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Tag Archives: Christianity
The World Must Lose It’s Delusion and Face the Truth
I have never believed in God…… I was agnostic about it for years and ambiguous to it at best.
Enter the age of retirement and the vast amount of information available on the internet. Things that were previously difficult to investigate, now become commonplace and there is nearly an infinity of information available. You just have to sort out the information that can be proven as true from the (again a vast amount) information that can be dismissed as conjecture, opinion or just plain made up lies that attempt to pass as truth.
Ahh, yes, TRUTH.
While all through my so-called “work life” I had never the time to, or the curiosity for exploring just what it is that makes so many people accept their particular brand of religion (there are 41,000 denominations of Christianity alone, without ever getting into Judaism or Islam) as the ONLY true religion, and the rejection of all the others as wrong.
Well I cannot put all what I have learned about religion, the Bible, Jesus and God into words as the more I write, the less clear I can become sometimes. So as an alternative I’ll be posting a random series with links to videos and articles made by the people who have tirelessly pursued the subject.
Today I’ll just put out one link to one video that I believe will fulfill my part of educating as many as possible, and doing my best as an online epistemologist, or better put, for the purpose of providing tools to use reason and research to help relieve people of their faith and help them accept reason and facts rather than myths and fairy tales.
The future of this planet, I believe hinges on getting as many people to examine their delusion of God and Muhammad, as these are the two main offshoots of these ancient manuscripts and the source of the delusion of billions of people.
The way to change the world is to change people’s minds. As more and more people openly discuss the fact that “God” and “Allah” are completely imaginary, the world becomes a better place.
Here goes… Watch this short video:
Remember we need not abandon religion completely, but knowing what’s rational and what can be dismissed as superstition is important for us to ever find a path to truth and [real] peace on earth
Welcome to New California
Dear Red States:
We’ve decided we’re leaving. We intend to form our own country, and we’re taking the other Blue States with us.
In case you aren’t aware, that includes Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and all of the Northeast. We believe this split will be beneficial to the nation, and especially to the people of the new country of New California.
To sum up briefly:
You get Texas, Oklahoma and all the slave states. We get stem cell research and the best beaches.
We get Elliot Spitzer. You get Ken Lay.
We get the Statue of Liberty. You get Dollywood.
We get Intel and Microsoft. You get WorldCom.
We get Harvard. You get Ole’ Miss.
We get 85 percent of America’s venture capital and entrepreneurs. You get Alabama.
We get two-thirds of the tax revenue. You get to make the red states pay their fair share.
Since our aggregate divorce rate is 22 percent lower than the Christian Coalition’s, we get a bunch of happy families. You get a bunch of single moms.
Please be aware that Nuevo California will be pro-choice and anti-war, and we’re going to want all our citizens back from Iraq at once. If you need people to fight, ask your evangelicals. They have kids they’re apparently willing to send to their deaths for no purpose, and they don’t care if you don’t show pictures of their children’s caskets coming home. We do wish you success in Iraq, and hope that the WMDs turn up, but we’re not willing to spend our resources in Bush’s Quagmire.
With the Blue States in hand, we will have firm control of 80 percent of the country’s fresh water, more than 90 percent of the pineapple and lettuce, 92 percent of the nation’s fresh fruit, 95 percent of America’s quality wines (you can serve French wines at state dinners) 90 percent of all cheese, 90 percent of the high tech industry, most of the U.S. low-sulfur coal, all living redwoods, sequoias and condors, all the Ivy and Seven Sister schools, plus Stanford, Cal Tech, MIT, and University of California.
With the Red States, on the other hand, you will have to cope with 88 percent of all obese Americans (and their projected health care costs), 92 percent of all U.S. mosquitoes, nearly 100 percent of the tornadoes, 90 percent of the hurricanes, 99 percent of all Southern Baptists, virtually 100 percent of all televangelists, Rush Limbaugh, Bob Jones University, Clemson and the University of Georgia.
We get Hollywood and Yosemite, thank you.
Additionally, 38 percent of those in the Red states believe Jonah was actually swallowed by a whale, 62 percent believe life is sacred unless we’re discussing the death penalty or gun laws, 44 percent say that evolution is only a theory, 53 percent that Saddam was involved in 9/11 and 61 percent of you crazy bastards believe you are people with higher morals then we lefties.
By the way, we’re taking the good pot, too. You can have that dirt weed they grow in Mexico.
Peace out,
California
Religion Causes Hate
When I saw this picture on a post online, I saw red and a lot of anger at religious delusion and hate that it promotes.
And people look at me like I’M the crazy one when I say that I’m an atheist.
