Oh My God
For some reason, the whole notion of believing in "religion" seems to have dug into my cranium and settled into my most comfortable of chairs- a leather recliner with massage capabilities- and I can't get around it to write other things.
We are theoretically supposed to be living in an age of reason, and yet, everywhere I look, from crazy Islamic nutters to Christians who mutter, I am apalled at the low level of discourse and rational thought extant on our planet.
I mean, in spite of all evidence to the contrary, people still believe in things that are close in ridiculousness to the flat earth crowd.
Christ! What the hell is going on, people?
The human species appears to be stuck and I am wondering what it will take to unstick her?
Anyway, Poor Richard, here, seems to have an uphill battle ahead of him in America.
The land of the nutters...
This is a great video about believing in things without reason... it sure makes people look gullible...
Uri Gellar is now back, telling people he gets messages from Elvis. Popoff is making millions off people who "want" to believe in miracles.
I find it all sad, somehow.
AND WHO DOES THIS TO THEIR CHILDREN?
14 comments:
Why is it so important to disprove a belief system that some cherish, that some have integrated into their lives to a degree that it becomes the foundation for their lives? What purpose does it serve? No, I am not talking about George Bush, or the conservative religious right pact that try their damnedest to influence policy in Washington or elsewhere around the globe. Those who feel their religion is the only religion.
I am talking about the simple people, who worship however they see fit, in whatever God gives them comfort? It is not their religion, but their faith in something greater than themselves that fuels their belief. Wars have been fought for centuries and centuries for religious reasons, and perhaps one day it will stop.
But isn't telling people to not believe, to re-educate themselves to where they are no longer delusional just another way to tell them to believe something else? To say, No you are wrong in what you believe, this is what you should believe. It seems to me that not letting people worship as they please creates more conflict than anything else.
: )
all evidence to the contrary...
the problem is that many people have subjective experiences that lead them to believe there is something more - why is it that athiests never address this fact. You may believe that they are all nutters or scammers but if so, there are a significant number of psychos in the world and I am one of them.
Prove to me that I am not connecting to something more when I am in prayer and sense another presence and I will agree with you 100%.
problem is you can not prove that I'm not any more than I can prove to you that I am.
Stalemate.
Live and let live.
Shalom
After someone has experienced scientifically unexplainable events in their life...they are somehow forced to "wonder"... which often leads to believing in the virtue FAITH. It gives one hope of more good things to come. I have personally witnessed supernatural changes. It's hard to take that away with flittering words about science, HIV, evolution and the president.
Religion is such a touchy subject for many it is hard to attempt any reasonable discourse without upsetting somebody.
That, in and of itself, is one of its problems.
Rationality and Science require that one keep an open mind on all questions we do not fully grasp, and religion demands that we close our minds and relinquish the best part of our humaness- our rational minds- in order to accomodate subjective notions like "feeling the power of god" or whatever.
I have no problems with anyone's religious beliefs until it begins seeping like a cancer into government, and places where it has no place.
The entire evangelical movement went political, and elected a moron for president, and once that happened, religion became fair game.
When you are deciding on who will be the next most powerful person in the world, one would hope that it would be someone that didn't believe in things that are demonstrably not true. One would hope that "Logic and Reason" would be higher prerequisites for the office than a "faith" in a wicked, malicious, capricious, vindictive, torturuos, supernatural entity like the Judeo-Christian idea of god.
It is sad, to me, that parents brainwash their kids in this way, and it is sad to me that hucksters take advantage of people taught to believe in things without evidence.
Think of all the great discoveries we miss out on in science and health, because kids are turned away as it doesn't conjoin with their biblical upbringing?
There is much I find immoral in that idea alone.
"Irrational militant faith" or the greed motivated evangelist and illusionist have nothing to do with the pure love of the creator, who asked only that we love each other and keep Him company.
All these things are delusions put up in front of the truth to bring true love, faith, peace, and happiness down. Only Satan benefits from this deception - it cheapens and makes a true relationship with God impossible. Even I laugh at the antics of greedy ungodly people.
