Thread of Non-Faith ... Athiest/Agnostic support discussion

I don't ascribe to any recognized religion. IMO they were all cooked up by Men with agendas. I still kinda believe in "a" god, but it's not the grandfatherly figure with the flowing white beard that most envision. My vision of god is more of a cosmic baker, fired off the big bang with a flick of his finger and then sat back to watch the show. Kind of like a kid with an ant farm.

I was raised Christian. Mom is Catholic and Dad is Episcopalian, participated in both growing up, went to Sunday School and R.O.C.K. Didn't question too much and considered myself a "believer". Then my younger brother died. He was hit at a high school party, which popped an aneurysm and put him in a coma. Three years later, after slow but steady recovery, he caught pneumonia and wasn't strong enough to fight it. He was 18 when he was punched and 21 when he passed. My bro was a super popular kid and THOUSANDS of people were praying for his recovery. He still died.

Now, when I was home over the holidays my Dad misplaced his keys. Mom told him to say a prayer to some saint, he found 'em ten minutes later and Mom was like "See, so-and-so always helps!" I didn't mean to, but I must've been glaring at them something fierce, 'cause Dad looked at me and asked what was wrong. I blurted out "What, were we just praying to the wrong fucking saint to save David, then?"

I suppose I'm more of a deist than an agnostic, it could just be my upbringing but I can't let go of the concept of a higher power. But, as we say here at Turdville, WTFDIK...