What I Wish I Had Said

by WizenedSage ~   
Thanks to Carl S. for the idea.

When the Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses came to my door, this is what I wish I had said…

Men lie. We have all lied; most of us many, many times. In fact, lying among humans is so common that there are currently at least 700 different creator deities worshipped in the world today. TODAY! So, when we come across a wild or outrageous religious claim, shouldn’t we always ask, did someone lie? And isn’t that the most likely, almost certain truth of the matter, EVERY TIME?   

A Discussion on Faith with My Religious Relative

By Carl S ~

I've known my relative and his family for over 25 years now. I decided to share something with him in an email:

"I woke up at 5 a.m. with a very peaceful and comforting thought. I don't know if there's an actual Heaven or Hell (no one does), but it doesn't matter because after I'm dead. there won't be a 'me' to experience either one." 

(You can imagine the responses to that.) Later on, 

"This particular Carl you think you know, will be dead, and won't experience Hell, Heaven, Paradise, Reincarnation, or any other 'afterlives' ignorant men have created."

Once again I was chided with his repetitive – over 25 years – interpretation of Pascal's Wager, 

"If I'm wrong, I've lost nothing; if you're wrong, you've lost everything." 

(WTF?). I told him,

“That's ridiculous.” 

I knew all the good he'd done, so I couldn't think he wasted his life if he didn't bet on believing. You do not "choose" what to believe any more than you choose who you love or are attracted to. 

"What you describe is gambling. Once again you're asking me to gamble and I'm not a gambler."

Passionate Machines

By Webmdave ~

Animals often strike us as passionate machines -- Eric Hoffer, Reflections on the Human Condition

As scientific advancements unveil the mysteries of the universe, it becomes increasingly evident that everything appears to operate mechanistically. Atoms, molecules, stars, planets, cells, and biological systems are fundamentally mechanical. If the existence of a supernatural, invisible soul within my body is negated, then it is undeniable that I too am a machine. Complex machines, including self-programming ones, remain machines nonetheless.

Some individuals may contend that life forms are fundamentally distinct from inanimate objects, despite both being composed of atoms and molecules. However, a closer examination reveals that this distinction is tenuous.

Keep Leaping and You'll Never Have to Grow Up

The Tower of Babel by Pieter Brueghel the Elder

By Carl S ~

Children are still being taught the Tower of Babel tale about building something so high it would enter God's realm in the sky. For thousands of years it's been a warning: Don't ever go there. Be afraid, don't even think of going there. What's up doc? What if we do?

Pictures coming from the James Webb Space Telescope are available for the whole world to see. So why aren't the Christians broadcasting them in their megachurches and singing "How Great Thou Art" to the one they claim created everything? Do you suppose it's because there's no relation between their puny biblical deity and reality? And, oh look! No “Heaven" in the Universe with "many mansions," nor Paradises for Muslims, JW's, or Mormons! No god is in control in the billions of light-year distances. Certainly, not their "God" who cares about the sex lives of humans occupying a pin-prick of its vastness.

I'm past 86 years old, and have no more patience for con's-sense. It's one reason religious beliefs and their militancy are near the top of my hit list. Sure, superstitions enjoy playing with emotions and give comfort, fabricated answers and cocained entertainment to congregants. But they also create and feed anxiety and paranoia. All that trouble, just to avoid unpleasant reality, thrills in new discoveries, the disappointments and unfairness of life, the as-yet unanswerable questions; to deny evidence to propagate ignorance as bliss. There are believers so addicted they'll sell their minds and consciences to keep the habit.

Why I left Christianity

The Problem of the Satanic Panic

From a series of stories in the Provo Daily Herald in July and August 1985 warned of satanism in Utah County.

By Wertbag ~ 

The Satanic Panic was at its peak during the 1980's, where preachers around the world jumped on the bandwagon to claim that Satanic cults existed and were inflicting sexual and physical abuse on people as part of Satanic rituals, and that almost every form of pop culture was Satanic and hence evil. Some of these claims developed into anti-elite or anti-government conspiracy theories that exist to this day, including bizarre groups such as Qanon who claim a group of the world's wealthiest people gather to do child sacrifices, sexual abuse and child pornography.

It is thought that the start of the Panic was in large part due to the hugely popular movies The Exorcist (1973), Rosemary's Baby (1968) and The Omen (1976). When people who claimed to be victims of such cults were tested, the images they commonly referred to were scenes from the movies, leading many experts to believe that people were recording the movie scenes as memories and not just fantasy.