Atheistic Existentialism - God is an Alien

I don't believe in any gods, and I am totally okay with that.

Religion has always kind of been a serious afterthought in my life- never pushed onto me by my parents or relatives and never on the forefront of my mind. Until more recently, I have had very little to say about religion at all. I would poke fun at "bible-beaters" or whatever in high school because it was the cool thing to do- but how did I really feel about God- or any gods, really? How did I feel about religious organizations? Why was I so quick to dismiss religion outright? Having never felt the need for a god or religion in my life, I started to wonder why.
Over the course of the past ten years or so, I have been able to find out for myself what makes me able to live live knowing that there are no gods, despite the majority of those around me feeling the polar opposite- be it Catholicism (or any other flavor of Christianity), Buddhism, Judaism or even New Age beliefs (a popular alternative for the skeptical faithful).

I was baptized a Catholic- but never took communion and never went through the confirmation ceremony. I have never confessed. My dad (as well as that entire side of my family) are observant Catholics, but don't take it too seriously. It's more of a Christmas and Easter mass deal. I honestly don't know what my dad's beliefs are, but I know from the times i've spent around him growing up: he is not very "christian".
Don't get me wrong- he is a good man, and a good dad. He is there when I need him and despite our history, I feel like our relationship is pretty damn good. Despite all this, I would wager he owes these traits not to his religion, but his natural good. He is not pious at all; he is a decent man. I feel that my sense of humanistic morality was inherited from my father.

On the flip side, my mom is caught somewhere in-between Liberal Protestantism and New Age Crystal Healing via Chakras. As a matter of fact, my moms side of the family runs the gamut from conservative Protestantism to New Age Homeopathy- it's really a pretty bizarre fustercluck. Because of her- and the rest of the family, I was exposed to all sorts of spiritual beliefs, and they, as a familial unit were never ones to discriminate regarding spirituality- so long as you believe something. From my mother, I feel I have inherited a sense of curiosity and errant skepticism.
Recognizing this, it was pretty easy to either pick a spiritual side. There was a time where I could have very easily been persuaded to kneel and pray at the side of my bed or alternatively (no pun intended) let a mystic dose me with their healing powers by manipulating my ki.
In the end it seems to have all worked out for the best though- I decided to let things stew and instead of adhering to one or many faiths and instead reject all notions of faith from my life an in the process discover the spirituality in the awe and wonder in the natural, actual world.

All of these different religious ideals- these things that give people meaning in life, hope for the future, a basis for morality, all seemed flawed in my mind, or at the very least, terribly short sighted if for one simple reason: what makes your belief the correct one for everyone? In a universe where things naturally make sense, where is the tangible, provable evidence that The Christian god is the being that rules over every living thing? What of Muhammad or Xenu or Zeus? Where is the actual, substantial evidence that karma has and will dictate our other lives, that crystals heal or that certain, chosen people can channel healing energy for the physical good of others?  As far as I can reckon, all of these things don't require evidence, only faith. Blind, unwavering faith. This simple fact is why I can never be religious in any shape or form.

Blind faith is something I refuse to ever rely on. this does not affect my ability to believe in things- I believe that my wife loves me. I believe that I will most likely have a child or two in the future. I believe that despite my many attempts, I will never, ever be able to walk through a brick wall. However, if after years of trying my hardest we fall out of love, I never have kids or I somehow end up on the other side of that wall, well, guess what? I was proven wrong. There is no faith tucked away in these beliefs because upon further evidence to the contrary, my belief will change accordingly. If I was god fearing and my wife left me, I might blame god, or perhaps decide it must be some kind of test of my faith- instead of looking at how terrible she or I must have been or how incompatible we had turned out to be.

I guess the bottom line is this. Any organized religion or religious belief system I have been exposed to has yet to explain things of a supernatural or metaphysical nature to me in the way that science has been able to. The power of faith can never be wrong and never teaches us anything. Science is always being modified, updated and fixed thereby teaching us vastly more about the world around us and explaining all variants of phenomenon. This easily extends beyond just religion and into shit like ghosts and UFOs and the like- they all fall into the same category as religion for me because science will always be able provide real life ideas and solutions to life's biggest questions, whereas blind faith does nothing but validate whatever feels good.

When presented with the majesty and magnitude of the Universe, to me it is a great disservice to attribute things we cannot understand to supernatural occurrences, forces or beings. If ignorance is bliss, than I am forever to be haunted by the need to know. Evidence is key to my happiness, and from where I sit, no god can ever be as magnificent as the natural world, laid out before us waiting to be dissected and understood.

This is as close to spiritual as I get, I suppose. Damn it feels good.