And I have to agree with other people, that accepting the easy answers of religion would be so much nicer, but I seem to be one of those rare people that is constitutionally unable to swallow that stuff. Believe me, I've given it an honest try, but I am naturally intellectually honest and unable to ignore evidence it seems. Which does wonders for my intellectual fulfillment but little for my emotional fulfillment at times. I need to find me a local secular organization to join, I think.

nothing could be further from the truth.

I notice you use this phrase a lot. Is there a story behind that?

As for me, I'm fortunately not exposed to open hostility very often, but I find I'm frequently under pressure from family members to keep quiet, even when those around me are voicing their religious opinions loudly and at length. I never could abide double standards...

I simply do not understand how organized religion has had the success it has had over the centuries. I find The Bible quite bizarre, and I wonder how this collection of ancient writings have led to the HUGE multi-zillion dollar industry Christianity is today.

It truly is incredible when you look at it from the outside, isn't it? Organized religion postulates the most outlandish things imaginable. What, for example, makes any sense at all about a god who is simultaneously three gods and one god at the same time and who could only forgive humanity's sins by sacrificing one part of himself to another part of himself? (What does it even mean for a god to be a "he"?) The only reason these things are viewed as any less bizarre than, say, a B-movie alien overlord sending millions of extraterrestrial ghosts to Earth where they cling to human beings, or a flying ball of spaghetti that created the universe, is that they're believed more widely, and their believers will vociferously attack anyone who points out the inherent absurdity of them. In the eyes of society, popularity is assumed to be the same thing as rationality, but nothing could be further from the truth.

That's why I have tried a few churches over the years. It's like, I go into these places with sincere Big Questions, and, bless them , they do try to answer them. But their answers are, well, always scripted. Insincere. And if I stick around long enough to ask more troubling questions these people can become hostile. And then out the door I go.

I know exactly what you mean. Organized religion is like fast food for the soul - all the answers to life's important questions manufactured, pre-packaged, and presented to you in a shrink-wrapped box. You don't need to worry about a thing; just take it on faith, say your prayers twice a day, and you'll go to Heaven in the end. For many people, that's the chief attraction, of course. It gives them easy answers to all their existential dilemmas without the troubling necessity of thinking too hard. But if you're one of those rare people who can't believe it all so blithely and feels the need to ask how they know any of that, you'll soon be shown the door. Asing too many questions tends to upset the people in church hierarchies, since the very existence of those hierarchies depends on people accepting what they're told without a fuss. Fortunately, for those of us who refuse to conform, there is a better way, and more profound answers to the questions that religion wallpapers over so easily. It's not as easy a trail to walk, but in the end, I think the results make the effort more than worthwhile.

I hope that, by being true to myself, and by being honest and as kind as I can be, and by being a pretty decent father and husband, why, when it is my time to "go" I will okay wherever I "go" after all this ( if anywhere!).

Well said, sir. My philosophy has always been to live this life as best as I can, since I don't know if there will ever be another. If there isn't, then I'll know that my time here has not been wasted, and if there is another life, I'll deal with it when I get there.