Religious delusion has never been a good thing, EVER, but in this day and age to have a planet that, by the best estimates has a population of (www.worldometers.info/world-population) about 7 billion+, and to have a large percentage of them suffering what can only be called a mental illness (religion), and the fact that any kind of mass awakening happening anytime soon is just a fantasy of mine, well you start to see the picture.
This kind of ancient thinking (which is promoted in all religious texts) might be on the rise among the deluded ones, that must number in the billions now (www.atheistempire.com).
Not a good thing for world peace.
Worldwide acceptance that there is no “God” may be the only answer to human survival and true peace on earth.
These delusional people all have that fucked up (arrogant) attitude that their “Sky God” is the only “RIGHT ONE”, and have proven time and time again that they’re more than willing to go to war over that, and well, I don’t see a happy ending to this.
Without a majority of mankind losing their religious delusions and working as one race, the human race, for the good of all, with greed, hate and bigotry all put in their proper place, which is the garbage, I don’t see a happy ending here as long as religion is in the way. Think about
it.
How Republican Strategies Beat Democrats
Posted by Chad R. MacDonald on Thursday, March 19, 2015
Democrats can be their own worst enemies, and Republicans count on that.
Democrats need to face the fact that Republicans do a much better job of mobilizing their base, thereby influencing American politics, even if they don’t actually represent the majority of the Electorate. The GOP has the Tea Party, the NRA, the Religious Right, and the 1% all pulling for them.
It’s easy for Republicans to maintain control over these groups. All they need do is invoke gay marriage and the Religious Right is in an uproar. Mention abortion to keep them frothing at the mouth then sprinkle in a picture of two gay men adopting a baby, and the Bible Belt will follow you to the Gates of Hell. For examples see Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee.
As scare tactics have such a proven track record, Republicans engage in them heavily. That’s why they’ve been screaming to the heavens about Iran trying to kill us all for most of this writer’s lifetime. Rhetoric about a third world country coming to take America’s freedom keeps the military industrial complex on board as well as spreading fear, so that’s a nice double-whammy. For examples, see Lindsey Graham, John McCain, and Tom Cotton.
Both of these groups merge seamlessly with each other. Poor conservatives are united by their fear of The Other, whether they define that as an immigrant, an LGBT American, or a specific ethnic group, especially Latinos and African-Americans. Bible thumpers and gun nuts are one and the same most times anyway, so playing to their fear and ignorance is a winning strategy.
Now factor in gerrymandering, voter suppression, voter purges, voter ID laws, more voter suppression, non-popular vote wins, unlimited dark money campaign contributions, a little more voter suppression, the elimination of same-day voter registration, shortening the period of time people can vote in, and purchase voting machines on top of everything else.
Here you have the One Percent’s contributions to Republican strategies. They are the ones who built that platform, after all. For examples, see the Koch Brothers, Sheldon Adelson, and Mitt Romney.
As for legislation, Republicans do not negotiate. They simply demand what they want repeatedly and use the bully pulpit to relentlessly batter everyone until they get their way. They do not make flowery sales pitches, they employ hellfire and brimstone. They do not change topics or accept lesser legislation.
Republicans obstruct, filibuster, threaten, and go over the heads of whomever they have to, whether that be Congress, the President, the United Nations, it doesn’t matter who, to appeal directly to a rabid conservative base. For examples see George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.
Who are the Democrats? Liberals. Science enthusiasts. The working class and union members. Advocates for equal and/or fair pay. Health care activists. Ethnic minorities and immigrants. Feminists. Atheists, agnostics, and those who reject religious fundamentalism. The Occupy Wall Street movement and anti-corporatists. Academics. Anti-war advocates and lovers of peace. LGBT Americans.
In other words, a big hot mess. Democrats have to build platforms using dozens upon dozens of issues, and many are in conflict with each other. One easily sees this on social media. For the most part, Republican/Tea Party/Conservative Christian/Gun Nut Facebook groups and pages are united in their hatred of liberals. It’s the one thing they all agree on. Democratic groups are a lot more scattered.
It’s tough to get everyone on the same page in a progressive environment. While that speaks well of the prevalence of independent thinking and individualism of the Left, herding cats is not a method by which anything productive can get accomplished. At least not on a regular basis. This is the weakness that Republicans exploit time and time again.
Which brings us to Hillary Clinton. Hillary is going to be the number one focus of the Republicans going forward. They are going to continue to launch ceaseless attacks upon her, and the media is going to let them.
Look at how much focus was given to her non-scandal email story, while Republicans skirted the boundaries of treason and did massive damage to America’s ability to deal in international matters. The latter was clearly the bigger story, but the attention given to it paled in comparison to Clinton’s emails.
