Religion is Ridiculous
I was talking to a religious person the other day. They spoke with 100% confidence. Then I thought about how atheists, myself included, tiptoe around religious people. We don’t want to offend them. It’s the same feeling you get when talking about Santa Claus around kids.
I’m done with that. Religion is ridiculous. There is no god. I’m not even capitalizing the word anymore. There is no heaven.
The ONLY reason that anyone believes in these fictions is because of tradition and information being passed down through generations.
Think about this. If the history of religion was wiped from the face of this earth, and our current population had to figure out why we’re here and what’s going on, how much of it would we logically deduce down to the sorts of fables religion thrusts upon us?
None.
We look back on the funny things in history, like the Greeks attributing everything to their specialized gods, and wonder how they could be so naive. Then we turn on the TV and see Obama and McCain talking about their FAITH. In this day and age, religion is a major factor in who runs our country.
Insanity. Sometimes I think about the fact that a HUGE chunk of our population actually believes that there’s a man in the sky who is listening to their prayers and decides whether or not to grant these prayers based on a number of factors, including how often they pray for it.
This isn’t an attack on religious people, by the way. Some of the smartest people I know are religious. Not all of them, not most of them, but some of them. The best way I can reconcile this is by saying that smart people can believe dumb things. No one thinks that anything they believe is dumb, but we can all think of things we USED to believe were dumb.
Everyone has incorrect beliefs, and always will. For some people it’s the belief in religion. On one hand the whole thing is totally preposterous, but on the other hand there are certain families or communities where NOTHING is pushed as hard and confidently on a child as religion. Logic isn’t always the number one determinant of belief, even if it should be.
I also wouldn’t actually wish for religion to be erased from the Earth. I know that some people get a ton out of it. Some people need external moral compasses. Church can be a really good community, especially in a day and age where traditional communities are virtually non-existent.
I don’t want to convince anyone to not be religious, either. Let people believe what they want.
All I’m saying is this: religious is ridiculous, but it’s even more ridiculous to be quiet when Christians bring up their beliefs. Amen.
(37 votes, average: 3.38 out of 5)
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September 24th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
There must have been a point in history already at which there was no religious belief. And those beliefs developed anyway.
Religion is the development of the opportunistic taking advantage of the confusions of the feeble minded.
In Moses’s case, it may have been a “noble lie”. In Saul of Tarsus’ case, it was pure and simple opportunism: he saw the wind was blowing away from the Romans and towards this Jesus guy (whom he’d never met, Road to Damascus vision my ass. And Peter resented and distrusted Paul. Not that it matters, I guess, but 99% of fundamentalist Christianity is based on the writings of Paul and Elijah rather than on, you know the gospels, which aren’t nearly as bad.)
September 24th, 2008 at 6:20 pm
I loves this blog but I gotta be honest
I have to say that I only enjoy this blog when you go on adventure or when you review a new toy or when you try some new sleep pattern or diet or workout or whatever NEW
But when you write about picking up skills when you have already written about how you can get good at anything in another post and then talk about how this is on some way related to some immature way of reading women (which not even mystery or those silly guys making money about lady confidence will ever really be able to do) then I know you are just wasting My time and everyones
and I read the post and go away feeling stupid
I like your blog, dont slow down your life and get lazy and give us old poker and women boring posts or more importantly, on your religious ideals (boring)
your not the first in the world to do it
By the way, not ragging on mystery or any of them, but everyone knows notto always beleive what they see, those guys are obviously not teaching men how to pick up women, they are teaching guys ,simply, how to be confident and the thing that is somewhat sad is that I dont see them satisfying any women themslves in their own lives,
what women is truly gonna be happy dating a guy who is making money teaching guys pick-up
It might be fun for a while dating a pick-up teacher but then hes gonna go pick-up some other girl(just to teach), screw HIM she’ll think, SHE can teach him about pick-up by sleeping with his freinds
ITS ALL VERY SAD AND STUPID
I obviously dont know them so I hope you dont become all defensive on me, but I think pick up is a joke once you know that they are just teaching men confidence and then it all seems like a scam. Memorizing crap and learning bodylanguage,
I ranted, but in general, go back to being someone who give posts of thing the rest of the world reads or else in 10 or 20 posts you will get boring
Just a heads up Ty
Your religious preaching is not controversial in fact its OLD
TC
and love you
September 24th, 2008 at 6:35 pm
Tynan, religion exists for a reason. If you wish to live a “godless” and vegetarian life, good for you. Let me know how that works out for you, doing things you were not designed to do.
