Wow.
Well, I don't think it takes an exceptional IQ to realise that if humans didn't fight over religion they'd just fight over something else so that's too retarded to even bother getting into.
Many atrocities have been commited in the name of God, Jesus, Mohammed, etc. That's not their fault.
As far as violent criminals go, that's true. A lot of them do turn to spritualty in an attempt to make up for what they've done wrong in life. Why this is seen as a bad thing, I don't know. In any case, claiming to find Jesus on one's deathbed won't, in itself, get anyone into Heaven. The person would have to actually mean it for it to mean anything. Faith can't be faked. Not when it counts anyway.
And yes, there are some violent criminals who've been Christians the entire time and ended up in prison for violent crimes despite the fact that they should have known better. Whatever. Violent people are everywhere and most of them, at some point, get caught and have to do some time for it.
But lets go with this idea that religions should be done away with because of the violent people associated with them because apparently an Atheist society is going to be so much better off than the steaming shitpile we've got going on now...
I suggest we start by doing a census in every prison. Find out what the most common religions are and get rid of them first. I honestly don't think that will eradicate violence though. Maybe I'm wrong but why stop with religion? There's probably a lot more shit that violent criminals have in common. Racial background will inevitably come up. Tastes in music. Hell, even their most popular favourite colour should be outlawed. I might mention single parent homes except that I grew up in one myself and don't want to throw myself under the bus. That might just be me being selfish though so fuck it; single parent homes should be against the law too. We'll probably find a whole lot more evidence of what causes violent behavior but once we get rid of all of it I'm sure we'll all be a whole lot better off.
At least we know where to start: Big Bad Religion. Because people shouldn't be told what to think. Unless they're being told to be Atheists, which is apparently okay.
Over the last few years I've become more interested in the power of belief. Specifically, how it will imbue strength of will in a person. How many atheists in the world would strap on an explosive vest and wallpaper a street with themselves for their belief? I think a fanatic who really believes God is in their corner will wreck the shit of any atheist out there, do things and go to lengths to win that no atheist ever would. And ultimately, the question of God's existence aside, doesn't that make the believer a stronger animal, more fit for survival?
ReplyDeleteI think so.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, the fact is that everyone ultimately believes what they want to. Especially in a society like what we've got in the developed west where everyone is an expert on their own narrow little interests.
I know that where I come from, my generation was the last one that had any religion taught to us in public school. Prayer became against the rules right around when I was in the third or fourth grade, I don't remember exactly. In any case I think that might have been a contributing factor in so many people's resentment toward religion. The Lord's Prayer was a chore at that age. Something you recited just because it was part of the morning routine. Kids love having chores taken away from them so yeah, fuck the lord's prayer. As a matter of fact, fuck God too. I'm way too cool to believe in God.
So you have a childish hatred of religion that exists simply because it was allowed to develop.
I've actually had someone tell me that the Internet is God. What??? All this shows is a complete ignorance of what God is or was ever supposed to be. People like this who gave up on religious belief at such a young age because they saw it at the time as a form of social conformity that they were way too cool for often still view God as an imaginary friend and prayer as something like rubbing a genie's lamp. You ask for something and you should get it, right? From that perspective I suppose the Internet is something like God.
Then you've got the people who search around for the religion that they feel suits them best. They of course choose whichever one is the easiest for themselves. A very shallow form of Buddhism seems to be very popular with this crowd. They don't do well with rules.
I like the retards who want to say that God can't possibly exist because there is so much pain and suffering in the world. Well no shit. The answer to that one is within the first few pages of Genesis and is so easy to figure out that a moron could do it but it would mean you actually had to read part of the bible which would make you a conformist, a sheep, a blind follower. Uncool in the eyes of your peers.
Everything is conformity, really. Atheists are no less conformist than any other religion's believers. If somebody wants to believe in God, they'll find irrefutable proof that their own faith is real. If someone doesn't want to believe in God, they'll search and find irrefutable proof of their own. Scientific "discoveries" that they themselves have no proof of but they believe it because the scientists say it's true. That's not much different from believeing a minister's word just because he's a minister. The hypocrisy goes both ways.
Incidentally, the skeptics looking for physical proof of God will never find it. Proof is never offered. Faith is all there is. You either believe or you don't believe. Sure, some people can fake it for the sake of money and power and I can't really say that I blame them for doing so. But faking it won't fool anybody when their time comes.
And the guys with the bombs on their backs are clearly not trying to fake anything. That's genuine faith taken to an extreme level. But what if we made religion illegal right now. Would those extremeist type people just cease to exist. Even a thousand years from now when religion would be considered an archaic part of a distant and primitive past, those guys would still be around, they just wouldn't be religious. I'm sure there would be something else they'd be willing to kill/die for.
Of course religion is the real cause of violence, look at how peaceful China is. All the monks who've burned themselves alive in protest? Well, imagine if they weren't religious and didn't give a fuck about anything, then they wouldn't have done it.
DeleteWhat are they looking for when they say "physical proof"? A big bearded giant with white robes? Suppose that actually happened, they could just say "It's not God, it's a big bearded giant with white robes, who happens to be able to strike people with lightening or otherwise make them burst into flames".
"Proof" would serve no purpose. There would still be non-believers and there would still be people fighting over how to properly worship. Faith would be meaningless. Following the ten commandments would be no different from obeying the laws of society and would prove nothing to no one.
ReplyDeleteSo you do believe in God? if yes, let's say for example that you're a Christian, how do you know that your religion is the true one?
ReplyDeleteYou know when you've found the one which gives you the biggest feelings of sexual repression.
DeleteYou don't know. Hence the term "faith."
DeleteIf God is almighty like the Bible says, then he could create a barbell so heavy that He would not be able to lift, but he should be able to lift it since he is almighty and can do anything.
DeleteDoes that make sense? lol
If the various Atheiest movements of the 20th century taught us anything, it's that the world doesn't need religion to be a bunch of murdering fanatic assholes.
ReplyDeleteFact is, being murderously intolerant isn't exclusive to religion..
It isn't even exclusive to humans.
DeleteA lot of people who only know me online get under the impression that I'm overly religious. I'm not. I'm a Protestant and I've read the Bible but I don't go to church or even pray regularly. I just like fucking with hypocritical Atheists.
Atheists are no less conformist than any other religion's believers.
ReplyDeleteDamn right. This is the best blog I've read about the subject in two years. Most atheists I've talked to recently have been as fanatical and ignorant of facts as any religions person. "Accept what I say, or your going to hell." All the same. Many of the biggest murderers of the 20th century were atheists, many Christians, Muslims or whatever else. You know whats worse that pushy Christians? Whiny ex-Christians. Here's a new one, if you don't like it, don't do it. No one else really cares.