Quote Originally Posted by shais_mom
My thinking is if there is so many
bad things in the world we have to have something
bigger to believe in b/c if we didn't
why are we even here??
Ah, the age old question... Why ARE we here on this earth? What is our purpose? How can we exist without a purpose?

My mind is a jumble of contradictory statements, facts, anecdotes, miracles, failures, and confusion. I am completely lost as to how to possibly place my thoughts into words, but here's the jist of it:

I believe religion is a manifestation of man's curiousity and inability to explain the unexplainable. I believe that as man grew more intelligent and aware of his surroundings (evolution), so did religion. Religion has been a part of man since we first began to harness the power of fire. Since the first ancient man walked upon this earth, there has been religion in the form of shells, burial rituals, and artwork. However, I believe that as time and circumstances pushed men to the creation of civilization, religion evolved once again to be morphed into a lever for power and control.

That said, I guess you could label me an Agnostic for now, but I like to refer to my mind as an endless notebook with no back cover. I believe that there is a higher power out there somewhere. Maybe Catholics like to call it God/Him/Our Father, etc. Maybe others like to call it Allah. Frankly, I don't know what to call it and I don't even know if it truly exists. However, I know that the biodiversity of life is far too complex and intricate to just "exist" as it does now. Somewhere somehow I believe a higher power was involved. I just don't believe that we must worship this higher power in the form of Catholicism's God or Islam's Allah.

I don't know. I guess this was a sort of pointless post since it didn't "get" anywhere.

ETA: I also wanted to add that Christianity, for example, is so "split" in itself. On the first page, a poster said that religion was a bit hard for her to stomach because of the idea that her life was planned out before she was born (pre-destination). Another poster than said that a person is in control of his/her own actions in the Christian belief. Well... They're both right. Pre-destination is a pillar fundamental in Calvinism, which, last time I checked is still a form of Christianity. Then again, Catholicism (still a form of Christianity) believes that one is in control of his/her actions which leads to personal sins and does not necessarily believe in pre-destination the way Calvinists do.

Just this simple disagreement among Christians makes me wonder about the validity of any religion. *sigh* I guess I talked myself into a circle again