All Religion Is Fake and While We Are At It

originally posted by: Raggedyman

originally posted by: LostThePlot
This pretty much sums up all religion.

Knock knock.
Who's there?
It's Jesus, let me in
Why?
I have to save you
From what?
From what I'm going to do to you
if you don't let me in

Knock knock
Who is it
It's Jesus, let me in
Why
I have come to save you
From what
You have commted a crime punishable by death, apologise change your ways, show me repentance and I will die in your place

It's all in the understanding, God doesn't want to punish evil, He has to
It's the law, it's justice

Many people have had many past lives, the sins from this life carry over to the next and become a permenant memory when you accend and all past lives merge into one consiousness. There is no punishment because everyone in totality is the same. We all go through similar experiences. Maybe not in this life, but the next. and it all converges into the full comprehension of your memories once they take and convert you.

I beleive in god, but i dont follow any religious text. Does that make me everything thats wrong with the world? I think not!!

You say you beleive in something bigger than yourself and remember your own birth. So you do have beleifs yet you mock others that have a beleif....what a hypocritical muppet!!

Religion is NOT what is wrong with the world, people is what is wrong with the world, what people interpret in their religious texts as literalism instead of reading between the lines and seeing the bigger picture to further their spirituality is what is wrong with people.

Thats how i see it anyway, and that is the REAL truth of the situation. People like you is also what is wrong with the world, instead of practicing what you preach you prefer to be hypocritical and judgmental towards others which shows a low level of maturity and a childish mentality.

a reply to: forthelove

So religion sucks ( just about everyone on ATS agrees on that ) and you're wishy washy.

a reply to: forthelove

"All you really have to do is just pay attention to the world we live in and ask yourself, would a kind loving sweet god let their children suffer this way?"


Why would you expect a helicopter Supreme Being? It's like a helicopter parent, how can a kind loving sweet parent let their children suffer. They do everything for the kid and he grows up and cannot do anything.

In a philosophy debate, if you believe in eternity, then you life on a planet is a nano second. IT would be like letting your kid get a shot from a doctor, a skinned knee off a bike, or so on. A child getting a nano second of pain, doesn't make the parent bad. You are thinking to linear

originally posted by: the2ofusr1
a reply to: forthelove

This makes for a good rant but that is all .Oh and what makes you think it was a apple ?

Sorry for the delay, been busy, not a rant at all and I am only going by what has been regurgitated. For all I know it was a banana.

originally posted by: Tucket
a reply to: forthelove
I essentially agree with the OP..

But..still choose to believe in Jesus..

How effed is that,OP?

Not effed if that is what your brain decides to do, so Jesus walked on water and turned water into blood? Sounds like something the devil could do too.

Taking the bate...

As someone who grew up mostly confused with one atheist parent and one not... I ended up converting to Orthodox Christianity after a fair amount of years embracing atheism (then realizing it just left me with nihilism), then introspection, then searching and then learning.

I've heard a lot of these rants over the years. I've even engaged in similar rants over the years.

Why someone believes or disbelieves is far more complex than just "You've been manipulated!!!! ARGHHHHHH!!! Sky Fairies and Dawkins!!! RAWR!!"

Although to really flesh out my reasons for being where I'm at would probably take a book, the most basic thing I've found: Religion provides a scaffolding which we can use to build and/or repair our spiritual house.

Saying the holy men and women of ages past were all fools, charlatans and tricksters of one kind or another is a lie. Perhaps SOME where, but not ALL. There's also a striking similarity between some deeper truths which appear to be somewhat universal. This, to me, suggests that the deepest spiritual truths are objectively true and built into our wider reality.

I'm just going to leave this with one of my favorite scenes from Discworld. Of course, I don't think that justice, mercy, etc. are lies...but if we're talking about pure, materialistic rationalism...they kind of have to be. Where can you find a molecule of mercy? It's a worthy question. I also don't believe that God is a fantasy. But I do heartily agree that our FAITH in something greater and our SPIRIT make us human. Terry Pratchett was an atheist, and a proponent of euthanasia, which I disagree with as a Christian...but I do hope that he made it to heaven, all the same...and I certainly wish he'd gotten to write a little longer.

“All right," said Susan. "I'm not stupid. You're saying humans need... fantasies to make life bearable."

REALLY? AS IF IT WAS SOME KIND OF PINK PILL? NO. HUMANS NEED FANTASY TO BE HUMAN. TO BE THE PLACE WHERE THE FALLING ANGEL MEETS THE RISING APE.

"Tooth fairies? Hogfathers? Little—"

YES. AS PRACTICE. YOU HAVE TO START OUT LEARNING TO BELIEVE THE LITTLE LIES.

"So we can believe the big ones?"

YES. JUSTICE. MERCY. DUTY. THAT SORT OF THING.

"They're not the same at all!"

YOU THINK SO? THEN TAKE THE UNIVERSE AND GRIND IT DOWN TO THE FINEST POWDER AND SIEVE IT THROUGH THE FINEST SIEVE AND THEN SHOW ME ONE ATOM OF JUSTICE, ONE MOLECULE OF MERCY. AND YET—Death waved a hand. AND YET YOU ACT AS IF THERE IS SOME IDEAL ORDER IN THE WORLD, AS IF THERE IS SOME...SOME RIGHTNESS IN THE UNIVERSE BY WHICH IT MAY BE JUDGED.

