I was just talking to someone about this yesterday. It seems that religious proliferation has hindered the way of thought in even the strongest of minds. Our(american) society is so littered with religious dogma it has become part of our "normal" regime. Our money says "in God we trust." Or president holds weekly prayer meetings, as well as a global annual prayer breakfast. We put churches on every corner and the government doesn't even charge them tax...
Wow.
I think this leads us to do exactly what you're doing. Questioning the very fabric of our morals and ideals. We tend to say, what if? What if we're wrong about good and evil? What if suicide is a "sin" and we end up in hell, or worse? Although our very senses tell us these things are wrong, that if there was a "god" why would he/she let us live the way we do? Why do we have to suffer so much? What did we do to deserve this kind of existence?
The answer in my opinion is this. We suffer because either we were hardwired differently than others, or we have suffered at the hands of others so vile that we've become hopeless. Either way shows me that there is no good and evil. There is simply a consistent gray area. We're no different from our kin of ages ago. They were barbarians, cruel, ruthless. They had a very skewed way of life in comparison to the way we view life today. But, were they bad, or evil? No. So why is today any different just because we've learned yo be more civilized, or as it's so crudely put, more "humane" implying that the standards in place by the"church" are the right ones to live up to, or follow.
It is not up to religion as a whole to judge us. We aren't any more guilty then we feel towards ourselves. We shouldn't be persecuted for our beliefs just as the church shouldn't. There is no God that holds our hands through the hard times yet chastises us for going through those same emotions.
If there is a hell, it's here on earth. With what we deal with everyday is enough to put most people's worst experiences to shame. And when we illiterate on the facts of our existence we get morally shamed for it. This is life. This is truth. This is reality. We live it everyday. Our experience here is hell.
Because of all that I'm not afraid of death. I don't fear a what if scenario. I know my death will be one of mercy. One of peace. I will live on after I die. Whether it be in a alternative realty, or on the minds and hearts of others. I will live on. And so will all of you. You will always be in my heart. And in my thoughts.