September 24th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
Someone as interested as yourself in matters of seduction should at least appreciate the seductive qualities of religion.
I’m an athiest by the way. Christians are god damn awful.
September 24th, 2008 at 6:50 pm
I agree, religion is ridiculous.
But being agnostic requires as much of a leap of faith as being religious.
Not believing in a god requires as much faith as believing in one.
How do we know one way or the other? We don’t.
Both view points require faith.
September 24th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
Er, being an athiest requires as much of a leap of faith, not agnostic. Sorry.
September 24th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
You don’t understand basic logic if you think being an Athiest requires so much more faith than being an Agnostic.
September 24th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
Thank god I’m an atheist.
September 24th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
Tynan,
Been reading since day 1. Simple piece of advice: Stick to what you’re good at. This is not it. Why go on an ironically, “ridiculous,” diatribe about something you DON’T believe. No one cares what you don’t believe. People do care about what you do believe, (and the reasons why, and how you go about applying that to your life). Those posts bring value to the readers. This post brings NEGATIVE value. Not only are you not bringing anything of value, or utility to the readers, but you are more than likely alienating a sub-section of your reader base. I am not religious, but as I am sure you have encountered (and probably why you are writing this) is that religious people are stubborn. You attack their beliefs, you are attacking them. Not only is it a practice in futility, but even if it was a reasonable topic of debate on a forum such as yours (which it is not, historically speaking), you’ve gone about it in precisely the wrong way, the exact mindset which has alienated you from religion (ie. the whole “100% confident, ‘I am right, you are wrong’” persona).
More interesting experiences and stories, less antagonizing rants. I am not personally offended, but I read through that and it was one of the few times I read one of your posts and thought, “that was a waste of my time.” Tynan, You have the unique power to inspire, and this is a place people come to to feel good, and start living their life awesome, as in doing things within their rules. So why would you post something so undermining to your core values, as in the theme of your whole blog? A subject such as religion, where you have so much to lose and so little to gain. Are you beginning to run out of interesting things to write about?
September 24th, 2008 at 8:28 pm
Gosh, “NONAYOBIZ”, looks like this post hit a nerve!
Way to go, Tynan, for not shying away from controversial topics.
BTW, taking an atheist view (as opposed to an agnostic one) is not hard, given that the definition of “God” put forward by the major religions of the world is about as crazy a proposition as that of a jolly bearded man flying a sleigh who lives at the North Pole. I see no evidence for it; based on what I know and have observed it seems incredibly unlikely, and therefore I can safely say, “ain’t no such thing”.
Now, if “God” were defined as an entity who created this universe we live in, but doesn’t interact with our universe — someone who is running us in a simulation, essentially — then I would take the agnostic viewpoint, since I couldn’t tell whether it was true or not. But all these wild claims about “God”, such as listening to prayer, heaven, hell, guiding events in our world… give me a freaking break! Why do people have no trouble letting go of Santa Claus, but insist on believing in another entity that doesn’t seem much less fantastic?
September 24th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
have to agree with what vincent said…
September 24th, 2008 at 10:03 pm
my beliefs are surprisingly similar to yours.
way to go bro.
September 24th, 2008 at 10:38 pm
Your claims are nothing more than a broken record spouted by atheists through the years. They are about as helpful to an atheistic belief as they are hurtful. I will give you some credit, at least you weren’t naive enough to go and claim that atheism is the belief in no religion. Since the bare bones definition of a religion is a set of beliefs that can influence decisions, and under that definition, atheism is a religion. Nonayobiz is on the right track when they mentioned that it takes faith to believe in atheism, when you are discussing philosophical topics such as the existence of Gods, the meaning of life, etc all require some form of faith because they are all unable to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
(My name is Tynan as well, however I don’t go and say controversial things just for attention. I would rather not drag the name of Tynan through the mud and tarnish the reputation others have built for themselves. Ever heard of the concept that the few ruin it for the many? Think about it man.)
September 24th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
I agree 100% with Tynan.
