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The Lunacy of Religion
(by 22 people)
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This lens is not complete. Not by a long shot. Religion doesn't get off that easily!
If you are reading this and you are an atheist, you need to send this page to your friends. Send people to this page and make them watch some of the videos.
If their belief is strong enough they will welcome the task.
Hold on to your faith! It's going to be a bumpy ride!
Why am I making this lens?
"The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God." - Psalms 14:1
Religious people think less of me for being an Atheist. To them I am extremely flawed and on some level stupid for not realising the obvious truth that they realise.In short, they think less of me for my beliefs.
And I think less of them for their beliefs too.
Does this offend you? It shouldn't. If it does then you're missing the point. I also think less of people who eat meat. I am a vegetarian and I think less of people who aren't.
That's the beauty of an opinion.
I have mine, you have yours. If you don't like mine you are free to click away from this lens right now.
Despite what many people think, religion - like any other system of belief - does not automatically deserve respect. If you think it does then you are being incredibly arrogant.
Conversational Intolerance
(In case you're wondering, that is an ACTUAL photo of Zeus. He is such a poser!)
If you met a man who said to you proudly "I believe in The Big and I pray to him every night so that my family will be safe, and food will be on my table, and I thank him for both. Zeus is my Saviour." what would you think?Would you say "Oh wow. How is that working out for you?"
Would you say "You are a man of faith. How honorable!"
Would you say "You are right to pray to Zeus! Not to do so would mean you are not a good citizen of this country..."
Or would you laugh? In his face or in secret. And later share a joke with your friends about how you met a man who actually believed in such ridiculous things?
What if the man (yes, an adult) told you he believed in Santa Claus? Or fairies? Or unicorns? Or mermaids?
Would you laugh then? Would you think his beliefs were ridiculous then?
Why?
If you are a religious person and you can make a case for why you don't believe in fairies or mermaids or Zeus, you have just successfully made the case for why I don't believe in your God too.
So I treat religious belief with the same conversational intolerance as I would if the person just told me they were once abducted by aliens.
Essential Video 1: "What if you're wrong about not believing in God?"
Richard Dawkins gives an answer that you should say to anyone who asks you this question.
Laugh at the question first though. It'll make you feel better :-)
Funny Video 1: Churches don't pay taxes, so...
Even though it's funny, the point is still made well.
Funny Video 2: The Flying Spaghetti Monster SIGHTING
See the amateur shots of him on top of a building.
Very cool :-)
Essential Video 2: Atheists Are Bad People?
It does not mean that you worship satan. It does not mean you have no morals. It does not mean you hate religions. It just means you don't believe in a god.
And it certainly doesn't mean you're a bad person. This video should be interesting to you :-)
The stats shown in this powerful video do show Atheists as "better" people than Christians. Watch it and find out for yourself. Prison numbers, divorce statistics, etc.
Teller (of Penn & Teller) said about this video, "If a god existed, this video would make him wish he were dead."
Essential Video 3: Chromosone #2
All to test faith, no doubt...
This is a short video about the genome of the Chimpanzee.
You need to see this.
Essential 4: Pascal's Wager (God is a safe bet)
I thank the guy in the video for letting me use this video clip...
There is an argument that I have heard a few people use to justify their belief in their (Christian) God. And it is a stupid argument. The Christians who have said this argument to me say this:"If you believe in God and you're wrong, when you die you have lost nothing. If you don't believe in God and you're right, you have gained everything. So it makes sense to believe in God because of how much is at stake!"
Why is this a stupid argument? Because it is a wager. It is having a belief in God the same way you wear a seatbelt.
The common name for this argument is Pascal's Wager, because Pascal wrote about it first (that's the sketch of him right there).
The problem is not just that it's a "bet". Believe or not believe. The problem is also the pie chart you can see in this video.
So don't be fooled by this argument. It is not a valid reason to believe in God, nor any particular God, and does nothing to prove the existence of a God. Just that the person using the argument is scared. Scared of death, scared that this life is not enough, and scared that their loved ones just disappear when they die.
Essential Video 5: "The world is only 6000 years old"
This is something you may not have thought of before.There are numerous ways, through carbon dating and rock layers as an example, that we can prove the Earth is older than 6000 years.
One way which you may not have thought of is by using the rings in a tree trunk.
