No Faith please, we're Religious

Hmm, Religion. Touchy subject this one. In some cultures if you make cartoons of their god you can have almost mass riots. Some religions worship aliens from outer space (yes Scientologists I'm talking about you here. Science Fiction isn't really real you know, it's called Fiction for a reason) some religions follow the belief system of a human being who was better than a lot of people, and some people follow God.

Faith for me, now as it currently stands is something people want to believe in when they have nothing real to hold onto. When all else fails, nothing seems logical, they can turn to their faith and it gives them something to believe in.

That I don't have an issue with. I think it's quite nice (if a little deluded) if that's what gets you through the tough times then I'm all for it.

Here's the issues I have with religion/spirituality:

The exclusion of certain types of people if they don't have the same sexual preference as everyone 'should'. I'm not gay, not even bi, but I just don't think that just because someone likes the same sex as you, doesn't mean their evil.

Reincarnation - Nup sorry, the maths just don't add up. If there's only a certain number of souls in the world, there's only a finite number of things the souls can goto. Plus if my understanding of Reincarnation is correct once you've lived your life correctly your soul goes to it's nivana sort of thing. That doesn't work with me again for the numbers system.

Wanting everyone to believe in the *exact* same thing as you, otherwise they're wrong and need to be converted.

Believing that the Stars, tea bags, numerology, reading palms etc has any control over your life whatsoever.

The thought that your god wants you to kill other people, or yourself for even supposed riches in the afterlife. Any religion that promotes harm to yourself or others is just not for me.

So all that said, what do I believe in?

I'm not 101% sure anymore. As I said earlier, I view faith as something to hold onto when there's nothing for you to concretely believe in anymore. Don't get me wrong, there are such things as spirits and miracles, but as for a deity not sure on that one. All the main religions have issues as I see them, so I don't really consider myself religious anymore...

Cheers
Dr. (Who has already sat in a corner, losing his religion)