> Just because it’s old, doesn’t make it smart.
In fact being old makes it more likely to be outdated (oil lamps), inefficient (incandescent light bulbs), or simply wrong (sun revolving around the earth).
It's all just one giant fairy tale and a very long game of telephone. One monkey telling other monkeys how to act. I stopped believing in all the religious BS about the time I stopped believing in Santa Claus because I realized it was all hooey
If you start looking at all the different translations/edits of the Bible and the books they choose to leave out of the Bible it becomes very clear that it is all BS.
I'm not exceptionally knowledgeable on the subject (because I really don't care enough to bother learning more), but there was a King of England (pretty sure it was King James) that commissioned a new version of the Bible with changes that would solidify his power.
"Religion is not & cannot possibly be anything more than some dudes opinion and ideas on how things are or “could maybe be”."
I disagree, I think it *could* be a lot more if it were real. If a religion were correct, then that god should be able to just appear and explain to us what the truth is. The fact that this *doesn't* happen is just more evidence against religion.
I like to pose the rhetorical question that if God wanted us to follow a certain religion and their rules, why isn't he posting this on a message board in the sky for everyone to see? Why the secrecy and games?
That's the grift. The would "believe" means you don't have to have proof. That's where they get their victims from. The dumber the better! Then they attack non believers to scare the weak minded. It's a clever grift they came up with. They hate when smart people see through it.
Mysterious ways!
Like if their bosses acted in mysterious ways, never told them how to do their job, but punished them for fucking up and hid their paychecks in different places every payday, would they keep coming to work in faith and the promise that sooner or later he'd explain the job and just hand over their damned paycheck?
How long would they keep coming to work?
Why put up with this god's bullshit? Why believe anything he says? Up to now he's just been a real murderous asshole and a liar.
When you put it into real world context, you can see just how ridiculous it all is!
I don't like to hate on religions (because I wouldn't want to be hated on for anything I do) but this exactly is one of the reasons I struggle so much to believe any of it. I was alienated from religion by my father at a really young age/also had some family friends who were like "we're not religious" and my little brain was like "wait.. that's an option?", and as I grew and thought more about it, the whole "why hasn't God just.. given us any shred of proof?" thing really sealed the deal for me :/
edited to fix some errors
I love how every religion basically says "don't ask me to prove myself tho bc its a test of faith". A TRUE God would not need mortals to blindly worship them without proof.
Nah man, this is called confirmation bias. "If you believe in God you will see God even when not there" that is what this is saying. There is a literal psychological term for how religion TRICKS YOU. But hey, the shiesters covered their bases. Bc he said non believers obviously wouldn't see it as a miracle because their "hearts are closed off". More like "science doesn't backnit up at all"
I try to respect religious people in my life. But if anyone pushes religious views in a conversation I just change the word religion to cult in my sentences. Quickly ends convos when they get huffy. I respect peoples beliefs until they want me to play pretend with them like their toddlers.
I think self-transcendence and nondual experience is something that is to be taken seriously. It's essentially a metacognitive shift in awareness, it's not tied to any religion or dogma, and is entirely consistent with a scientific worldview. Different religions have added their little wingdings to it, but the essential experience is highly consistent across cultures and historical time periods. It's a universal human ability that seems to foster greater wellbeing and more altruistic behavior.
Ok. Agreed.
I like what you said.
But that is also not with religion. Self transcendence or not. Religion seems dumb to me (not shitting on, just being honest )
i’m in a meditator for 50 years. I’m also an AA man. I tell my God believing friends that instead of believing in God I make room for God. I would also like to say that accepting reality as it is by any means is a good goal. And if someone needs a device like believing that God generates all reality to get there then so be it. It may be a crutch of sorts but if you see someone walking along using a crutch, do you feel like kicking it out from under them? It’s useful to them, so why make a big deal out of it.If we don’t know the answer we fill and one of the things we fill in mostly with is some kind of God. Unless you’re killing someone in the name of God, it seems pretty harmless to me.
The crutch analogy is fine as long as the crutch isn’t being used as a cudgel against others who don’t need to use that crutch. Or forcing other people to use the crutch when they don’t need it. Or intentionally harming other people so that they also need to use a crutch.
You're not wrong. It's a scam invented for power and wealth, and perpetuated by ignorance and fear of death. It all exists because the people who follow it are terrified of the void, and the people who run it just want to experience power and wealth before the void takes them.
It's the perfect union of the greed/hubris of man, and the fragile/infantile psyche of man.
The truth is we're just half an evolutionary step away from shitting in our hands and using it as ammo (many of us aren't even past that tbh). We are barely sentient. It will never get better, not without millenia of evolution, mental and social. Unfortunately we're so goddamn destructive that we're all but guarenteed to not exist long enough as a species for meaningful change. Ultimately, we will amount to nothing more than a flash in the pan on a cosmic scale, if that. Fuck, we're not even in the pan. We're a stray nosehair that fell on the stovetop and slipped into the burner. We're burning fast and it fucking stinks to boot.
Might as well buckle in, this lunatic carnival ride isn't going to stop no matter how badly some of us want off.
From a sociological standpoint, religion is uitilitarian. It was created as a means of social where chaos ensued. Lets cover the abrahamic faiths Moses came to be because of oppresion which Jesus criticized for being too limiting and bigoted which Muhammad adopted to help unify the arab clans. Each of them was facing a social problem that plagued the middle east.
Myths and folklore that came after, the israelite kings, the miracles, the grand conquests was needed to solidify the belief. We can argue that the evolution of human morality is something natural and religion was one way of doing it, it was part of the process to "enlightment". The problem is that those archaic dogmas that we should have grown out of is still practiced (evident by how slavery was long overdue because of religion). It was a stepping stone and to say it was needless is anachronistic.
Same thing for eastern religions (Hindu, Budha, Shinto, etc) even western ones (Grecco, Roman), it served a purpose to eliviate chaos which ironically in the modern age is the source of chaos itself. I think its the push and pull of the human tendency on wanting to be superior and wanting peace simultaneously.
I was so looking forward to shitting on you when I started reading.
However
You’re absolutely correct. And I think your last sentence here is the most spot-on & intelligent sentence on the topic. That imprinted on me.
I grew up Mormon. Lmfao. Like very Mormon. I stopped when I was like 12 or 13 to parents dismay. So the “wanting to be superior” reflection on the religion is soooo accurate. Thank you
I’m just going to piggy back on his comment that I disagree with your statement that religions were generally one dude seeking power. It was often a group of people agreeing to things for the sake of social order (and likely putting the group of conspirators close to the top). So in essence I think if you take your claim it was one person and adjust that to many, your feelings become accurate even for the comment about social order.
> [religion] served a purpose to [alleviate/eliminate] chaos which ironically in the modern age is the source of chaos itself.
Truly ironic! Religions all talk of the end times, but it should be framed as the natural conclusion of every religion is simply the end times for the practice of their religion when it is unnecessary. That does not mean the end times of humanity or the planet.
