I'm not religious. But there is no solid evidence of either the existence or absence of a deity, so that's why I wouldn't hurry in claiming that there is no god whatsoever and that's it. I guess the easiest way to think of it would be that there exists whatever you decide to believe in.
As far as violence is concerned, I think we all know plenty of examples from history which demonstrate how far religious beliefs can take people and how religion can be used to disguise one's true goals. And in that sense, religion, like all ideas, can be a very dangerous thing.
All in all, I think that if one wants to follow a certain set of beliefs and feels that their life will benefit from that, then why not. We all believe, or at least want to believe, in something. However, what I consider wrong is claiming to follow a certain religion and not always living according to it, the "I'll go to church on every sunday and I can live however the hell I want the rest of the time" mentality. If one has decided to follow a certain belief, it should follow through in every moment of their life.
quote:
Originally posted by Sunshine
let everybody believe what they want, just don't force it upon me
Indeed, it's everyone's own choice what to believe in.