Religion

Religion declares knowledge that is impossible to know, boasts of powers it does not have and claims moral authority it does not deserve.

I would that I could

I would that I could strip away the mendacious veil that covers the eyes of the faithful, with soothing words so reasonable that even the meanest of gods would melt into obscurity.

Why I want to be like Christopher Hitchens

Why I want to be like Christopher Hitchens:
He speaks truth to power, and does not flinch or look away. He defies religious zealots by exposing the soft under belly of their argument and then publicly disembowels their certainty. He insults the meanness of the righteous, and the ignorance of the faithful. He is an intellectual gladiator who inspires me to enter the arena.

When Reason Falters

When reason falters and logic fails in the presents of faith; stand fast in your own conviction that ignorance is not knowledge and gullibility is not strength. For Truth is not just a word or an idea, it is that which can be proven.

God a Rorschach Illusion

What you preceive is yourself.
It is We that give reality meaning and texture.
We are the Universe become conscious, the maker of gods.
How lucky are We?

Faith, a ticket to godhood

To the believer faith is a ticket to godhood.
But to me, faith binds the believer in a mental trap that shuts off intellectual inquiry.
It is an illusion making machine that never allows evidence to undermine its certainty.
Faith makes the believer into a willing participant in their own deception,
by hypnotizing themselves into a state of surety that is magnitudes beyond any
knowledge they possess to justify such an extreme belief.

Faith is an Illusion of Knowledge

Faith, by definition; is not knowing but acting as though you do. It’s an act. The believer is pretending to know something that is impossible to know.
Faith has blinded the believer to any evidence that will contradict their belief, whether it’s a contradiction in their own holy text or in the natural world.
The fact that they believe at all shows not the power of god but the power of indoctrination.
They are trapped in a prison they have made brick by brick by daily prayer.

Knowledge, the dethroner of gods

I would believe in god, if god were apparent. But She is not. To me, by calling the mystery of the universe god is the same as the ancients calling the wind god or the sun god. Knowledge dethroned those gods as knowledge will dethrone all gods. We must quit sucking the religious binky and grow up and deal with reality on its own terms.

Conversation between an Atheist and a Christian

The Conversation

Christian: Jesus said He that cometh unto me Shall have “Ever Lasting Life”.

Atheist: So what your saying is that by “believing” that Jesus is God I get to be a god?

Christian: No I wouldn't say God we will be with Jesus in all his glory.

Atheist: Forever?

Christian: Yes

Atheist: I think living forever makes you a god?

Christian: No we all have an immortal soul.

Atheist: You say I'm immortal?

Christian: Yes

Atheist: Then I'm a god too. Interesting. And why should I believe you?

Christian: Because the Lord Jesus says it is so.

Atheist: Well, that's all well and good for you to think that, but what are you
offering as evidence.

Christian: Thats where faith comes in.

Atheist: yea faith.

Christian: Yep faith. We are saved by faith.

Atheist: Then you have no proof?

Christian: The word of God is our proof?

Atheist: The word of god. I see. I assume your talking about the Bible?

Christian: Yes of course; the Bible was written down by men inspired by
God.

Atheist: And How do you now that these men weren't the village idiots?

Christian: Because of the prophesies.

Atheist: Yes, I've heard of those. They seem about as legit as numerology or reading tea leaves, nothing I would base believing in a super natural invisable god on. Surly you don't base your belief on that?

Christian: It is not just that; when Jesus comes into my heart and the Holy Spirit fills my heart I fill a joy that is unspeakable and full of glory!

Atheist: It seems a bit romanticized. You have described nothing that would persuade any thinking adult. Your obviously wallowing in morphines your brain has created with your imaginings. Your addicted...

Christian: Yes I'm addicted to God! Thank God! Prays Jesus!

Atheist: I see. So is god in you now?

Christian: Yes! I feel the Holy Spirit touching me! Conda la Shinga! (speeking in tongues)Thank You Jesus! Praise be to God!

Atheist: ?

Christian: Jesus is leading me to tell you: "That your immortal soul is in danger of Hell Fire!"

Atheist: I see. So is it Jesus who I'm talking to now?

Christian: Yes! He is in my heart. And if you open up your heart right now; Jesus will come into you and cleans you of your sins so that you too can sit at the right hand of God and escape the horrors of Gods Almighty Wrath against the wicked and the damned!

Atheist: So you believe this with all your heart do you?

Christian: Yes. Just open up your heart before it's too late. Jesus is coming you don't want to be left behind when the rapture comes.

Atheist: You know, I really need more proof than just a story from a book. I tell you what though, If god in you will just do some of the things he promised to do in the bible.... say bring my dead wife back to life, like he did Lazarus, or even himself.

Christian: Excuse me?

Atheist: Doesn't it say you can have “anything” you ask for as long as you ask in Jesus' name and believe. I would like to see my wife again. So if you can arrange that, that would make a believer out of me.

Christian:You should not tempt God.

Atheist: Tempt god? How does asking him to fulfill a promise tempting god?

Christian:Satan tempted Jesus to prove himself.

Atheist: Didn't he tell Jesus to bow to him and worship him in that passage?

Christian: Well yes...

Atheist: So whats that scripture to do with me. I'm not Satan and I'm not telling him to bow to me.

Christian: When you ask for proof you are asking Him to bow to you.

Atheist: So what your really telling me is that your god in you can't raise the dead or do any miracles through you that were promised? That doesn't lend to its credibility as the “word of God” now does it? And also, if the “Power and Authority” the bible claims that comes to believers doesn't work what makes you think you becoming a imortal is going to work either?