You know if you cut down a tree you can see the rings? Can you remember what you were told as a kid? One ring = One year. You know this from when you were a kid, right? Well it's true.
So is there a tree that has more than 6000 rings?
No. But if you get the right ones overlapping, you'll soon see how it's easy to arrive at at least 11,300 years...
So what do the Young Earth Creationists say about this evidence?
"When the interpretation of scientific data contradicts the true history of the world as revealed in the Bible, then it's the interpretation of the data that is at fault."
Basically, they are putting their fingers in their ears and singing 'La La La La La La La La La La'. If scientific data does not support their conclusions... they ignore the data.
Great.
Check out the video and decide for yourself.
Essential Video 6: But where do Atheist morals come from?!
Some people think that they get their morals from their religion. And that if you don't have a religion then you are an inherently immoral person.
So is this true?
Well as nice as it may sound for some folk, we do not get our morals from religion.
You know how the Bible talks about slavery? And even Jesus talks of slavery and doesn't denounce it? And how you are allowed to beat your slave as much as you like as long as you don't knock out his eyes or his teeth. Because then you'd have to let him go. Don't think the New Testament endorses slavery?"Bid slaves to be submissive to their masters and to give satisfaction in every respect; they are not to be refractory, not to pilfer, but to show entire and true fidelity" (Titus 2:9)
We have moved on since then. In the American Civil War the Bible was used as an authoritative justification of slavery. We have moved on since slavery and most people will tell you that slavery is atrocious.
Do we look to the behaviour in the Bible as a moral standard to live by? Of course we don't. We are choosing which parts of the texts we live by and which we don't. As WE advance, and as OUR morals evolve.
Funny how we ignore the parts about stoning people to death, but still refer to it as "The Good Book" :-)
Basically, we're cherry picking.
And what moral standards are we basing our cherry picking upon? Certainly not morality from the God in the book. We are using our own sense of morality.
As Richard Dawkins has written, (in 'The God Delusion') the God of the Old Testament is ""arguably the most unpleasant character in all of fiction. Jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic-cleanser; a misogynistic homophobic racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, and megalomaniacal." And the New Testament is just as bad. And no, this is none of that "out of context" junk.We pick and choose which parts of the Bible we see as "moral".
So what we're actually doing is not looking to religion to see what is moral, we are using our own morals to define what is religious.
And therein lies the joke.
I am including the following video for you to see one simple point. If you could stop all that you see in this video, would you?
Watch until the end then try and tell me that we get our morals from God. You would be willing to do something. I know you would.
What is Jesus without the miracles?
What is Jesus if you don't believe the miracles?
10 Signs You're A Christian Going Mad.....
- 10. You vigorously deny the existence of thousands of gods claimed by other religions, but feel outraged when someone denies the existence of yours.
- 9. You feel insulted and "dehumanized" when scientists say that people evolved from other life forms, but you have no problem with the Biblical claim that we were created from dirt.
- 8. You laugh at polytheists, but you have no problem believing in a Triune God.
- 7. Your face turns purple when you hear of the "atrocities" attributed to Allah, but you don't even flinch when hearing about how God/Jehovah slaughtered all the babies of Egypt in "Exodus" and ordered the elimination of entire ethnic groups in "Joshua" including women, children, and trees!
- 6. You laugh at Hindu beliefs that deify humans, and Greek claims about gods sleeping with women, but you have no problem believing that the Holy Spirit impregnated Mary, who then gave birth to a man-god who got killed, came back to life and then ascended into the sky.
- 5. You are willing to spend your life looking for little loopholes in the scientifically established age of Earth (few billion years), but you find nothing wrong with believing dates recorded by Bronze Age tribesmen sitting in their tents and guessing that Earth is a few generations old.
- 4. You believe that the entire population of this planet with the exception of those who share your beliefs -- though excluding those in all rival sects - will spend Eternity in an infinite Hell of Suffering. And yet consider your religion the most "tolerant" and "loving."
- 3. While modern science, history, geology, biology, and physics have failed to convince you otherwise, some idiot rolling around on the floor speaking in "tongues" may be all the evidence you need to "prove" Christianity.
- 2. You define 0.01% as a "high success rate" when it comes to answered prayers. You consider that to be evidence that prayer works. And you think that the remaining 99.99% FAILURE was simply the will of God.
