One might ask what difference it makes whether Christianity – or any other religion for that matter – is fact or fiction. Is it in fact of benefit to humanity? Valid question. To answer that lets look at the affect religion has had on the world, both individually and globally.
Let's take Christianity as the example. Lets look at the basic problem of "Us" versus "Them":
When one takes up a religious code – this is especially true of a religion that declares itself to be the "truth" and all others pagan fakes - there is an immediate declaration in doing so that one knows something all others do not. When you become a Christian, the doctrine of your faith states that you are "privileged", "chosen", and "enlightened". Everyone else is in the darkness and is going to "hell", AKA: torture for eternity. This style of dogma creates the basic "us" or "them" attitude that is the base of the problem. This is made clear in every act by Christians and pre-Christian faiths since the beginning of time, where "god's people" slaughter anyone "god" tells them to. The very heart of the ability to conduct such horrible abuses of human life is the belief that the victims are of less value than those committing the abuse. History is full with examples of slaughter that defies human imagination. Just off the top of my head the Jewish slaughter of complete cities through out the old testament at "god's direction, the slaughter of Muslims by Christians in the crusades, the slaughter of everyone by Christians during the Inquisitions, the slaughter of Christians and Jews by Muslims, and on and on. This continues to this day of course. The slaughter of innocents by Muslim extremists, the slaughter and enslavement of Palestinians by Israel, slavery in American just a few hundred years ago, and the abuse of women to this day, are all examples. Name your faith and you can find it today. This religious bigotry is the mother of every religious war and all manner of abuse.
And lets not forget Bigotry, racism, and discrimination:
This is of course just another example of the above, but it bears clarification. Religion is at the root of just about every form of discrimination occurring today, or has been intimately involved. The Baptist church (and others) discriminate against women and declare, proudly I might add, that women are subordinate to men. They enforce a dress code on "their women", control their behavior and lives, and teach their children to do the same. The church has literally treated women as property in the past. Not long ago the Mormon Church declared men could not get into heaven unless they have a certain number of wives which their elders handed out to them. Of course we cannot forget today’s bigoted discrimination of the Gays and Lesbians who are treated like second hand citizens and denied their equal rights in our own country. It was not all that long ago that the church actively sought to keep bibles away from black people, partly because the church believed the blacks were damned by god and partly because they did not want blacks to learn to read. The list goes on and is equally stupid.
What of the religious influence upon science:
Religion has always stood in the way of scientific progress. The famous story of Galileo comes to mind who was ordered by the church to recant his scientific observations that the earth was round and revolved around the sun (as opposed to the universe revolving around the Earth and the church). This attitude continues today of course in the form of blocking stem cell research, considered one of the most promising technologies to date in the fight against many diseases. Then there is the control of government funds in the fight against HIV where the government only funds abstinence programs which are favored by the church and proven technologies such as promoting condoms is shelved. That list is also long and equally absurd. Many would argue that religion has given mankind many exciting benefits. Ask any Christian and they will tell you all about god’s love for man and all the wonderful things the church has done. Time and again I have heard Christians in paticular declare that their reglion, and their's alone, has alone brought enlightenment to the world. But the exact opposite is true. Religion and its churches have stood in the way of every single advancement of human kind and continue to do so to this day. History my friends does not lie.
So when one asks what benefit religion has had upon human kind, the only factual answer is NONE.
And then, the following question is a personal one. What are YOU going to do about it?
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Christianity, fact or fiction
Okay. Its fiction. Don't believe me? Then I challenge you to look at some very basic facts:
Christianity is supposed to be the end all and be all of "god's" entire plan. It is supposed to be the culmination of the Jewish religion, that provides salvation for all of humanity. In this plan, the person of Jesus, purported to be god's son, is sacrificed for the sins of the world, making heaven available to all and ending all need for individual redemption / sacrifice. That's the basis of it all.
Couple of pretty important points:
No. 1: In the Jewish faith, each person is responsible for their own sacrifice and redemption. Period. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. In fact, it states in the Old Testament that each man is responsible for his own sacrifice before god. The son cannot sacrifice for the father or the father for the son. The very basis of the Jewish religion, its "plan" of redemption is individual sacrifice and atonement before god.
No. 2: In the Old Testament, god HATED human sacrifice. He really REALY did. Time and again, he ordered the Israelites to enter cities that practiced human sacrifice and slaughter every single man, woman, child, and animal, they found, to purge this "sin" from the world.
So ask yourself, how is it that a "god" who establishes a plan of salvation that demands individual atonement, who rejects as evil the practice of human sacrifice, suddenly jumps from that to sacrificing his own son for everyone and doing away with everything he stood for previously? How is it that this "god", who supposedly established the above covenant with Israel "forever", who repeatedly brags about being "unchanging", suddenly changes everything into a new covenant that is in complete contradiction to what "god" supposedly stood for thousands of years?
The answer of course is that "god" did no such thing. It is all bullshit.
How that bullshit became to be is another story. Stay tuned.
THINK FOR YOURSELF!
