just because everybody does.

I was not raised in an “abnormal” household. I even went to Bible studies and prayed to God when I was younger. I know many of the stories and I have read the Bible. As I grew older, my faith faded as my many questions about God and religion grew. Now, I believe not in God but the morals he represents--the Ten Commandments: You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, honor your father and your mother, you shall not bear false witness and so on. I must believe in these morals for they are the basis of our society. To cast down these morals is to cast down our way of governing and therefore, our nation. But believing in the morals of God isn’t the same as believing in God.

The Constitution also represents our rights, our beliefs, what is right, and what is wrong. I do not worship Thomas Jefferson and beg him to forgive me. I do not pray to Benjamin Franklin. I admire what they wrote, for they are certainly brilliant, but I in no way idolize them.

Religion may bring sanctuary and guidance to some people, but I object to some of the ideas preached by many religions, like the concept that one religion is right and the rest are wrong. This closed-mindedness has led to many wars and disputes. I think it is absurd that all of the religions are not united, since they are derived from the same or similar basic concepts. Even though it is human nature to believe that one religion is better than another, if all religions were united, they could serve a common cause--the betterment of humankind.

Another instance of closed-mindedness is the intolerance of homosexuals. Daily I hear and see degradation of homosexuality. Many religions teach that this lifestyle is morally wrong and that it goes against normal society.

This same closed-mindedness leads society to label me as a pagan or an atheist, as society needs to put a tag on everyone. I do not call myself antireligious but I am a realist. “How do you prove that God doesn’t exist?” you ask. “How do you prove that Santa Claus does not exist,” I counter.

I will believe realistically and when the existence of God is proven, I will gladly convert.