My Religion | Teen Ink

My Religion MAG

By Anonymous

I have a magnet on my mirror stating, “Life is not about finding yourself – life is about creating yourself.” This is the statement I live by.

Many people do not believe me when I say I am an atheist. They don’t understand that I simply do not believe in any sort of god or afterlife. I also do not believe in the devil, in angels, or in souls. I believe in myself and the strength I have gained through the help of my parents, teachers, and friends – and my own hard work.

I am not going to try to dissuade anyone from his or her own opinions either. I know that people enjoy having religion in their lives; some need their faith to help them through hard times. And some do not want the responsibility of their misfortunes weighing down on their shoulders.

I do. I abhor the idea of fate – that everything is already planned out and you have no control to change anything. If you believe in fate, when bad things happen, it is not your fault; it’s just fate. When my life is not going well, I know that it is no one’s fault but my own. When I do well in school, when I fall in love, it is not fate and we are not soul mates. I worked hard and paid attention and did the homework. My love and I simply love each other – that is all it is, and for me that is all it needs to be.

For some, life is overwhelming. How can anyone be successful and happy in such a difficult, horrible world? They need someone to help them, someone to guide them, and someone to have faith in to make sure things get better. Placing my success and happiness in another’s hands breaks my heart. I need to be successful because of my efforts. I must be responsible for my own happiness. That is what I need from my religion.

Who will ever know what the truth really is? All I know is in the same way that some have full faith and trust in God to give them hope, I need to believe I am on my own to be truly happy – for how can I create myself if I spend my entire life just looking?



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This article has 764 comments.


ejp04 SILVER said...
on Aug. 1 2010 at 2:07 am
ejp04 SILVER, Mesa, Arizona
6 articles 0 photos 7 comments

Favorite Quote:
We don&#039;t read and write poetry because it&#039;s cute. <br /> We read and write poetry because we are members <br /> of the human race. And the human race is filled with <br /> passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, <br /> these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. <br /> But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we <br /> stay alive for. To quote from Whitman, &quot;O me! O life!... <br /> of the questions of these recurring; of the endless trains <br /> of the faithless... of cities filled with the foolish; what good <br /> amid these, O me, O life?&quot; Answer. That you are here - that <br /> life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and <br /> you may contribute a verse. That the powerful play *goes on* <br /> and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be? <br /> <br /> -Dead Poets Society<br /> 1989

This article brings back memories of the many summers that my hard core christian friend and i (an atheist) debated religion and the absense of one. I am glad that you took the time to write an article that expresses many aspects of the athiest point of view in such a well presented manner. I hope that this article helps those who have opposing views to understand us better, even if they may not agree with us (because, i am quite tired of being looked upon as if i have some sort of disease whenever i tell someone i am an athiest). But from reading a lot of these comments, i think your article is succeeding. I also appreciate the absense of any purely mean-spirited replies from both parties, and the fact that people are openly discussing this topic in a civilized, respectful manner with the intention of actually learning something from one another. Thank you everyone for your respect, and thank you author for this article.

on Aug. 1 2010 at 1:39 am
origamifrogs BRONZE, Worcester, Massachusetts
2 articles 0 photos 7 comments

It's very simple. What is your religion?

If you are Jewish, you belive in Allah, correct. If you are Christian or Mormon, you believe in God. Pagan's belive in Zues, Madusa, etc. Think of all the religions, think of all the gods that are believed.

Now, thing about a god from a religion you are not. You do not believe in that god, correct? Why not? Because they don't exsist.

That's atheism.


on Aug. 1 2010 at 1:37 am
origamifrogs BRONZE, Worcester, Massachusetts
2 articles 0 photos 7 comments

Yes, atheism ftw!

I've been waiting for someone to write a decent article on being atheist. This is the first one. It's disappointing.

Good job!


on Jul. 27 2010 at 1:19 pm
HollyKristine BRONZE, Gales Creek, Oregon
3 articles 0 photos 1 comment
Sarah, I respect your believes and I'm glad you're happy with them. :)

on Jul. 23 2010 at 9:48 am
fibonaccimathgenius BRONZE, Birmingham, Michigan
4 articles 0 photos 17 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;I&#039;m going to bed before you two come up with a worse idea to get us killed -- or worse, expelled.&quot; -- Hermione Granger, HP #1 &lt;3 :]

Steve H. , I totally agree with you. 

Never will I understand the beliefs of Christians, despite their desperate efforts to convince me. 

Another thing I hate: when Christians say 'God Bless!' to atheists. 

