I find it interesting that the focus on religion seems to center on a source of moral absolutes and that in its absence humans lose their way, making up their own distorted morality often with dire outcomes. I do appreciate the expressed instinct that humankind has an innate hunger for belief…we Christians would call that a “God-shaped hole” in our hearts. Problematic, however, is this notion of God as a moralistic autocrat browbeating us into moral submission. Human pride arises from this perspective, and we get rebellion…and well, you can see where that’s put us.

The holy God that created all things (at minimum, the Universe and everything in it) created humankind to dwell with Him and to enjoy Him and His creation forever. And despite our best efforts to tick Him off, He still pursues us, showing us how we are to live with Him (even to the extreme of becoming incarnate) to show us how we were meant to be. It’s crazy love.

The idea of living in fear of judgmental God and so complying with His moral code is the wrong response. Christ vividly illustrates the life to which we must aspire to have a whole relationship with our Creator and He illustrates not out of fear but out of love and a knowing obedience. Imagine a world where we all strove to be imitators of Jesus. And this faith is supremely rational if we seek to grow close to the Supreme Being and learn of Him and His Creation. Of course, if we insist on the primacy of our own pride and hubris, then sure, the faith seems nutty. In fact, the only rational course is that we should all seek to maximize our own interests without restraint, be it our genetic footprint, the accumulation of power, etc.

Now, you may be unable to accept the existence of God, but I would posit that such a position is itself irrational. Ex nihilo nihil fit. A discussion for another day.