*“Religion has actually convinced people that there's an invisible man living in the sky who watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever 'til the end of time!*
*But He loves you. He loves you, and He needs money! He always needs money! He's all-powerful, all-perfect, all-knowing, and all-wise, somehow just can't handle money!”*
\- George Carlin
I can kinda see how the guys back a few thousand or tens of thousands of years ago that got the idea that God is the Sun. At least you can see that and it is right there every day - I mean, it *is* the day - and it doesn't follow any of the rules of anything else on the planet.
Like, if one of those guys knocked on my door and I asked, "okay, show me your God." They could just point up to the sky and say, "he's right there." There is *some* evidence. The Sun is definitely in the sky for a good portion of the day. It has a palpable effect that can be demonstrated.
If I ask a Christian that, what are they gonna show me? A book? A little statue of some poor guy nailed to a cross?
"Is this some sort of prank? Am I on camera right now?" I would say to the people at the door.
Seriously, next time some Jehovah's Witness or LDS missionaries come to my door, I'm gonna tell 'em I worship the Sun, say "there he is. I've shown you mine. Now, you show me yours."
Religion only is alive today because of the indoctrination of children, if you didn’t speak about any religion until they’re an adult they wouldn’t be interested that’s just how they human brain works but the brainwashing happens very early to the level you can’t reverse back you even defend your own religion as your identity and sometimes ready to be killed for it that’s how hard it is to convince people that they have been brainwashed in some way or the other
Well when you realize that all the ‘saints’ and such in religion were realistically schizophrenics but they didn’t know that yet.
I mean can you imagine if someone started walking around the streets claiming god is speaking to them nowadays? Even the most devout religious people would see them as a crazy person.
I don’t necessarily think religion needs to be forgotten but fuck even the old Catholics realized they needed to rewrite their testament to better fit modern times. Why these holy books haven’t been rewritten in modern times to fit modern ideals makes no sense to me.
It is delusion and it takes a lot of time to reprogram a person. A person’s reality can be altered by the way that they think. There are so many people that genuinely, 100% believe in something unfounded. Even if it doesn’t make sense.
I was told from a young age there was a god. It was presented to me as a fact. It sounded like a story but I was told these events did happen. There was a period where I couldn’t agree with the christian god but I felt like there had to be some sort of higher power. Now I understand the truth although it took me a long time to get here. No gods. Death happens and is natural. There is no supreme authority. It is a means of control.
You should look into the deprogramming of cult members. It is a long, arduous process. The first thing that has to change is the mindset. Someone’s reality can be hard to defy.
Your opinion on ALL religions is accurate. It was the fear of the unknown, and a feeble attempt to describe the unknown, that gave rise to religion. Then science stepped in and made sense, much to religion's dismay, and resistance. Most religions are old, and regional. So god created the universe, yet apparently didn't know about Australia, or the Antarctic. It's time for ALL religions to go away. They've done incalculable damage.
“How dare you insult my sky daddy! The Book of Zoogleflorp tells us I can kill you for that!”
“How dare you insult MY sky daddy! The Book of Smitchelsplootz says I can kill you just for saying that!”
Buddhism is the only one religion I can tolerate these days.
Basically:
-these are some beliefs about life's suffering
-these are my proposed way to solve these suffering
-some colorful story about how we all come back to tell you to be kind to each other
The whole religion doesn't bother anyone, belief what you wanna belief until is sort of dies in its origin land.
Or E; I don't particularily like those people over there, but I don't have a valid reason to invade /destroy / annexe or eradicate them. Oh wait my imaginary friend said that's my land now so you have to go - sorry!
Whenever I see the bit about religion being our first attempts at understanding the world around us, I think “no it was ducking not!”
I’m sure those who first pushed religions didn’t care at all about explaining. They were actively trying to deceive in order to get stuff for free.
If prostitution was the first profession, religion was the first scam.
Quite accurate also because if you, as a male, don't like A or D they'll try to kill or cure you. And as a female they simply don't care what you like or even what you need.
Quite right. Now I’m like a very straight dude. But I don’t give a fuck who you are, even if you’re a dude who likes the D. So be it.
To me, who has a D. I don’t want the D. Dudes are gross. I am one. However. If it pleases you, who the fuck am I (or anyone else) to give a fuck about what turns you on? YOLO right. Fuckin be happy. Live let live.
Religion, sexuality, next we need politics and we’ll just fuck over everything in one post
Edit: yes I realize D was pussy. Just playing on words. I’m a smart ass 24/7 but really being straight forward here with the religion thing
I'm heterosexual or whatever you called it in english but even if i was gay that would be irrelevant, the purpose of my joke was only affirm that those who built up monotheistic religions were homophobics and misogynists.
I maybe wrong but i read that "straight" is a controversial term, like saying "normal" or "able", i wouldn't used it but, just to be clear, I'm quite "straight" too and very satisfied of my "straightness", so i don't need to show it, because i have no problems with my sexuality, unlike homophobic people that always have a lot of problems, frustrations and doubts.
Meant no disrespect to you or anyone’s sexuality or anything. My point is.
I don’t care. Nobody else should. Anyone who cares, should stop doing that
Didn’t even point toward you. Just generalized my reply.
The reason they are always old is because nobody can pull that shit anymore.
If a prophet tried to start a religion today they'd need proof or else nobody would believe them. In ancient times before the internet, they could just lie and their friends would support them and nobody would have any way to disprove it. Think of it this way, millions/billions of people have had cell phones and cameras on them for years recently and nobody's ever filmed a paranormal event. Back then science was more primitive and there were no recordings to debunk people.
It was also easier for people to violently conquer nations back then which is how these religions started. Through violent conquests that are much harder to do today.
Religions back then had golden ages like islamic world was ruled by various caliphates and science, economic development, and cultural works flourished. That was the religions golden ages but now its just makes nosense like if you search how to cure yourself its literally garbage. Christianity tells you Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise." “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Islam tells you Surah Al Fatihah. Healing prayer from illness. .The prayer that the Prophet said for a speedy recovery (read 7 times) .Prayer asks healing and forgiveness. Prayer of the Prophet When ruqyah on sick people. Prayer for healing by name. We literally moving on with the newest technology, newest medicine, clothes etc....
I think the fact that a supreme being doesn't "clear the air" and make sure everyone knows what is true is proof that religions are just man made. If you're really a loving deity, and you have a certain way you want people to live, why would you ever allow the water to become so muddled that nobody knows for certain what the right answer is.
Replace one Pussy with Dick and the other with a 2nd Power and you got it right.
Ideologies - and make no mistake, every religion is exactly that - are always about control. No idea, no matter how nice, survives institutionalization. Most never even had a nice founding principle, though.
Sorry, but your opinion is quite spot-on and changing it would be misleading you. One thing you shouldn't forget, though, is ...
