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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?

© Anonymous

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This article has 764 comments.

VanishingEntity said...
on Jun. 18 2010 at 12:04 pm
VanishingEntity, Keller, Texas
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Reality continues to ruin my life.<br /> <br /> -Bill Watterson

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Yeah! There are different groups of monkeys. One of them evolved into humans. The others didn't. And so, I'm curious, E.Hartell, what is this "other thing" creature that scientists believe humans evolved from?
VanishingEntity said...
on Jun. 18 2010 at 12:01 pm
VanishingEntity, Keller, Texas
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Reality continues to ruin my life.<br /> <br /> -Bill Watterson

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Umm... Just because it's complex doesn't mean there's one great mind behind it. The complexity of Earth is created by billions of little tiny motives to survive, forming the way things are shaped, and the way the world is.
VanishingEntity said...
on Jun. 18 2010 at 11:58 am
VanishingEntity, Keller, Texas
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Reality continues to ruin my life.<br /> <br /> -Bill Watterson

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In a sort of a way, it does. You believe that whatever happens, at the end there's judgement day, and so much stuff was PREDICTED in the bible. And if you predict something, the world has to follow along on the course of fate, doesn't t?
VanishingEntity said...
on Jun. 18 2010 at 11:56 am
VanishingEntity, Keller, Texas
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Reality continues to ruin my life.<br /> <br /> -Bill Watterson

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Because then you'll treasure the life that you have all the more. It makes you enjoy the beauty around you, for you know it's all you'll get. 
VanishingEntity said...
on Jun. 18 2010 at 11:51 am
VanishingEntity, Keller, Texas
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Reality continues to ruin my life.<br /> <br /> -Bill Watterson

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I like this, except for the end, which I'd like to make a little comment about. If, as she said, we don't have souls, and there is no afterlife, it wouldn't be like sleeping forever, because when you sleep, you are still you, but if there is no soul and no afterlife, then you just wouldn't exist. You couldn't KNOW or NOT know anything because you don't have a mind. I'm an atheist, too. I like life and plan to enjoy it immensely until it ends.
Brandon M. C said...
on Jun. 18 2010 at 8:54 am
You see what gets me. We disproved all the teachings of the mayans and multiple gods and all that, but who's to say that belief in one god is correct? And to answer your question us atheists bother living because we love life (some of us) we don't need to hear childish tales, and think that we'll be rewarded with endless buffets, and eternal happiness if we live good lives. The problem with that theory is before religion people weren't sure what was right and wrong so someone figured they'd write some codes to live by. Then their was conflicts and wars over religion (the thing is religion 50% of the time is just a coverup for people wanting to have power and control over others... why do you think so many people said they had a god-given right to rule over groups of people? Religion isn't anymore than people wanting people to be better and help others, THEN there is the people who twist it and want money and power (i don't like these people in the least bit.) So basically, religion is truely good in a sense, but can be twisted and make certain people do bad things. Atheists known that life is short and just enjoy every moment of it, there's no sense in killing ourselves just because there might be no afterlife, it'd be like sleeping forever, we wouldn't even know we were dead...
lszyman96 said...
on Jun. 17 2010 at 12:02 pm
lszyman96, Romeoville, Illinois
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live with no religion..how can you live that way??
Crying_Tears SILVER said...
on Jun. 12 2010 at 10:55 pm
Crying_Tears SILVER, SL,UT, Utah
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Yes, we will all have the same judgement day, but not all will receive the same judgement. Why bother living at all if you are so certain there is nothing to look forward to?
towerjunkie019 SILVER said...
on Jun. 12 2010 at 3:55 pm
towerjunkie019 SILVER, Grandview, Washington
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Favorite Quote:
&quot;go then, there are other worlds than theese.&quot;<br /> Jake Chambers<br /> <br /> &quot;We are eternal, all this pain is an illusion&quot;<br /> -MJK

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according to your own holy book, we will face the same jugement day no matter what we do, so why bother?
Crying_Tears SILVER said...
on Jun. 10 2010 at 11:32 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

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What do you mean, nothing important will change? All that changes by having faith in my religion is a sure destination after life. Everything can drastically change by a simple yes or no or going left or right. [And it's alright that you misspelled :) no one is perfect]
towerjunkie019 SILVER said...
on Jun. 3 2010 at 9:35 pm
towerjunkie019 SILVER, Grandview, Washington
9 articles 2 photos 19 comments