"Yes, but people have got to believe that, or what's the point—"

MY POINT EXACTLY.” ― Terry Pratchett, Hogfather

originally posted by: frostie
a reply to: forthelove

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

Thankfully the masses are catching up and numbers are declining.

Thats not to say one cant be religious, or believe in a higher power.

I have created a personal religion for myself, based on what I have experienced/Observed.

I believe in Kharma and thats what keeps me a good person.

I believe in a higher power/entity/being has had presence in my life, just not sure who/what.

Dont want to be ignorant

I suppose we all need something to believe in even if it is the frosty religion, being a good person only requires one thing, and religion has nothing to do with it.

a reply to: Raggedyman

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.

a reply to: forthelove


"I saw it the moment I was born"

I'm sorry, but you didn't see anything the moment you were born. And even if you did, you obviously wouldn't remember.

However I agree with your stance on religion, you could have just picked a better way of putting it across imo.

a reply to: WonOunce

I personally find it kind of amusing to think we'd somehow avoid all those things and live in a fairy-wonderland-utopia "if we could only ditch religion."

This just seems to miss the target in assessing human tendencies so wildly that it might as well be a joke.

I'm pretty sure you could do your damnedest to eradicate even the faintest hint of religion from society and still have plenty of atrocities taking place. How much more (or less) might take place without belief systems, I couldn't say, but I'd bet all my vital organs that there'd still be PLENTY of suffering and bad behavior to go around.

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.

originally posted by: JDmOKI
a reply to: forthelove

Why do you seem so jaded with your post? Who cares what people believe as long as they don't hurt anyone. How is this a religious conspiracy this is a rant against religion but basically just a rant.

Jaded because I think religions are fake? What other people choose to believe is not for me to control. It is a conspiracy and it is not a rant. Religion is the oldest conspiracy and has been perpetuated continuously through the mind control of religious fanatics that insist their religion is the truth. How can so many religions claim to be right and yet none of them can lay claim to the truth?

originally posted by: Klassified
a reply to: forthelove
I can agree with much of what you're saying taken as a whole, but...

I do not require proof to have faith that there is something that is much more powerful than me, I saw it the moment I was born and have been witness to it since and will continue until this life ends and I move on to the next.

Isn't this the same thing most religious people say? Don't most Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, and others that are serious about their faith believe they've had personal experiences that prove to them their deity exists? So why is your experience valid, but theirs isn't, other than the fact that you don't live by an ancient text? Not a critique, just a question.

I am merely pointing out that birth is a miracle and that when we enter this world we are given proof of a higher power by our very existence. My experience is not different from anyone, we are all born the same way supposedly, I simply do not require a religious doctrine of any kind to know there is a higher power, I do not claim to know anything else, for all I know there is a collective consciousness that orchestrates everything, not just one single entity. Could be higher power is nothing more than all of our souls combined and we are all connected and creating the very world we live in.

I think organized religion can be used as a positive thing for people who need a bit of structure in their life. If the religion is being used to make positive changes and contributions into someones life, then by all means, get to church.

People who quit drink/drugs and need a sort of cosmic father figure, structure, a community, and support of scripture can find religion a...pardon the pun, godsent to them.
Same with people who lose a loved one and dont want to contemplate all the other spiritual stuff, but rather just want someone with all the "answers" to give them comfort..(and if they are diagnosed with some sort of terrible disease).

Religion helps less developed nations also have structure. in a world of literal cutthroat gangs and warlords, a bit of a judgmental god and fear of hell may steady the hand of monsters a bit when police and soldiers cant.

But overall, structured religions are just a blight on enlightenment and civilization progressing..especially because more often than not it is used not as a tool for self help, but as a weapon to attack others.

a reply to: forthelove

I simply do not require a religious doctrine of any kind to know there is a higher power,

So you know there is a higher power at work regarding existence. But he/she/it is either incapable
or unwilling to communicate with us where our conduct is a concern.....to everything?

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?

It's also not as though spiritual discipline is some easy crutch to take up, either. I think you're confusing superstition with efforts to connect with the larger, divine aspects of reality. 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'd love a happy ever after up there in the sky, existing is fantastic and full of wonder.

I just can't force myself believe it. My gut instinct has always been that it preys on the natural fear of death most people have. It preys on the grieved living also. Seeing everyone again up there, comforting.

I believe that what I do now is all I will ever do. I love life, I can't dedicate precious time from my finite life, time which is relentlessly ticking away my life like an unstoppable conveyor belt to an inconceivable nothingness, in the hope that my next life will be better.

Am I in despair? Not at all! There is hope!

Maybe one day in the long distant future. After every atom that was once me has been swallowed by the sun and spat back out in a supernova and my remains have spread throughout the Milky Way, then those stars go supernova and spit everything out again. Maybe there will be an astounding freak coincidence (these aren't that rare in the universe, given the scale and age of it!) in which all the atoms and dust that I once was will re-converge into a new sentient life form but I'd retain my old consciousness.

If that happens I'll believe!

a reply to: randyvs

Why a supreme being would care about how men cut their hair ? Or whether they mix dairy and meat together, or why he would care about mixing fabric is pretty ridiculous.

Of course that same being also was perfectly alright with selling a raped woman to her offender. Stoning people to death and asking for animals to be sacrificed to him. Yeah that makes so much sense.

originally posted by: WonOunce
a reply to: Raggedyman

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.

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

Its strange how people want to blame the construct, not the individual who perpetrates the crime

People make the decision, individuals choose.