Religion.

Let's not talk about my day today, but rather about something stimulating! RELIGION.

My parents raised me as a humanistic Buddhist, although strictly speaking, Buddhism has no God. Religion was never an integral part of my life, and recollections of childhood practices include nothing more than lighting incense for Tet or death anniversaries. Often as a child, the thought of death horrified me. I thought about it almost constantly, but I have to admit, I never believed in a higher being to escape the fear of death. In a way, religion is also very symbolic, instilling values in cultural practices like praying. I've never looked at the world very symbolically, even if I do consider myself an amateur writer. I like tangible details, though I am a very intuitive person.

I now consider myself an atheist. I don't believe there is a God, but I sure as hell do believe in miracles. Just look at history...there are so many miracles of humanity. Scientific discoveries around every corner. The theory of relativity. Cell theory. The development of beautiful languages. The hotness of Joseph Gordon Levitt. To me, belief and hope seem...stagnant. Pray for Japan? Go help relief efforts. Pray for an AIDS patient? Help contribute to the cure fiscally or scientifically! Additionally, during a period of disillusionment for me a few years back, I have discovered some religious people to be insipidly sanctimonious as well as damaging to the rights of nonbelievers. Fundamentalists scare me, especially with their ignorant claims on topics like abortion and gay marriage. Sorry, the earth was not made 6,000 years ago. Personal religious practices and beliefs are fine. Just don't try to infringe on the rights of others.

With that being said, I really do admire some religions being able to bring people together in times of crisis. I guess religion gives people the spiritual idea that something higher other than themselves exists. Lots of good has been influenced by religion, but like Kurt Vonnegut said, you don't need religion to do humanistic deeds. Religion helps people cope with the idea of human mortality and dissect moral conflicts within themselves. It helps people move on, and it helps people work together. But it's also a catalyst to the loss of identity and the assimilation of indigenous culture as well as the culprit behind wars and conflicts. Yeah, just an agnostic atheist ramblin' coolstorykbai