Bottom line: Religions hold that periodically, the laws of nature are interrupted by some unseen, unmeasurable force they call god. Atheism holds that nature is predictable once you understand its laws. One gives you an advantage in dealing with reality, the other actually harms your thinking by making you think in some emergency that this unseen force may interrupt the laws of nature in your favor, and it just doesn’t happen. All religions I’ve heard of require the belief in some second hand account of miracles… how come these miracles NEVER HAPPEN TODAY? What is more likely, that humans lied, or that the laws of nature are interrupted periodically? Obviously, humans lie, and with the clear fact that religions contradict one another, all can’t be true, and yet several have hundreds of millions of followers. Even religious people are atheists. They just call that nothingness, “god”.
September 24th, 2008 at 11:27 pm
Just because Christianity is bizarre doesn’t mean all religions are. Nor does it mean there is no spiritual realm. In my opinion, Creationism has thrown spiritual philosophy into a tailspin. Darwinism is blatantly lucid to to me, yet I personally still believe there is more to life than the one we’re each living now.
September 25th, 2008 at 1:07 am
Way to jump on a person for just expressing his opinion, (even if your religious programming might make you jump into the apologetics right away). And this is coming from a person with spiritual beliefs.
September 25th, 2008 at 1:08 am
Bah politics is a bit of mental/news junk food although. That’s why a lot of successful people like to avoid the stuff.
September 25th, 2008 at 3:02 am
I think the point of the post wasn’t about a diatribe about religion but about not suppressing your views when someone else is preaching that their religion is the greatest thing since the Big Bang. As a non-theist (Atheist, Agnostic, whatever), I see how openly preachy many religious people are — handing out fliers, knocking on your door and soliciting, preaching on loudspeakers in the wal-mart parking lot, and simply putting bibles in hotel rooms. However when most atheists are around believers they don’t talk about their views because it might offend the listener. But the average Christian does not think twice about offending the atheist or other non-Christian beliefs. In fact pointing out that you are not religious seems to invite more preaching.
Tynan is just pointing out that there’s no reason to hide your beliefs to not offend someone when they are clearly preaching to you theirs. He then proclaimed his beliefs as a furry of discontent while coming out of his atheist closet on his blog.
I’ve always been without religion and have always treated people the same way when it comes to it. If they speak of it through normal conversation I don’t say anything. If they push it on me I decline. If they continue I tell them my views, which for some reason makes them think they need to try harder to convince me they are right. With friends this usually ends up being a cat and mouse game where we will playfully and intelligently discuss our beliefs in an effort to convince the other when we both no it will never happen. With people I wouldn’t keep as a friend long it could turn into a heated discussion or misguided attempts to convert me. Everyone is entitled to their own beliefs, especially opposing beliefs, but don’t go on imposing your beliefs on others without expecting a recoil — such as Tynan’s recoil.
September 25th, 2008 at 5:01 am
I totally agree with Scott.
On another account, I’ve been an atheist since I came out of my childhood. From then on I could still believe there was an actual living jesus or maria at one point in time (without the miracles). Until I saw zeitgeist the movie (which you can see online). The first 20 minutes of the movie explain exactly where the corner stones of our religion come from. Very eye opening.
Last but not least I’m really glad I’m living in more religious-free europe. I used to live in the US and I know the difference. Over here religion is way less radical. That might actually be the main reason for me not to move back.
religion should NOT (NEVER EVER) influence politics
it makes me mad
September 25th, 2008 at 6:14 am
What Vincent said.
September 25th, 2008 at 6:37 am
Ty,
This isn’t even logical, it’s just anger.
Religion exists because people who were in positions of authority throughout history have had “mystical” experiences and people believed them.
People today still have those experiences. I have. I’ve spent a lot of time trying to figure out if it was real or I had a temporary psychotic break. Because some aspects of the experiences were psychic and because of what I’ve learned about psychology I now believe those experiences are true.
Apparently mental illness is marked by a remarked self-centeredness. Schizophrenics tend to be paranoid and think that their experience makes them special in a way that isn’t rational- the devil has demanded they curse anyone wearing the color blue that day or the world will end, and no one else can help or understand for example. Mystics come out of their experience with a profound sense of compassion for others, their experience makes them less self-centered and they tend to devote their lives to serving God through serving others, for example.
But I get it. I’m Christian, but if I hadn’t had the experiences I’d had, I’d probably be an agnostic-leaning Jew.
Katy
September 25th, 2008 at 8:47 am
10/10 for getting readers fired up!
I for one am pro Atheism if anything.
