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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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JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 764 comments.

Amyyy said...
on Feb. 14 2009 at 2:17 am
please believe that God loves you so much that He sent His son to die for you so you can live forever in heaven! You've got to believe that heaven and hell are very real! Satan has you under his control-don't let it be that way. You probably think that Christians are so uncool and too goody goody. I'm nothing like that and I have many cool, awesome friends. Please-you should go to church sometime. Yes, some churches are very boring, but they preach the truth. God loves you soooo much!!!!
In 2 Deep said...
on Feb. 11 2009 at 3:27 am
That was a great story but i know that is ur O.P. but i think u shoiuld try chruch at least once. I go to chruch 2 times a week and i LOVE it! i have a good verse 4 u, John 3:16 "For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son. All those who belive in him shall not die but will have eternal life." thanks! In 2 deep
maza.love said...
on Feb. 10 2009 at 7:55 pm
This is wonderful! I completely agree! Great job.
D*R said...
on Feb. 9 2009 at 5:03 am
I greatly respect you, for stating you opion in such a respectful way. I know that I could have never done it. Yes I do agree with, for the reason stated but also for others. I have never been able to have faith in any thing...weather it be Santa or God, with out fact, you can check and recheck it means nothing to me. And if i do go to Hell for not blindly diveing in to something I had no faith in anyway, well at least all my friends will be there too, maybe we'll take over.
KitKat said...
on Jan. 28 2009 at 8:16 pm
i am an atheist as well. i am fourteen years old and my entire family is catholic with the exception of me. and RoyalKalibar, i have gone to church and read stories from the bible. it didn't seem realistic to me at all. the bible was probably written by some creative minds who weren't smart enough to find things out scientifically. have you ever noticed that the stories of other historical events are ever-changing as more is discovered but nothing new ever comes up about the stories in the bible? i believe you make your own luck in this world. if by some chance there is a god, he wouldn't want everyone sitting around praying to him to fix all of our problems. humans created the earth's problems, now it's up to humans to fix them. not 'god', not 'jesus', us.
RoyalKalibar said...
on Jan. 25 2009 at 6:42 pm
Although Methodist, I like the way you wrote the article, but disagree with it. I do not like forcing my religion onto other people. If they don't want to be saved by the Lord, fine their choice, or if they refuse to believe in Him. Thats their choice, not mine and I feel as though I have no right to change that. I find it different though to preach my religion then to force it onto someone. That line though, is sometimes hard to determine. I'm not going to sit here saying if only you knew how much God loves you...no I am going to say how about maybe reading a story from the Bible, or going to a church one time.



I respect peoples choices in their own religion, and also find it fascinating to study others. Not believe per say, but to learn.

But I give respect, I want respect. I feel sometimes, when talking to atheist that they look down on me. Why? Because I believe in fate, in a Heaven, in a hell, in angels, in the devil, and so forth and so on. They say I have no self-respect, therefore they treat me......stupidly. Childlike. It makes me feel humiliated sometimes for sticking up for something I believe very strongly and passionately in, and I don't like it at all.

In general, I''ll respect your decision, if you respect mine.
Atheist=Genesis=Forever said...
on Jan. 25 2009 at 3:09 am
I agree with you completly. Honest to everything that isn't religious. People(a.k.a My Friends) think I'm stupid or something. I'm not stupid. Neither are they. They have their beliefs and I have mine. Atheist forever~G. Vargas
chance =) said...
on Jan. 24 2009 at 8:29 pm
I have been raised in a christian home and i have always struggled with thinking...is there a god or not? I believe in fait and soulmates. I also believe that you have the power to changeyour fait. =)
abc said...
on Jan. 22 2009 at 5:33 pm
god is real
rjlanekljmad said...
on Jan. 22 2009 at 5:24 pm
I like the article but disagree with the beliefs.
freakpride46 said...
on Jan. 21 2009 at 9:36 pm
I agree with you completely! Some people have God and that's great, but I have myself and I can figure out right and wrong on my own, thanks.
Hailey said...
on Jan. 21 2009 at 9:15 pm
I don't agree with you, and I'm really not sure how to present a good argument, except that God has always been and always will be. If there were no trouble in life, there would be no reason to live.
kaykayv35 said...
on Jan. 21 2009 at 6:54 pm
I think you wrote a good article. But i disagree with the whole atheist thing.
Mr.Brightside said...
on Jan. 21 2009 at 6:28 pm
I completely agree. If people put thier lives into "fate", they are only setting themselves up to be dissappointed. Also,if people spend tons of time trying to find themselves, they'll waste their life away, since you have to create yourself first.
Sue Y. said...
on Jan. 21 2009 at 5:20 pm
I understand your feelings and no one has the right to make you believe in something. Its your life and your suppose to be the one that chooses how you live and what you believe in. There are many religons and you never know if its real or not. Your just gonna have to believe in it or yourself. But if something changes your heart or your belief, most likely your heart has been changed. Thats what religon is.
SallySunshine said...
on Jan. 21 2009 at 5:16 pm
not bad
zeppelin4ever said...
on Jan. 18 2009 at 11:41 pm
i understand what ur saying but i dont understand the fact that you say that if you beleave in god then you almost dont beleave in your self?
missacrot/writer said...
on Jan. 14 2009 at 7:39 am
ok i get what u are saying that you believe in only yourself.though you make it sound like people who have faith dont believe in themeselves. im a christian and i get what your saying that if you make your own choices good or bad. i think god puts us into situations and we are suppose to make a choice. trust me i know a lot of christians who have screwed up their lives.but you mkae it sound like religion is tool being used wrong.when its having faith just like you have faith in yourself
Word Angel said...
on Jan. 5 2009 at 2:35 am
That is so me. You and I are alike in most of what you wrote!
singer365 said...
on Jan. 4 2009 at 9:00 pm
This was a well attempted article, but you may want to check who created the universe before you say you created who you are today. You may have decided you want to be, but have you ever given any thought to who God wanted you to be?