Christian: Its faith that saves you. Proof doesn't come from the senses. Even if God did raise your wife from the dead you wouldn't believe. You would just think that it was a trick or that she wasn't really dead all along. Proof isn't what saves you. Jesus said “blessed are the one's who believe and have not seen.

Atheist: No I'm quite sure I would believe. But as it is, it still comes down to credibility and so far the god in you Just doesn't have any.

Christian: Just open your heart God “will” reveal Himself to you. He is reaching out to you.

Atheist: You can't show me that your belief is any “truer” than any other belief system in the world. In fact your “Word of God” Book doesn't read to me like it was written by a Supreme Being at all, not even super human. More like it was written by a commity. It just comes across as not convincing at all.

Christian: There are over a billion people who would disagree with you.

Atheist: Yes but I try to never let the lack of imagination in others retard my quest for the truth.
Christian: Jesus is the Way the Truth and the Light.

Atheist: So far I've been telling you what I don't believe in. Do you want to know what I “do” believe about your belief?

Christian: ....I guess so...

Atheist: I believe you are caught in a psychological trap. You are bound by your faith to the point that I'm amazed you can function in modern society at all. You can not “not believe”, you have no choice but to believe. Your imprisoned in your own faith. Faith itself has become your god, your idol of worship. It is not Truth you love and seek. Truth is my God and the earth is my bible. And the story nature tells is different than the story your book tells. I therefore choose to “believe” in empirical evidence, not in invisible gods, demons, angles, fairies or trolls. You have sold Truth out . A worrier of truth would abandon any belief that didn't come up to scrutiny. Faith makes you intellectually lazy. You take no responsibility or effort to know evidence because evidence would invalidate your faith. You run from “any” information that would undermine your precious faith. And because of this you have become intellectually retarded.

Christian: You better take care not to provoke God.

Atheist: Yes, so I've heard. Which brings me to another point. That the Bible is brutal, primitive, and spits in the face of even the most elementary of moralities.

Christian: Thats not true at all. The word of God is the back bone of American morals and America is the most moral country in the world thanks to Christianity.

Atheist: Is it? Well thats a debate we can take up at another time. But in regards to the morality of the bible; I think any one that thinks killing as being morally repugnant, would have a hard time on the hard line God seems to take.

Christian: The Bible says; God is a jealous God.

Atheist: Yes and thats part of the problem I'm having with the desert religions view of god. He seems very petty and in need of applause.

Christian: No you have him all wrong God is love.

Atheist: Really? Hell, disease, and birth defects says other wise. Any way; Don't you find it the least bit suspicious the whole ultimate carrot and stick motif. Especially in conjunction with having blind faith as one of the bible's highest virtues? I find that rather telling don't you?

Christian: I..I'm not sure...what your....

Atheist: It seems obvious to me. It's so contrived, aren't you the least bit embarrassed? I mean to fallow along with something so obviously contrived to make you a slave to an organization that takes your money and tells you how to live and think. Not only with out proof but to dupe you into thinking that its a virtue to believe with out it. Man You are really trapped aren't you. I feel sorry for you. I wish I could help you break the bonds of faith that hold you. There “is” an alternative based on reason instead of faith. Its called rationalism, humanism, and the scientific method.

Christian: I know what humanism is its a tool of the Devil! You want to make man God.

Atheist: Isn't that what your doing?

Christian: Of course not we serve God we don't become God.

Atheist: If your faith says that you will spend eternity with god as his special buddy and that you will become like him, that sounds like making yourself gods to me.

Christian: No thats not how it is....Your twisting it around!

Atheist: I'm just seeing the same scriptures with out looking through rose color glasses. As I said earlier you romanticize your faith.

Christian: No I don't! What do you mean by that any way?

Atheist: Ok, what does faith mean? What is its definition?

Christian: faith is the evidence of things hoped for. Evidence of thing not seen or have not yet come about.

Atheist: In other words; you don't “know” but you act as though you do.

Christian: No thats not what faith is.

Atheist: No? So you do know.

Christian: Yes I know that Jesus is Lord.

Atheist: Again I must ask you to raise my dead wife. Because, If Peter who could not walk on water with Jesus because of his “lack of faith” even though, he was with Jesus and saw His miracles and yet didn't know. How can you, who have never seen any miracles claim to “know” Jesus is Lord and yet you can't cure a fever blister let alone raise the dead...

Christian: Ok, ok, I “believe” Jesus is Lord. The point is, It is through Jesus that we are saved.

Atheist: Yes. And we are saved from our sins or rather it is our ancestors sins that we are guilty of right?

Christian: Thats right. We were born in sin. But all that can be washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ.

Atheist: I think sin is just a myth created to explain why God is not here.

Christian: What do you mean?

Atheist: I mean just what I said. You are so convinced that there is a God, because life is just too improbable, it had to be created.

Christian: Thats right! There has to be a Creator!

Atheist: Ok, I will suspend my disbelief and say; I agree, that god created the universe. But then where is god. I mean If god made us and made us special above all animals. Which is evident by the fact that we are much smarter , we talk and use fire and have written language its obvious that we must be special to god right? We have to be special. The Universe was made just for us, Right?.

Christian: We are created in Gods image and we have an immortal soul...

Atheist: Yes, well any way, So where is this god? If god isn't here or isn't talking to us it must be because of something we did. It couldn't be anything god did, because god is perfect right? So we must have offended god some how, right? Ergo sin! Its all so ...logical. Its just a story to fill in the gaps of your ignorance. Its so obvious once you get away from your romance with faith. Or I should say; your not knowing but acting as though you do, So you can become a god, way of thinking.

end of conversation.