EVIDENCE

I didn’t write this, but it expresses my feelings pretty accurately:

“There is not a single shred of evidence to support the claims that the universe was created by a supernatural being, that said supernatural being authored (or edited) a book in his spare time, or that the first member of the human species was formed from dust and divine breath in a magical garden with a talking snake. There is not a shred of evidence to support the stories of ancient virgin births or of special individuals with the ability to change the molecular structure of water into the molecular structure of wine, to walk on water, and to raise the dead. There is not a shred of evidence to support the claim that believing in a supernatural being will lead one to an eternal life of happiness, nor is there any evidence to support the claim that failure to believe will result in eternal damnation.

The fact that many millions of people believe these myths to be factual does not make them true. The fact that many millions of people find peace or take comfort from these tales in time of duress does not make them true. The fact that millions of people find these tales give meaning to their lives does not make them true. The fact that enormous institutions are constructed in support of these tales does not make any of them true. The only thing that could make them true is the same thing that makes anything true, and that is evidence.

Without evidence there is no point in appealing to said supernatural being to relieve us from the burdens and challenges we all face. Such appeals are little more than desperate pleas in the dark. It is time to wake up and recognize these stories for what they are: fables and old wives’ tales. It is time to emerge from fantasy land and embrace reality.”

People will point to the natural wonders of the Earth and of the universe as proof that gods exist, but the Earth and the universe simply are and there’s really no way to determine how they got here. And really – as we live from one day to the next – does it really matter how it all began?

People will quote the Bible in support of their theory that the Christian god created and controls everything, but quoting the Bible no more proves god’s existence than quoting Tolkein’s LORD OF THE RINGS proves the existence of Middle Earth.