Recovering From Religion?

The author of the book The God Virus has started a new website to help people "recover from religion."

If you consider yourself agnostic or questioning your "faith" this is a good site to check out.

HERE'S THE SITE

Why Did Jesus Die Today?

Re-post from my other site I used to blog on, enjoy!

So far I have asked 2 very religious friends, and one of them even asked a priest...

and nobody has a very good answer.

The Catholic priest stated the following:

Humans were created with free will. This free will allows us to act how we wish. We can do good things and we can do bad things. When we sin, our sin reaches out "into infinity" and thus out to god because "god is infinite." However, for some reason, god created us so that we can sin into infinity, but not ask for forgiveness into infinity. So, therefore, we cannot properly ask for his forgiveness.

Hence, to remedy this problem, god sent his only son to save us from our sins. Please recall that the Trinity says that there is a Father, Son, and Holy Ghost (spirit). Three separate, but three all in ONE.

So God sent himself in the "Son" form to die on the cross in order to save us from our sins. And by dying he apparently allowed us to have eternal salvation in Heaven.

So essentially, god had to send himself in Jesus form to earth to suffer and die on the cross in order to apologize to himself for OUR sins because we couldn't do it...

That does not sound like love... but rather circular lack of reasoning nonsense...

But I am open to someone else explaining why Jesus had to die on the cross to save us.

Atheist Student vs. Religious Professor

My professor (who is a Catholic deacon) spent the first two days of class bashing atheists and specifically, some well-known scientists and skeptics (Galileo and Dawkins to name a few), so in my first homework assignment, we had to write a "Spiritual Autobiography" this is a clip of what I included in it:

"I have to say that I respectfully disagree with the slides you showed the first day of class in regard to atheism. Mao Zedong, Joseph Stalin, Adolph Hitler, Chiang Kai-shek, Vladimir Putin, Vladimir Lenin, and Pol Pot did not kill people because they were atheist. They killed people because of their own radical dogma. Atheism does not have a dogma, a text, or a mission statement. There is no Church of the Atheist. Just as radical religious views can be deadly, so can radical non-religious views. Additionally, I highly doubt that all of the people who helped to carry out their atrocities were atheists as well. And, often times these leaders would invoke the name of "God" in order to get people to follow them. Religion can be a very helpful vehicle to perform both good and evil.

As for the chart you showed that seemed to say that religious people were morally superior to atheists and less religious persons, I must respectfully disagree once more. I think there is something to say about those who do good things for the sake of doing good things, and those who do things so that they can avoid punishment in the "afterlife." So overall, I must respectfully disagree. I think that you may have given atheists and agnostics an unfair shake on the first day of class."

Anyway, I turned in that paper today. But GUESS WHAT!!!

The ongoing assault continued today...

For starters, here's a quote he showed the class on the big screen:

"Science is much closer to myth than a scientific philosophy is prepared to admit. It is one of the many forms of thought that have been developed by man, and not necessarily the best. It is conspicuous, noisy, and impudent, but it is inherently superior only for those who have already decided in favor of a certain ideology, or who have accepted it without ever having examined its advantages and limits." ~ Paul Feyerabend

Immediately, I thought to myself... well that would sound right if you replaced the word "science" with the word "religion."

Let's have a look shall we:

"Religion is much closer to myth than a religious philosophy is prepared to admit. It is one of the many forms of thought that have been developed by man, and not necessarily the best. It is conspicuous, noisy, and impudent, but it is inherently superior only for those who have already decided in favor of a certain ideology, or who have accepted it without ever having examined its advantages and limits." ~ Me

Continuing on (It gets MUCH worse)...

Although the course I am in is titled Religion, Media & Communication and falls under the Journalism and Mass Communications title at the University I attend, I have yet to hear anything other than religious indoctrination, bad science, and unfounded opinion from my professor. Keep in mind that I attend the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. This is NOT a private school.

After taking the first two days of class to bash atheists and force his moral beliefs on us, my professor continued on today with more preaching (he is an ordained deacon in the Catholic church after all).

Today's offensive topics: God is the only way to peace, abortion is always wrong, and gay marriage leads to polygamy, incest, and pedophilia. I am paying to hear this crap?

Today my professor uttered the following words and immediately thereafter drew this diagram on the board:

"Because I am Catholic, I believe that human beings have a deep obligation to search for truth." Then, continuing on moments later he stated, "God is truth, so anyone searching for truth is trying to find God. God is love."

Diagram:

Humility & Love ---> Truth --->Justice--->Peace

He says that humility and love lead to truth. And truth (if you are paying attention here), as he said above is "God." Thus part of the lesson today was to tell the kids in the class that God is the only vehicle that can take us to justice and peace.

It gets worse.

Next he told us that the majority of Americans think that there should NEVER be an abortion, under any circumstance, once the baby's heart starts to beat. He continued on to say that there should be no debate over when life begins because "science has said for 100 years that life begins at conception."

It gets worse.