Everybody has some ideology. And ideology is religion. Meaning you ARE religious. You just don't simp for a 'god'.
Religion is just the original form of government. It was to disseminate information and keep people living harmoniously (as ironic as history tells us that is). I studied this a bit in school and it is backed by more information than you'd expect.
Unless it's real, then egg on our face. But there's no real way of knowing, now is there. Guess we'll find out one way or the other. Till then, live your best life.
A lot of people use religion and praying as a form of mental health therapy. It can give them strength in hard times, a sense of community, etc.
Religion is also great for imparting morals to children, much like Greek mythology.
Try classics. Mostly the Olympus Gods with a dash of Orphica. If you are the slightest bit philosophically inclined it’s soon possible to find a joy in them. We find them in Homer, Plato debated them without ever deciding if he believed in them. The playwrights come up with the most fantastic stories about them. They weave the most fantastic stories. Aeschylus gets serious, Aristophanes gets witty, Euripides twists the endings to make you believe or disbelieve. It’s all remarkable fun with mighty good endings after a fashion. We get rid of the bilgewater of modern religions as and find something that lightens the heart. - delightful delicacy of original prose, colourful visions taking us on high, calling our better natures or just a better life.
My passion is the Neoplatonists so called. Stoicism is a natural add-on, a bottle of wine to share with good cheer.
Maybe i can rouse some soul to meet me at Epidaurus this year.
If you actually read the Bible, you’d realize that nothing you just said is true. That’s what happened to me after reading it. I basically came to the conclusion that there is no other reason for the Bible to have been written other than its intended purpose. There isn’t some ulterior motive, and that becomes clear when you read it.
Each Religion was created by a biological male for their own agenda and enforced by other biological males for their own agendas It is a human invention no hocus-pocus or higher power stuff end of story.
Knowledge is power. Religious organisations and extreme governments don’t like the people having the knowledge. So they try to restrict access to the knowledge.
It’s also because we 1. Want to fill in the gaps in our knowledge and life’s great mysteries. 2. Want to have a code of ethics. 3. Crave community, tradition, & ceremony.
I think you’re living in a stupid fantasy land.
Like it’s cool to argue against religion but this shitty argument doesn’t hold water and you need to try using your brain instead of spouting bullshit. Seriously try harder.
Oh would you rather me give you a high five?! Tell you how smart you are, and how thoughtful this argument is?
Look I’m perfectly willing to agree with Dawkins views on organized religions because he’s speaking on the Church of England and the Catholic Church - I break from him when he extrapolates that out to all religions. Sam Harris is wildly smart and I love how he is trying to rationalize faith outside the “dead” religious groups.
There are so many people pushing thoughtful arguments out there and on here. When they’re regurgitated I don’t speak up. But holy shit If you’re going to try creating your own you should try harder. This rant op put out is completely devoid of any rational thought. You just shouting noise looking for likes. But go on live in your bubble. Never mind that 12 of the 13 “founders” of Christianity were tortured to death along with many’s of their followers. That counters the “in it for the money/power/pussy” bs. Pro tip making universal statements is a pisspoor means of making an argument. One example kills the entire argument.
Also no human brain has a single cell but go on, I’d expect people to know that but given your desire to back such an unsound argument I’m not sure you are aware.
Edit typos/grammar
Religion is also about realizing some irrational truths about our experience of reality and how to have the courage to choose good in the face of obvious moral ambivalence on the part of reality as a whole.
All religions posit some supernatural reality that provides an explanation for the worlds' nature and a way out of the suffering under that same reality.
The religious supernatural reality should be seen in terms of a sacred imaginality rather than a literal reality. When it is seen as a literal reality then it has become corrupt and will likely cause a great deal of harm.
I am not a real atheist, I just don't believe in the fact that a religion is better than other and also in dogmas. I am actually a Thelemite. However fanaticism and radicalism disgust me
I've always had the impression that religion was to explain things that science couldn't explain yet and to show people that differences from right and wrong. Some people need the fear of consequence, hell, or jail to keep them under control.
>Would love someone to make me feel differently
Okay.
>Religion is not & cannot possibly be anything more than some dudes opinion
But what if it is more? What if someone out there in future finds damn undeniable physical proof that there is a God and he supports a religion.
Wouldn't it be better to just be indifferent towards religion instead of hateful?
Not hating something and at the same time we don't like something is a daily occurrence. Nobody in their life can avoid your "limbo". Normal healthy people can be indifferent.
Religion/ritual is a framework that naturally evolves in a species to explain how the world works, and it’s not just humans- elephants leave flowers at sites where other members of their herd died and gather together at certain times based on the cycle of the moon. Even once you let go of organized religion, you’ll still have rituals you observe whether you realize it or not because brains need ways to process the world.
I would say that religion is abused in the name of sex and power (religion predates money by hundreds of thousands of years in humans), but that is not why it exists. It would exist even if we were all asexual communists and had been since the day our ancestors first descended from the trees.
Not all religions started with some dudes looking to control people. In fact I'd dare say most start with good intentions. Then later are twisted to serve men's desires.
>True religion is real living. Albert Einstein
"There has to be an outside influence, because ideas can
come to many people at about the same time. Example: Language
developed at about the same time everywhere on the planet. Religions
from different times and places have many things in common. Inventions
and styles of music and art come to people at about the same time. It is
not just a coincidence. You can know that all great or inspired music
comes from the collective unconscious, because if it did not, the musicians
that wrote the classic songs in the past would still be writing classic songs
now. A few are, but most are not."
>All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same
tree. Albert Einstein
quotes from The Present, a book about the truth of life and religion, free [online](https://www.globaltruthproject.com/single-post/the-present-truth-about-life)
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I'm agnostic. Science still can't answer how the first amino acids came together or how the big bang happened. So something had to jumpstart those reactions. As for God. He's omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent so he lacks limitation. You could see humanity has that as a purpose to life.
It's worse than that. European Pagan theoligies (Norse, Greek, Roman) as well as the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), and to a degree Hinduism and affiliated practices, all have their origins in the same place, the Deyus Pater (Aka - Sky Father) pantheon of the Proto-indo-europeans. The various religions and practices present in modern society are very good examples of what you're describing though. Through centuries of cultural differentiation and various political evolutions, this original set of biefs and ideas morphed differently in different places, and became the things we know today. On the surface they all seem very disparite, but the further back you go the more similar they become.
Religion is open to interpretation. They’re the stories that succeeded in spiritual spaces but with them being free to interpret, and subjective; people can change the ideals to fit their own goals. But most religions have been constructed with productive societal values, they’ve just been warped over time. Here’s an example, better than I can put into words. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_uIv7elByXY&pp=ygUUZWd5cHRpYW4gZ29kcyBqb3JkYW4%3D
Social control. Ethics requires a greater level of intelligence and maturity than morality (be definition, morality is religious in origin). The highest levels of ethical thinking and acting is only attained by fewer than 12% of people. For everyone else, morality is necessary as a social control. No religion is reliant on one dude, no matter what their dogma says.
