Outsiders

We who no longer belong anywhere often feel lonely. That's why we, too, have formed an association, a secret society. But we have no leader, no doctrine to follow, and no special meeting places. We don't wear any signs of our affiliation, no silly hats or necklaces. We recognize each other when we happen to meet.

Jump off the bandwagon

You don't have to adhere to a religion or political ideology. You don't have to be a right-winger for the rest of your life just because you happen to be a right-winger right now. You don't have to be a Marxist, a religious fundamentalist, or a follower of a spiritual teacher. It's possible to drop out and simply be a human being.

Many former cult members have left their cult despite losing all their friends. There are alcoholics who have stopped drinking and smokers who have quit smoking. There are even careerists who have resigned from their top jobs in business to have more time for family life.

The horse doesn't need the rider; it's the rider who needs the horse.

What if also you have been deceived? What if everything you believe in and live for is misconceptions, or worse, pure idiocy? It's not impossible, on the contrary. Throughout history, people have always been deceived into one thing or another, which later turned out to be misconceptions or sheer idiocy.

Prosperity theology

Some evangelical Christians say that God is beyond anything you can imagine. OK, I accept that argument. They also say that life is so extremely complex and mysterious that it can not possibly have come about through random chemical reactions. I can understand this idea as well. However, where are all their extreme right-wing political views coming from, their love of the arms industry, their love of money, and success? Where in the New Testament do they find such ideas?

Agnosticism

There are so many different ideas about God; one is crazier than the other. There are many different kinds of Christianity, many different kinds of Hinduism, and many different kinds of Islam. All believe they have it right, and the others have got it wrong. But this fact does not prove there is no God; that belief in God is a delusion. Maybe there is a God somewhere, but nobody knows anything about him (or her). Maybe God is, in reality, an alien civilization that studies us as if we were some kind of laboratory rats.

God

God ordered the Israelites to exterminate the people of Canaan. He ordered the Crusaders to slaughter the people in Jerusalem and the Americans to invade Iraq. He has persuaded thousands of selected Muslims to blow themselves and their fellow human beings into pieces.

Intelligent design

If God created this world, why did he make it so horrible? Cancer, ALS, leprosy... natural disasters, excruciating pain, and suffering?

Perhaps a good and benevolent God created this world, but evil forces toppled him.

Maybe the world created itself - by chance; perhaps there is no designer.

In the beginning, there was nothing. Did the world also create God, the devil, and all the angels in the Big Bang?