Is religion necessary? I live a good and honest life - as an atheist!?

Question

I was brought up to be loosely church of england, but since teenage have become opposed to organised religion of any form.
I believe that the various 'churches' have proven useful in the past by imposing some fundamental 'rules' to follow in life with the threat of being punished / rewarded accordingly in the 'afterlife' But in these modern times, when people are educated enough to know the difference between right and wrong, and we are all punishable by law (or at least supposed to be), is it not the case that your 'god' will contact you directly if 'he' wishes and that the leader of your church wishes only to exert their influence and increase their 'hold' over the congregation.

So many people have gone(and still are going) to war because of religion. Were these wars not religious leaders struggles for power propelled by their followers 'faith'.
In a nutshell, 'god' is everywhere, why should you go to a 'church' and talk/pray to 'him' via them rather than directly yourself?

Just to clarify to those few who are spouting the bible at me, I don't believe that it contains the teachings of a supreme being. It is a compilation of some spectacular and very insightful writings passed down from ancient times. This just enforces the notion that it's open to interpretation, since these scriptures were written in ancient languages which are no longer spoken you are relying upon the translations of men who were likely under the control of the Roman Catholic church! Of course I'm far from perfect - isn't everyone?! What I'm saying is that when I do something wrong, I take responsibility for my actions and try to make amends personally. Why do you think you are better for blindly following the "conman in the pulpit"?
It amuses me that I can lead a decent life, but someone can commit atrocious sins and believe that they are forgiven those because they went to church on Sunday, but I'll go to 'hell' because I took responsibility rather than confession?!

Answer 1

Personally, I think that it is more important to live a good life rather than worrying about worshipping deities.

If it turns out that a deity does exist, it would have to be a REALLY messed up to punish someone who lived a good life, but didn't happen to choose the "right" form of worship.

Answer 2

I was raised a Catholic, conceived my first child out of wedlock, married his father at a town courthouse, my children are not baptized , they do attend church services occasionally, and I do not attend church ( started going just for Christmas, Easter etc. but that just made me feel like I was pretending to be something I'm not) I know God is out there, and I know he knows I'm here. That seems to be all that matters to me. I am a Christian and have no intention of changing faiths, but I can sleep at night. Churches now are different then they were way back in ancient times, and science and technology has taught us many things over the past 2000 years. Religion has not helped any of us fix the things that have gone wrong, and I challenge anyone to stand up and say they've lived a life that God would be happy with every moment of. Sorry I tend to ramble, If you want to have your own religious beliefs, go for it, If you believe in any higher power worship that higher power in whatever way you feel comfortable.

Answer 3

If you live a good, honest life,then you can't be a christian.They pretend to be doing good works because they love their fellow-man,but they are really trying to buy their way into Heaven.They make donations to their church because they are told it's really a gift to God,& God will reward them.Self-interest?But their leaders are laughing all the way to the bank.They go to church to let the sinners see how 'good' they are.Self-righteous hypocrites.Of course they could pray in their own homes,but they prefer to be 'seen' going to church,& listening to some conman in the pulpit telling them what God told him.You know the saying:If you talk to God,it's called praying,if God talks to you,Its schizophrenia.

Answer 4

Really I think the world would be a better place if everybody was atheist. People wouldn't focus on their own selfish needs in order to get into heaven, and everyone would realise that we're not here just to pass the time. We might start to take better care of the environment because we would know that God isn't going to cool us down, and we might provide more long-term solutions to problems in the third world, rather than just throwing aid their way. We certinaly wouldn't roll over and take any crap thrown our way, as many religious people do (except the followers of liberation theology). We'd be more willing to fight and correct injustice because we'd know God isn't going to do it for us.

Answer 5

Has any Q on this site ever produced so much unadulterated guff in the answers? Congratulations on achieving a record! For anyone to suggest that Christianity is not a religion boggles the mind; for anyone to assert that all other religions are the work of the Devil (whoever he/she may be) is bigotry of the lowest order. It's sad to think that such brain-washing still goes on, but don't let it spread, guys!

Answer 6

I believe there is a god or higher power, but I also believe that he/she/it is within all of us, and that we're all a part of each other.

I feel it's important to be happy, live your life to the fullest, and don't hurt anyone else in the process. If you do hurt someone, make amends with them, and learn from the experience. That's all.

As for religion? As long as you're following the above, I don't feel it matters if you're christian, atheist, buddhist, taoist, etc. Whatever makes you happy. :)

Answer 7

Tou dont need a religion or a church to have a relationship with God. You can live a good and honest life, but to obtain eternal life in heaven one must accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior

Answer 8

I believe that everybody has free agencyand if you do a lot of good in this world then that is great. However what happens when you die, do you just dissapear in the ground and thats it. I believe that there is somewhere to go when we leave this earth and yes how we act here depends on where we go there. There are always going to be consequences to our actions.

Answer 9

Faith in the completed work of Jesus Christ at the cross is necessary. Good works and honesty will g4et you nowhere with God unless you first receive Jesus as Lord and Savior. Jesus is not about religion---he is about trading in a sinful life for a walk with God. We are all born sinners and need to be saved by the grace of God. God is our creator and only he can save us from the Sin of Adam---that sin which we all have inherited as human beings. Jesus loves you---yes he loves al atheist and he wants to save your from the eternal death that awaits all people who have not received him. We are all born condemned because of original sin, yet we all can be saved from its penalty which is death in hell. Please come to Christ now and enjoy eternal life when you leave this world.

Answer 10

Based on your question, I don't believe you are someone who completely disbelieves. I think you are a young person testing the waters, and asking questions (as you should-God created you to have freewill). The reason I felt compelled to answer your question is because I could have written it myself, about twenty years ago-(except I never went to the Church of England).
I was afraid that all the church would do is brainwash me to think a certain way, disallowing me to think for myself. I saw it as stiff and unforgiving. What I failed to understand is that men and the institutions of men can be stiff and unforgiving, but not God. I think that is where I got in trouble- when I could not discern the difference, and see God apart from the institutions of men. The truth is in the word of God, and when I finally settled down long enough to study it- it began to make a lot of sense. We may not like everything it says for us to do, after all it is human nature to do what we want to do- but once we start to understand, and follow, things fall into place. There are reasons deeper than ourselves.
So, to answer your question, I suppose you can still live a good and honest life while rejecting that there is a God of infinite wisdom (deeper than anything any man's brain can fathom)- but whose idea are you buying into now? Do atheists not subscribe to a sort of "brainwashing" all of their own?
You can believe in nothing- but that answers no questions, and is empty. Make no mistake about one thing- in this world good and evil co-exist. The evil one, who wants to claim as many souls as possible, wants to give you many reasons to reject God.
After all my thinking and experimenting with a contrary way of life, I chose to study and believe in God. I belong to a church now that doesn't force anything down my throat, but just teaches from the word. I have learned to have faith. My journey begins here.
I wish you the best.