Why I can't be an Atheist Is that I believe in good. I believe in evil. I believe in the supernatural. I believe in truth. I believe in a common shared experience. I believe in a moral certainty. I believe in sexual fidelity. I believe in monogamy. I believe in inherent values. Why I cannot be a Muslim Is because the religion teaches its adherents to lie. Frankly, this one concept in Islam is so blasphemous to my ears That in the face of persecution, Muslims are allowed to lie. To me, God's standard is truth. If you were a Muslim, and that God were true You'd almost be compelled to tell the truth. Also, I cannot see myself bowing to a rock; If not for the flawed laws in the Koran The constant prostration to a rock in the middle of a desert Shows to me, at least, that the religion is centered around idolatry And is nothing more than statecraft. Why I cannot be a Hindu--- Though there is no other religion I'd be If not for Christianity, the only other one Enticing to me is Hinduism. But, its myths have bad ideas about charity. It praises the prince who capriciously gives Two mountains of gold to two passer yonders Rather than to the prince who labors For twenty-four hours to give based on the poor's needs. It seems the religion advocates lazy charity; And it also believes in a Manichaeism, Making good equal to evil in strength. Which, I cannot believe either. And the very notion of becoming a god Is petulant, self serving and dangerous. I cannot believe in any religion That would turn its adherents into gods. Thereby, giving authority to men What is unjust to give them Due to our fallible and finite nature. I also cannot stomach Dharma or Reincarnation As if all life were, is about ending it, I find this view horrible and immoral. I think life ought to be celebrated, And rewarded for a good one with eternal bliss. I also find Dharma insufficient And lazy, so as to excuse the suffering of the poor And to excuse injustice, and so tidily chalk it up With reincarnation, giving justice to pointless abuses. Why I cannot be a Buddhist Is because I find no meaning in suffering. There can be no meaning in suffering. To me, suffering is pointless, and is to be avoided. I find the religion's founder to be gross; As he would sit among battlefields And meditate among the rotting corpses. He would sit in graveyards and meditate. He seemed, almost, so inured and disassociated from the world. He, rather than help others, simply bore great grief And I find that kind of inaction pointless And even dangerous, and at the highest degree Buddhism is self serving in every aspect as a religion. Why I cannot be a Shinto or Zoroaster Is the same reason. I cannot believe In an ordering of spirits To where evil ones are given equal weight to good. I cannot believe it, because I believe good is strongest And evil is simply a disfiguration of what is good. Evil is a distortion of the good, or it's something That distorts and therefore, is negative rather than something Positive. I find evil must be destroyed one day Fully, and that it cannot be dualistic Giving equal weight to both good and evil. I believe that good must be stronger than evil And one day destroy it, otherwise, I cannot believe in God, if God is in part equally strong as evil. Why I cannot be a Pagan Is that it is banal to me to believe That many gods and goddesses are warring Among one another. That they are all benevolent And thereby, each having its own aim Wars with the other gods, giving license to one hero And they all vote upon the virtues of man. I find this contradicts the very spirit of Good To say that good is compartmentalized In metaphors about war, love, oceans or hell. That is all Pagan gods and goddesses are To me, are metaphors. And I cannot believe Metaphors are powerful enough for me to believe In and worship---as that's a kind of idolatry which I will never succumb to. I cannot be a Mormon or Jehovah's Witness Because I believe in the Trinity. I find God must exist in Three Persons. Thereby, if One God exists And carries all the attributes of God Commonly attributed to Him, Then God must exist in three Persons. Thereby, I cannot also worship Michael, As both these Arian religions worship him. I believe no angel deserves our worship And that God the Father and God the Son Are coeternal, uncreated And existing for eterniy. Why I cannot be agnostic is Because I know a god exists. Why I cannot be a gnostic Is because I believe we must Do good here upon the Earth. I believe we must abstain from evil. I do not believe we ought to Simply live our lives however we want. I believe we should, Instead, be fruitful, give generously, Abstain from sexual sin and violence. I cannot, again, believe in Dualistic ideas Of a demiurge and aeon. Of a physical and spiritual world; As my entire philosophy on life Is that both the spiritual and physical Exist intertwined, and mutually coexisting; As intricately woven together As God is in the Flesh of Jesus Christ,