Athiesm - Persuasive Essay

I am an atheist, but only just as I was an agnostic for a long time. An agnostic likes the idea of a god, however feels that it can’t be proved. but an atheist just doesn’t believe, whilst a theist does. I am supposedly catholic, but I have never really been religious, as my parents never took me to church or forced me to pray. However I did go to a catholic school as my primary school where there was a mass every week and I even got my 1st holy communion done. It was only when I was asked about doing my confirmation that I questioned it all. Why? Why do we have to be accepted to god…again? Surely baptism was enough? But no, then you have Holy Communion. Even that’s not enough you need to be confirmed. The cycle never ends.

When I was little I used to read the bible especially the Old Testament as it was very story like. Again I realised that it was a story. Noah’s ark? Adam and eve? You have got to be kidding. The Old Testament is the Jewish holy book, in the bible and a large part of the Qu’ran. Yet it is just fairytales made up by the Hebrews to explain things they couldn’t understand. For example Noah’s ark. There was an ice age in the very early days of man. Most places where frozen over. The Hebrews could not understand how animals could survive the ice, so made up a story about Noah and his ark. Bringing two of each animal on the boat. However there are over 50 million types of animal, and if he was to create such an ark it would have to be the size of England.

After extensive research I found there are loads of contradictions in the bible, Qu’ran and Hindu scriptures “the Vedas”. In the bible the classic example is Jesus saying in Matthew 5:22 “Whosoever shall say Thou fool, shall be in danger of hellfire” but then in Matthew 23:17, he says “Ye fools and blind”. In the Qu’ran and Vedas they both contradict themselves on matters such as who was the first believer, how humans where made, the correct way of worship and the like.

There are two reasons why the ancient people needed to have a god. Firstly because they couldn’t explain things. Why did the sun come up? Where did it come from? Ancient Egyptians believed a huge scarab beetle pushed the sun into place each day, so they had to worship scarabs in case the beetle forgot to do his job. Why were we created, well because god wanted to create some people in the form of him. The second reason was for law and order. There were no police in the ancient times. Only high priests. People were warned not to do things wrong otherwise they would go to hell, or be reborn as a slug.

But we don’t need either of these reasons anymore. Firstly we know why the sun comes up. We know how most things work. And we also have police to keep order. The only thing we don’t know, or don’t know that much on, is where we came from. The big bang. What caused it? Religion says that god made it, but I’m sure in the future we will be able to explain it scientifically.

What happens when we die? There are three theories. Firstly that we have Judgement, and we go either to heaven or hell. Secondly we reincarnate to a higher or lower form depending on our Karma. And finally that nothing happens. We just die. The first and second theories have major flaws. Where is heaven and hell? Supposedly above the sky but astronauts have been up there and there is nothing much but stars, planets and radiation. Reincarnation is slightly more feasible. You die, but your soul gets reborn, and again and again, until you have a perfect life and then you end up as one with your God. However there has been no scientific proof of a “soul” and if it did exist how can it suddenly transfer from one being to the next? Many people are scared about death, and religion comes up with nice easy solutions unless you have been bad – then you get eternal hell. Fun.

It seems that God isn’t so nice after all! I mean according to the bible he helped King Solomon and David smite thousands of non-believers and anyone who isn’t sorry for a mistake will go to hell. Surely he’s rather vain and egotistical? “If you don’t believe in me then you will go to hell because I created you.” I mean everyone has done a little trick on someone they hate and laughed. Why are there still disasters? Flooding, starvation etc? A kind god would not let this happen.

How do we know God is a he? Women give birth surely? I wonder if instead of Adam and Eve, it was Eve and Adam and so Eve created Adam instead of the other way round – would women be the superior race? That is purely based on religion.

Surely if there was one God, there would be only one religion. However there are three main types and all very different. You have the Jewish religions – where Christianity and Islam sprung that believe in one god. You have Hinduism, where Sikhism and Jainism didn’t really come from, but they share very similar views in that there is one god, but there are lots of types of the one god or prophet in the case of Sikhism. Then finally you have the pagan religions consisting of Wicca etc that believe in more than one God – usually two a man and a woman.

Religion causes so many problems that it aimed to prevent, such as peace. At the moment there is so much strife between Islam and Christianity. Why? They believe in the same thing. Racism and sexism all spring from religion. Without religion people might think we are all the same. Even a religion gets separated. There are over 10 different Christian sects all worshipping slightly differently. Surely God would get annoyed if they were all supposed to be worshipping one way.

Finally I want to give an example that even if God did exist, he can’t do everything. If you asked God to create a boulder so large he himself could not lift it, then he can’t do everything. If he can create the boulder then he can’t lift it, and if he can’t create it, then again he can’t be almighty.

end note: it might be rubbish but ut's just my view (written for GSCE coursework)