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&quot;go then, there are other worlds than theese.&quot;<br /> Jake Chambers<br /> <br /> &quot;We are eternal, all this pain is an illusion&quot;<br /> -MJK

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that is an interesting question.  having my atiest credentials, i'll tell you its quite fofilling (yes, i know i misspeled that).  all you didwas by your own hand, and not much influences you.  it also allows the galaxy to hold more wonders, as every christian I have heard says there is no life that does not exist on earth.  while i know this is not the opinion of all christians, this is just my best knolledge. 

I would also ask a return question, what is it like to know that no matter what you do, nothing important will ever change?

towerjunkie019 SILVER said...
on Jun. 3 2010 at 9:28 pm
towerjunkie019 SILVER, Grandview, Washington
9 articles 2 photos 19 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;go then, there are other worlds than theese.&quot;<br /> Jake Chambers<br /> <br /> &quot;We are eternal, all this pain is an illusion&quot;<br /> -MJK

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yeah, its just them believing thier devil when he tells them it's more fun this way
Crying_Tears SILVER said...
on May. 30 2010 at 9:29 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

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I'm sorry, but i cannot imagine a life without faith.  To me, it seems pathetic, tedious, and empty.  Suppose, there is no God, how would you explain life? What does it feel like to be an Atheist?
MisplacedTexan14 said...
on May. 27 2010 at 9:52 pm
MisplacedTexan14, Saratoga, California
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Just to let you know, people who are religious don't just say, Oh well that bad stuff that I did was fate. If anything, we have higher standards and morals because we have a God telling us certain things are wrong and that we need to try our best to be the best we can, to live like Jesus did.
NeverCaredForKool-Aid GOLD said...
on May. 27 2010 at 8:17 pm
NeverCaredForKool-Aid GOLD, Elkridge, Maryland
13 articles 0 photos 531 comments

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I don&#039;t believe in hell but I believe in my parent&#039;s couch-- Watsky

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Honestly, I know you weren't activly trying to be rude- bu this was really insulting to people who are religious.  I'm kind of half-in-half-out on the whole religion thing- but they way you wrote this you make it sound like those who clung to religion were weak and clueless.  I've got no problem with you feeling strong as an athiest, but I've got to say I do think it's wong if your looking down on people with religion.
Smileyky108 BRONZE said...
on May. 27 2010 at 5:40 pm
Smileyky108 BRONZE, Venetia, Pennsylvania
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Great job! I'm not an atheist, I believe in god on some level, but I completely agree. I don't believe in "meant to be" or "fate" or "destiny". I, too, believe that you are what you create yourself to be. In fact one of my favorite quotes ever is...

"You can't ascribe great cosmic significance to a simple, Earthly event. Coincidence. That's all anything ever is, nothing more that coincidence. There are no miracles. Nothing is meant to be."
-500 Days of Summer

Anyway, great job. (:

M.W.M. BRONZE said...
on May. 27 2010 at 3:43 pm
M.W.M. BRONZE, Undisclosed, New Jersey
4 articles 0 photos 30 comments

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&quot;Test everything. Hold on to the good.&quot; -Paul of Tarsus (1 Thessalonians 5:21)

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errrr when i said "arguments" i guess i was referring to the small implied arguments against theism and stuff.

im sry didn mean to start an argument!

M.W.M. BRONZE said...
on May. 27 2010 at 3:40 pm
M.W.M. BRONZE, Undisclosed, New Jersey
4 articles 0 photos 30 comments

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&quot;Test everything. Hold on to the good.&quot; -Paul of Tarsus (1 Thessalonians 5:21)

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very interesting and well written article =)

ur arguments are kinda bad (just tbh), but i think its very interesting and well written.

thanks for postin' =)

Karsh said...
on May. 26 2010 at 9:19 pm
And you can. Because someone looked upon a woman with lust. :D
steve herrmann said...
on May. 26 2010 at 3:10 pm
steve herrmann, Snohomish Washington, Washington
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hey did ya know that our good friends the christian church would sell ya cards that made you murdering people okay with god. curse that dang history fact.