I have never been a real fan of organized religion. The idea the more atrocities have been committed in the name of religion than any other single reason is probably true, but I also know that religion and church can do a lot of good also. It is just that, for me, I do not believe that anyone knows any more about what or who God is (or even if there is one) than anyone else. In my opinion, anyone who tries to control the behavior or morals of someone else by claiming to know what God wants, is deluded or lying. Organized religion seems to be more about controlling people than anything else.
The closest I ever felt to the concept of God was when I was attending college in a small Northern California town. One winter evening, after dark, I took a walk along the railroad tracks that led out of town into the woods. It was snowing, and as I got further into the woods, all sounds from town faded and were gone. I stood there in the total silence feeling the snow brushing my face. I could actually hear the whisper of the snow flakes hitting the existing snow on the ground.
The furthest I have ever felt from what I think God would be like was when I was a small boy sitting on the hard wood pew in a non-air conditioned church on a very hot summer day. The chubby kid sitting next to me, wearing a suit and tie, passed out from the heat. In addition, it always seemed to me that organized religion preached the tactics of threats and bribery. Be good and you will go to heaven, be bad and go to hell. As I said - control of people seems to be the agenda.
So, I guess you could say that Nature is my God.
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