to God, or not to God

I'm late with this, but I want to talk about it anyway.

Last Monday on NPR's "This I Believe" series, it was Penn Jillette's turn to tell us what he believes. These beliefs were based upon his atheism. But a funny thing occurred to me as I lsitened to him. You didnt have to be an atheist to agree with what he was saying.

Believing there's no God stops me from being solipsistic. I can read ideas from all different people from all different cultures. Without God, we can agree on reality, and I can keep learning where I'm wrong. We can all keep adjusting, so we can really communicate. I don't travel in circles where people say, "I have faith, I believe this in my heart and nothing you can say or do can shake my faith." That's just a long-winded religious way to say, "shut up..."

Atheist, Believer, either way, all you have to do is let go of the idea that your beliefs are the only right beliefs. Understand that human suffering is caused (or at least left unrelieved) by human choices (including the choice to make no choice). And to realize that a few cherry-picked lines from an ancient book do not give you the right to cause others pain.

So go, dont listen to me, I'm not nearly as eloquent. Listen to Jillette say his own words in his own voice. Forget his level of belief in God, and concentrate on his belief in his words. They're good words, and worthy of belief.