My opinion about the whole god thing:
There are too many religions all with fervant and sincere believers for any one of them to be "right" in terms of exclusivity. They all have sincere faith. Even the guys who hear voices that tell them they need to commit suicide or they'll miss their ride on the comet. Belief can obviously be a delusion. Since they can't all be right in the details, the whole matter of belief is suspect.
Believing in a higher power, anthropromorphic or not, is not itself stupid, but I think a lot of people confuse that belief, or wish, with a requirement to be affiliated with an organized religion -- even if it means accepting ridiculous tenets like a child will go to hell unless someone pours water on its head in a ceremony it cannot comprehend, or that they're going to get 72 virgins if they die while blowing up other people for their faith.
I believe myself to be a good person. I don't harm others intentionally, and I don't like to see suffering. I attended Baptist, Lutheran, and Catholic schools while growing up, and I saw sincerity and hypocrisy standing shoulder to shoulder every day.
Is a person's lack of faith an intrinsic fault? A problem with the "soul"? Religion was thrown at me, but it did not stick. If there was a Creator, and he created me, that lack of faith is not my fault.
So, as a reasonable, empathetic person, should I be condemned to an eternity of suffering just because I didn't think it was right for me? And what about the people throughout history who were never exposed to religion? Unless the Creator is evil or spiteful, Justice would demand that equal opportunities to believe should be given to everyone. And if that Creator is evil or spiteful, we have already lost.
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