And why do some readers get all holier-than-thou with their comments. Is it so bad for someone to express an opinion, even if it doesn’t mesh with your beliefs?
Yikes
September 25th, 2008 at 9:22 am
agree with vincent. Calling someones beliefs ridiculous is never going to end positively. Engage a debate or find common ground but don’t just blindly critcise. There’s enough rant blogs out there
September 25th, 2008 at 9:50 am
@peter @vincent The point is that christians (as well as people of other religions) ridicule atheists by default. I can’t tell you how many times i’ve been told I’m going to hell for not believing in god. Even if not told outright, it’s written in their religious texts. It’s only fair to stand up for my non-belief and be vocal about it in the same way they are.
@thegoodtynan atheism isnt a religion because it is a single belief (that god does not exist). it is not a set of beliefs. the definition you use trvializes religion anyways. it does not take into account the rules of conduct, the traditions, or the community that is involved in any religion. under your definition, people who believe the laws of a given country are correct can be categorized as part of the same religion. there is no atheist community out there for the most part. there are no atheist codes of conduct. there are no traditions. calling atheism a religion is the same as calling theism as a whole a religion. and i’m pretty sure there are plenty of religions out there that would have a problem being lumped in with everyone else like that.
September 25th, 2008 at 10:14 am
Hey dude, maybe you posted this controversial article in an effort to get responses for seo purposes. I dunno, but you come across ignorant and… dumb. Like an angst filled 16 year old.
Religion is an attempt to find answers to questions that science and rational thought cant explain. If “religion” was taken out of our culture and history books completely, people would always look outside of themselves to answer the bigger questions.
People have “faith” in different things – someone may have faith in the bible in the same way that you have faith in science. Reality is subjective; this is what works for them.
Food for thought - your blog would have a wider appeal if you didn’t draw up such strong boundaries between yourself and other people. Your eccentric personality is what makes your blog fun/interesting. However, you have to realize that not everyone who comes across your blog is going to be an eccentric vegan who doesn’t believe in god, lives in an RV, wears a sparkly cap and is friends with squirrels.
You could get more interest by expressing yourself in a way that doesn’t alienate 80% of your audience. I think this would make your arguments more compelling.
-E
PS – I’m agnostic.
September 25th, 2008 at 11:49 am
Good Post overall. Could have been a little longer, and you could’ve expounded on a few points, buy I agree overall.
I’m agnostic, and I agree that, for the most part, religion is ridiculous. But, getting in a debate with someone over the validity of religion is pointless, because they’re belief is essentially based on blind faith.
It’s comforting to think that there’s some omnipotent being watching over us. It gives us a reason to have morals. It softens the concept of death that there is a “better place” after life. If heaven is so damn awesome, then why the hell isn’t everyone risking there lives everyday? Maybe there’s a better place, maybe not, but either way I like where I’m at
September 25th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
You sir, or correct. It seems like more and more people are finally noticing how stupid religion is.
Hopefully we can keep making progress in that direction.
September 25th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
Geez what a crappy post. They seem to be popping up more frequently than they used to.
Im not religious, but my parents are, and they certainly aint “dumb”. Just because people believe in things you dont they are wrong. They may have incorrect believes they may not - who is anyone to decide?
One thing i have noticed is how happy it makes them and how there lives have become better for believing in God. and i know they arent the only ones, many peoples lives are changed for the better when they start believing in a religion, people start to find a meaning in there lifes and live there life better, more awesomly. which is only a positive thing to this world.
As vincent mentioned, stay away from topics like this and writing crappy posts about diddly squat. Tell us some interesting things and more stories etc.
September 25th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
Honestly Tynan, I loved this post. I don’t think it was alienating or anything like that. If your readers are truly interested in what you have to say then they will read ALL you have to say, not just pick and choose what they want to hear. At least that’s how I feel about it.
I agree, religion is ridiculous. I grew up being southern Baptist and I’ve gone to church pretty much all my life up until I graduated high school. I didn’t go to church when I moved away because I was slowly realizing how political it was, especially the church I went to.
Yes, church provides a place for communities to come together but it is also a huge place for people to show off and engage in status war. My old church was a hot bed for this status crap. It wasn’t about religion or god or any of that. It was about who had what and who had this new house and how much are we overpaying the pastor this year. I hated it. I think the best thing that happened to that church was that it burned down (was is just an old electrical fire or did the Pastor commit arson?) But the church disolved after it burned down which was proof of how these people weren’t here for god. They were only there for their own selfish purposes.
