Religious Thoughts

I think I'm an agnostic. Warning: Religious views ahead that you may disagree with.

Do you believe in the death penalty? For the sake of argument, let's say you don't. So now let's think of all the murders and rapists and terrorists just sitting in cells all day. We've agreed not to kill them, so how do you feel about torturing them? Day in and day out. They've done something bad, so they don't deserve to have it easy and it's not like they're going to die. So what's a little torture? Maybe break a few fingers, let them heal up and then break them again. Or ripping off finger nails, those grow back right? Chinese water torture? Anything goes as long as they don't die. I'll assume most people would disagree with the torture.

Now what if a family member did something bad? Your mom or your dad. Maybe a sibling or possibly your own child. Heck, it could even be your dog or cat. Even if it was really really bad I would think most people wouldn't want them subjected to torture on a daily basis.

Which is why I'm questioning religion. We are all God's children, he created us in his image, gave us life and all that, you would think that means we a fairly dear to him. If we aren't willing to torture really bad people, people we may even hate, how can we think he would send us to hell for something like homosexuality, coveting thy neighbour's wife or working on a Sunday? And I say torture because hell is for eternity, there is no sweet relief of death.

I don't think it matters whether you think there is or there isn't a God. I think you should be a good person and be kind to others because it's the right thing to do and it makes society easier to live in. Life is hard all on it's own, we shouldn't be trying to make it harder for anyone. Whatever you do, I would think that God would love you anyway. And if there isn't a God, then you left behind a functional world for future generations and I thank you for not inducing a terrifying apocalyptic world while I'm still on this earth.

Also, I'm pretty sure I'm already screwed in the heaven department. According to wikipedia one of the commandments says "You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me". So I'm out since my mom doesn't believe in God and I don't think my dad does either. In fact I'm pretty sure my dad thinks that a bunch of aliens put us here as a game, each alien betting on a different racial group to see who would come out on top. It's like an unbearably long game of Monopoly. The apocalypse will be when one of them gets fed up and throws the board across the room.