Why I'm an atheist.

     From time to time I get asked why I am an atheist. I am in no way in the closet about it, but neither am I outspoken or confrontational about it. Although the reaction I get when people find out that I am an atheist is almost always the same. A bit of shock at first but then they usually just go about their day.  

     Now as for the answer to that question, it's just usually a quick "religion never really stuck" and I move on. Now while that's true it's not the complete story. as it would take entirely too much of my time and would probably piss off people way more than it would satisfy their curiosity. The longer answer revolves around logic and reason. 

     We'll start with Christianity, in all it's forms, as that is the one that was taught to me. Catholicism to be more specific. The Bible is probably one of the most horrific books in existence, but touted by its adherents as beautiful. How that's possible I'm not too sure, a book that not only allows for but endorses  murder, rape, genocide, slavery, and misogyny is somehow described as an inspiration for a good way to live.  Then we take into account all of the things that just plain wrong scientifically wrong, rabbits that chew cud, the sun being different that other stars, a geocentric universe, the list goes on and on. 

     But the biggest reason is the events of the world on a daily basis. Natural disasters, mass murders, starvation. All under the watch of a supposedly omniscient, omnipotent, and all loving god. Much of the time the victims are those that are his followers in some form or another. It leads me to wonder how such a being can allow events like this to happen. Not only happen, if everything that happens is according to his great plan and he knows everything that is going to happen long before it ever does, he is directly responsible for every horrible thing on the planet. Now even if you were to say that those things are the work of the devil, you would have to ask who is responsible for the devil's creation. Yep, that same all knowing, powerful and loving god, who knew well before his creation all the things he would do and made him anyway. Thousands of starving children daily, cancer slowly and painfully turning peoples own cells against the body. Thousands killed in natural disasters for the supposed sin of a small percentage of the population, you would think, being all powerful, would be able to eliminate them in a more precise manner. 

     Ah well, the origin of all this sin goes back to Adam and Eve, when they ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The two original people kicked it all off by doing something wrong that they couldn't possibly have known was wrong until they did it. Kind of a catch 22 isn't it, almost as if the whole thing was intended to be based off of initial failure, that again due to that pesky all knowingness had to have been forseen. So it's either all a bunch of bullshit, or if that god is real he is either amazingly incompetent or a complete psychopath. 

     Or we can look at logic and reason, which brings us science, which has the ability to explain all we see. From the formation of the universe billions of years ago to me sitting here typing this blog entry. A way of thinking that doesn't require us to think that we are broken imperfect beings that need to beg a creator for forgiveness for not being perfect because he made us incapable of being so.