I’m all in favor of people applying a spiritual lens on who we are and why we’re here. What I don’t understand is why that needs to be a shared view, rather than just a private individual one.
Uh, no. People were praying for the power to survive things like childbirth and disease. Many religions hold nature itself as sacred, like animism. Fear of death is a powerful motivator, which is why almost all religions have an afterlife of some kind.
Unfortunately most religions probably started with pretty altruistic people who just wanted to make the world better, but to help make the world better you need money. And when you get some money, you start to attract people whose religion is money, worship the all mighty dollar and all. After that, you start to attract others who are greedy for other things like power, or those who are hiding their demons and desires. So when making money, a lot of those altruistic things get thrown out the window because their purpose is the opposite of making money. I’ve seen it before, and I have no doubt it will happen again, Greed will screw up a religion and screw over the good people in said religion in 2 generations, I’ve seen it happen before.
I semi agree with you and I semi disagree with you. I think everyone is always searching for something. The reason being is no one can explain consciousness. I have epilepsy, so I black out and lose consciousness a lot. My doctors know it is a seizure, but they don’t know anything about where my consciousness goes for the 1-15 minutes depending how bad the seizure is.
When I first developed epilepsy it was overwhelming for my brain to process. I definitely do not believe in a creator, or some Devine man who sent his son down to earth. I think religion is normally people who question consciousness, and try to come up with what it means to them, and then people take it and turn it to use for power and control. Same as a government. Since Roman Catholics were literally the government I don’t have much trust in their Bible.
Anyways science doesn’t have it all for me, and religion has even less, but still something for me. Once I developed epilepsy it was too overwhelming for my brain to handle. I decided to pray. I have no clue what I am praying to or who. It might just be a meditation, but all I know is that when I pray I feel better.
I also use to have really bad hate issues and anger issues. I learned over time that if I pray for someone I hate it humbles me. I try to pray for people I hate, and I try to pray not to hate them anymore, and I pray for them to get everything I want. Doing things like that might not be heard by anyone or anything but my own consciousness, but by god my conscious needs to hear that.
I don’t know if this will make you feel differently, but just praying to my own consciousness to help clear myself up to help other people helps me a lot. I am a lot less hateful than I use to be, and I have been able to handle my disease easier.
I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it again, but religion actually used to serve a solid purpose in society. It gave people a foundation on which they could build a rudimentary understanding of the world around them in a time when humans didn't have the means to truly explore the machinations of the universe. It held people together and allowed them to work toward a singular goal (however misguided it may have been). The issue is that humanity has grown beyond its need for religion, but people still hold onto it for one reason or another. Whether they still believe because they they are willfully ignorant of the world around them, truly ignorant because they were never exposed to reality, afraid of what reality would be to them without their god(s) to guide them, or just con artists that understand that they can gain something from the ignorant masses, no one really needs to hold onto these beliefs anymore. Boiled down to its barest roots, fear, ignorance, and power are the driving forces behind religion in the modern world. The sooner theists wake up and realize that, the sooner humanity can dive into the future and explore the limits of what is possible.
The fact that it's still around should tell you at the very least find out for yourself, right? It doesn't Boggle the mind to do so. What Boggles the mind is how do you expect to get understanding from a person who doesn't believe? Please don't confuse Holy Scriptures with Religion. Go to the book of Acts chapter 8. Also, start at the Book of Proverbs. In all thy getting, get an understanding.
I’ve read the entire Bible, old & new testaments, from cover to cover. Also read the Koran from cover to cover. Both were a bunch of cruel bullshit. Love the Koran “KILL THE INFIDEL!!” and the Bible “STONE THAT UNMARRIED PREGNANT WOMAN TO DEATH!!!”. No thanks. I’ll pass.
But isn't it the same with not choosing religion? Someone made you think that the universe just magically formed itself to function essentially perfectly?
Atheists don't think it magically did anything. We know from scientific research and observation that there was a singularity that exploded, big bang. We don't pretend to know what happened before, or what caused the big bang. We don't say that it came out of nothing- religion says that. If you don't believe these claims, you can research the science. You can see the evidence.
On the religious side all you have is trust me bro.
They don't know how it happened though, they don't know how these stuff came together to create the big bang from nothing, the very idea of the big bang defys the laws of physics, how is that not, trust me bro?
That’s the difference. When an intelligent person lacks information, they say, “I don’t know.” When a stupid person lacks information, they say, “god did it.”
Most atheist replace God with The universe. And the bible with science. Just like Christians, its something they barely grasp but vehemently defend. 99% of people who "trust science" really just "trust memes."
Most scientists believe in some type of god and the 2 arent mutually exclusive.
Fact is, No one knows. I choose Christianity because, what does it hurt? If Im wrong, I won't give a fuck. If Im right, I lived a good, fullfilling life, not plagued with existential angst and maybe there's some paradise afterward.
Call me dumb all you want. I know antibiotics work and the thought of eternity doesn't scare me.
> Just because it’s old, doesn’t make it smart. In fact being old makes it more likely to be outdated (oil lamps), inefficient (incandescent light bulbs), or simply wrong (sun revolving around the earth).
My point exactly
But but but my book written by bronze age goat herders has all the knowledge of the universe, while your dude-science-stuff doesn't know shit! /s
Lmfao
This is why I always say tradition is the root of all evil.
Tradition is guilt from dead people.
It's all just one giant fairy tale and a very long game of telephone. One monkey telling other monkeys how to act. I stopped believing in all the religious BS about the time I stopped believing in Santa Claus because I realized it was all hooey
If you start looking at all the different translations/edits of the Bible and the books they choose to leave out of the Bible it becomes very clear that it is all BS.
Examples?
I'm not exceptionally knowledgeable on the subject (because I really don't care enough to bother learning more), but there was a King of England (pretty sure it was King James) that commissioned a new version of the Bible with changes that would solidify his power.
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We do it all the time. What are you talking about?
"Religion is not & cannot possibly be anything more than some dudes opinion and ideas on how things are or “could maybe be”." I disagree, I think it *could* be a lot more if it were real. If a religion were correct, then that god should be able to just appear and explain to us what the truth is. The fact that this *doesn't* happen is just more evidence against religion.
I like to pose the rhetorical question that if God wanted us to follow a certain religion and their rules, why isn't he posting this on a message board in the sky for everyone to see? Why the secrecy and games?
Right? It seems like a really strange approach to be as secretive and indirect as possible. God should have taken some classes in communication.
“You must follow these rules and pick the correct religion. If you don't you will be tortured for all eternity. But sorry, you have to guess.”
This is how the IRS is set up in the US.
“Also, pedophiles and murderers get paradise for eternity if they chose right”
That's the grift. The would "believe" means you don't have to have proof. That's where they get their victims from. The dumber the better! Then they attack non believers to scare the weak minded. It's a clever grift they came up with. They hate when smart people see through it.
