Ignorance is the mother of all religions, and those who admit their own ignorance are wiser than most. Those who do not admit their ignorance are the breeders of intolerance and hate. I don't have all the answers; we are here because the system works well enough for our continued existence. Knowing how we got here doesn't concern me. When I tell people, usually only when asked, that I am an atheist, usually the first question out of their mouth is "Well, how do think we got here?" My typical answer is that I don't know and that finding out is not high on my priority list. I'm here and I'll make the best of it. I follow my own moral code just like everyone else. People are not nice or mean to people because a book tells them to be, they are nice or mean because there is something in it for them.
If there is the Christian god at the end who is going to judge the way I handled my life, what I believed in, or not, he will know that I never claimed to be something I was not. Heaven or Hell would be his choice, not mine, regardless of what I label myself with. The same goes for those who label themselves Christian, that god will know what they have claimed and if their actions fit their claim.
That god will know the true path to heaven or hell because he built them. He will know if the self labeled Christians were on that path or not regardless of what they believed or if they thought of themselves as the most devout people on earth. Belief is one thing, and probably the smallest part of it, actions speak louder than words, and thoughts and motives are the true paths to heaven and hell, real, religious, or personal.
I doubt that I'm an atheist most of the time and just prefer to be anti-religion, any religion. Atheist just seems to fit better than most other labels. My thoughts and beliefs change every day. Someone once said that if you began as a Republican or Democrat and hadn't changed your mind by 30, you havn't learned anything. The same can be said with beliefs. I don't know for sure what's out there, if we were created, accident, or just the sum of our parts, chemistry and physics. I prefer the chemistry and physics because that is what can be observed. But I will or will not be judged on my own merits and prefer to stand on my own two feet any which way it ends. I walk my own path. Friends, walk your own paths too, there is no need to force, coerce, cajole, or ridicule anyone onto your own path. After awhile, your path would get too crowded and when that happens people start splintering off in directions you didn't intend, kind of like what happened to the followers of Jesus. If you can talk sensibly to someone about your beliefs and they decide that is the way for them as well then it is their own choice. People forced into a belief because of threats, intimidation, fear, and whatnot will not stay long and are only on that path in action, not in spirit. Parents who force their children into church force them away from it. People should let the decision to go or not come naturally and not ignorantly pushed into it. I think more people would go to church today if they were not force fed it.
I don't believe I have ever met a member of any Christian denomination that knew everything their denomination believed AND how those beliefs were came into being. Which will lead me to my next post sometime in the future about my first statement in this one, "Ignorance is the mother of all religions." So if you can hold off on flaming me for a bit on this particular subject I will go into more detail later.