This is one of the main reasons why I’m in limbo with regards to religion now. Also because I took a Rise of Christianity class at UT this last semester which really opened my eyes to a lot of things. It really negated the Bible as a holy book for me. Revelation, for instance, isn’t about the end of the world and Armageddon and all that crap. It was about the 1st revolt against Rome. All the 7 horsemen and 7 trumpets sounding and all that have concrete, real life, connections to Isreal’s first revolt against Rome. Read the book “From Jesus to Christianity” by Michael White if you wanna know more. It was a very interesting class.
I commend you Tynan for writing this post. I’m sure it got a lot of people to think about their views. You may have lost some readers, but I think they were prolly just fair weather fans anyways.
–Allison
P.S. Fix the archive page! There are some old posts I’ve got to read again!
September 25th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
Im with vincent
it seems atheists here finally found someone to cry with and now your all ranting about how great atheiism or agnostic of whatever is, just like the bible thumpers do about god jesus and the bible
maybe you should go door to door now and convince people about not beleiving, insult them too, the same way bible thumpers insult you by calling atheist beliefs rediculous
OR Just get back to being TYNAN who doesnt give a care about anything besides Living life to the fullest
I always thought TY wouldnt insult anyone and is just chillin, doesnt care where your from or what religion you are
Maybe Ty was just ranting after a bad bible thumper
still love u TYNAN
September 25th, 2008 at 6:50 pm
Excellent post Tynan.
I agree 100%.
If you have a solid understanding of evolution and science, you cannot possibly believe that there is a Christian god or any sort of traditional god figure.
And if you don’t understand evolution these days…yes, you are dumb.
September 25th, 2008 at 8:32 pm
@nonyobiz
how is standing firm in what he believes at all contradictory to tynan’s nature? part of living life awesome is standing strong in who you are and bucking the critics. is this not what he’s trying to convey?
he’s saying “don’t stand idly by when people push their opinions on you, fight fire with fire.”
he isn’t saying he’s going to confront every religious person he meets to break down their beliefs. but that he’s not going to turn the other cheek anymore.
i don’t know how you think you can live life to the fullest without caring about what goes on around you. it may not be a typical “i bungee jumped from a redwood” post, but it is still tynan staying true to himself. and if that isn’t what you love about the guy then nothing i have said or could say will make you change your mind.
September 25th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
Yes! Evolution! exactly. What is so hard to grasp about this concept? They make it in picture book format and everything. This isn’t quantum physics people it’s just baby makin’!
September 25th, 2008 at 11:44 pm
Folks, please go reread Vincent’s carefully and you’ll understand our beef with this post. Tynan can post what he wants by all means - it’s his blog after all. I think it’s the way he comes across in his post that so un-Tynan. In trying to make his point he sounds exactly like the Christian he’s trying to criticize.
Compare this to his excellent earlier posts on the MaxDiet. I didn’t agree with a quite a few of the points in those posts but from the writing it was obvious that a lot of care was put into the creation of that series of articles. Enough to force me to pause and think even if it challenged my belief system.
This post does not challenge my believe system or cause me to stop and think. It just comes across as an angst-filled livejournal entry. Not up to the usual Tynan standard in my opinion.
September 26th, 2008 at 9:00 am
@mike: man up- you don’t believe in hell
September 26th, 2008 at 9:57 am
I agree mostly, except for some of the reasons why religion formed and is still here. Back then, we did not have the scientific knowlege to understand a lot of things, and the only thing that seemed “logical” [heh. logical religion.] was that there was some one controlling these things. We respected and feared this person or force, and built up from there. We STILL believe because, yeah, tradition, but also it makes people feel better. People feel satisfied and loved because of their religions, regardless of how real ‘god’ actually is.
Also, so damn glad some one finally agrees that beliefs can be wrong. My boyfriend is always telling me that people are not wrong, it is what they believe. Opinions cannot be wrong. I tell him that they definately can be wrong if they are formed around things that do not fucking exist. [:
Do not get me wrong- I am an existentialist. I understand the basis of anything that you believe, IS. But this applies to moral standard mostly, not imaginary men in the sky. I understand how pointless it ALL is, not just the notion of religion. It frustrates/amuses me, too, to see people SO fucking sure they are right, but living in bullshit. It upsets me that they dedicate their whole meaningless lives to something even more meaningless, but it also makes me a little glad that they have something that makes them happy. After all, what do i have to believe in or live for?
