Religion: Fascinating but unappealing.

I just finished watching this four part documentary called "The Calling." It follows seven Americans as they become professional religious leaders. They were Catholic, Presbyterian, Evangelical, Muslim and Jewish. The whole thing was pretty fascinating to watch, seeing their journey in dedicating their life to religion and to serving their community.

Despite being an atheist and being very content to remain so, religion is fascinating to me. Watching this documentary, I was able to better understand why religion is so interesting to me without appealing to me at all. The main fascination is the concept that there is this unseen entity that is watching over all of us and by living our lives a certain way, by praying to him, by singing to him, by dressing a certain way or by eating certain things, then he will bless us with happiness in this life and in the next. The whole thing seems utterly ridiculous to me but it is interesting to see just how far people are willing to go to please their own version of this unseen deity.

While most religions have the same basic understanding when it comes to what is good and permissible to do and what is considered to be bad or evil, the details get all muddy and seem frivolous in my perspective. For instance, nearly all religions say don't kill. That's a given. But when it comes to something like modesty for women, different religions are all over the place from Muslims wearing a hijab to moderate Christian faiths not really caring at all. Even within Christianity, there is debate over what is acceptable. What is considered modest by Catholics may not be the same for Mormons or Lutherans. While most religions agree on what is good and right, they vary so widely on nit picky items like modesty that it becomes an exercise in futility to determine which is really the correct one.

As I watched these people as they began the journey to dedicate their entire lives over to their faith, I thought about my views as an atheist. Because I don't believe in a god, there is nothing really that tells me how to live my life accordingly. There is no deity holding the fear of pain and suffering over my head nor is there someone holding out the carrot of love and happiness either. Everything I chose to do in my life is because I think it's the right thing to do. I find it incredibly liberating to be able to live my life exactly how I think it should be led.

I'm not saying that these people whose life solely revolves around their religion are unhappy. On the contrary, I'm sure they are happy, just as I am happy. I have found a way to live that makes me happy and fulfills me, just as these people in the documentary along with other religious people have also found a way to live and be happy. I really don't think there is just one way to go about htis life. As long as you find something that helps you be happy and helps you be fulfilled without hurting others, cheers.

I don't think it'll ever get to the point where I choose to convert to any particular belief but religion will continue to fascinate me.