I don't believe in God. I also don't not believe in God.

Feel free to e-mail me and attempt to save my soul, but I probably won't bite. Religion has never played a major role in my life, and I highly doubt that it ever will. I'm comfortable being faithless. I like sleeping in on Sundays. I like going through life without the reality-TV-like feeling of someone always watching me.

I like rational explanations for natural history, and I like the comfort of thinking that no higher power purposely lets bad things happen to good people, as the infamous question goes.

I also believe in the possibility of forces stronger than gravity. There are aspects of life we can't explain -- like the shape of the universe, the origin of the mind and the phenomenon of Paris Hilton. Still, I definitely don't believe in structured religion.

To those with faith: I admire you. I often wish I had the sense of security that a god offers. It's hard to believe in the infinite goodness of a deity when our world seems so screwed up sometimes (OK, most of the time).

However, my admiration for the religious does have boundaries. Those boundaries are crossed when anyone who is not religious or not part of a mainstream religion is called "immoral."

Morality does not have an exclusive relationship with religion. Moral people are those who know the difference between right and wrong, a distinction established by human decency, not by religious standards. To be moral is to act in the best interest of others, to acknowledge the rights of all people and the good in all people. To be moral is to respect yourself, others and the environment. To be moral is to speak up against society's wrongs, to question absolutes and to do the always-elusive "right thing."

The often-vilified agnostics, atheists, deists, secular humanists and others who question traditional religious beliefs are not immoral people. Many of us who do not believe in the standard concept of "God" live moral lives. We help others, we don't steal (beyond the occasional MP3), and we don't murder.

We respect others' beliefs. We don't all sleep around. We don't get our kicks by using Bible pages as toilet paper.

Some very notable people have been atheists (those who don't believe in a higher power), agnostics (those who are searching for answers), deists (those who believe in more of an all-powerful force than a supreme being) and other non-believers.

John Adams, our second president, often questioned God and Christianity. He still managed to help liberate our nation from colonial rule. Despite his hatred for our British rulers, he still defended British soldiers accused of murder, because he wanted to make sure they had a fair trial.

Susan B. Anthony, who furthered the cause of humanity by fighting to give women the right to vote, was an agnostic.

Thomas Edison, who showed us the light (the 60-watt version), was an atheist.

Poet Percy Shelley, who devoted his life to fighting tyranny in all its forms, was either atheist or agnostic.

I also consider myself a moral person. I do not believe in sex outside of love. I believe in the rights to express yourself, worship as you wish, say what you think and love who you love. I believe in using all of your resources to help both yourself and others.

Though religion is not something I personally embrace, I realize that following a religious creed often teaches people how to live a moral life. Religious groups encourage helping humanity, building strong families and respecting others. However, many people who sit in a house of worship every Sunday do not live life morally.

Hitler's soldiers, who massacred millions for their religious, political and otherwise dissenting beliefs and heritages, wore belt buckles engraved with the German phrase "Got Mit Uns." Or, "God With Us."

Rabbi Fred Neulander, of New Jersey, was convicted of hiring hit men to murder his wife, apparently motivated by his desire to continue an extramarital affair.

Slave owners used Bible passages to justify owning people.

Martin Luther was anti-Semitic and published a pamphlet entitled "The Jews and their lies" in 1543, in which he said that Jews "let us [Christians] work in the sweat of our brow to earn money and property while they sit behind the stove, idle away the time, fart, and roast pears."

Jim Jones, leader of a cult called the People's Temple, contributed to the deaths of 900 people by ordering them to kill themselves by drinking grape Kool-Aid laced with cyanide. Those who did not obey his order were shot or injected with poison.

And, of course, Osama bin Laden and other terrorists have used the Koran to justify thousands of murders.

I'm not saying that religion itself caused these horrific acts. Rather, immoral people either used religion to justify inhumane behavior or ignored basic tenets of their faith.

My point is, religion itself is not morality.

The religious and the nonbelievers alike have both committed atrocious acts, acts that have wounded humanity. Believing in a god or God does not automatically make one a moral person -- believing in humanity is necessary.

Many religious people can do both: Mother Teresa, Gandhi, my roommate Gen.

But the fact is that immorality exists in churches, just as morality exists within my godless soul -- even when I'm sleeping while the church bells are ringing.