On the existence of deities and the nature of religion.

Symbols from various world religions. Source: Wikipedia.

I once believed that there are no deities. Then I finally discovered the shocking truth, every deity that has ever been the subject of worship actually exists.

A religion is nothing more or less than a collection of religious texts, a group of priests and priestesses, and a network of places of worship.

These items can be described in non religious terms.

• The religious texts are works of philosophy that happen to include tales; some of these tales discuss the history of the philosophy, or at least they claim to discuss the history of the philosophy, and other tales enhance and build upon and explain the philosophy.
• The priests and priestesses are teachers that teach the philosophy.
• The places of worship are schools that teach the philosophy.

The deity is therefore nothing more or less than the core concept that lies at the heart of the religion.

A religion is not meant to be static. It is meant to be a living, breathing, ever changing organism. It is the duty of all true followers of a religion to try to improve the religion for the betterment of man.

This is what is wrong with Christianity. It is no longer a living, breathing, ever changing organism. It is a putrid corpse.