Do you have to act like we're some misguided puppy who needs to gently be steered in the right direction. 

Anyways, check out my article, Society's Attitude Toward Atheism!


on Jul. 23 2010 at 9:40 am
fibonaccimathgenius BRONZE, Birmingham, Michigan
4 articles 0 photos 17 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;I&#039;m going to bed before you two come up with a worse idea to get us killed -- or worse, expelled.&quot; -- Hermione Granger, HP #1 &lt;3 :]

if he indeed exists, he probably wants you to be able to spell too...

on Jul. 21 2010 at 3:30 am
fibonaccimathgenius BRONZE, Birmingham, Michigan
4 articles 0 photos 17 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;I&#039;m going to bed before you two come up with a worse idea to get us killed -- or worse, expelled.&quot; -- Hermione Granger, HP #1 &lt;3 :]

... and that wasn't supposed to be a reply just to V-ballChick, it was supposed to be a comment on the piece...

 

oops.


on Jul. 21 2010 at 3:29 am
fibonaccimathgenius BRONZE, Birmingham, Michigan
4 articles 0 photos 17 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;I&#039;m going to bed before you two come up with a worse idea to get us killed -- or worse, expelled.&quot; -- Hermione Granger, HP #1 &lt;3 :]

i feel exactly the same way

people don't understand because they have been brainwashed all their lives :/


Chloe_ BRONZE said...
on Jul. 20 2010 at 11:24 am
Chloe_ BRONZE, San Antonio, Texas
4 articles 0 photos 43 comments

Favorite Quote:
Never underestimate the power of doing the ordinary in quite extraordinary ways.

I agree with bennyB all God wants is for us to know him, to love him, but to Him it doesn't  matter what faith we are or if we even aknowledge Him at all as long as we believe in ourselves in some form we DO believe in God even if we don't know it 

on Jul. 17 2010 at 1:44 pm
bennyB PLATINUM, Memphis, Tennessee
26 articles 0 photos 63 comments
there is a god but he doesnt want a religion out of you all he wants is for you to have a personal relashionship with him

on Jul. 10 2010 at 11:10 am
Alcanno DIAMOND, Mexia, Texas
59 articles 0 photos 670 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;If you love life, don&#039;t waste time, for time is what life is<br /> made up of.&quot;<br /> <br /> -- Bruce Lee

I COMPLETELY agree with you, circus_freak. This is an amazing piece of writing - very well written. I hope what I say does not offend you. Though I don't agree with some of your opinions, I respect them as yours. I am a Christian, and I agree with you on a few of your key points. I don't believe in fate,  and I do believe that you can and should make your own happiness - but for me, religion is what I turn to when I feel like I'm in too deep and need help or forgivness -  but I don't think this makes me weaker than you. God brings me happiness when I can't seem to find any myself, and from this, I lead a very happy life. I love your quote at the beginning of the article, and wish you the best. Maybe one day you will open your mind to the idea of God - if you do, it will change your life and you will see this piece that you've written in a whole new way. God bless!

on Jul. 10 2010 at 10:51 am
rawrGabbsrawr BRONZE, Bronx, New York
1 article 0 photos 10 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;There&#039;s a light at the end of every tunnel... Just hope it&#039;s not a train...&quot;

I love this piece. It was so very well written. But not many will be able to understand your point of view. My teacher once said "To be religious, you must only believe in your religion, but in being religious, you have to understand others. So how could we be open minded about other religions, if by accepting other religions meant you were turning your back on the one you believed in?" I loved that, because it shows how it makes people narrow-minded.

on Jul. 10 2010 at 10:37 am
RavenBird SILVER, Battle Ground, Washington
7 articles 3 photos 35 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are the same&quot; ~The Fray &quot;All at once&quot; <br /> &quot;I am who I am and who i wanna be&quot; ~Avril Lavigne

What I do not understand is why many religious peoples (not all, I have tons of lovely wonderful nice religious friends) Insult, do not accept, hate-on (etc) people who do not follow their guidelines to the letter, or just plain aren't of their religion. Is that what the Bible teaches? I shouldn't think so! You can't say your religion is perfect and right when you, when acting upon it, treat people wrong. Accept other opinions. I am of the firm belief that people can be good people without religion, and people can be bad people with it. 

on Jul. 10 2010 at 10:26 am
MercedesXO DIAMOND, South Easton, Massachusetts
52 articles 0 photos 280 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;I realize that life is risks. It&#039;s acknowledging the past but looking forward. It&#039;s taking chances that we will make mistakes but believeing we all deserve to be forgiven.&quot; <br /> -The Dead Tossed Waves.

