The puzzle of lives

I find it fairly ironic how the pieces of many different lives all seem to slip together into one puzzle. How a conversation between two people can be exactly what a third person is thinking of even if they weren't involved, or how it can relate exactly to another's own personal world. Take for example a conversation that was had between two people today about religion. I was not involved in said conversation nor did I even know about it until about 10 minutes ago. Yet it is a subject that has been on my mind for about a week. Normally I wouldn't even think twice about this, but with the news I received today it seems to be too odd of a coincidence not to at least bring up. While I'm not going to go into detail about the news today as I don't feel this is the place to discuss matters of that sort, I did want to touch on how all us of relate to one another.

Those who know who I am at my core foundation know that I am Agnostic. I don't discriminate against anyone who believes in religion. It's not my place to judge. We live in a free society where we have the right to choose what makes us happy. What I don't understand is why people who do choose to believe in a supreme being find it necessary to "enlighten the heathens" on why we are going to hell. On how our sins will never be forgiven etc. What gives them the right to judge how I live my life? Who granted their power to ultimately know what happens after we blink into oblivion? It's what we do in our lives now that matter. That determine if we will be remembered as a great person or simply be forgotten in the sands of time.

While I haven't spent the time or energy as some I know into learning about this topic I have learned a few things along the way. When I meet someone who believes in something I don't know anything about I try to learn about it. I ask them questions to find out what it is that fulfills their lives so to speak. From my short time on this planet I have chosen the "beliefs" from many different religions that I use to guide my life. It is these things I hold to be my own personal spirituality.

Organized religion as far as I know, from what I read in the news, to the people I talk to ultimately boils down to one thing. Religion is the root of evil. Think about it for a minute. How many lives have been lost since the beginning of recorded history over religion? How many people have been coerced into believing something they don't hold to be true? Name a war that has been fought in the last millennium that didn't have some basis in a religious sect.

Everyone in the world can take a page from the atheists of the world. Learn about your fellow man, learn what makes them happy, teach them what makes you happy and then live in peace and good to one another. I strayed widely from my original idea on this post, but this, in essence, is one I've wanted to do for some time, but never could find the correct starting point.

I leave you with a few of my favorite quotes:

"An Atheist is a person who has thought long and hard about god."
--Jonathon Zuchowski

"A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death."
--Albert Einstein