When I think about organized religion, I think about stepping in dog shit. Religion is the ugly stain on society’s lawn and if you’re not careful, you’ll get stuck with it.
I have decided today to produce simple explanations for events, feelings, and any completely ridiculous “truths” claimed by our bigot friends. I will bring in several claims used by defenders of organized religion during debates and illustrate their lack of basis while giving a more plausible explanation. Some of these will shock and surprise you, while others will make perfect sense. Enjoy, and don’t bother trying to add comments because I don’t care.
1) I’ve seen God/Jesus/holy spirit/white angel/serpents/divine light/heaven/forgiveness/burger king
A. Lysergic acid diethylamide. DMT. Melatonin. Psilocybin. A simple yet accurate explanation for the above claims. Ingestion of LSD and psilocybin will easily produce effects of hallucinations whereupon one may legitimately witness a moment of divine truth, but only as a creation of their own imagination and as such is limited to only their viewing. This is quite convenient for their argument as it is not possible for anyone to refute their claims. DMT and melatonin are produced by the human body and in normal amounts will generally not provide any vivid experience as found with the other tryptamines, however when the amounts of these chemicals are increased this fact will change. For example, the intake of synthesized DMT will produce hallucinogenic properties.
2. Just because you’ve never seen it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.
A. This often precedes a real kicker of a line typically including some other continent, or any place they have not been. “I’ve never seen South America but it exists, same with God.” I usually refer to this as the “retard’s theory” as it is a genuinely weak argument easily defeated with the fact that one can actually go to South America to prove its existence, whereas the same is not possible with having tea and biscuits with God. Failing this argument, they will either resort to claiming to have themselves witnessed God or know someone who has. See #1 for more info.
3. (event) was a miracle and/or Act of God!
A. Confirmation bias. As defined in Wikipedia, “confirmation bias is a tendency to search for or interpret new information in a way that confirms one’s preconceptions and avoid information and interpretations which contradict prior beliefs.” What does this mean? An event of extraordinary nature or of cause not easily explained will be used by believers of organized religion as a crutch for their belief system, providing a false sense of truth to strengthen their assertion that God exists and works in mysterious ways. I think we can refer to this as taking the “easy way out.”
4. Everyone was born with morality. This is because God put it there.
A. Following this belief, one must also assume that God would also be responsible for other conditions of a child’s development including those producing negative permanent debilitating effects. For example, would you accept that Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is really God’s sense of humor? Likewise with autism, Tourette’s, and down syndrome. If God was actually responsible for installing morality, he must be a real piece of work to ignore all these other problems with society. Now if we could just figure out where the sociopaths came from…
5. I believe in God, so I’m going to heaven. Non-believers will burn.
A. Pascal’s Wager. It is safer to believe than not to as any believer is guaranteed entry into heaven (via the wondrous forgiveness clause). Naturally confirmation of this in either direction cannot be ascertained until after death. This is the safety net of religion, as it provides believers with this fundamental hope of prospering in the afterlife without the need to examine the question of “what if?” We can draw the conclusion that there are two possibilities after death: heaven/hell, or nothing. Believers are forgiven and allowed entry into heaven, while non-believers are burning in hell. The more logical belief is that death precedes nothingness. After death, there is no more. With the risk factor in this equation, people of mostly weak mind and/or self-esteem will cling to this safety net as a means to escape the daunting truth that you will eventually cease to exist. It is the failed idea of spiritual self-preservation postmortem.
There is more, but I have neither the time nor the patience to attempt it. For a better idea of organized religion’s contrived bullshit, take a look at this argument.