September 26th, 2008 at 10:00 am
[Just one more reason you are better than my boyfriend.]
September 26th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Some good points Tynan. However, I’m a logical guy and there’s no way we came from nothing. There is a God, and we’ll all understand that after we die. =)
September 27th, 2008 at 11:09 pm
September 28th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
i wonder what is wrong with people who think they can pray things away?
i just read about a family who prayed while their daughter died of a diabetic attack.
god is not testing your faith maybe he is testing your ignorance.
there seems to be alot of evidence that religion has good intentions, but can the intentions of an institution be heald above the conduct of its members? does the fact that the pope says he is for peace negate the fact that an inordinate amount of mixed up priests are still fucking kids? does the fact that americans help alot of people around the world negate the fact that we will fuck your country faster than a priest in a nursery if you threaten our fragile unrealistic bubble? IF I HAVE A STRAW…AND YOU HAVE OIL…I HAVE YOUR OIL…
is it possable that we spend entirely too much time escaping and consuming?
September 29th, 2008 at 2:06 am
if someone starts telling me how much they love Jesus, i just keep quiet. you know i don’t discriminate, if people want to believe in something like that then that’s fine but i think its a case of broken telephone, that bible has been rewritten so many times and translated so many times, any truth that was in there is pretty distorted.
But I would like to believe that there is something more than maggots and dirt after death, would that be nice?
September 29th, 2008 at 7:54 pm
I find it funny how you said ” They spoke with 100% confidence.” your sort of condemning them forsomething you did yourself, you said with absolute confidence that there is no God, there is no Heaven. But no one can know that for certain.
I believe it’s posible cause anything is posible. There are things the human mind just can’t understand, and will not understand.
I’m not sure, I’ve been reading a lot of spiritual books. I especially like Eckhart Tolles, The Power of Now, and A New earth. It sort of changes your perspective a bit, what Jesus was talking about, and what God, Heaven, and Hell may really be. I strongly recommend it. Even though they’re on the Oprah Booklist thing LOL-erskates
September 29th, 2008 at 7:56 pm
Also after reading many of these books I’ve started to just not care about the after life. Live now, not in the future…the future isn’t real. Not until it’s Now
September 30th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
@ Dova
I think the problem with this post was not that Ty wasn’t “being true to himself,” because, well, I think it’s impossible for Ty to be untrue to himself. That anyone had to explain and clarify what Ty was trying to say is the flaw in this post.
@ Ty
I agree with Vincent’s negative value comment. I think you could have solved that by being clearer in your thesis.
October 1st, 2008 at 12:06 pm
Friday, September 26, 2008
Sitting in the Houston Airport… Message to Tynan…
Just read your updated blog about religion being ridiculous. I think I would offer the possibility of another adjective. Perhaps divisive, destructive, mean-spirited would fit better. Let’s examine the facts:
(a) EVERYONE is entitled to his or her beliefs; everyone is not entitled to inflict those beliefs on others. I never understood missionaries. As a class they tend to be the most judgmental people I have ever known. How presumptuous is it to assume that your religion is better than another’s, that anyone who does not believe what you believe is a heathen, and that those people need to be converted.
(b) All religions are “man-made” creations. And here is a news flash. The bible is not the infallible word of god. It is a collection of stories written by a bunch of old white guys.
(c) Finally, religion has a ZERO role in politics. Anyone who believes it has forgotten about the provision for the separation of church and state as specified in the Constitution.
(d) Being religious is not defacto good or bad and neither is being an atheist. What is not acceptable is when one attacks another for their beliefs. An atheist calling a religious person ridiculous is just as noxious as an evangelical Christian calling everyone else a heathen.
October 2nd, 2008 at 1:18 pm
If you’re interested in a super long article on End of Religion and some subsequent dialogue check out this old post on my Blog.
http://maxostudio.blogspot.com/2006/02/end-of-religion-and-demise-of-faith.html
T, I’m with you. But the audience is right. I’d rather learn new insights here than just hear soemone agree with me.
October 11th, 2008 at 8:05 am
Tynan, quick question:
Do you believe humanity is getting better, worse, or is the same as it always has been? I think we could agree there are a lot of things wrong with this world, so I’m curious how you explain it and what direction you think it’s going.
