Do I feel sorry for religious people?
It's a funny question because I think if you ask any religious person if they feel sorry for me,
the answer would be an automatic "Of course I feel sorry for you. You don't get to experience the glory of God", or something like that.
And the truth is, do I feel sorry for religious people?
Yeah, I kind of do feel sorry for them.
And it's not that they're
unhappy. It's not that they're not able
to all live their lives as they want to live them.
But I feel sorry that, in order to be happy and to live life,
they have to believe in a fantasy.
I feel bad about that, because I think
the reality of the situation is so much more amazing.
Like, I remember growing up
I wasn't a creationist or anything growing up, but I did believe God created me in some way.
And then I remember when I was in grad school,
that's when I read Richard Dawkins' The Ancestor's Tale, and I started to actually learn about evolution.
I think I probably took some class. I probably had evolution in high school.
I took a class in college, but I don't remember anything I really learned in there.
But I was reading this book and I'm like,
"Oh my God, this is how
humanity was formed", like
"this is how the world works and this is how
evolution works."
It blew my mind!
I had no idea that's how it happened.
And it was so much more of a compelling fascinating story,
than any of the creation myths that I grew up with or that, you know, creationists
teach their kids. It's so much cooler than that!
And, oh my God, I couldn't stop devouring books about evolution after that for a long time, because I couldn't believe
that I didn't know that.
It's not only that I didn't know that,
I was amazed that so many people in the country
don't know that. I mean, if you look at the studies, they say like
at least almost half the country believes in young Earth creationism.
And probably, like 70% of the country, -- 70 something percent of the country -- believe God
had a hand in our creation.
And the truth, the reality of the situation is, it was neither of those things.
And that's amazing! And I feel sorry that for people who are creationist, for example.
Yeah, I kind of feel sorry for the fact that
they just have to believe that God created them.
And they don't understand that the truth is so much cooler
than that story that they were raised with.
And it's not just that, it's -- you know --
they have to waste a lot of their time
praying to somebody. I feel sorry that religious people
have to waste so much time praying to a higher power
when the truth is no one's listening to them.
Like, what more could they do with their time if they really understood that
no one hears you when you're talking.
What if they didn't go to church and they did all the good things they get out of church?
What if they could do that on their own?
Because a lot of time spent in church could be better spent elsewhere.
What if they're, you know-- I've seen comments on the internet from people
whose-- On Christian websites where they say, you know, "I'm 40.
I've never
been in an intimate relationship with somebody, because I'm not married yet."
Yeah, I feel sorry for that person, because I think they're missing out on something beautiful,
because they have this self, you know, this self-created moral code that they've imposed on themselves.
And again, it's fine. I'm sure they're happy with it. I'm sure they're--
they're living their life as they want to see it. So,
I don't think they would say
you should feel sorry for them,
but I do feel sorry for them, because I think when your mind is opened up to how
the world actually works
and how some of the things that you were always told: "God is watching you, so you shouldn't do those things,"
and when the truth is God's not watching you.
Do good. Do what you want to do. Don't hurt other people in the process. You could follow the Golden Rule.
Like, it's amazing how--
It's amazing how amazing life could actually be.
So, yeah, I feel bad that not everyone gets to experience that. I don't think they would ever admit
that there's something wrong with their life, or they're not experiencing it to the fullest extent.
But I don't know, when you're on the other side of that fence, like,
you realize "Oh, the grass is much greener here
than what it was when I was religious."
My name is Hemant Mehta. I write at FriendlyAtheist.com
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