#47Traitors trended on twitter for days, but it’s faded away now. Tom Cotton has cemented his conservative superstar status, as was his plan all along, and the Republicans are already piling up outrage after outrage, each offense burying the last. They know the media and the American public will let them get away with it.
How are Democrats responding? They’re dithering over whether or not they should back Hillary. A great many of them are, anyway. And while Elizabeth Warren is a fine choice, there’s no way she will win the Presidency in 2016. She could land in the White House after Hillary’s terms, certainly, but she won’t get it beforehand.
Hillary Clinton is the best shot Democrats have of maintaining the Presidency. Period. Moaning and sulking about how she’s not the best progressive choice will only split the liberal vote, and the Republicans are waiting for exactly that opportunity.
And while Democrats squabble back and forth, the world is burning. Temperatures hit 90 in Los Angeles in mid-March. California only has a year of water left. Jim Inhofe throws a snowball in Congress in response.
America has just climbed back from the brink of a cataclysmic economic collapse that nearly dragged the whole planet down with it. Republicans, in response, have repealed the regulatory safeguards that were keeping the banks from sinking us all again.
An elite minority is merrily shoving us ever closer to the edge of that cliff, and should we go over it, we may not recover this time. Should the Republicans gain more power, we can expect economic collapse, environmental disasters, and, of course, war.
And Democrats pout because Hillary Clinton isn’t exactly what they want. It’s the same old cycle all over again, and we need to put a stop to it, and fast. We are on the clock, and time is getting far too short. Should the worst happen, we will only have ourselves to blame.
Chad R. MacDonald
Chad R. MacDonald has a degree in English literature from Cape Breton University and subsequently received a full scholarship to AMDA in New York City. He is a former security professional, veteran of the hospitality industry, and experienced in both the arts as well as administration. He has been writing all his life, likes baseball, hockey, literature, science, the arts, and marine photography. Chad lives in Brooklyn with his wife and son and their gigantic cat.
Cognitive Dissonance
by Damien Lee Thorr, 02/19/2015
Today I would like to discuss cognitive dissonance. Specifically about how theists reject science in spite of the overwhelming evidence and how to keep their ignorance out of law, government, schools and our bedrooms.
We need atheist unity to combat politicians who attempt to sneak their beliefs into our laws and violate our freedoms. It made me very angry today when I read the news about the Arabian rape victim who was sentenced to 6 months in prison and 200 lashes. All because by Muslim law, a woman is forbidden to engage in sex before she is married. Clearly, the injustice speaks volumes about how mythological beliefs and ignorance must be kept out of government, courtrooms and laws.
When arguing with a theist, does anyone else ever think things like “if I had a dollar for every time I hear ‘I don’t care how much evidence you have, I’ll never give up my faith’, I would be pretty wealthy”?
One of the many things I encounter with people who believe in mythology (Christianity, Islam, Judeism….), is that no matter how much scientific and archaeological evidence there is out there that debunks their beliefs, they reject it as “opinions”. Isn’t that a pretty good example of ignorance?
Archaeological research indicates that there are NO writings outside of scripture (which are all mythological accounts), that document anything about Jesus.
There were several writers during the first century who reported the current events of the time (political, social, natural disasters and artistic) and not one mentions anything about him.
Additionally, if he was so famous, raising the dead, curing cripples, walking on water, turning water into wine and raising a ministry of hundreds of thousands and so angered the Jewish people and Romans alike, there would be much reason to report something about him….. but there is silence.
There are not even any Roman court documents that mention him in spite of the fact that scripture suggests he was tried by Pilate himself. Keeping in mind, the Romans were meticulous at keeping records of everything they did to demonstrate to their superior intelligence to reinforce their hold on the people they conquered. Everything was accounted for.
One must also keep in mind that there are no birth records, death records, tax records (as the Romans taxed everyone in the region), rabbi records and there is not even any record or mention of a last name. There are simply no documentations or any real life accounts about him during his alleged existence.
He is basically another man-invented deity attached to allegorical stories like the rest of them: Thorr, Horus, Osiris, Zeus, Odin, Metzli, Xenu, etc…..
I constantly hear evangelists and apologists cite Josephus but it is irrelevant. Josephus was not a contemporary and NEVER wrote anything about him.
For a start, Josephus was born in the year 37 CE (Common Era) and the alleged crucifixion took place somewhere between 29 CE and 34 CE. In other words, he was not around to document or witness.