Only evil is behind such things, even corruption in our churches, while God sits and awaits a total collapse of our world due to belief in the wrong things. That path was chosen by us and not intended or set into motion by God. All this is a path toward the "turning away" until nothing remains but the fruits of sin.
Therefore, a total turn to evil will result in our total demise and freedom (in every country). Then a unified call will go up from helpless, suffering, and dying people all over the world. Then, and only then will HE come to make it all new again, and this time we will believe and walk and talk with Him in the gardens of the new earth as He wanted us to in the beginning.
It's okay to laugh at it all now and turn away...'cause it only means we get closer to the truth. And remember, not believing now means nothing, because He will still love us all, and make us all understand, in the end. You can't escape his love, even by rejecting Him.
So... HOW do you know this Mushy?
It sounds all mythical and super-duper woozy, but iy also sounds like you just made that all up. Or you distilled it from somewhere.
WHere did that idea come from, and how do you know it or back it up?
It appears to be far more nihilistic than other, more moderate religious beliefs.
Do you consider your beliefs to be normal, or paranormal?
Do you base this belief in Satan and "the end" on facts, or a distillation of ideas in old books?
Can you show me any evidence for your ideas?
Ugh.
You can't argue about irrational beliefs with people any more than you can convince your toddler that the blue cup doesn't make the juice taste better than the red cup.
Hmmm. Have a look here. Seems everyone is wondering.
http://paterphilosophy.blogspot.com/2007/08/emailing-god.html
And
http://paterphilosophy.blogspot.com/2007/08/my-friend.html
I can't show you no more than you can show me. In the end, we each have a faith...just opposite ends.
I'm happy...are you...if so, what the hell. Let's get on with life. The end will take care of itself.
Ah, you are so right that it is a very touchy subject. I am with you in having a problem with religion creeping in where it doesn't belong, elbowing out science. Fundamentalism in any form seems damaging. But I think it is a mistake to become evangelical about atheism - it seems as foolish to say you can prove there is no God as is it to say you can prove there is. I just keep coming back to my position that a belief in God is unnecessary for living an ethical, loving, mindful and even spiritual life.
I grew up in an atheist household and didn't enter a church until a brief stint in 1993, as a young military bride. I was impressed by the fellowship and belief of the people in my church (a non-denominational), and struggling to find something to hold on to in my unhappy marriage, threw myself in full-force.
except. no matter how hard or often I prayed, no matter how much i truly believed in the baptism i received, no matter how familiar I became with the Bible...whenever our pastor would lay hands and "cure" somebody, their sight, their mis-matched legs, I would think "that's a lie." I would raise my hands in praise and think, this is not my way. I am lying to myself. I felt hypocritical and false.
And then when I was four months pregnant with my first child, I was sitting in service one Sunday morning and started cramping and bleeding. I let my friend know, who notified the pastor's wife...I was sure I would be whisked away to the hospital. Instead, I was taken to a back room and had hands laid on me, with the reassurance that if I miscarried, it was God's will.
I left that day, pregnancy intact, fortunately, and never, ever went back.
I'm not saying those who believe are crazy or "nutters". I'm just saying I don't believe in the same thing, and I think I am as holy in what I do believe in as anyone.
and I think that's just fine.
I say "nutters" not because people believe in things that can't be proven, but because people believe-in spite of all the evidence presented to them- in things that are demonstrably "UNTRUE".
It takes a delusion to do that, hence the "nutters" term.
Mushy- Your belief comes almost directly from the Old Testament, which, as you know, tells stories of men in whales and talking snakes and gods talking out of burning bushes and the like...
Most of the notions in the old testament have been superceded by an advancing science, making the book demonstrably untrue. Deriving theories from a source of no validity would, by logic alone, make your belief suspect, don't you think?
Does the word FAITH mean one can believe in whatever they want and teach it to their children and bestow it upon society at large just because you use it?
I shudder with that thought.
How many children each day come up to you and witness? Or, say, Sir, you should believe in this, or you should believe that?
As for electing George Bush and company, don't point the finger at me. I did not vote for him. In either election. Because this man was elected president, and because he believes God speaks to him, does not mean he represents all those who believe in a higher power.
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