I Believe

I believe in God. There, I said it. I believe in God; there, I said it again. Not that it really bears repeating but I know some people wonder what I believe in and why. I have to say that I have no good reason to believe in God. There is no scientific evidence to support the existence of God, at least none that I am willing to accept as authoritative. It is simply what I believe; it is faith without reason.

On the other hand it is important to me that I make something perfectly clear. I do not believe in a string pulling God; I do not believe in an interventionist God. I am grateful for what I have been given but the vagaries of life and the universe are sufficient that I am convinced there is no great hand in all things. I am sorry for the harms I have caused but there is no objective reason for me to believe that seeking forgiveness from anyone other than the person I have harmed has any value whatsoever.

My belief is simply for myself, it serves my spirit and soul to believe. I think this is true for a great many people, that they believe in what they believe because it meets their needs. Even those who rail against my belief in God, even those who insist there is nothing out there, by their very statements as either non-theists or anti-theists, with their very actions they evidence a belief set. It's just different than mine. That's the beauty of this life; they get to believe what they want to believe and I get to believe what I want to believe.

Just as I expect others to allow me my beliefs, I am compelled to allow others the same. Recently while out in a group, one of the people there began to talk about working as a "therapist". She works with people's "auras" and the "energy around their organs", "aligning their energies and helping with healing". As much as I find this stuff ridiculous, I know for a fact that some of my friends find my belief in God to be equally ridiculous. I neither dismissed it nor shared my view. I simply allowed someone else to have their beliefs.

Whether you believe in God, energy, pyramids, crystals or some bizarre set of universal laws, we live in an age where you have the right to that belief. We don't have the right to insist that others have our beliefs, nor do we have the right to treat others badly because they don't share our beliefs. Proselytize if you wish, but don't punish for non-conversion. If I believe in anything, other than God, I believe in respect, and I am glad to live in a time, place and country where that is not only the norm, but expected.