He then clearly ignored any instruction on logic or logical fallacies as he applied a slippery slope argument, while lecturing to the class of 45 students, to say that same-sex marriage is something that we can not allow. Continuing further, he likened same-sex marriage to that of polygamy and even a incestuous and potentially pedophilia-centered marriage between a father and his own daughter.

In an ominous tone, he asked the class if they truly wanted polygamy, incest and pedophilia, because that's what they would get if they were in favor of same-sex marriages.

For those of you who don't know me. I am openly homosexual. I have been in a relationship for almost 1 year. We plan on moving and getting married. And my heart almost exploded when he said this.

I tried to calm down. I raised my hand and said, "I have to disagree with you because what you just used to make your point was a slippery slope which, in a philosophy of logic course, is considered a logical fallacy. So I have to say that I disagree." What I really wanted to do was either walk out, or just punch the man in the face.

He essentially ignored what I said and continued on telling the class that he was right. I stopped listening to him for the rest of class. I should have walked out.

Pope, Church Pretend that Religion & Science Compliment Eachother

Pope Benedict XVI, the "holy" man formerly known as Joseph Alois Ratzinger (Prince reference anybody?), used Winter Solstice as an opportunity to continue a lie.

Ratzinger proclaimed that by comprehending the laws of nature we can somehow grow in our understanding and appreciation of "the Lord's" works.

In truth, there is a HUGE disconnect between religious "faith" and scientific fact.

One must either fully believe in what their holy book says, or one must concede that the holy book is flawed, and thus not "God inspired," but rather the written musings of man.

It's all or nothing people. God either meant it, or he didn't. And choosing for conveniece is the same as acknowledging the falsity and numerous inconvenient flaws.

Science has shown us that the earth is much older than holy texts suggest. Religion has made up excuses to try to incorporate this. They either conveniently make up something called "God's time" or they disregard science and radiocarbon dating all together.

Science has also shown us that the earth was not created in a matter of days, and that humans, and every organism we see on this planet, did not exist when the earth originally began to develop.

(Many religious leaders would have us believe that the earth is not BILLIONS of years old, but rather, only a few thousand.)

In other words, the creation story, which is how the holy book says everything came to be (THIS IS A BIG DEAL HERE) is a myth that is in direct conflict with science.

Science has shown us that, contrary to what religious leaders may tell us, humans are the result of evolution: we were not simply placed here on earth by some deity who made us "in his image." We evolved, this is a fact.

Religion and science have been battling eachother for as long as wishful thinking (rather than truth and logic) has been used to give peace of mind.

At first religion rejected evolution, and now, with the overwhelming amount of evidence, it is trying to accept it by calling it part of "God's plan." Labeling it "creationism."

I call it a sad attempt to remain relevant via slight of hand. Religious leaders are picking and choosing from the bible and cherry picking data from science. Then they mold them together as much as possible and sweep any disconect under the rug.

This is nothing new for religion.

As noted by Fox News today:

"The Catholic Church condemned Galileo in the 17th century for supporting Nicholas Copernicus' discovery that the Earth revolved around the sun; church teaching at the time placed Earth at the center of the universe. In 1992, Pope John Paul II apologized, saying that the denuncuation was a tragic error." (took long enough?)

Nothing like being condemned for using your brain and scientific fact.

Just as the church found it insulting to think that we weren't the center of "God's" universe: His CHOSEN creations. They still find it troubling to realize that their teachings are being unvelied as false by science.

"I am against religion because it teaches us to be satisfied with not understanding the world." ~ Richard Dawkins.

Belief in "God" Dropping Over Time

In 2000, belief in a personal "God" was at 86% in the United States with belief in some sort of a "Universal Spirit" at 8% and belief in neither a "God," nor a spirit (a.k.a. atheism) being at 5%.

Today, in 2008, the numbers have changed a little bit with 78% believing in a personal "God" (an 8% decrease), 15% believing in some sort of spirit, but not a personal god, (a 7% increase), and 6% being atheist (1% increase).

Other trends regarding religious belief show that the more educated a person is, the less likely they are to believe in a personal "God."

9% of those with a post-graduate degree are atheist, with another 19% in this group not having a personal "God," but some sort of belief in the potential of a universal spirit. Leaving 71% with a belief in a personal "God."

88% of those with a high school degree or less believe in "God."

Keep in mind this is just for America, belief in a "God" is lower in most of Europe.

Interestingly, the vast majority of leading scientist are not religious.

Corey shared this website with me and I have been addicted ever since, here's a video worth watching from Ted.com:




Some arguments against religious belief (CLICK ME)

Jesus & Holiday Joy: Codependent?

It's getting confusing...

I have recently discussed with numerous individuals the connection between "The Holidays" and religion.

Some people have said that it is possible to just enjoy the holidays without even having to worry about religion.

As a person who is as close to atheist as you can get without declaring it outright, I have to kind of disagree, as some people wont let you avoid religion, and here is some proof:

In Patchogue, New York, the annual boat parade that takes place on the Long Island river recently changed it's name from "Patchogue Christmas Boat Parade" to "Patchogue Boat Parade of Lights."

The result was religious backlash.

Essentially, the attitude of many was "It's our religion or the highway."

