Does religion have a place in 21st century America? Is there any reason for it? I think religion has become obsolete in our society due to many people having adopted an on-the-go attitude and allowing only minimal time for a practice that gives them no immediate benefit. Some never become regular participants in their accepted religion, but feel the urge to call upon a higher power during times of crisis just because the need to find a solution and call on a lost deity is so ingrained in their minds from growing up. My question becomes: why should someone waste their time on something that they only partially believe in? Several of my own religious friends don't actually believe what they pray for will come true, they pray just because it's something to do when they see no options or don't want to try to deal with something on their own or simply wish to appear more pious when around others who claim to be religious. This wish stems from a desire to be accepted and perhaps a natural desire to be better at something than another person is. Someone cannot truly be religious if the teachings of their religion are not believed in because that defeats the purpose of having a belief and fuels hypocrisy within the religion.
I have given up on all religion. Throughout the years, I haven't been able to find a place to fit any religious doctrine into my life. Don't get me wrong, I've tried to find a place, but I just haven't been able to. The reasons I concerned myself with attempting to be religious were the fear of disappointing my parents, and perhaps others in our religious community, and the thought that I was supposed to believe in something because everybody else did. So, instead of continuing the charade of a believer, I renounced all of it. That was the best thing I've ever done concerning religion.
I was raised as a Christian of Southern Baptist denomination and remained so until around the time I started high school. In a bit of a stereotypical way, I found myself opened up to more information about the world outside and began to explore other religions. I ended up being drawn to Paganism, though not for the shock factor or the magic spells, but for the information I read about the ancient practices and ties to nature. Ever since I was a child I was intrigued by all things ancient and mysterious, and this curiosity had something to do with my interest in Paganism. I also believed I had found some answers to questions that I couldn't answer with my previous beliefs.
Soon after discovering this, I secretly converted from Christianity because I had been gradually losing my belief in the Christian faith over a couple of years because my questions concerning how the religion relates to the rest of the world kept receiving unsatisfactory explanations that conflicted with the Christian beliefs. I could never tell my parents my choice because I knew they wouldn't accept it and might either force me into church and send me to a Christian school, or kick me out of the house. I don't know for a fact that they would have done this, but I preferred to not find out. I carried on with some private research and the practice of Paganism throughout most of high school. But at some impossible-to-pinpoint moment during my senior year, I realized that dogma in general was just not my cup of tea. I abandoned Paganism, but never took on the label of atheist or agnostic because that was not exactly what I saw myself as. I just don't like religion in general enough to care about it. If others prefer the comfort of an organized or personal religion, that is their choice, and for all I know their beliefs may be right. I just don't see why anyone would want to worship an unknowable figure for eternity, such as the Christian faith suggests. I have always been the type who needed to see something to believe in it, so I suppose I was non-religious even before I realized it. Believing in a figure of mythical proportions who could fix all the world's problems with a snap of their fingers, yet refused to do so on the basis of so-called free will, was simply unreasonable.
With my newfound loss of religion, I discovered a sense of freedom I hadn't felt with any of my searches for meaning in religion. Topics I had tried to fit into my religion's beliefs, how the world began for example, were now open to any interpretation I cared to place on them. Some people believe that religion is necessary because it gives a reason for being and provides morals. Some feel they would have nothing to live for and would lose the will to live without religion to give them something to look toward. I pity those who believe that because I think they're too insecure to believe in themselves and what they can accomplish on their own without approval from a deity. They argue that religion provides a place for children and adults alike to learn the difference between what is right and what is wrong. I know quite a few atheists and agnostics with better moral values than many of my religious acquaintances. For example, some of my atheist and agnostic friends have been in less trouble with the law, volunteer for community service, and are generally more virtuous than several of my religious friends, who tend to act contrary to their beliefs outside of religious centers. As far as teaching children right and wrong, the same, if not better, results can be achieved through their parents' teaching as well as through the schools where religion is (supposed to be) separate, where they would get a mostly secular education in moral reasoning.