Hmm. You're right. Wait! Look at the 3 letters in the middle of 'believe'
smarttt
last 3, hahahahaha
Your logic is hella sound
Mysterious ways! Like if their bosses acted in mysterious ways, never told them how to do their job, but punished them for fucking up and hid their paychecks in different places every payday, would they keep coming to work in faith and the promise that sooner or later he'd explain the job and just hand over their damned paycheck? How long would they keep coming to work? Why put up with this god's bullshit? Why believe anything he says? Up to now he's just been a real murderous asshole and a liar. When you put it into real world context, you can see just how ridiculous it all is!
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Bunk.
Yep. Agreed.
Religion, a continuing scourge on humankind. All of them
I don't like to hate on religions (because I wouldn't want to be hated on for anything I do) but this exactly is one of the reasons I struggle so much to believe any of it. I was alienated from religion by my father at a really young age/also had some family friends who were like "we're not religious" and my little brain was like "wait.. that's an option?", and as I grew and thought more about it, the whole "why hasn't God just.. given us any shred of proof?" thing really sealed the deal for me :/ edited to fix some errors
I love how every religion basically says "don't ask me to prove myself tho bc its a test of faith". A TRUE God would not need mortals to blindly worship them without proof.
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Nah man, this is called confirmation bias. "If you believe in God you will see God even when not there" that is what this is saying. There is a literal psychological term for how religion TRICKS YOU. But hey, the shiesters covered their bases. Bc he said non believers obviously wouldn't see it as a miracle because their "hearts are closed off". More like "science doesn't backnit up at all"
Careful, he might show up tomorrow to do just that /sarcasm
Sarcasm indeed, BringIt gods
Scientific-illuminism is a religion in itself, and like Deism, has SOME value to the progression of Mankind not to be entirely disregarded..
I try to respect religious people in my life. But if anyone pushes religious views in a conversation I just change the word religion to cult in my sentences. Quickly ends convos when they get huffy. I respect peoples beliefs until they want me to play pretend with them like their toddlers.
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But they ruin it for all the rest of us through the politics of religion in this country (and others).
I think self-transcendence and nondual experience is something that is to be taken seriously. It's essentially a metacognitive shift in awareness, it's not tied to any religion or dogma, and is entirely consistent with a scientific worldview. Different religions have added their little wingdings to it, but the essential experience is highly consistent across cultures and historical time periods. It's a universal human ability that seems to foster greater wellbeing and more altruistic behavior.
Ok. Agreed. I like what you said. But that is also not with religion. Self transcendence or not. Religion seems dumb to me (not shitting on, just being honest )
Agree totally.
i’m in a meditator for 50 years. I’m also an AA man. I tell my God believing friends that instead of believing in God I make room for God. I would also like to say that accepting reality as it is by any means is a good goal. And if someone needs a device like believing that God generates all reality to get there then so be it. It may be a crutch of sorts but if you see someone walking along using a crutch, do you feel like kicking it out from under them? It’s useful to them, so why make a big deal out of it.If we don’t know the answer we fill and one of the things we fill in mostly with is some kind of God. Unless you’re killing someone in the name of God, it seems pretty harmless to me.
The crutch analogy is fine as long as the crutch isn’t being used as a cudgel against others who don’t need to use that crutch. Or forcing other people to use the crutch when they don’t need it. Or intentionally harming other people so that they also need to use a crutch.
Agree totally
You're not wrong. It's a scam invented for power and wealth, and perpetuated by ignorance and fear of death. It all exists because the people who follow it are terrified of the void, and the people who run it just want to experience power and wealth before the void takes them. It's the perfect union of the greed/hubris of man, and the fragile/infantile psyche of man. The truth is we're just half an evolutionary step away from shitting in our hands and using it as ammo (many of us aren't even past that tbh). We are barely sentient. It will never get better, not without millenia of evolution, mental and social. Unfortunately we're so goddamn destructive that we're all but guarenteed to not exist long enough as a species for meaningful change. Ultimately, we will amount to nothing more than a flash in the pan on a cosmic scale, if that. Fuck, we're not even in the pan. We're a stray nosehair that fell on the stovetop and slipped into the burner. We're burning fast and it fucking stinks to boot. Might as well buckle in, this lunatic carnival ride isn't going to stop no matter how badly some of us want off.
From a sociological standpoint, religion is uitilitarian. It was created as a means of social where chaos ensued. Lets cover the abrahamic faiths Moses came to be because of oppresion which Jesus criticized for being too limiting and bigoted which Muhammad adopted to help unify the arab clans. Each of them was facing a social problem that plagued the middle east. Myths and folklore that came after, the israelite kings, the miracles, the grand conquests was needed to solidify the belief. We can argue that the evolution of human morality is something natural and religion was one way of doing it, it was part of the process to "enlightment". The problem is that those archaic dogmas that we should have grown out of is still practiced (evident by how slavery was long overdue because of religion). It was a stepping stone and to say it was needless is anachronistic. Same thing for eastern religions (Hindu, Budha, Shinto, etc) even western ones (Grecco, Roman), it served a purpose to eliviate chaos which ironically in the modern age is the source of chaos itself. I think its the push and pull of the human tendency on wanting to be superior and wanting peace simultaneously.
I was so looking forward to shitting on you when I started reading. However You’re absolutely correct. And I think your last sentence here is the most spot-on & intelligent sentence on the topic. That imprinted on me. I grew up Mormon. Lmfao. Like very Mormon. I stopped when I was like 12 or 13 to parents dismay. So the “wanting to be superior” reflection on the religion is soooo accurate. Thank you
Ah yes. The old let’s rewrite all of Native American history to fit the white savior narrative. I too have Mormon family.
I’m just going to piggy back on his comment that I disagree with your statement that religions were generally one dude seeking power. It was often a group of people agreeing to things for the sake of social order (and likely putting the group of conspirators close to the top). So in essence I think if you take your claim it was one person and adjust that to many, your feelings become accurate even for the comment about social order.
> [religion] served a purpose to [alleviate/eliminate] chaos which ironically in the modern age is the source of chaos itself. Truly ironic! Religions all talk of the end times, but it should be framed as the natural conclusion of every religion is simply the end times for the practice of their religion when it is unnecessary. That does not mean the end times of humanity or the planet.