Apparently a boat parade carries some sort of religious importance?

I'm confused.

The famous fireworks company Grucci, (not to be confused with Gucci) who used to donate fireworks to the event, completely dropped its engagement with the event and severed its ties with the boat parade.

No donations to bring holiday joy this year :(

Why?

Well, the Grucci Fireworks vice president Philip Butler vehemently opposed the re-naming of the boat parade.

Christian folks called the re-naming "the secularization of Christmas."

Someone please tell me what part of the bible describes the holy boat parade?

Supporters of Grucci's VP pushed for area residents to avoid attending the parade on the Patchogue River.

The result?

Rather than the expected 1,500 person turnout, attendance dropped to around 1,000.

The religious outrage resulted in a parade lacking in firework prowess.

Hold on...I thought parades had nothing to do with religion?

Oh well, organizers said that the parade was still a success. Looks like a lot of CHRISTIAN folks missed out on all the fun.

...And they missed out on it all because Christians think that they own the holiday season.

(Hint to those who do not understand: There are Muslim, Jewish, AND Christian Holidays at this time of the year... oh yah, and don't forget Kwanzaa)

Surviving the "Holidays": An Atheist's Lament

I recently had a discussion with people about the so-called "Holiday Season" that we are already beginning to be inundated in.

As an atheist, I see Christmas as more evidence that many (NOTE: not all) religious people do not know what they truly believe, much less what they are doing, or how to THINK rationally about what they are saying and doing.

Christmas was supposed to be about the virgin birth of an alleged "Savior" who actually is "god," in human form coming to die for our sins, that we committed against him... so I guess he's apologizing to himself for our sins offending him (so it's already unbelievable).

Anyway.... we somehow get Santa, evergreen trees being cut down and pulled indoors, another plant hanging from the ceiling to prompt kissing, lights being put on the outside of houses, and ridiculous consumer overspending on items that usually aren't deemed to be "necessities."

The phrases like..."buy now and save" do not make any sense either. Think about it... "buy now and save"... or "don't buy it at all because you don't need it and save all of your money that you would have otherwise wasted."

Religious holidays do not make sense and neither do the commercials that accompany them... yet people gobble this crap up like its crack.

Christmas= Santa and overspending

Easter= candy, hiding eggs, and bunnies?

Semi-secular Thanksgiving (initially was thanking "God" for good harvests, even though the people had done all the work) = Parades, Football, Overeating, and of course, Black Friday (consumer mania, once again, usually for non-necessities).

So what's my point?

"WHY are YOU ATTACKING religion!?!?"

"Why can't you just let people be happy?"

"Why can't you just enjoy the holidays like everyone else?"

- Why? - Because its all made up, pointless, and frankly, it insults my intelligence.

I'm pointing out how none of this makes sense and how our country is filled with consumers rather than thinkers. Do people even know why they do what they do? Do people even have the capability to stop, think, and rationalize their holiday-related actions?

I wish they did.

Feel free to hate on me.

What is "God's" Purpose?

For what reason does "God" exist?

Approximately 84% of people on the earth strictly adhere to one form of religion and have a belief in a God. The remaining 16% consists of atheists, agnostics, secular humanists, or those with no religious preference. 8% of these people believe in a God in one form or another.

But here's my question: Does a "God" have to exist? And if he/she/it does in fact exist, then why?

Many people believe in God because it gives them a purpose, a reason for existing, and something to look forward to after death. But what is God's purpose? Doesn't the deity need one too?

Perhaps we as people have created the "God" that we would like to believe in. Maybe we have fashioned him to conveniently meet our desire to have a purpose.

"God doesn't have to have a purpose, because he is god" - would not be a logical answer, but rather, circular reasoning. Just like, "The color green just is green, because that's the color that it is" does not make sense.

You might as well say, "Well I don't need an answer, green is green and that's good enough for me."

Furthermore, upon scientific analysis we learn that specific wavelenghts of light in the visible spectrum are what make green appear to be green. So we know why green is green, but do we LOGICALLY know why we need a "God"? Do we have any answers past:

- Well we had to come from somewhere
(Why do we have to come from somewhere, but "God" doesn't?)

- Well, he just has always existed
(Why is this an acceptable answer, but not the Big Bang Theory?)

- Because God can do anything
(How do you know this? How can you even prove he/she/it existed in the first place?)

- Well, you just have to believe, you have to have faith...

It sounds to me like we need to put our minds at rest, so we create illogical answers to difficult questions. If you can shake that feeling of uneasiness that maybe, just maybe there is not a "God," that there is no afterlife, and that there is no higher power... a lot more things in this world start to make sense.

We always hear people say after something tragic happens... "Why did God allow this?"

Maybe because "God" doesn't exist.

Holocausts, genocides, war, tsunamis, hurricanes, earthquakes, cancer, AIDS, the list goes on and on. Maybe if we stop asking "God" (who never answers), and we start looking for solutions, methods of prevention, and scientific explanations, we would be doing ourselves a huge favor.

We can start fixing problems rather than wishing and praying the day away.