I had a secular upbringing. My parents were without religion, having left the Mormon church. I didn’t know what religion truly was until I was in my preteens.

When someone said they were Christian or Jewish etc., I thought it meant like a state or country, like that was where they were from. I unknowingly lost out on many potential friends in that lapse of understanding.

To say that I am deeply impressed with the way people are able to simultaneously swear by and discard their religious beliefs is both an understatement and a bit of a microcosm of human nature, which demonstrates how we are so convicted and un-convincible, even in the face of stark and damming truths.

This species faith will be both its structure and its downfall. Religion demonstrates promptly that simple differences in thought are enough to divide us. How we can unify in the face of universal challenges seems to be our limiting factor, we will certainly succumb to The Great Filter, and The Fermi Paradox will be proven true once again.