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OpEdNews Op Eds    H4'ed 9/3/10

You Won't Find Nonbelievers Promoting Idea Obama is a Muslim

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They've adopted an understanding that religion is politically irrelevant and cannot solve the problems of war and peace, poverty and sickness, corporate power and corporate control, privatization and loss of public space, and/or environmental destruction and global warming.

I suppose many believe just because traditionally their family, their ancestors and much of humanity have believed. They may not believe a word or think God exists at all, but they continue certain rituals because these traditions have a monopoly over how we conduct life especially how we respond to key points like birth, childhood, the transition from youth to manhood, marriage, death, etc.

Believers suggest those who do not believe simply need to take a leap of faith. I think the proper response to that is to suggest believers take a leap of fact. Courageously test the scientific hypothesis that there is some supernatural or mystical being who has designed the world, a being that can connect to you and hopefully guide you and answer your prayers. Consider what type of band-aid religion is in your life, how it pacifies you and whether it truly can address the problems you are experiencing in life in the long term.

Whatever the problems are that you face, I posit you have two choices if you open your thought processes to skepticism: you can return to your church on Sunday (or Friday or Saturday or whatever day you attend church) and pray your problems away and you can use an archaic text for guidance or you can trust in your emotions, instincts, and develop a motivation to be the actor in your world that organizes your life to be the life you want it to be.

Because in addition to the fact that religious people will always struggle amongst other religious people over mankind's past, present and future and go to war over what other people think mankind's past was and what other people think mankind's future will be, there's the reality that the time spent pondering an afterlife--and thinking life is bad now but God will let me into some Kingdom or Paradise and "make things new" for me one day--is time that you could have spent enjoying the little time you have on this Earth.

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Kevin Gosztola is managing editor of Shadowproof Press. He also produces and co-hosts the weekly podcast, "Unauthorized Disclosure." He was an editor for OpEdNews.com
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