Religion and its Intricacies

I'm atheist.  That's what I'm going to start this post off with, since I feel it obviously has relevance to this subject.  Its relevance, however, comes into play when I talk of my feelings towards religion.  I could go on for hours about how I hate certain aspects of religion and how it's detrimental to society, but this is a school blog, and because of such I should hold back on such offensive comments.  I will, however, give a bit of a watered-down reaction to this touchy subject.

For convenient purposes, I'll refer to the biggest religion out there, Christianity, to convey my personal thoughts and opinions on religion.  Yes, this is generalizing, but it has the most prominence here in America, considering the sheer amount of Christian believers.  What I feel is the worst part of religion is the sheer ignorance and hatred that it can spawn.  Now, I say "can" because it's fairly obvious that religion doesn't cause every single person who believes in it to become an ignorant, blind believer.  I know, however, that it does cater to those afraid.  When Christianity was conceived, it was in a time of pessimism.  There was no almighty heaven for those who lived a good life to retreat to, there was only an underworld where every person would go.  Christianity, at the time, provided a way for those afraid to cope with death to, well, cope with death.  Who wouldn't want to believe that, since they're a good person, they'll live in paradise for all eternity afterwards?

Curiously, this is what scared me when I was younger.  Yes, I was living in paradise, but for all eternity?  Eternity is a long time.  It's endless, in case you didn't know.  I'm not sure if you're like me, but I'd love to just stop existing one day.  "Okay, I've had my fill, please just let me actually die."  Does this sound pessimistic?  Maybe.  But it is a clear picture into my mind: I don't need a religion to solidify my fear of death.  We're all afraid of death, anyone who denies it is lying.  When it comes down to it, we will accept it, but never not be afraid.  We, as humans, are afraid of many things that are unknown, and so we create these gods and deities that make us feel a little bit better about existing.  Why be afraid if we convincingly trick ourselves into believing that it'll be okay in the end?  There's a loving, omnipotent being that will be there for us in the end.  Whether or not the Christian God is truly as loving and caring as many would have us believe is clearly up for debate, but many live under the falsehood that he truly is benevolent.

There are those that argue that the Bible is completely true and factual, while others merely state that they take a metaphorical approach towards their theological beliefs.  I choose not to take it in any way.  The Bible was never a good read for me, and I never once got what I wanted out of religion.  Atheism is the only logical way of living, for me.

And I'm completely okay with that.