October 14th, 2008 at 1:16 am
Religion is the oldest political structure in the history of man. It is the foundation of all culture, which in turn shapes the values and beliefs of a society, which then yields the laws of the land. Mankind needs these beliefs, which are mostly ideals to which any person should live their lives, in order to strive for something more than his own survival and pleasure, two instincts which in the absence of a moral compass that can drive people to the greed and corruption that currently plague the world. Religion does not corrupt as much as man corrupts it. The evidence of this is numerous throughtout history, but the most modern examples in the 20th century in the communist nations such as the USSR and the Peoples Republic, which are secular totalitarians ruling over a diverse religous populace. AS the saying goes, with God, anything is possible, without God, anything is permissible
October 18th, 2008 at 6:49 pm
Tynan,
There is a big flaw in your thinking here. Every people group in the history of the world has had a huge line of thinking that revolved around magic, supernatural events, religion, etc. You’re assuming that most of the world is stupid and crazy. If you don’t come up with a good explanation for all of these events (and psychosis is not a good explanation due to the vastness of the experience) than you’re just being a bad scientist.
I believe in a higher power because I’ve had a myriad of experiences in my life that can’t be chalked up to any conceivable simple and natural explanation. Why not all people have experiences like this I don’t understand, but you’re basically saying that about a fifth of the population are nuts. Not so.
However, the main problem with casting such simple minded explanation on complex realities like you do here is that people (and I mean no-one) don’t understand how the vast majority of energy, power, and matter operates in the universe. For example, of the energy that is in our immediate environment for perception, that we know exists, between our 5 senses we only directly perceive less than 1% of what’s there.
In addition to having vastly limited perceptual capabilities, of the information that we take in through the senses, we distort the information through the frame of our beliefs, attitudes, and predispositions. To say that it is not possible for a god to exist is to deny our fundamental misunderstanding of reality and to assume that our internal representations match what is actually there, which is, of course - a psychological misnomer.
You should know that if you are really a good pickup artist. I imagine you’ve studied NLP.
“the map is not the territory”
Anyways, the same goes for any religious group trying to say they have ‘proof’ that they have some sort of corner on truth. I just personally get tired of people assuming they’re scientists and teaching truth when they understand as much about the nature of the universe as a cat understands about baking a cake.
dave
p.s. a clarification, my view of the world isn’t better or more true than yours, either, just to say that yours is superior to anyone’s is a leap of logic that comes from unbridled ignorance.
October 20th, 2008 at 6:35 am
Some of the worst people/criminals are some of the biggest believers in religion.
October 26th, 2008 at 11:06 pm
I have to say this one a great blog. I agree with it in all areas except one. I don’t believe that religion should exist at all. I think that it started off as nothing more than a way for human beings to attempt to find and comprehend the answers to questions that we may never know the answers to. Examples: Where did we come from?, Why are we here?, etc.
But some people have used it and manipulated and twisted it up so damn much that it serves to do nothing but control people and put power in the hands of a select few. Churches take in billions of dollars every year, pay no taxes, and always need a little more. As George Carlin said, when it comes to big major league bullshit you have to stand in awe of the all time champion of false promises and exaggerated claims, religion. Religion is nothing more than willful slavery. It supports blind submission to authority, it detaches humans from their natural world and each other, it reduces human responsibility to the effect that god controls everything and in turn awful crimes and senseless acts can be justified in the name of divine pursuit.
If religion is going to exist then i think that it should exist privately and most certainly be kept out of schools, and never force fed down peoples’ throats like the way it is here.
Unfortunately i live in Georgia right in the middle of the god damned bible belt. So of course religion is everywhere, children are raised on it, and the way it works down here is like this. Either you go to church and believe in god and jesus and are accepted or you are seen as a horrible person and shunned by society. It doesn’t matter how kind, friendly, and good you are to others. You will NOT be accepted.
However no one will ever say anything to your face. Only behind your back. And no one will ever acknowledge the fact that they are turning their backs on you. They won’t invite you to things, they will find excuses to not hang out with you, all the while “praying” for you.
Just another perfect example of how religion detaches people from their own humanity.
It fucking disgusts me. I think that it should be a strictly personal subject, never brought up in school, and most of all it shouldn’t be a factor that causes you to judge someone. For example, thats just as fucking stupid as not wanting to hang out with someone because they’re black. End of story.