Ignorance Is Bliss
By TheThinkingAtheist ~
First, I would like to thank this site for placing my previous entry onto the Home Page of this site. Secondly, I would like to say that I appreciate any comments, and I read every one of them- some were amusing, while with others I could commiserate.
Now, onto my second story!
My situation with my mother and sister was always strained -- my mother was religious, and always blamed me in anything where my sister was involved. In other words, there was some extreme favoritism. My father, on the other hand, wasn't really a Christian, but he didn't identify as an Atheist either. He mostly kept his opinion on religion to himself, and on the odd occasion when I ranted to him about religion, he would just say "I understand, but it's better not to blasphemy". What I could never understand, is why, when he was never baptized, did he care for things such as blasphemy?
Well, I think that it goes deeper than just thinking about religion. For example, my mother, who I just told you about, was a hypocritical Christian, in that she believed in kindness, etc, but never actually expressed those qualities.
So on one occasion, I called her out on it, and she started arguing with me- and naturally, I responded in kind. What followed was one of the most aggravating discussions that I ever had the bad luck to experience. Whenever I asked her a question about why, for example, she was so sure of God, or for her to explain how she could believe this, she said, "Well, you'd have to talk to a priest or pastor about that".
I always found this very annoying because she never really thought about things that the Church was teaching- she just accepted it. She never questioned it, and if someone else did, she took great personal offense, stopped thinking, and told you to basically f*ck off, i.e. ask a priest.
The same situation was with my friend- yes, the one with the family with which I had lived with before.
His was a different case, one which I completely don't get.
We were taking a walk and talking, and the topic of religion came up. Normally we avoid these topics by mutual silent agreement, but this was the exception. He was claiming some crap about Jesus, Christmas, etc, and I responded with the answer that Christmas is actually a pagan holiday, and that Jesus is quite possible the worst case of plagiarism to ever grace humanity.
Now, assuming that you are all educated people, you know about the Egyptian gods, right? Well, several of them, Horus (link 'Horus' to this address:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horus), Osiris, and Mithras, were almost direct parallels of Jesus:
Religion provides an escape, a hope that things can get better, and if you take that away from some people, they really have nothing left to anchor them. Because, let's face it, humans can do some pretty bad things, and life can itself get pretty bad, so having that hope is nice for such people.So I told my good friend several highlights, and he said "Yeah, I know". Think about it. Does that make sense, in any way? So when I questioned him and responded "Well, what else do you know? In fact, how do you know that ANYTHING in the Bible is true if you already start picking out parts that need to be 'interpreted differently', or aren't true, among other things?"
And he got this surprised look on his face, and told me that what I said was "really offensive to his religion". I, of course, apologized and told him that I didn't intend to offend him, and the subject never came up.
But I realized something -- these people, these Christians, they can't comprehend that there might not be a God. Because if there is a New Testament God, then that means that humans CAN be good, and that you WON'T die and cease to exist. Religion provides an escape, a hope that things can get better, and if you take that away from some people, they really have nothing left to anchor them. Because, let's face it, humans can do some pretty bad things, and life can itself get pretty bad, so having that hope is nice for such people.
And I really do hold respect for people who have overcome religion and have decided to go Agnostic, or Atheist, because that means that you don't need a crutch in life, that you can be your own man (or woman!), and that you don't believe we are all inherently sinful.
So at this point, I haven't stopped debating the matter with Christians and other religious folk, but I have learned to pick my battles wisely, because remember, as Mark Twain said,
To end this, if you are a Christian, well, start thinking about things -- no, not those things, you pervert -- and if you are an non-believer, then congratulations. You are now free.
First, I would like to thank this site for placing my previous entry onto the Home Page of this site. Secondly, I would like to say that I appreciate any comments, and I read every one of them- some were amusing, while with others I could commiserate.
Now, onto my second story!
Well, I think that it goes deeper than just thinking about religion. For example, my mother, who I just told you about, was a hypocritical Christian, in that she believed in kindness, etc, but never actually expressed those qualities.
