- Joined
- Mar 21, 2016
- Messages
- 12,130
- Reaction score
- 7,253
- Location
- Charleston, SC
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Libertarian - Left
I'm an Atheist, but for the most part, I generally don't care what you believe unless you're trying to shove your silly beliefs down my throat or trying to judge me negatively it's generally none of my business, and I won't make a big deal about it. But I'm starting to wonder if we can afford to keep doing that. I used to not worry too much about it because I had confidence that our courts would consistently uphold the freedom of religion so even though I knew there were a lot of wack jobs in this country I wasn't too concerned about them causing a ton of harm. Particularly since Gay Marriage was legalized.
But now that religious nuts are on the verge of remaking the courts it may be time to get a little more serious about snapping the zealots out of their delusional beliefs. I don't really want to because I know there are many people for whom the afterlife is scary, and religion gives them comfort, but I'm not sure there's much choice at this point.
Got does not exist. God is nothing more than an adult version of Santa Claus used to scare you into being a good boy. Gods like Zeus and Poseidon were first invented for the purposes of explaining difficult concepts to their children. The village elders didn't want to sound stupid in front of their kids and they didn't have T.V. to entertain them so they made up all kinds of ridiculous stories to explain things like Rain, Thunder, the tides, the rough seas, the Sun, the Moon, the Stars, and where they all came from.
It was all bull****, and most of the original storytellers new this, but eventually they realized that these gods they created could be used more purposefully. You see back in those days they didn't have CSI. There were no security cameras, fingerprinting, or DNA tests. If you committed a crime in those days there was a pretty good chance you were going to get away with it. So the elders decided to be a bit more proactive. They started using these stories to convince young people that if they didn't behave properly they would anger the gods and bring about famine, floods, or horrible storms.
Of course eventually, someone climbed up on top of Mount Olympus and realized Zeus wasn't really up there so over time the gods became more abstract and invisible. Under Judaism and Christianity, they put the gods up in the sky and out of reach. But the same concepts exist in all religions. The idea that there are magical beings watching over everything you do who will judge you based on your misdeeds. Zeus, the Argus, Yahweh, Santa Claus... Even Hinduism and Buddhism have the concept of Karma which isn't a being so much but is designed to convince people that all the bad things they do will be revisited upon them by some mystical force.
Even today modern parents know damn well Santa Claus isn't real, but they still use it to frighten their kids into behaving when they're not around. It's amazing how you can know full well what you're doing to your children, but still, have no clue that your religious leaders are doing the exact same thing to you.
Of course, this is just the tip of the iceberg. If you have anything you'd ever liked to ask an Atheists please feel free. It's time to wake up.
But now that religious nuts are on the verge of remaking the courts it may be time to get a little more serious about snapping the zealots out of their delusional beliefs. I don't really want to because I know there are many people for whom the afterlife is scary, and religion gives them comfort, but I'm not sure there's much choice at this point.
Got does not exist. God is nothing more than an adult version of Santa Claus used to scare you into being a good boy. Gods like Zeus and Poseidon were first invented for the purposes of explaining difficult concepts to their children. The village elders didn't want to sound stupid in front of their kids and they didn't have T.V. to entertain them so they made up all kinds of ridiculous stories to explain things like Rain, Thunder, the tides, the rough seas, the Sun, the Moon, the Stars, and where they all came from.
It was all bull****, and most of the original storytellers new this, but eventually they realized that these gods they created could be used more purposefully. You see back in those days they didn't have CSI. There were no security cameras, fingerprinting, or DNA tests. If you committed a crime in those days there was a pretty good chance you were going to get away with it. So the elders decided to be a bit more proactive. They started using these stories to convince young people that if they didn't behave properly they would anger the gods and bring about famine, floods, or horrible storms.
Of course eventually, someone climbed up on top of Mount Olympus and realized Zeus wasn't really up there so over time the gods became more abstract and invisible. Under Judaism and Christianity, they put the gods up in the sky and out of reach. But the same concepts exist in all religions. The idea that there are magical beings watching over everything you do who will judge you based on your misdeeds. Zeus, the Argus, Yahweh, Santa Claus... Even Hinduism and Buddhism have the concept of Karma which isn't a being so much but is designed to convince people that all the bad things they do will be revisited upon them by some mystical force.
Even today modern parents know damn well Santa Claus isn't real, but they still use it to frighten their kids into behaving when they're not around. It's amazing how you can know full well what you're doing to your children, but still, have no clue that your religious leaders are doing the exact same thing to you.
Of course, this is just the tip of the iceberg. If you have anything you'd ever liked to ask an Atheists please feel free. It's time to wake up.