I suppose that if you can be certain that there is no God, then creating a fake religion may seem like a decent idea. But I suspect that the universe, whether or not there is an intellect behind it, would not approve of such a thing. It is intrinsically wrong to create a fake religion. Anyone who meditates on it for a second will just know that it is not right to start a fake religion. Taking time and money from people in support of ideas that you know to be false is just wrong.

Now, there are many of us who strongly suspect that more than a few major and minor religions are complete bullshit and that there is pretty strong evidence for this. However, as much as I have not backed away from some controversial topics in this book, I am not going to call out anyone’s particular religion. Why? We are products of our own upbringing and faith is often a part of that. Even if I could conclusively show you that your religious beliefs were complete nonsense and your religious founder was a fraud, you likely still wouldn’t believe me and you would resent me. I share the view of the prophet Micah who said that we should act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly. Beyond that, whatever particulars you want to believe or not believe about religion or any particular faith is not really a concern to me. You have a right to believe, teach, and preach nonsense. Sure, I have the right to point out that it’s nonsense too. But that would do little good, in my opinion.

So, even if there are already many popular religions out there that are obvious frauds, you should not do more damage to humanity by creating another one. Sure you could create a non-profit to own all, or part, of your home, as a religious building to save money on taxes (although the IRS may not let you get away with that). Sure you could donate part of your salary to this non-profit and use that for living expenses while writing the donations off on your taxes. Sure, you could claim to have received exciting religious messages from Jesus, the Virgin Mary, or some other religious figures, write them down in a book to sell and get paid to give lectures, but do you really want to make money ripping off the gullible while potentially angering the powers that be in the universe? Sure, starting a fake religion may sound like a good way to get some money and save on taxes, but you had better take the mirrors out of your house, because you won’t be able to look at yourself.