So on one occasion, I called her out on it, and she started arguing with me- and naturally, I responded in kind. What followed was one of the most aggravating discussions that I ever had the bad luck to experience. Whenever I asked her a question about why, for example, she was so sure of God, or for her to explain how she could believe this, she said, "Well, you'd have to talk to a priest or pastor about that".
I always found this very annoying because she never really thought about things that the Church was teaching- she just accepted it. She never questioned it, and if someone else did, she took great personal offense, stopped thinking, and told you to basically f*ck off, i.e. ask a priest.
The same situation was with my friend- yes, the one with the family with which I had lived with before.
His was a different case, one which I completely don't get.
We were taking a walk and talking, and the topic of religion came up. Normally we avoid these topics by mutual silent agreement, but this was the exception. He was claiming some crap about Jesus, Christmas, etc, and I responded with the answer that Christmas is actually a pagan holiday, and that Jesus is quite possible the worst case of plagiarism to ever grace humanity.
Now, assuming that you are all educated people, you know about the Egyptian gods, right? Well, several of them, Horus (link 'Horus' to this address:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horus), Osiris, and Mithras, were almost direct parallels of Jesus:
- "Conceived by a virgin mother named Meri, and had a stepfather named Seb (Joseph).
- Was born in a cave, his birth announced by an angel, heralded by a star and attended by shepherds.
- Attended a special rite of passage at the age of twelve and there is no data on the childfrom the age of 12 to 30.
- Was baptized in a river at the age of 30, and his baptizer was later beheaded.
- Had 12 disciples.
- Performed miracles, exorcized demons, raised someone from the dead, walked on water.\
- Was called “Iusa”, the "ever-becoming son" and the "Holy Child."
- Delivered a "Sermon on the Mount", and his followers recounted his sayings.
- Was transfigured on the Mount.
- Was crucified between two thieves, buried for three days in a tomb, and was resurrected.
- Called “Way”, “the Truth the Light”, “Messiah”, “God's Anointed Son”, “Son of Man”, “Good Shepherd”, “Lamb of God”, “Word made flesh”, “Word of Truth”, "the KRST" or "Anointed One.
- Was "the Fisher" and was associated with the Fish, Lamb and Lion.
- Came to fulfill the Law, and was supposed to reign one thousand years"- PleasConvinceMe.com.
Religion provides an escape, a hope that things can get better, and if you take that away from some people, they really have nothing left to anchor them. Because, let's face it, humans can do some pretty bad things, and life can itself get pretty bad, so having that hope is nice for such people.So I told my good friend several highlights, and he said "Yeah, I know". Think about it. Does that make sense, in any way? So when I questioned him and responded "Well, what else do you know? In fact, how do you know that ANYTHING in the Bible is true if you already start picking out parts that need to be 'interpreted differently', or aren't true, among other things?"
And he got this surprised look on his face, and told me that what I said was "really offensive to his religion". I, of course, apologized and told him that I didn't intend to offend him, and the subject never came up.
But I realized something -- these people, these Christians, they can't comprehend that there might not be a God. Because if there is a New Testament God, then that means that humans CAN be good, and that you WON'T die and cease to exist. Religion provides an escape, a hope that things can get better, and if you take that away from some people, they really have nothing left to anchor them. Because, let's face it, humans can do some pretty bad things, and life can itself get pretty bad, so having that hope is nice for such people.
And I really do hold respect for people who have overcome religion and have decided to go Agnostic, or Atheist, because that means that you don't need a crutch in life, that you can be your own man (or woman!), and that you don't believe we are all inherently sinful.
So at this point, I haven't stopped debating the matter with Christians and other religious folk, but I have learned to pick my battles wisely, because remember, as Mark Twain said,
“Do not argue with an idiot- he will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience".
To end this, if you are a Christian, well, start thinking about things -- no, not those things, you pervert -- and if you are an non-believer, then congratulations. You are now free.
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