A Tree Falls in the Forest...

Is it possible for a question to be so deep that it's impossible to answer? Even the preceding interrogative sentence might seem unanswerable. Of course, "I don't know" isn't considered a legitimate answer. One can hypothesize or even guess, just as long as they don't say those three words which are prevalent in a teacher's worst nightmares. Here are a couple of examples of questions which are widely considered to be impossible to answer.

What came first; the chicken or the egg? This question is most often geared towards opinion. Obviously, we can't go back in time and document the appearance of the very first chicken, so answering this question is a matter of personal belief. A creationist might say that the chicken came first, because if the very first chicken was forced to fend for itself upon hatching, the species would have ended as soon as it began. Someone who believes in evolution, however, would say that the egg came first, since the chicken would have gradually evolved from its previous form a little bit more with each generation.

If a tree falls in the forest, and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? When I first heard this question, I thought to myself, "What a stupid question, of course it makes a sound!" But the more I thought about it, the more it made me think. This question, once again, is a solid "it depends". The question is quite vague, stating no unusual circumstances such as the absence of any life at all. Assuming that by "no one" it means "no humans", it is quite often that such a circumstance is presented. However, it seems far too obvious an answer. Since the question does say "no one", lets assume for hypothetical reasons, that there are no humans, and no woodland creatures. Sound is nothing more than vibrations set off by a disturbance in the area. However, vibrations don't become sound until they reach an ear. Sound is the ear's translation of these vibrations, so if the vibration doesn't reach an ear before dissipating, it never gets percieved as a sound. So the answer is no, assuming that by "no one" it means "nothing with ears".

Religion

I was raised Baptist. My parents would put me in a floral dress every Sunday and drag me to church, where I'd stare into space for two hours until we went home. I didn't mind at all when they decided to stop going to church, where most of the patrons were judgemental and uppity. Christians should know better than anyone that it isn't our place to judge each other, but God's alone. Still, every time I heard about God and Jesus and His many wonders, there was always a voice in the back of my mind trying to tell me that it was all nonsense. I was terrified of this voice, although not literally a disembodied voice saying "it's all a lie". I liked being sure of what would happen after death. Heaven or Hell, simple right? I knew I had always been a righteous little shit, and would SURELY go to Heaven. That's why I never feared death.
But the nagging questions in the back of my mind were too much. Christianity hasn't been around forever, what happened to the people who died before it was established? Did they all just go to Hell because they didn't know there was ever going to be a man named Jesus, let alone accept Him as their Lord and Savior? What about the times when there was nothing but Pagan polytheism? And I had been raised to believe that God was almighty and all knowing of everything, past present and future. If He knew that this world would be so full of pain and misery, why did He create us in the first place? Just to be able to say that he created something? Then I thought to myself, what if we're all just floating in a test tube or petri dish, some mad scientist's creation?
At the age of seventeen, I realized that the only reason I believed in God, and that the Bible was His word, was because I had been told that this is what I believed. And I knew that this was the wrong reason. I then vowed never to believe anything that didn't withstand the test of my own reason, and I renounced my faith. I was scared though. I went from being sure about everything, that I had this great and powerful entity watching over me and protecting me at all times, that I would be rewarded for a lifetime of good deeds after death, to not being sure about anything. But I knew that it had to be done. I wanted to be honest with myself, one hundred percent.
So, there I was. Agnostic. I felt exposed, like a sitting duck. The thought of Hell had never left my mind. I had always been taught that anyone who doesn't accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior goes straight to hell after death. The Lord is our shepherd, and we are His sheep, and Hell is the border collie, biting at our ankles. Hell is the electric fence that keeps us from straying. "What a tactic," I had always thought to myself. "A religion founded upon extortion!"
To this day, I can't be a hundred percent sure of what I truly believe in. I suppose that's why they call it a "faith" though. No one can be completely sure of what's true when it comes to religion. I do know that miracles happen every day, and moreso to those who deserve them. I suppose that's just Karma at work. No, I'm not religious, but I'm spiritual. I do know that there's good and there's evil, and I do have my own set of morals to which I do honestly try to adhere to the very best of my ability. And I do believe that I will be rewarded for doing so.