“I have a public confession to make. I am an unbeliever. Let me explain.

I am an unbeliever in a “God” who is an external, superior, and separate being who must be pleased, obeyed, or reconciled with.

I am an unbeliever in a “God” shrouded in maleness, establishing the foundation for the dominance of patriarchy.

I am an unbeliever in a religious “God” who offers love that is conditional, revocable, and dependent on belief, purity, or obedience.

I am an unbeliever in a “God” who condemns people to eternal conscious torment for not believing the correct theology.

I am an unbeliever in a “God” who baits the first two human beings into an act of disobedience, which results in a world of suffering.

I am an unbeliever in a “God” who requires devotion to one book of ancient writings as the sole source of truth.

I am an unbeliever in a “God” who orchestrates the scenario of a fallen world, requiring the blood sacrifice of the son to fix it.

I am an unbeliever in a “God” who demands faith in doctrines and beliefs that defy reason, intuition, humanity, and critical thinking.

I am an unbeliever in a “God” who divinely anoints men with special qualities and rights to have authority over women.

I am an unbeliever in a “God” whose cosmic salvation plan is Jesus on a white horse and Armageddon to end the world.

I am an unbeliever in a “God” who adds conditions and qualifications for love and acceptance.

So yes, I am an unbeliever in ‘that’ “God”. The good news is that we made that “God” up, and there are other ways of conceiving “God” that don’t require the above beliefs. In my view, even Jesus did not believe in ‘that’ “God”.

The religious version of God is only one culturally inherited model—an external, judging, separate authority—and it’s far from the only way humans have understood the sacred. Once that framework loosens, people discover that “God” can also name immanence, connection, mystery, depth, or the more‑than‑human world. Letting go of the religious God doesn’t erase meaning; it opens space for forms of spirituality and belonging that aren’t built on fear, hierarchy, or separation.”

Jim Palmer