There is a paragraph where he is mentioned in a much later version of the Josephus writings copied by christian scribes under the influence of Eusebius (235-339 CE), who arbitrarily edited the text and added a small paragraph about christ in the middle of two paragraphs where it clearly does not reflect relevance. It is evident by the paragraphs that follow which show zero relevance.
Additionally, if Christ was so famous and so important to the Jews and early Christians of the time period, why only such a short paragraph? And why only ONE, for that matter?
This has been determined by ALL scholars to be a forgery, especially since the passage does not appear anywhere in the earlier versions of the writings by Josephus, therefore, no writings of jesus exist outside of scripture. Therefore, it is all mythological.
The so called “eye witnesses” that Christians claim as evidence were born long after 34 CE (common era), the estimated date of the alleged crucifixion. So how could they have been witnesses to the resurrection if they were not even yet born to witness it? Christians are notorious for misrepresenting the facts.
Here are the facts regarding the “eye-witnesses” that Christians lie about: Flavius Josephus 37-100, Clement of Rome 38-102, Ignatius 35-107, Pliny 62-113, Suetonius 75-160, Tacitus 55-117, Polycarp 69-155, Justin Martyr 114-167, Lucian 125-180, Clement of Alexandria 150-211, Tertullian 155-230, Origen 185-254, Cyprian of Carthage 208-258, Eusebius 235-339. These findings have been confirmed and verified, yet, they reject it.
Sources: Oxford University Press, Dr. Bart Ehrman, Dr. Richard Carrier, Dr. Robert Price and David Fitzgerald.
As for Judeism, there is no evidence outside of scripture that Moses existed. No Egyptian records ever mention him nor a mass exodus of hundreds of thousands of jews and there is no archaeological evidence to corroborate that they were slaves and wandered through the desert for 40 years. That legend is a lie. Jews have tried using the defense that the Egyptians never documented their losses or defeats but that is not true since their defeat and conquest by the Romans has been well documented as well as the burning of Alexandria and many other defeats.
Muslims believe that the Qur’an contains a message from an all-powerful, all-knowing, infallible god. If this is true then it should not contain any errors or information that contradicts known facts about the universe. If even one error exists in the text of their holy book, then the claims of divine authorship and infallibility are not true. An objective evaluation of the Qur’an shows that it contains numerous scientific and historical errors and reflects a pre-scientific, 7th century view of the natural world.
Some apologists will contest those scientific errors in the Qur’an by appealing to metaphor, alternative meanings, or supernatural interpretations of the text. Even if we accept that alternative explanations were possible in every case, the wording and content of the verses often mimic the popular mythology and unscientific misconceptions of the time in which they were written. The author makes no clear or unambiguous statements that differentiate his understanding of the natural world from the common folklore of the people living in that era.
If the Qur’an was delivered by an all-powerful, all-knowing god, then he would have been able to foresee how such misleading statements would be understood by future generations and the doubts and confusions they have caused. This alone should be reason to reject any claims to divine authorship.
The worst part is that most theists are not at all interested in viewing the evidence that debunks their beliefs.
The problem with believers is that they cannot accept our atheism (they often feel threatened and they resort to insults and name-calling) because they feel they have “proof” to back up their claims in spite of evidence that debunks it all. The church controls gullible followers (who never question anything) with horror tactics, such as the threat of eternal burning hell. The facts remain that archaeological evidence demonstrates that it was man, in all cultures, who invented god/s to interpret and answer what he could not understand before we had science for valid, satisfactory answers.
When there is zero evidence to prove your imaginary god is real, that, within itself, is evidence he does not exist. However, apologists cling to their faith and one gets the feeling that a discussion with them is pretty much like administering medication to a corpse.
Turning water into wine, a woman getting pregnant without a man’s sperm, walking on water, a talking snake, raising the dead, the building of an ark to shelter and feed two of each species for more than a year, a woman transforming into a pillar of salt, a man swallowed alive by a whale for several days, the world being only six thousand years old, and resurrection…… These outrageous, untrue and impossible claims are nothing more than story-telling myths and should be the very first clue that the bible is not a newspaper from the past and in no way evidence of a god.
This doesn’t even touch the contradictions it is overwhelmed with!!!
Bottom line:
They all only believe their mythology because they have been lied to. They are clearly the product of the falsehoods their organizations teach and closed to the reality that there is no god, suspending rational judgment.
Long ago Christianity became the major mythological belief due to its gargantuan violence against those who opposed it. It was never about how true or divine it was because it never has been.
Today the Islamics use threats of violence in the same manner but they should know this:
WE WILL NOT YIELD TO ANY MORE MYTHOLOGICAL INSANITY THAT MASQUERADES AS REALITY!
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