TANGENT SUNSET The Coolest Religion on Earth and Beyond by Alex Cosper

Do I believe in a god? If so, which one?

I don't consider myself to be religious in the fundamentalist sense. Some people need a zillion word book to tell them what to think, not that they would ever actually read it for themselves. It's easier for them just to be told a summary of what it says or means - by anyone who claims to have read it. But I can sum up my religion in just three words: I don't know.

I'm not necessarily an atheist because like I said, I don't know. I've found that people who say they do know are either pretenders, liars, psychos, victims or just plain fools. There's still room in my heart, however, to accept that people's religious beliefs have good intentions.

If you do know, then what brings you to this hellish planet where evil constantly triumphs over good? I do believe that the universe provides us with two types of energy: positive and negative. Maybe you call it good and evil, but it doesn't really matter what you call it. And they're really easy to tell apart because positive energy leads to expansion while negative energy leads to destruction.

I'm guessing that the only reason civilization advanced past the stone age was because one day a couple of cavemen figured out: "hey, we can actually accomplish more by working together than beating each other over the heads just because we're afraid of each other."

I guess if I had to pick a god (or go to prison) I'd pick the one that believes in peace, love, happiness, sharing and caring and not the god that starts wars against defenseless countries just to steal their resources and then pretend it's about something else.

When my god says not to kill or steal...it's not a lie. My god never told a group of greedy gangsters: I blessed this land for you - it's yours - but first you have to kill and steal to acquire it from the natives. When my god says "do unto others as they would do unto you" I tend to doubt the interpretation should be "let's launch a pre-emptive strike against a country that's never attacked our country." My god isn't so bloodthirsty.

My god doesn't have a weak ego problem, nor is my god jealous of any of his or her creations. And I should also point out that my god doesn't judge on skin color or whatever language someone speaks, even though that should go without saying by now.

It seems to me that the coolest religion on earth and beyond is too good for words. That's why I don't trust books about gods that were really written by ancient kings and queens who executed those who questioned their mythology. Religion shouldn't have to be so fragile that it depends on followers.

Maybe some day God will just appear and say, "I apologize to all of you for leading you on that I'm everywhere when the honest truth is I'm nowhere to be found - especially when it comes to things like 9/11, tsunamis, disease, corruption, torture and senseless killing."

That being said, God bless this world and all other worlds yet to be discovered.

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