copy-pasted form mah blog: [link]
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Religion is like money; it's everywhere and people like to fight about it. What I find funny is that everybody is stuck arguing so fiercely and yet going absolutely nowhere. Even funnier is that intelligent people continue to argue despite the fact that they know they are going nowhere.

Religious debate is somewhat commonplace in our generation, with doubt running rampant, along with the need to rebel, or the desire to seek answers. Among the religious faithful and the atheist crowds, I choose to be agnostic (I neither believe in or deny the existence of God). What I find funny, however, is that I'm the only person I know of who doesn't subscribe to a religion, and yet respects it. That is not to say that I hold some doubt in my position and thus harbor feelings towards both sides (I firmly believe that it is impossible to prove or refute the existence of God); that is to say that I understand the value of religion and what it really stands for.

I understand the natural human curiosity, the tendency to ask questions that are too profound for a human answer. And to that end I understand why people feel the need to prove or disprove religious questions. However, I think that the true purpose of religion is not to be a be-all-end-all source of answers to the universe, but instead be a source of wholesome moral values and structure from which we can learn to lead better lives. Both ends of the spectrum have taken religion and used it for the wrong purposes, have stretched and skewed the goals of religion to fit their own ideas and agendas. What we all need to understand is that religion is something from which we learn to live, not something that hands down the answers that transcend life itself.

It makes me smile when a pious mother or a local Rabbi steps in and endows common moral sense on a situation, taking away the toxic complexity of modern life. There is also a certain satisfaction when an overzealous pastor who uses religion as a tool for hate is shot down by those who know not to take it so far. I think what we all need to do is just back away from each others' throats, and realize that what we should really be doing is being happy.