I like you very much. Honesty is hard to find in both the religious and the non-religious, and by extension, so is a truly earnest search for truth. Correct, institutions don’t welcome that at all, and neither do most people. As you properly identified, they need answers, to the point they’ll make them up or adopt what others have made up. To say there aren’t the answers they seek is the scariest answer of all and most will hate you for it.

I don’t know much about the right answers either. I have learned to think critically though and can usually identify a lie. For whatever you think its worth, here’s my truth. God is not an author. Religion does more harm than good and is chock full of contradictions that any open mind could identify. It’s a different form of politics.

Is there a God? I don’t know. I know there is something more, in a firsthand way I’m not going into here. Barring that, I would certainly be too skeptical to believe in anything else. If there is something else, then Is there a God? probably, there is a leader. There certainly doesn’t seem to be anyone with omnipotence, but a hierarchy makes sense. I do believe in prayer.

Nature is what rules here. Nature is a bitch. Nature is evil. It selects and reselects for the worst, the most selfish, who bar nothing to take from the rest. Love is only selfish teamwork. It serves a purpose. We all do. That purpose is to serve nature. And she wants us to battle. That’s for humans, animals and plants. If God created this he’s an asshole.

You are the only one in here I’m truly interested in your beliefs. Care to share? What truths have you become sure of?