On the topic of religion

I feel the need to preface this with a BIG disclaimer. As many of you are well aware, I am a non-religious person. I don't believe in a god, I put my faith in science and my fellow human beings, and usually have disdain for people that try to force their thinking down my throat (on both sides of the issue). That said, this blog is about my cancer and my dealings with it. This isn't a religious rant or diatribe so please don't take it that way. I mean no offense to anyone and have had discussions with many people on the subject before. But it has been weighing on my mind more than lately and I'm going to try to finally get it out.

I was raised Catholic. I was baptized. I attended Sunday School for a while. But, really I never had any choice in the matter since I was real little. We never went to church regularly and usually only attended for weddings and the like. By the time I came of age, I put more of my thought into it and found I didn't really believe in any of it. Like most religions, I viewed it as a good fable to teach moral lessons and nothing more than that. Love your fellow man, do no harm, etc.

But when I was diagnosed with cancer, questions kept popping up that I didn't have good answers to. Although I've had these answers for a while, it's gotten quite hectic in the past 6 months and I've been prevented from posting it in lieu of keeping everyone up to date. I'll address the 3 major questions below. I'd like it if anyone left more questions for me in the comments and I'll do my best to answer those as well.

1. Since you got cancer, have you ever wanted to be "born again"?

Have I thought about it? Absolutely. I've always thought about how I might have gotten cancer because I had been "forsaken" for not believing and that if I put my faith back in God somehow He will make it right. Will I do it? Probably not.

I'd imagine it like this if the shoe was on the other foot. If I was religious, believed in God, and had faith in His judgment, would I stop believing if I was in the same condition I'm in now? After all, it was God's will that I have cancer, so there must be a reason. Destroying my faith is something I do not believe in. I do not like to think you can jump bandwagon when it's convenient. If I was a religious man, I'd accept my fate as it was given to me; a test of my willpower to overcome adversity.

However, I am not a religious man. But that does not change my opinion. I will not flip sides when the going gets tough and destroy my belief system.

2. Do you believe in heaven/hell/the afterlife?

Short answer: no.

Long answer: Afterlife is a concept mainly associated with religion, I believe that when you pass away, you just do. You were born without any prior knowledge to this world, and when you die your body returns it's energy back into the universe that created it. Heaven and hell are concepts to teach morality (the difference between good/pure and bad/evil). I do not believe we have a soul that passes on, just electrical impulses that turn off like when you hit a light switch.

3. If you do not believe in afterlife/religion, how can you have any morality?

This is where it comes together. Just because I do not believe in religion, does not make me an immoral person. I'm not going to suddenly go out and go on a shooting rampage because I don't believe in hell. Cancer does not change that. Like I said, I don't take the Bible literally but it taught me from a young age the difference between right and wrong. But more than a book could do, my parents brought me up well. Dying tomorrow or dying in 50 years won't change that.