All Religion Is Fake and While We Are At It

a reply to: Raggedyman

Eh, I'd say the violence of Stalinist communism was helped perpetuated by ideology, and religion is most definitely an ideology - Stalinism just substitutes the state/leader worship in place of religion.

It felt like a rant by a high school student who has no back research on ancient scripture, no experience of Providence, no understanding of self.

Though I agree, taking scripture at face value and regurgitating the same thing that has been altered, edited and used for many many agendas throughout time, is utterly nonsense and insane.

I don't agree with your bashing and childish choice of words and intent you have used to write the OP.

But what the hell..

originally posted by: frostie
a reply to: forthelove

Organized Religion was created by man to control and manipulate the masses.

Jump to the 31 second mark

or try this www.youtube.com...

a reply to: forthelove

The only part you got wrong was the "All" part, but there is one true reality and it does involve a creator and somebody who was a teenager 2000 years ago.

a reply to: Joecanada11

A lot of those peculiar things issue from the context in which they were written (dietary restrictions, etc). The Bible really isn't meant to be read like a dime store novel. It takes an understanding of history, theology, language, culture, etc. etc. For people who are unfamiliar, it wouldn't make much sense. And outside of certain fanatical groups, I really don't see a big call for stoning people by religious folks.

a reply to: forthelove

Religion is not so much to blame, more or less the people that are zealous about it are, and that will gladly offer their own Son as tribute... Some get a sense of fidelity and community out of it, some get discipline from a discipline, that been disciplined enough, while others can go ether bat-# crazy or retarded.

Thing is you can hate Religion or God, all you like, it won't get you anywhere, since being angry at some inconceivable spirit of creation to some Golden God is rather pointless since it kind of is almost believing in something that not real?

And thinking that we would of been better off by sticking with science advancements since the stone age, is what probably brought about these constructs into power in the first place. Which is probably why religion was so scared of it, probably thought God was going to get angry for them thinking that they were smarter then God. Lol.

I wouldn't worry about it though, religion been dying a slow gruesome death for a couple of thousand years.

a reply to: Elementalist

It felt like a rant by a high school student who has no back research on ancient scripture, no experience of Providence, no understanding of self.

Or a an college-attending-early-20-something that's just had a particularly bad instructor for their junior year World Religions course. Or someone who gets all their knowledge of religion from pop culture and soundbites. Or.... there are a lot of or's. It's kind of fashionable to rag on religion, especially for the young and/or the in-crowd.

There's a real tendency to treat religious people (and by this, I mean mostly Christians of various stripes) as known-nothing rubes. Oddly enough, this is often done by people who, themselves, are not exactly well-informed enough to discuss the topic of religion intelligently.

Then there are the well-educated who know better but rather than having a real discussion prefer to just mock people who don't see the world the way they do.

I actually have more respect for the ill-informed who are just parroting the fashionable sentiments of the day. At least they're acting out of ignorance, for the most part, rather than malice.

a reply to: Blue_Jay33

Says who? What proof is there that Jesus has anything to do with the one true reality? Why not Zeus. Or horus. Or Vishnu? What makes Jesus right and everything else wrong?

a reply to: SisterDelirium

The point is that people worship a god who allowed rape. The selling of women. Slavery. Stoning and animal sacrifice. Personally I don't believe a supreme being would have anything to do with those rules. It's silly.

a reply to: Joecanada11

Your talking about things that have been going on for thousands and thousands of years though, and there probably would of been people who weren't so religious that would do similar acts with out the permission of a God to allow it.

Personally, wouldn't a supreme scratch a few creations out for doing the deed with same amount or ten fold the amount of pain they caused? Wouldn't that be silly of supreme being not gaining a few thousand worshippers.

originally posted by: Raggedyman
originally posted by: WonOunce
a reply to: Raggedyman

WonOunce: And with it we have seen the Dark Ages, the black plague persecutions, suicide bombers, countless wars, hate, greed, child rape, child mutilation just to name a few. Religion is the most dangerous thing ever created by man.

Raggedyman And since, we have seen all the same things happen outside religion. Its not just something you can blame on religion, people do these things and blame anything they can. Pol Pot Mao Stalin, all non religious, all atheists, all equally as violent.

Power, Corruption and Lies equally distributed between those that hold the designation (WE OWN THE HUMAN; A SLAVE RACE).