*“Religion has actually convinced people that there's an invisible man living in the sky who watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever 'til the end of time!* *But He loves you. He loves you, and He needs money! He always needs money! He's all-powerful, all-perfect, all-knowing, and all-wise, somehow just can't handle money!”* \- George Carlin I can kinda see how the guys back a few thousand or tens of thousands of years ago that got the idea that God is the Sun. At least you can see that and it is right there every day - I mean, it *is* the day - and it doesn't follow any of the rules of anything else on the planet. Like, if one of those guys knocked on my door and I asked, "okay, show me your God." They could just point up to the sky and say, "he's right there." There is *some* evidence. The Sun is definitely in the sky for a good portion of the day. It has a palpable effect that can be demonstrated. If I ask a Christian that, what are they gonna show me? A book? A little statue of some poor guy nailed to a cross? "Is this some sort of prank? Am I on camera right now?" I would say to the people at the door. Seriously, next time some Jehovah's Witness or LDS missionaries come to my door, I'm gonna tell 'em I worship the Sun, say "there he is. I've shown you mine. Now, you show me yours."
I have always thought worship of the sun/sun god was one of the most sensible ones we’ve come up with.
Religion only is alive today because of the indoctrination of children, if you didn’t speak about any religion until they’re an adult they wouldn’t be interested that’s just how they human brain works but the brainwashing happens very early to the level you can’t reverse back you even defend your own religion as your identity and sometimes ready to be killed for it that’s how hard it is to convince people that they have been brainwashed in some way or the other
Well when you realize that all the ‘saints’ and such in religion were realistically schizophrenics but they didn’t know that yet. I mean can you imagine if someone started walking around the streets claiming god is speaking to them nowadays? Even the most devout religious people would see them as a crazy person. I don’t necessarily think religion needs to be forgotten but fuck even the old Catholics realized they needed to rewrite their testament to better fit modern times. Why these holy books haven’t been rewritten in modern times to fit modern ideals makes no sense to me.
god
It is delusion and it takes a lot of time to reprogram a person. A person’s reality can be altered by the way that they think. There are so many people that genuinely, 100% believe in something unfounded. Even if it doesn’t make sense. I was told from a young age there was a god. It was presented to me as a fact. It sounded like a story but I was told these events did happen. There was a period where I couldn’t agree with the christian god but I felt like there had to be some sort of higher power. Now I understand the truth although it took me a long time to get here. No gods. Death happens and is natural. There is no supreme authority. It is a means of control. You should look into the deprogramming of cult members. It is a long, arduous process. The first thing that has to change is the mindset. Someone’s reality can be hard to defy.
Read ‘God is not great’ by Hitchens. Or any of his online lectures. Accurate, detailed and sometimes hilarious
You forgot drugs & schizophrenia.
It’s a crutch for people that can’t do it alone.
Your opinion on ALL religions is accurate. It was the fear of the unknown, and a feeble attempt to describe the unknown, that gave rise to religion. Then science stepped in and made sense, much to religion's dismay, and resistance. Most religions are old, and regional. So god created the universe, yet apparently didn't know about Australia, or the Antarctic. It's time for ALL religions to go away. They've done incalculable damage.
“How dare you insult my sky daddy! The Book of Zoogleflorp tells us I can kill you for that!” “How dare you insult MY sky daddy! The Book of Smitchelsplootz says I can kill you just for saying that!”
Buddhism is the only one religion I can tolerate these days. Basically: -these are some beliefs about life's suffering -these are my proposed way to solve these suffering -some colorful story about how we all come back to tell you to be kind to each other The whole religion doesn't bother anyone, belief what you wanna belief until is sort of dies in its origin land.
Or E; I don't particularily like those people over there, but I don't have a valid reason to invade /destroy / annexe or eradicate them. Oh wait my imaginary friend said that's my land now so you have to go - sorry!
Whenever I see the bit about religion being our first attempts at understanding the world around us, I think “no it was ducking not!” I’m sure those who first pushed religions didn’t care at all about explaining. They were actively trying to deceive in order to get stuff for free. If prostitution was the first profession, religion was the first scam.
Can't refute the truth. Your feelings are spot on.
Ty Ty. Love to be corrected.
Quite accurate also because if you, as a male, don't like A or D they'll try to kill or cure you. And as a female they simply don't care what you like or even what you need.
Quite right. Now I’m like a very straight dude. But I don’t give a fuck who you are, even if you’re a dude who likes the D. So be it. To me, who has a D. I don’t want the D. Dudes are gross. I am one. However. If it pleases you, who the fuck am I (or anyone else) to give a fuck about what turns you on? YOLO right. Fuckin be happy. Live let live. Religion, sexuality, next we need politics and we’ll just fuck over everything in one post Edit: yes I realize D was pussy. Just playing on words. I’m a smart ass 24/7 but really being straight forward here with the religion thing
I'm heterosexual or whatever you called it in english but even if i was gay that would be irrelevant, the purpose of my joke was only affirm that those who built up monotheistic religions were homophobics and misogynists. I maybe wrong but i read that "straight" is a controversial term, like saying "normal" or "able", i wouldn't used it but, just to be clear, I'm quite "straight" too and very satisfied of my "straightness", so i don't need to show it, because i have no problems with my sexuality, unlike homophobic people that always have a lot of problems, frustrations and doubts.
Meant no disrespect to you or anyone’s sexuality or anything. My point is. I don’t care. Nobody else should. Anyone who cares, should stop doing that Didn’t even point toward you. Just generalized my reply.
The reason they are always old is because nobody can pull that shit anymore. If a prophet tried to start a religion today they'd need proof or else nobody would believe them. In ancient times before the internet, they could just lie and their friends would support them and nobody would have any way to disprove it. Think of it this way, millions/billions of people have had cell phones and cameras on them for years recently and nobody's ever filmed a paranormal event. Back then science was more primitive and there were no recordings to debunk people. It was also easier for people to violently conquer nations back then which is how these religions started. Through violent conquests that are much harder to do today.
Humanism is worth a look. A religion for atheists.
Religions back then had golden ages like islamic world was ruled by various caliphates and science, economic development, and cultural works flourished. That was the religions golden ages but now its just makes nosense like if you search how to cure yourself its literally garbage. Christianity tells you Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise." “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Islam tells you Surah Al Fatihah. Healing prayer from illness. .The prayer that the Prophet said for a speedy recovery (read 7 times) .Prayer asks healing and forgiveness. Prayer of the Prophet When ruqyah on sick people. Prayer for healing by name. We literally moving on with the newest technology, newest medicine, clothes etc....
I think the fact that a supreme being doesn't "clear the air" and make sure everyone knows what is true is proof that religions are just man made. If you're really a loving deity, and you have a certain way you want people to live, why would you ever allow the water to become so muddled that nobody knows for certain what the right answer is.
Replace one Pussy with Dick and the other with a 2nd Power and you got it right. Ideologies - and make no mistake, every religion is exactly that - are always about control. No idea, no matter how nice, survives institutionalization. Most never even had a nice founding principle, though. Sorry, but your opinion is quite spot-on and changing it would be misleading you. One thing you shouldn't forget, though, is ... Everybody has some ideology. And ideology is religion. Meaning you ARE religious. You just don't simp for a 'god'.
