When my supposedly religious mother revealed to me that she didn't believe in God a few weeks ago, she remarked on when she took my late grandmother's pet dog to be put down. My mum had diligently looked after the dog, who was 17, after my gran died 3 years ago, and last month she took her to the vet to be put down, after her health problems simply meant she was in pain all the time, was completely deaf and blind, and couldn't eat. The vet said after the procedure "she's with your mother now", and my mum told me how she nodded whilst at the time thinking "well...not really".
She also revealed how it was something I had said when I was 14 that changed her whole view on things. I was volunteering at a home for mentally handicapped children in order to put it down on my list of charitable things for Duke Of Edinburgh's Award (nobody does charity just for charity by the way). During my time there, I met several teenagers who had the mental capacity of 1 year olds, and spent their days incapable of walking, lying in specially built cots. I remarked to my mother at the time "How can anyone still believe in a God after you see something like this? Where is the purpose?", and it turns out those sentiments ring true today.
When you accept life for what it is, all the magical "purposes" fall apart, and you no longer have to explain away the ignorant nature of a God who chooses to create mentally ill children. Life isn't a test. Anything that happens to you is down to random genetic mutations that are out of anyone's control. So instead of saying how "God has a plan" and that everything will "be ok", why not make a difference? Give yourself a purpose by trying to help sort out all those things "God" failed on. Science has achieved so many breakthroughs in recent years that they estimate cures for AIDS and Cancer within our lifetimes.
Where God fails, humanity comes through.
She also revealed how it was something I had said when I was 14 that changed her whole view on things. I was volunteering at a home for mentally handicapped children in order to put it down on my list of charitable things for Duke Of Edinburgh's Award (nobody does charity just for charity by the way). During my time there, I met several teenagers who had the mental capacity of 1 year olds, and spent their days incapable of walking, lying in specially built cots. I remarked to my mother at the time "How can anyone still believe in a God after you see something like this? Where is the purpose?", and it turns out those sentiments ring true today.
When you accept life for what it is, all the magical "purposes" fall apart, and you no longer have to explain away the ignorant nature of a God who chooses to create mentally ill children. Life isn't a test. Anything that happens to you is down to random genetic mutations that are out of anyone's control. So instead of saying how "God has a plan" and that everything will "be ok", why not make a difference? Give yourself a purpose by trying to help sort out all those things "God" failed on. Science has achieved so many breakthroughs in recent years that they estimate cures for AIDS and Cancer within our lifetimes.
Where God fails, humanity comes through.