Raggedyman: Its strange how people want to blame the construct, not the individual who perpetrates the crime
People make the decision, individuals choose.

People do not have the opportunity to choose; the choice has already been made for them within a dictatorship or forces totally beyond their conception or control.

a reply to: Specimen

The point is that the book said to be word of God is full of examples of God making laws allowing and encouraging absolutely horrendous acts. Which is why that book has no value to me.

originally posted by: SisterDelirium
a reply to: SaturnFX

People are funny. So many think society can escape human nature by dropping religion.

Wouldn't it be nice if it was that easy?

One can hope.
Anyhow, society is slow. at least 49% are below average, and the next 26% above that aren't much to write home about either. Taking away a crutch to 75% of the population would cause a great amount of stress and anarchy without purpose.

I think you're confusing superstition with efforts to connect with the larger, divine aspects of reality.

Not really.

One is a teddy bear or rabbits foot to cling to in the dark like a frightened child hearing bumps in the night. The other is the result of an effort/interest to/in understand the deeper mysteries of existence that exist outside of/beyond the material. The two aren't interchangeable, even if some people's actions make it seem that way.

I have found the seeking of truth in reality has lead me to dismiss those who claim religions, and also those that claim known science only. Its a strange path, but very interesting.

a reply to: Joecanada11

Yes, but all forms of religion, even older, polytheistic ones have their Gods committing horrendous and weird acts as well.

a reply to: Joecanada11

There's a lot more to it. There is the story of a people and their history in relationship to their Creator and their struggle to comprehend that Creator. Really, there's just much more to the entire picture and the one you think you know is distorted. To read from Leviticus and throw out the rest oversimplifies and trivializes to the point that the conclusions arrived at don't hold nearly as much merit as you might think.

Now, I'm not asking you to delve deeply into something you obviously don't care for or about. There's no point. I'm just stating that the Bible is not a supernatural snuff book, a treatise on the finer points of animal cruelty or Rapey McRaper's Guide to Sex Slavery and Misogyny.

Thanks for sharing on ATS. but unfortunately not all people are on ATS.

Only 0.0001% of population are on ATS.

Then Evil is fake and there is no reason not to benefit from "Evil" acts or "Evil" pleasures?

a reply to: SisterDelirium

I've read the bible in its entirety. I identified as a Christian for 10 years. I spent time "in the word of god" etc. In the end I came to realize the bible has nothing to do with the creator of the universe.

... duplicate post - deleted.

originally posted by: forthelove

originally posted by: chr0naut
a reply to: forthelove

OK, so you believe that there is a higher power than yourself.

What might that mean?

What might be the requirement from you in this regard?

How does this knowledge affect your life and actions?

Or do you just proceed as if there wasn't a higher power, in the circle of the limits of your senses?

I didn't create the universe that I am aware of, must be some higher power that did. My actions in my life have always been based on love first, but that doesn't mean that I have not experienced other emotions. I simply do not require a religion to tell me what is right or wrong and my senses, also, do not require a religion to function.

A good answer, but one that leads to moral relativism.

Let me explain by using a Biblical historical example: In the time before Israel established its monarchy, they were politically oppressed by surrounding kingdoms and periodically, heroes of the people, called Judges, rose to rally against oppressors and maintain social and religious order. The book of Judges is explicitly about this time. It's most repeated phrase is "They all did what was right in their own eyes".

In the times recorded in Judges, society degenerated from a rather idyllic one where they needed no police force, army or prisons, to one where the body of a girl, gang-raped to death, was chopped into pieces and shipped around the country as a call to a civil war of the tribes against each other "... and they all continued to do what was right in their own eyes".

Over and over again through history, value relativism seeps into societies and they begin to crumble, history is full of it. It is how the great empires have all fallen.

Religious legalism puts a definitive and absolute limit on that behavior. It is when religion is abandoned that the worst despots reign, leading to political corruption, war and social unrest.

If you look up "list of religious wars" in Wikipedia, you will find that there are five.

Look up "list of current wars" and you will find that there are about 54 occurring right now.

In all recorded history, there are thousands of wars, so many that Wikipedia cannot list them all on the same page, but divides them up by pages, by period. So the obvious truth is that religion does NOT lead to war.

In the lists of thousands of wars, religion has NOT been the issue, yet everyone keeps repeating that it causes wars. Do you think an 'oft repeated lie' is truth?

Religion leads to peace and has done so historically.