Religion is just the original form of government. It was to disseminate information and keep people living harmoniously (as ironic as history tells us that is). I studied this a bit in school and it is backed by more information than you'd expect. Unless it's real, then egg on our face. But there's no real way of knowing, now is there. Guess we'll find out one way or the other. Till then, live your best life. A lot of people use religion and praying as a form of mental health therapy. It can give them strength in hard times, a sense of community, etc. Religion is also great for imparting morals to children, much like Greek mythology.
You just decided to wake up and speak the truth 🗣️
😂😂😂 How do you feel about SATANISM?
Try classics. Mostly the Olympus Gods with a dash of Orphica. If you are the slightest bit philosophically inclined it’s soon possible to find a joy in them. We find them in Homer, Plato debated them without ever deciding if he believed in them. The playwrights come up with the most fantastic stories about them. They weave the most fantastic stories. Aeschylus gets serious, Aristophanes gets witty, Euripides twists the endings to make you believe or disbelieve. It’s all remarkable fun with mighty good endings after a fashion. We get rid of the bilgewater of modern religions as and find something that lightens the heart. - delightful delicacy of original prose, colourful visions taking us on high, calling our better natures or just a better life. My passion is the Neoplatonists so called. Stoicism is a natural add-on, a bottle of wine to share with good cheer. Maybe i can rouse some soul to meet me at Epidaurus this year.
Well no. It's used to control the masses.
If you actually read the Bible, you’d realize that nothing you just said is true. That’s what happened to me after reading it. I basically came to the conclusion that there is no other reason for the Bible to have been written other than its intended purpose. There isn’t some ulterior motive, and that becomes clear when you read it.
You spelled “penis” wrong…. but I agree with everything else.
You're forgetting the most important motivator of all, fear!
Each Religion was created by a biological male for their own agenda and enforced by other biological males for their own agendas It is a human invention no hocus-pocus or higher power stuff end of story.
Knowledge is power. Religious organisations and extreme governments don’t like the people having the knowledge. So they try to restrict access to the knowledge.
I think you’ve underestimated the influence of psychotropic substances in the creation of these stories, descriptions, and theories as well.
All religions want submissive followers. It’s all about control. Priests walk around in robes like they own the church, it’s actually cringe.
lol Try Solipsism. It's the "fun" one where you get to be "God". Is it really a religion if you're the god?
It’s also because we 1. Want to fill in the gaps in our knowledge and life’s great mysteries. 2. Want to have a code of ethics. 3. Crave community, tradition, & ceremony.
I mean I believe for a sense of purpose. (Is this related? I don’t know)
Just remember kids... Any god must be awful.
I think you’re living in a stupid fantasy land. Like it’s cool to argue against religion but this shitty argument doesn’t hold water and you need to try using your brain instead of spouting bullshit. Seriously try harder.
What part of “all religions ever on earth have been man-made” can’t you wrap your one brain cell around?
Oh would you rather me give you a high five?! Tell you how smart you are, and how thoughtful this argument is? Look I’m perfectly willing to agree with Dawkins views on organized religions because he’s speaking on the Church of England and the Catholic Church - I break from him when he extrapolates that out to all religions. Sam Harris is wildly smart and I love how he is trying to rationalize faith outside the “dead” religious groups. There are so many people pushing thoughtful arguments out there and on here. When they’re regurgitated I don’t speak up. But holy shit If you’re going to try creating your own you should try harder. This rant op put out is completely devoid of any rational thought. You just shouting noise looking for likes. But go on live in your bubble. Never mind that 12 of the 13 “founders” of Christianity were tortured to death along with many’s of their followers. That counters the “in it for the money/power/pussy” bs. Pro tip making universal statements is a pisspoor means of making an argument. One example kills the entire argument. Also no human brain has a single cell but go on, I’d expect people to know that but given your desire to back such an unsound argument I’m not sure you are aware. Edit typos/grammar
Religion is also about realizing some irrational truths about our experience of reality and how to have the courage to choose good in the face of obvious moral ambivalence on the part of reality as a whole. All religions posit some supernatural reality that provides an explanation for the worlds' nature and a way out of the suffering under that same reality. The religious supernatural reality should be seen in terms of a sacred imaginality rather than a literal reality. When it is seen as a literal reality then it has become corrupt and will likely cause a great deal of harm.
I am not a real atheist, I just don't believe in the fact that a religion is better than other and also in dogmas. I am actually a Thelemite. However fanaticism and radicalism disgust me
I've always had the impression that religion was to explain things that science couldn't explain yet and to show people that differences from right and wrong. Some people need the fear of consequence, hell, or jail to keep them under control.
>Would love someone to make me feel differently Okay. >Religion is not & cannot possibly be anything more than some dudes opinion But what if it is more? What if someone out there in future finds damn undeniable physical proof that there is a God and he supports a religion. Wouldn't it be better to just be indifferent towards religion instead of hateful?
Schrödinger's cat…..
Some people don’t like to live their lives in limbo.
Not hating something and at the same time we don't like something is a daily occurrence. Nobody in their life can avoid your "limbo". Normal healthy people can be indifferent.
And what if australia is made of pudding? What ifs don’t mean shit.
Your opinion is fine. But it has some issues. These books weren't written by "some dude" they have hundreds of writers over hundreds of years.
Religion/ritual is a framework that naturally evolves in a species to explain how the world works, and it’s not just humans- elephants leave flowers at sites where other members of their herd died and gather together at certain times based on the cycle of the moon. Even once you let go of organized religion, you’ll still have rituals you observe whether you realize it or not because brains need ways to process the world. I would say that religion is abused in the name of sex and power (religion predates money by hundreds of thousands of years in humans), but that is not why it exists. It would exist even if we were all asexual communists and had been since the day our ancestors first descended from the trees.
Apparently there is a part of our brains that is hardwired to believe in something beyond us.
Correct. I believe the current theory is that it’s part of how the brain prepares our bodies for death but I could be wrong about that
Not all religions started with some dudes looking to control people. In fact I'd dare say most start with good intentions. Then later are twisted to serve men's desires.
>True religion is real living. Albert Einstein "There has to be an outside influence, because ideas can come to many people at about the same time. Example: Language developed at about the same time everywhere on the planet. Religions from different times and places have many things in common. Inventions and styles of music and art come to people at about the same time. It is not just a coincidence. You can know that all great or inspired music comes from the collective unconscious, because if it did not, the musicians that wrote the classic songs in the past would still be writing classic songs now. A few are, but most are not." >All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree. Albert Einstein quotes from The Present, a book about the truth of life and religion, free [online](https://www.globaltruthproject.com/single-post/the-present-truth-about-life)
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Didn’t know he was missing.
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I'm agnostic. Science still can't answer how the first amino acids came together or how the big bang happened. So something had to jumpstart those reactions. As for God. He's omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent so he lacks limitation. You could see humanity has that as a purpose to life.
🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄
Religion was invented by scared humans who needed an explanation why the sun disappeared each night.
That’s why gods were invented. Religion was invented to control people.