- 1. You actually know a lot less than many atheists and agnostics do about the Bible, Christianity, and church history - but still call yourself a Christian.
Join The Discussion:
All comments will be published, but no naughty words or threats please:
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futurmajic
Before anyone says they believe or do not believe in god, first god must be defined by that person. I would venture to say most atheists believe in something that could be labeled as god. That said all of the religions that I am aware of are an overall negative to the believers and religion itself is highly negative for the world. I have long said even if there was a true religion, it would be like trying to win the lottery to pick it. Posted July 04, 2008 |
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SivartM
Well, if point number 1 is supposed to mean that you know more about the Bible than me, I find that hard to believe, since I know that God didn't kill "all the babies in Egypt" and that God didn't tell anyone to kill all the women, children and trees. Your lens is written well, but it does contain several fallacies and some misniformation and it doesn't seem to be a very objective look at religion since you seem to start out with the very intent of disproving it. Posted April 21, 2008 |
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Hoogle
Just a couple of short comments - Posted April 07, 2008 |
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Arend-Jan
Hurray for a religion-free world! Earned you a place on my lensroll for my two lenses about roughly the same topic. superstition intelligent design Posted April 07, 2008 |
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mulberry
I am not convinced there is no "god" or whatever, but I agree with much of what you say. For me however, it is more an issue of organized religion: the misinterpretation, misuse, bigotry, so on and so forth. One religion is as ridiculous as the next for me, but I can respect those who believe as long as their belief in love and acceptance extends to all, not just those who hold their same beliefs. (I am probably making NO sense at this time of day)Great lens. Posted March 07, 2008 |
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MarkMBravura
HA! Great lens- 5 *! I AM a heretic Believer; have been railroaded/blacklisted from the "conventional" Church. Posted January 25, 2008 |
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tmackarney
The strange thing about religion is the concept of belief. I don't believe in the god of the bible but it's not because I choose not to believe. Belief is not a switch to turn on and off. I read the bible, I found inconsistency. I went to church, it didn't feel right. I've talked to God, He/She didn't answer. So I don't believe because it makes sense to me. But it was never a decision on my part to believe or not - it just happened. Posted January 25, 2008 |
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surfsusan
Cool lens. When I visit The Rep. of Ireland and say I am an atheist, I am asked: a Catholic or Protestant atheist? When I first got the question I didn't believe what I heard. Being from Denmark I am problably a Norse atheist - LOL. Posted January 25, 2008 |
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daoine
This is one of my favourite lenses. Every now and then I have to visit for a dose of sanity! Posted December 10, 2007 |
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Alban
I think one has to loose everything, or better give everything away, in order to find God. That certainly includes religion, which in many cases takes on a form of blatant denial of God and the teachings of Jesus Christ. But that is what the human condition is. Posted September 10, 2007 |
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Flaming_Potato
Why do you spend so much time and energy disproving something that you don't believe exists? Posted August 16, 2007 |
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wahlee
Religion Misunderstood can be very detrimental to our health.Interesting how many millions partake.I wonder I wander I say what is there, is there something?I get into the groove with some non emotional type music.You can seem to get a transcendance. Posted August 16, 2007 |
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Waterwalker_Publishing
You've heard what others have to say about the Bible. Now it's time to read it for yourself. Haven't got one? THIS is the place to go. Posted June 04, 2007 |
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Forgiven
Hello again Lewis. Posted June 01, 2007 |
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torah-thoughts
I have been writing long responses to Mr. Smiles atheist lenses. You can read them here - http://www.squidoo.com/a-response-to-an-atheist/. If you care about the issue, you'll read it AND THINK ABOUT IT. If you don't, you won't. The choice is yours. Posted May 31, 2007 |
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N376
"Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid." Posted May 26, 2007 |
Fantastic - not fanatical!
I wish you well brother!
Posted May 24, 2007
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Forgiven
Cool lens. I just got started on mine but it will be a while before I can get to it. Lotsa irons on the fire! Best wishes to you bro! Posted May 17, 2007 |
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MrLewisSmile
What's here
- Why am I making this lens?
- Conversational Intolerance
- Essential Video 1: "What if you're wrong about not believing in God?"
- More...
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