Can People Really Live Without Believing in a God?
I grew up in Mississippi- one of the most religious states in the United States. I went to church as a small child, especially in the fifth grade. I was just like many other children growing up in the Bible Belt.
Then, in the seventh grade, I stopped believing in God. I thought to myself, “How can I believe in a God that doesn’t accept people for who they are?”. That was when I became loud and proud of my atheism. By the time I was in eighth grade, I was an out atheist to practically everyone I knew. Now… I’m not too sure. Somedays, I do think there’s a God somewhere, and other days, I’m not quite as sure. My thought process has been going back and forth on this issue for the past year and a half or so, and it’s made me wonder… can people really live without believing in a god?
When I grew up going to church in Mississippi, I often heard that you couldn’t be a moral person without being a religious person, especially from older folks. But I often wonder if that’s true? There are many irreligious people who do good things just as there are many religious people who do bad things. So, where does this thought process come from? I think the reason for this idea is the motivation for good behavior. Why do most religious people want to do good things? Because they want approval from God and/or don’t want to go to hell when they die. Why do irreligious want to do good things? That may be a bit more complex. It could be because for the sake of doing good things, it could be because of they’ve always been told to do good things, or it could just be virtue signaling.
Now, I can say the same thing about religious people, too. And that could also be the case. Humans are very complex beings, after all. But religious people are more likely to do good for a god than for other reasons. So, what do irreligious people do? What do they worship? They don’t go to a church, synagogue, mosque, or any other temple. So, what do they do? Do they worship anything at all?
When I was a hardcore atheist, I threw myself hard into science and psychology. I’m still very much into psychology and sociology, but as for science… the less I say about that, the better. Like me, many atheists also throw themselves into science as well. After all, science has way more logical explanations to things than religion does. Why shouldn’t more people follow the science?
While there’s nothing inherently wrong with accepting scientific facts as, well… scientific facts, you can go too far with it (and I mean to the point of believing that the science is settled). I feel as if in the past few years, people have been putting too much of their faith into science; I was like that, too. It’s especially been like this during the past year-and-a-half due to… certain circumstances. Most of these people treat doctors and other scientists as… well, as if they’re gods. Don’t get me wrong- doctors and other experts of that type are important to our society, but they’re also people like us. They’re sentient beings capable of making mistakes and, yes, being bought out by politicians and corporations just like the rest of us are.
But not a whole lot of people see that; some straight up refuse to see that. And if anything, those same people make fun of religious people for believing and having blind trust in “fake sky people” while treating doctors and scientists as those same “fake sky people” themselves. Why? Is the world too complex to question every little thing, so we have to throw our blind faith into doctors, scientists, and gods? I think that is the case.
The fact of the matter is, the world is a huge and complex place to live in. There are still so many unanswered questions and questions that really can’t be answered. So, it’s no wonder so many people- over a billion, at least- turn to a god to answer those unanswered questions. And as for those who don’t believe in a god, well… science will someday answer those questions.
There’s nothing wrong with believing in a god or believing in science. The problem is when you take it too far and try to shove your beliefs down other people’s throats. That’s how some people on both sides are. Religious extremists shun the non-believers for not putting their faith in a god, and the irreligious ones mock religious people for believing that there could possibly be a god. Why can’t we just accept that other people believe in different things and leave each other alone? As long as no one is hurting anyone, then what harm is there in believing or not believing in a god? It’s a big world, after all, and people need some way to cope with all of it.
So, does that mean people can live without believing in a god? Some might say that’s the case, but then they’ll fill it up with science or something else, treating scientists and doctors as gods. Religious people, on the other hand, believe that there is only one god. Personally, I think both may be the case. Some people can’t live a life without believing in a god while others think they might, but then they’ll go on to treat doctors and scientists as gods themselves. That’s the biggest problem with the world- it’s just so massive, and there are so many unanswered questions; some of those questions can’t even be answered. And we can’t just spend the rest of our lives alone; that’s not healthy for us. So, perhaps we do need a god to live with and believe in. It just so happens that for some people, doctors and scientists may be their gods, and science is their religion.