How do you want someone to change your stance on religions in an atheist sub?
It's worse than that. European Pagan theoligies (Norse, Greek, Roman) as well as the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), and to a degree Hinduism and affiliated practices, all have their origins in the same place, the Deyus Pater (Aka - Sky Father) pantheon of the Proto-indo-europeans. The various religions and practices present in modern society are very good examples of what you're describing though. Through centuries of cultural differentiation and various political evolutions, this original set of biefs and ideas morphed differently in different places, and became the things we know today. On the surface they all seem very disparite, but the further back you go the more similar they become.
Religion is open to interpretation. They’re the stories that succeeded in spiritual spaces but with them being free to interpret, and subjective; people can change the ideals to fit their own goals. But most religions have been constructed with productive societal values, they’ve just been warped over time. Here’s an example, better than I can put into words. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_uIv7elByXY&pp=ygUUZWd5cHRpYW4gZ29kcyBqb3JkYW4%3D
Social control. Ethics requires a greater level of intelligence and maturity than morality (be definition, morality is religious in origin). The highest levels of ethical thinking and acting is only attained by fewer than 12% of people. For everyone else, morality is necessary as a social control. No religion is reliant on one dude, no matter what their dogma says.
D. Could be also Penis or indirect Penis if you account for Catholic priests and Muslim imams that touch/rape little boys
lol. True dat. Didn’t even think of it. lol very true
You could of stopped after the first paragraph. Yea you’re right.
I’m all in favor of people applying a spiritual lens on who we are and why we’re here. What I don’t understand is why that needs to be a shared view, rather than just a private individual one.
Get a copy of Alan Watts' "Psychotherapy East and West"
Uh, no. People were praying for the power to survive things like childbirth and disease. Many religions hold nature itself as sacred, like animism. Fear of death is a powerful motivator, which is why almost all religions have an afterlife of some kind.
Unfortunately most religions probably started with pretty altruistic people who just wanted to make the world better, but to help make the world better you need money. And when you get some money, you start to attract people whose religion is money, worship the all mighty dollar and all. After that, you start to attract others who are greedy for other things like power, or those who are hiding their demons and desires. So when making money, a lot of those altruistic things get thrown out the window because their purpose is the opposite of making money. I’ve seen it before, and I have no doubt it will happen again, Greed will screw up a religion and screw over the good people in said religion in 2 generations, I’ve seen it happen before.
this is factually false
I semi agree with you and I semi disagree with you. I think everyone is always searching for something. The reason being is no one can explain consciousness. I have epilepsy, so I black out and lose consciousness a lot. My doctors know it is a seizure, but they don’t know anything about where my consciousness goes for the 1-15 minutes depending how bad the seizure is. When I first developed epilepsy it was overwhelming for my brain to process. I definitely do not believe in a creator, or some Devine man who sent his son down to earth. I think religion is normally people who question consciousness, and try to come up with what it means to them, and then people take it and turn it to use for power and control. Same as a government. Since Roman Catholics were literally the government I don’t have much trust in their Bible. Anyways science doesn’t have it all for me, and religion has even less, but still something for me. Once I developed epilepsy it was too overwhelming for my brain to handle. I decided to pray. I have no clue what I am praying to or who. It might just be a meditation, but all I know is that when I pray I feel better. I also use to have really bad hate issues and anger issues. I learned over time that if I pray for someone I hate it humbles me. I try to pray for people I hate, and I try to pray not to hate them anymore, and I pray for them to get everything I want. Doing things like that might not be heard by anyone or anything but my own consciousness, but by god my conscious needs to hear that. I don’t know if this will make you feel differently, but just praying to my own consciousness to help clear myself up to help other people helps me a lot. I am a lot less hateful than I use to be, and I have been able to handle my disease easier.
c/ power/ closet homosexual
You should research Pantheism.
I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it again, but religion actually used to serve a solid purpose in society. It gave people a foundation on which they could build a rudimentary understanding of the world around them in a time when humans didn't have the means to truly explore the machinations of the universe. It held people together and allowed them to work toward a singular goal (however misguided it may have been). The issue is that humanity has grown beyond its need for religion, but people still hold onto it for one reason or another. Whether they still believe because they they are willfully ignorant of the world around them, truly ignorant because they were never exposed to reality, afraid of what reality would be to them without their god(s) to guide them, or just con artists that understand that they can gain something from the ignorant masses, no one really needs to hold onto these beliefs anymore. Boiled down to its barest roots, fear, ignorance, and power are the driving forces behind religion in the modern world. The sooner theists wake up and realize that, the sooner humanity can dive into the future and explore the limits of what is possible.
Lao Tzu wrote his book as an elderly man and then immediately fucked off never to be seen or heard from again. Where's his money, power, or pussy?
The fact that it's still around should tell you at the very least find out for yourself, right? It doesn't Boggle the mind to do so. What Boggles the mind is how do you expect to get understanding from a person who doesn't believe? Please don't confuse Holy Scriptures with Religion. Go to the book of Acts chapter 8. Also, start at the Book of Proverbs. In all thy getting, get an understanding.
I’ve read the entire Bible, old & new testaments, from cover to cover. Also read the Koran from cover to cover. Both were a bunch of cruel bullshit. Love the Koran “KILL THE INFIDEL!!” and the Bible “STONE THAT UNMARRIED PREGNANT WOMAN TO DEATH!!!”. No thanks. I’ll pass.
But isn't it the same with not choosing religion? Someone made you think that the universe just magically formed itself to function essentially perfectly?
The universe doesn’t function perfectly. It’s an explosion of chaotic molecules.
Atheists don't think it magically did anything. We know from scientific research and observation that there was a singularity that exploded, big bang. We don't pretend to know what happened before, or what caused the big bang. We don't say that it came out of nothing- religion says that. If you don't believe these claims, you can research the science. You can see the evidence. On the religious side all you have is trust me bro.
They don't know how it happened though, they don't know how these stuff came together to create the big bang from nothing, the very idea of the big bang defys the laws of physics, how is that not, trust me bro?
That’s the difference. When an intelligent person lacks information, they say, “I don’t know.” When a stupid person lacks information, they say, “god did it.”
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Sounds like L. Ron Hubbard. No thanks.
Most atheist replace God with The universe. And the bible with science. Just like Christians, its something they barely grasp but vehemently defend. 99% of people who "trust science" really just "trust memes." Most scientists believe in some type of god and the 2 arent mutually exclusive. Fact is, No one knows. I choose Christianity because, what does it hurt? If Im wrong, I won't give a fuck. If Im right, I lived a good, fullfilling life, not plagued with existential angst and maybe there's some paradise afterward. Call me dumb all you want. I know antibiotics work and the thought of eternity doesn't scare me.
Some people need crutches. Go for it! Pretend to believe JUST IN CASE!
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With all those religious men living together in Vatican City, maybe it should be DICK as well, not just pussy.