Opinion/Personal Reflection by Chris-Vincent Agyapong
Chris-Vincent Agyapong says one of the most significant decisions of his life came at the age of 23, when he decided to leave religion behind.
According to Agyapong, the decision was not the result of anger or a dramatic crisis of faith. Rather, he says he reached a point where he could no longer claim to believe something simply because it was inherited from his upbringing.
Two decades later, he describes the decision as one that fundamentally changed the way he understands life, responsibility, morality and purpose.
Life After Religion Became Simpler
Agyapong says abandoning religious belief removed what he describes as a considerable amount of mental and emotional pressure.
He reflects on the obligations, practices and constant self-evaluation that can accompany religious belief, particularly the feeling of having to remain in good standing with a higher authority.
Without those expectations, he says, he discovered that religion had occupied more of his mental space than he had previously realised.
For him, leaving religion did not create the emptiness he expected. Instead, it created room for a different way of understanding himself and the world.
Questioning the Problem of Suffering
One of the issues Agyapong says became easier to process was the existence of suffering.
He points to the difficulty of reconciling the idea of an all-powerful and benevolent God with realities such as childhood cancer, natural disasters and situations where good people suffer while others who behave badly appear to prosper.
Rather than searching for a divine explanation for every tragedy, he says he eventually became comfortable with the possibility that some things simply happen without a predetermined reason.
For Agyapong, accepting that reality has made life more difficult in one sense, but also easier to carry.
A Different View of Morality
The former religious believer also says leaving religion changed the way he viewed other people and himself.
He argues that religious thinking had sometimes encouraged him to categorise people according to whether they were “saved,” “lost” or living in what was considered sin.
Without that framework, he says he began seeing people more simply as human beings attempting to navigate life with the circumstances and knowledge available to them.
He also says the change reduced the guilt he had previously attached to ordinary human desires and behaviour.
Taking Greater Responsibility for His Life
Another major change, according to Agyapong, was his attitude towards personal responsibility.
He argues that placing too much emphasis on divine intervention can sometimes encourage people to wait for solutions rather than actively pursuing them.
In his reflection, he contrasts praying about what needs to be planned, fasting about what needs to be studied and leaving matters to God with taking direct responsibility for one’s own actions.
After abandoning his belief in divine intervention, he says he became more determined to take action himself.
The successes and failures that followed, he argues, became his responsibility.
Finding Wonder Without Religion
Agyapong says leaving religion did not eliminate his sense of wonder.
Instead, he believes it expanded his appreciation of existence.
For him, a universe that is not necessarily controlled by a divine being can appear even more mysterious and fascinating.
He also says abandoning the idea that meaning is handed down from above forced him to create meaning for himself.
Rather than receiving a predetermined purpose, he believes individuals have a responsibility to decide what makes their lives worthwhile.
Choosing to Live the Life He Has
At the centre of Agyapong’s reflection is his belief that the present life should be fully experienced because there is no certainty that another life exists after death.
He argues that people sometimes spend their current lives waiting for an eternal future while struggling to find fulfilment in the life they already have.
He questions the desire for an afterlife when many people have not fully embraced the opportunities, relationships and experiences available to them in their present existence.
For him, one meaningful life that is actually lived is preferable to an eternity that is merely anticipated.
Creating Meaning in This Life
Agyapong’s reflection ultimately places responsibility for morality, justice and compassion on human beings rather than on a divine authority.
If there is no guaranteed cosmic system that will eventually correct every injustice, he argues, then people must work to create a more just world themselves.
Similarly, compassion becomes something humans must actively give to one another rather than simply expect from a higher power.
His view is that happiness, meaning and a form of “heaven” must be created during the years people actually have.
After 20 years of living without religion, Agyapong says he has no regrets about the decision.
Instead, he expresses only one reservation: that he wishes he had reached the conclusion earlier.
His reflection ultimately raises a broader question about how people choose to live their lives: Should meaning be something we inherit from tradition and faith, or something each individual must discover and create for themselves?
