I think I'm an atheist. But before the religion police come knocking on my dorm room door, let me try and recruit you into atheism. Just like many of you, I was raised under one of the many common religions that are practiced today. That religion being Catholicism. I went to Sunday mass with my Sunday clothes on, which was followed by a trip to a local restaurant for an early lunch. My parents are Catholics, and I'm sure they still think that I am too, and maybe I am, but as my mind has grown more cynical along with my age, I've been thinking.

I think back to the Sunday school classes I sat through, wondering if what I learned and what I ended up believing in for so long, was a farce. Just because the priests and nuns who taught me believed in Jesus Christ and the "scriptures" that the Catholic faith is based upon, it doesn't mean that what they were teaching was necessarily true. Even as a little kid I had my doubts about the amazing and surreal stories I heard come out of the head priest's mouth each Sunday mass. How did Moses part a sea? How did Jesus feed 4,000 men with seven loaves of bread? I kept quiet though. I don't know if it was the creepy architecture and statues in the church or the mere fact that I was just a kid that prevented me from questioning my own faith back then. But today, I have even more questions about not only Catholicism but religion in general.

Jesus could have been a psycho. Before being apprehended and eventually killed by the Romans, Jesus Christ and his teachings were seen as outlandish and devilish to the majority of people who didn't believe what he preached. Jesus could have been the David Koresh of his time. Granted, the scriptures don't report that Jesus held his disciples in a house and protected himself with guns, but just like Jesus, David Koresh was seen as an outcast and a devil to many whom didn't believe what he preached. There are many differences between Jesus and David Koresh, probably more than there are similarities between the two. But, my question is simply, why is it that over the course of time, Catholicism and the teachings of Jesus Christ have been widely accepted across the world, but David Koresh and his teachings seemed to fade away after his death?

Could David Koresh have been a modern day Jesus? Or if Jesus had access to semi-automatic weapons and a huge mansion in Texas, would he have been an ancient day David Koresh? Of course answers to these questions, and to the many other questions I have, will and cannot be answered. But that's the beauty of the human brain, we can think about things that could have happened and question things that may have happened. I believe that it's possible that those who believe in the stories they hear and read about which descend from scriptures written by Jesus' disciples are being lied to. Now I could be wrong, but I also could be right. I could be right that the disciples who followed Jesus and recorded his speech and god-like actions were mentally unstable or simply falsified what really happened. Maybe Jesus was mentally unstable, much like those people we see wandering the streets of New York City claiming to have some relationship with God, warning everyone of a day of Armageddon that's slowly approaching. Isn't it possible that Jesus Christ was a simple, common man with a few screws loose who went around Jerusalem claiming to be the Son of God? Just because many people believed what he said, doesn't mean that it's true. Jesus could have just been lucky, and David Koresh just, wasn't. Why more people chose to believe a man named Jesus Christ rather than David Koresh is another question that most likely cannot be answered.

But I have a theory, which may somehow lead to an answer to that question. I believe in the Big Bang Theory. I believe that we're here on this earth by no other means than science. When I look up at the sky, I don't see heaven or a God, I see a sky. I see science. I see pockets of moisture that we call clouds, and I see an atmosphere that was here long before we were. Religion wasn't here before us. Dinosaurs were, and I doubt that Dinosaurs practiced any type of religion, much like animals today don't partake in any religious activities. Your dog doesn't pray, but you do. Now, why is that? Because you're human and you've got a bigger brain which has the capacity to create religion. Religion was created, manufactured, and invented by humans. We invented God. Somewhere along the timeline of human evolution and as our brains evolved, a caveman began to question his own existence. Maybe it was from loneliness or sheer curiosity, but humans began to ask the question, "Are we really alone?". Rather than accept the reality that we are only creatures, alone, roaming the earth, humans looked up at the sky and in themselves for comfort. Out of this need for comfort, security and assurance, humans envisioned and created a Supreme Being. Today, that need for comfort and security is shared by almost every person on this earth. And where do they look for comfort? They look to a God and to "people" like Jesus Christ, Buddha, and Alajah Muhammad. People are scared that we're all alone on this earth, and religion is the soft pillow they lay their heads down upon each night.

I wonder if you truly believe that you have no bills to pay, that the phone and gas bills which litter your desk will simply go away. Because that's what I believe some people do regarding religion. They think that if they truly, deeply believe, and show their dedication to their faith by attending services and obeying certain rules, that the harsh reality of dying alone and not going to heaven will go away. But simply deeply believing in something doesn't mean that it's true. I could believe that a pencil was my God and spend my whole life worshipping this pencil, but just because I believe that a pencil is my God, doesn't mean that it's true, maybe I'm just really weird. Those who follow their religion with dedication, Catholicism in particular, are those people who fear being alone the most, and need to look somewhere for a God. Since there appears to be no God on this earth, they decide to look up to the sky and point, "There it is, heaven and God". Well, why can't God be in the ground or in a big house on Long Island? Because we know what's in our ground: dirt and rock. And we know what's in a big house on Long Island: a millionaire, not a God. So they point to the one place where mysteries lie and the naked eye can't really see beyond: the sky. Clouds became the floors of heaven, and of course, the opposite of the sky, the depths of earth, became hell. Some people have adopted the idea of reincarnation and the teachings of Buddha. But no matter what religion you adopt, you're adopting it for one sole reason, even if you don't want to admit it. You're afraid of reality.

How is it that covering the land of this earth are large masses of people who believe in completely different Gods? This supports my theory that religion was created, manufactured and invented by human brains. In North America and Europe, "Lord" and Jesus Christ are accepted as pillars of Christianity and all it's branching forms. But in the Middle East, Allah is their God. In Asia, Buddha is their God. Now, is it true that the Christian God only created people who believe in that religion, and that Allah only created people who believe in his religion? We're all human, no matter what we believe in. So that makes me ask the question, if all humans are creatures of a God or supreme being, how come there are so many people who believe in so many different Gods and religions? Are there multiple Gods? I don't think so. I think that someone in Asia created Buddha and it caught on, and over in the Middle East, someone created Allah and it caught on. In a way, religion is like a cult, it spreads and spreads. However, when people think of religion, they rarely consider it cult-like, and simply accept the fact that what they pray to isn't a lie and that all the time they devote to their faith is worthwhile because they will be compensated when they die. I don't think anyone will be compensated when they die. When your human brain stops and your heart ceases to beat, then you die and when put into the ground, that's where you stay.

I wouldn't classify myself as a cynic, although my words may have already sealed your judgment. I love every minute of life I have spent on this earth and hope I have many more minutes left. But I do feel praying to a God that didn't exist until someone thought it up in their brain is a waste of time. Now, if practicing a particular religion makes you feel safer or more comfortable while you're here on this earth, you're more than entitled to stick with it and not even think about the fact that we could be all alone. Because face it, if you're wrong and there is no heaven or reincarnation, you're going to be dead anyway. But for people like me who aren't so sure if they believe in a higher being like a God or reincarnation, we've caught the short end of the stick. See, if we're wrong, then when we die, we probably won't go to heaven and we probably won't be reincarnated. And if we're right, then we die and the same thing happens, we go nowhere. So worship your God, whatever it may look like in your mind, but always remember that you could always look inside, and worship yourself and the life that thrives around you everyday. Worship nature and worship the utter luck that you got the chance to be able to live on this planet, maybe then you can look up at the sky and not be looking for anything but the sun.