I loved this might I say. Also, I am a Catholic, I attend church every week and believe strongly in God. I guess some of the things you say is true, how we sometimes need to believe in something greater to know that everything will be alright. And I understand where you're coming from. But that's not all it is. I have faith in God, because I simply do. Exactly how you don't believe in him. Because you don't. And I don't have faith in Him so that I can merily feel as if I have a purpose in life and to feel as though I have no options or control over how my life will turn out....because I don't really believe in that either. I think we can decide our own fate..if that is what we choose. Some people don't want to acknowledge that option and like to "leave it in God's hands." I don't use God to tell me what to do or to guide me through life. However, I DO believe in God, because I simply believe in something greater and as beautiful as what He has given us. Life. That's just my oppinion anyways. And I completely accept yours as well. Fantastic job, and I like the way you think:)

on Jun. 18 2010 at 10:45 pm
Crying_Tears SILVER, SL,UT, Utah
8 articles 0 photos 24 comments

Favorite Quote:
I am fond on pigs.<br /> Dogs look up to us.<br /> Cats look down.<br /> Pigs treat us as equals.<br /> -Winston Churchill

You can still appreciate life just as well with the prospect of an afterlife.

Brandon M. C said...
on Jun. 18 2010 at 2:32 pm
Well i basically meant like you'd be sleeping eternally... you don't know that you are sleeping and when you're not dreaming it's all black, but you don't know that you are asleep, so you wouldn't know you were dead you'd just be dead. Yea i did enjoy this piece the author wrote as well.

TheJust ELITE said...
on Jun. 18 2010 at 2:13 pm
TheJust ELITE, Ellenton, Florida
254 articles 202 photos 945 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;I feel that a hero is somebody who will stand up for their values and what they believe in and that can take any form. People that have values and have thought them through rather than those who just do what they&rsquo;re told.&quot;-Skandar Keynes<br /> <br /> &quot;When it&rsquo;

People who are not born with the ability to understand things like that, like people with serious mental problems, God will not send them to Hell. BUT if you ARE able to understand the fact that you are a sinner and understand that you have broken God's laws and that He has taken the punishment, you will be held accountable for how you respond to that knowledge. It's the same with kids. Until children are able to understand the Gospel, they are not held accountable. It's a thing called "the age of accountability" and it's different for each person: some people are able to understand sin, Jesus' death, repentance and forgiveness at young ages such as three, others it may ten and some people, like those with mental problems, may never understand. But if you are able to understand and you have been told about Sin and Jesus, you will be held accountable and sent to Hell when you die if you don't repent.

But mental problems do not mean you are sinless, simply because you can't do "big" sins like lying or stealing; the Bible says "For ALL have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Rom. 3:23 It simply means you may not held be held accountalbe for those sins.


on Jun. 18 2010 at 12:50 pm
the_quiet_one BRONZE, Orangevale, California
3 articles 0 photos 18 comments

Favorite Quote:
&ldquo;I write for no other purpose than to add to the beauty that now belongs to me. I write a story for no other reason than to add three or four hundred acres to my magnificent estate.&rdquo;<br /> ~Jack London (White Fang)

This is a very controversial article but I think you wrote it fairly well. I don't necessarily agree with you, in fact I don't. This article had to potential to be very judgmental and condescending, but I think you did a good job keeping it intrapersonal. That way it didn't really feel like you were accusing anyone of being wrong. However I do agree with thepeechyteenager, however I'm not sure in expressing your opinion so throughly that you could have avoided it.

love2run GOLD said...
on Jun. 18 2010 at 12:22 pm
love2run GOLD, Star Valley, Wyoming
12 articles 4 photos 64 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;I failed my way to success.&quot; Thomas Edison<br /> &quot;What kind of crazy nut would spend two or three hours a day just running?&quot; Pre<br /> &quot;A ship in harbor is safe, but that&#039;s not what ships are built for.&quot; John Shedd

I agree. Only, not all religions believe in Jesus.

on Jun. 18 2010 at 12:09 pm
VanishingEntity, Keller, Texas
0 articles 0 photos 27 comments

Favorite Quote:
Reality continues to ruin my life.<br /> <br /> -Bill Watterson

I'm sure that there are people who don't lie and steal, because THEY DON'T KNOW HOW. Some people have brain dysfunctions that keep them from being able to understand the concept of a lie. So does that make you not have a soul? Does that mean the only way you can be free of sin is to have your brain altered? Would that make you not human? Would God love you more?