I may not be a true believer,

but I still feel disgusted when folks feel compelled to bash the religion of others. It almost feels as if the athiest is as insecure in his nonbelief as the homophobe is in his heterosexuality.

Back at my last job, one of our part-time employees was telling me, with great relish and anticipation, about a trip he'd planned to Israel. He was going on a two-week hike across the desert to the sea of Gallilee. He's a fit, older guy, and he had to keep in shape for it, and pack a ton of food, and carry gallons of water on his back in a balloon-bladder thing. He was doing it as a way to reflect on his life and retirement (from his real job, not from ours) and he told me that this hike gave him an opportunity to retrace Jesus' footsteps.

This struck me as an amazingly cool proposition. I'd never heard of anyone doing this. I'd also not considered the importance of Israel to Christians, a group we seldom hear discussed in conversations of the conflict there.

Later that day I mentioned his planned hike to another employee in conversation. And this transgendered, tattooed kid - a fellow who demands acceptance from everyone around him - smirked, held up his fingers in air-quotes, and said, "Right. Jesus' footsteps," as if the hike was a laughable enterprise suitable for mockery.

If I'd told him someone was going to New Zealand to retrace the travels of the Fellowship of the Ring, I doubt he'd have laughed as hard.

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I'm fond of the language of religion.

There's a poetry there which can bring out the best in people, if it's interpreted by kind and thoughtful minds. And I've come to believe in an Artificial God (AG) who, like most of man's creations, can be used for good or evil, but who for the most part is a valuable contribution to life.

I got the idea of the Artificial God from Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide books and Dirk Gently’s Holisitic Detective Agency, among others. The text of his speech from 1998 is still online, and it’s done as much to shape my spiritual life (such as it is) as anything I’ve ever read.

Think about it. How is a God that the vast majority of men believe in any more or less real than a government, or Social Security, or money?

I think the value of any particular religion can be measured by the extent to which it encourages us to be kind to each other. Kurt Vonnegut said, "There’s only one rule that I know of, babies—God damn it, you’ve got to be kind." And he described himself as a "Jesus loving Atheist." I see nothing wrong with this sentiment.

This is why I'm more fond of the New Testament than the Old. To paraphrase comedian Lewis Black, "A God who turns someone into a pillar of salt for looking over their shoulder is not a god I want to be working for." This is also why Israel's actions are so alarming. A kind God would not condone confiscating another nation's land by force and decree. Meanwhile, our own nation's actions in pursuit of oil are just as troubling - especially when they're couched in the language of religious rightness that Bush Jr. used to frame our last two Middle Eastern conflicts.

When our Artificial God gets installed amid the workings of government, he tends to malfunction. But when he's held in individual hearts and minds and churches, he can bring a great deal of peace.

Even though I'm not a believer, I don't feel hypocritical saying "Bless you," or "God bless," to someone who has been kind to me, or who has behaved with more than the usual measure of human decency I'm accustomed to seeing in my days.

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Our lives can be long and hard sometimes.

If religion can help a body get through this without becoming bitter and mean, then by all means let that body embrace it. Besides, a church can give someone in trouble an instant social network to help them through their difficulties. Who does the non-believer think he is, to sneer and deny them that?

I haven't started going to any churches myself, but my wife and niece have tried out a few over the years. I really can't see any reason why I should object.

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