So twitter asked me "[if you] don’t believe in God, why?". And oh well, it may be the right time to ruffle some feathers and I think the SN community may be able to handle it.

Please do NOT read this thread if you may get triggered by opinions or views about religion that you disagree with. Below I share my personal views that are very specific and big majority of you will disagree with them.

I come from a very atheist country where no one I know is religious. It just doesn't come up as a topic. I mean, we learn about all religions at school, we had to read portions of the Quran, Bible, Greek mythology, Tripitaka, Bhagavad Gita, etc and compare the stories in exams...

Greek are the most entertaining and human-like, Buddhism is the most chill (but too much text). Abrahamic religions are too self-centered and argue about the smallest things. But overall the stories are very similar, with some technical differences. 

Almost all religions have some form of 10 step plan to be better, while bad things happen if you don't. All have stories where the hero did good and was rewarded and other stories where the hero also did good and was not rewarded. This then shows you that life can suck and be random no matter how hard you try - but you should try your hardest anyway. I think that's a good lesson.

At the same time I believe that

• the various holy books are distillation of humanity and morality, so there is a lot to learn from
• the characters in the books are based on real folks, but sometimes mashed up
• religion can play community building role (e.g. Sunday church)
• good priest can replace therapists/psychologists 
• meditation/praying physically changes your brain, reduces stress, etc
• for many people believing in God can help them grow, get them off the street, etc
• religion doesn't play well with communism (and this will cause some stress to folks in the US soon...)
• before-covid Jordan Peterson was good, after-covid Jordan Peterson lost himself in symbols 

I more enjoy the smaller/pagan religions that focus on being thankful, appreciating Earth, appreciating nature, animals and other people. For example, I spent some time with Quechua and Aymara folks and they have Pachamama as the goddess that represents Earth and it was very inspiring to see the deep relationship they have with her. 

Last note - in some countries the kids get Christmas presents not from Santa Claus, but from "baby Jesus". So then at some point you have to tell the kids that baby Jesus doesn't exist and it was the parents bringing the gifts the whole time. 

Think about that.