Christianity is supposed to be the end all and be all of "god's" entire plan. It is supposed to be the culmination of the Jewish religion, that provides salvation for all of humanity. In this plan, the person of Jesus, purported to be god's son, is sacrificed for the sins of the world, making heaven available to all and ending all need for individual redemption / sacrifice. That's the basis of it all.
Couple of pretty important points:
No. 1: In the Jewish faith, each person is responsible for their own sacrifice and redemption. Period. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. In fact, it states in the Old Testament that each man is responsible for his own sacrifice before god. The son cannot sacrifice for the father or the father for the son. The very basis of the Jewish religion, its "plan" of redemption is individual sacrifice and atonement before god.
No. 2: In the Old Testament, god HATED human sacrifice. He really REALY did. Time and again, he ordered the Israelites to enter cities that practiced human sacrifice and slaughter every single man, woman, child, and animal, they found, to purge this "sin" from the world.
So ask yourself, how is it that a "god" who establishes a plan of salvation that demands individual atonement, who rejects as evil the practice of human sacrifice, suddenly jumps from that to sacrificing his own son for everyone and doing away with everything he stood for previously? How is it that this "god", who supposedly established the above covenant with Israel "forever", who repeatedly brags about being "unchanging", suddenly changes everything into a new covenant that is in complete contradiction to what "god" supposedly stood for thousands of years?
The answer of course is that "god" did no such thing. It is all bullshit.
How that bullshit became to be is another story. Stay tuned.
THINK FOR YOURSELF!
Our Inability to See
The greatest single threat to world peace is not what most might think. It is not crime, sin, or war. It is intolerance; the inability to accept others for who they are and as they are.
As long as we create expectations and demand that others force themselves into our conception of what is right, wrong, or acceptable, we will always have strife. The old "Us" versus "Them" attitude, the "I" am right and "You" are wrong way of thinking will never bring peace. "We" will never covert "Them" to our way of thinking. So how much better would it be if we stopped trying to remake the world into our image? The old Wiccan saying, "Do as you will, but do no harm", is a good rule to follow.
That is not meant to mean that injustice must be over looked. "Harm" and injustice must not be allowed and I don't see anything wrong with protecting the world and its citizens from it. A civilized society, where all are protected and free, is the only sane place to live. Of course, what is really harmful and what is my personal opinion can be two different things, and that is where intolerance raises its ugly head.
Murder, rape, theft, denying someone their freedom or equality, those things are easy. Those things are not acceptable. Walking naked down the street with a daisy behind my ear? That is probably not a good thing and it is a bit gross. Harmful and distasteful, or that which does not serve the greater public good, can often be difficult to seperate.
Let's use a hot button issue as an example; homosexuality. That's one of those things that some people just have to believe is unacceptable, sinful, and must be stamped out. But I hate to burst your bubble, its just none of your business with whom another person falls in love with or what type of sex they have.
Its interesting to me that the people who protest homosexuality, cannot see that ultimately their objection is based on their personal opinion and absolutely nothing else. Now apply that reasoning to your religion, your politics, your social standing, etc, and you might be able to see that much of what we assume to be true about the world around us is not based on freedom and equality, it is based on our intolerance and inability to see beyond our own ignorance.
Thankfully, ignorance can be cured.
When you see that many of the things we try and force on the world are in fact our personal opinion, even perhaps the opinion of many people, you come to the ultimate question; "What right does anyone have to force their opinion on other people?"
The answer is you don't have that right.
As long as we create expectations and demand that others force themselves into our conception of what is right, wrong, or acceptable, we will always have strife. The old "Us" versus "Them" attitude, the "I" am right and "You" are wrong way of thinking will never bring peace. "We" will never covert "Them" to our way of thinking. So how much better would it be if we stopped trying to remake the world into our image? The old Wiccan saying, "Do as you will, but do no harm", is a good rule to follow.
That is not meant to mean that injustice must be over looked. "Harm" and injustice must not be allowed and I don't see anything wrong with protecting the world and its citizens from it. A civilized society, where all are protected and free, is the only sane place to live. Of course, what is really harmful and what is my personal opinion can be two different things, and that is where intolerance raises its ugly head.
Murder, rape, theft, denying someone their freedom or equality, those things are easy. Those things are not acceptable. Walking naked down the street with a daisy behind my ear? That is probably not a good thing and it is a bit gross. Harmful and distasteful, or that which does not serve the greater public good, can often be difficult to seperate.
Let's use a hot button issue as an example; homosexuality. That's one of those things that some people just have to believe is unacceptable, sinful, and must be stamped out. But I hate to burst your bubble, its just none of your business with whom another person falls in love with or what type of sex they have.
Its interesting to me that the people who protest homosexuality, cannot see that ultimately their objection is based on their personal opinion and absolutely nothing else. Now apply that reasoning to your religion, your politics, your social standing, etc, and you might be able to see that much of what we assume to be true about the world around us is not based on freedom and equality, it is based on our intolerance and inability to see beyond our own ignorance.
Thankfully, ignorance can be cured.
When you see that many of the things we try and force on the world are in fact our personal opinion, even perhaps the opinion of many people, you come to the ultimate question; "What right does anyone have to force their opinion on other people?"
The answer is you don't have that right.
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