God

When faced with the current strain of questions that crop up in mankind's everlasting search for truth a question is inevitably reached that begs contemplation. If God exists why is there an abundance of suffering in the world? At the same time if he does not exist how can you attribute any aspect of this experience to a by-product of mere chance when the world defies rational comprehension every moment when scientists feel as though they have reached the pinnacle of understanding?
The concept of God does not seem to blend well with logic; consider the oft-touted paradox "The Problem with Evil." Most will attempt to apply an anthropomorphic coating over a difficult but observable concept and God is no exception. True believers often will agree vigorously if the claim is made that God embodies the very human characteristics of being all knowing, all powerful, and all good. But the description faces some serious problems when the existence of evil is considered.
If God is purely good then he certainly cannot be aware of evil that is taking place or he may be powerless to stop the archetypal event replete with misery from happening. If he is omnipotent then how can he allow evil to occur while still being all good and all knowing? If he is omniscient, how can he be all powerful and and all good? Paradox!
Sure we could argue about the nature of evil (being in its core good) but the arguments are quite weak. Therefore why should anyone believe a typical preacher/holy man when the religion not only provides overly simplistic answers to life's greatest questions, but attempts to parade superstitions and sometimes a code of morals upon the masses as definite truth. Every religion has its own set of quirky customs that are easily noticed by an inquiring mind as hypocritical, outdated, and most of all...human. Anyone who acts in a controlling way towards others and claims God's influence in the decisions that are reached by their established order is a control-freak in ever sense of the term. Most religious belief is blatantly politicized nowadays and any argument attempting to disprove the fact is flimsy at best. There is no reason for trading your freedoms over to someone else in exchange for some unconscious reassurance to every existential question that torments man.
Judging from the crumbling foundation of organized religion particularly the sort of Judeo-Christian influence , it would be quite easy to jump to the conclusion that if the common concept of God is dismisable by a healthy dose of skepticism then anything remotely close to that account must be false. This jumping to of conclusions and failure to acknowledge the human drive for transcendence as anything other than a delusional defense-mechanism is the assumption commonly made in the stereo-typical Atheist's approach towards the problem. To them the conclusion been reached, albeit prematurely, when certain theories have been shown to have gaping holes running through the most vital of areas. Atheists often cite select scientific perspectives and discoveries and revere scientists who have posed half-assed explanations to the big questions of life. They only glance lat ife's mysteriousness and offer their own set of simple answers. Pointing this out to an Atheist and stating that there are many unexplainable mysteries to the universe is likely to bring up emotionally charged memories and assumptions. They will get angry, defensive. They might write you off as mentally challenged to see the truth all for questioning their interpretation of reality. Ironically they employ the same techniques used by many believers to staunchly defend their rigid views of a world that continues to defy comprehension. When being condemned as a lunatic it is often difficult to distinguish the two seemingly polar-opposite opinions.
Maybe God exists, maybe he doesn't, but to believe in anyones explanation of how it all happened or what it all means is ridiculous. And that includes the Christian who claims that God created the world in seven days and the scientist who declares that we randomly began as mono-celled organisms in a bowl of boiling soup that chanced upon ending up spherical and orbiting a star at just the right distance to keep things from being too hot or cold--both explanations are replete with fallacies if one looks hard enough!
We should make peace with the fact that we do not know what we are or what any of this chaos called life is in its pure unadulterated essence. The question defies comprehension. And asking it with the intention of reaching a conclusion is absurd and in no way could a response suffice in answering it. The only meaning in a world devoid of meaning is the one that is collectively given to it.
At the same time we should view the realization of our confusion with an air of curiosity rather than as a stopping point. Together the human species is full of untold capabilities to unlock the secrets of the universe. Maybe truth exists and as long as we are in the right direction progress will inevitably follow. We've already made leaps and bounds from the ground up to the stars. As the late Bill Hicks once quipped "we can explore space together...forever." The possibilities are as infinite as the essence of the universe... that I metaphorically choose to describe as God.