Skip to content

religion - 2. page

Religiolous

I finally had a chance to see the movie Religiolous with Bill Maher. I liked the movie, but unfortunately, I don’t think it was good enough to make a difference. The documentary seemed a bit disorganized. It started off funny, slowed to a crawl in the middle and ended powerfully. The best part of the whole movie was the last 10 minutes where Bill talks about how religion has the capacity to destroy mankind.

One point was made clear in the movie. Basically, all religions are the same and have little connection with facts or reality. Most people actually know very little about their own religion, they simply believe what they have been taught without much thought or proof. I would have liked to have seem more time spent on the history and facts, as they relate to gods and science, rather than so much time spent talking to crazy people. But I guess that wouldn’t have been as funny and after all, Bill Maher is a comedian.

The take home message? Religion is detrimental to the progress of humanity. When religious fanatics are allowed to control governments, history has shown, from the Crusades to George W. Bush, that the results can be disastrous. Now that we have the power to annihilate ourselves, Armageddon could easily become a self-fulfilling prophecy. If rational thinking people do not stand up against religion, we are all doomed.

I doubt this movie will change the minds of many believers, in fact, I would guess that the people most likely to watch this movie are Atheists. Excuse the pun, but I’m afraid Religiolous will be “preaching to the choir”.

Share

California, What Happened?

I never expected California to pass Proposition 8 (a constitutional amendment that overturns the state’s Supreme Court decision to legalize same-sex unions)! You would think that people would have learned from segregation that separate is not equal. This is a simple matter of civil rights. I have no doubt that this decision will eventually be over-turned by the courts. But still sad to see this vote in such a progressive state. Again, religion stands in the way of equal rights for all.

“It’s very unfortunate and embarrassing that the (Christian religion) is in large part responsible for this act of bigotry,” the Rev. Ed Bacon said after his sermon.

Share

Religulous

– a new word, which combines the two words “religion” and “ridiculous” – is a documentary film by Bill Maher. Religulous will open in theaters Oct 3rd, 2008. I’m looking forward to seeing this; should be fun!

Watch Trailer:

Share

Teach your children well

Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints polygamist ranch in Texas

Are you surprised, or perhaps even outraged by this story? While extreme, this is basically one of many examples of the religious brainwashing that our young are subjected to on a regular basis. Children by nature trust their parents. What children are taught at an early age stays with them for life. It is impossible for a young child to make a judgment regarding faith. They are too young to understand these supernatural ideas. Therefore, it is not possible for a child to be a Christian, a Jew, a Muslim or whatever their parents happen to be. When parents force their superstitious beliefs upon their children, this is a form of brainwashing.

Religion is like a virus that infects the majority of the world’s population and we are passing this infection on to our children. It teaches them to believe in things that can not be tested or proven and in reality is superstitious nonsense. Religion is like an infection of the masses that continues to spread generation after generation. It’s a virus that causes delusions of the ultimate imaginary friend.

Why is this bad? Because it teaches children not to think. Religion teaches them ancient superstitious beliefs, rather than facts and it is a slippery slope that often leads to segregation, bigotry and hatred. Religion is a destructive force that has caused anger and bloodshed throughout human history. “My God is better than your God” or who’s imaginary friend is the real God? In reality, there are no gods. For those who are able to think – in spite of childhood brainwashing and social pressures – it is clear that believing in an invisible friend up in the sky is just ridiculous. Also, religion is not necessary in order to give children a moral foundation. We should practice “the golden rule” because it’s the right thing to do, not out of the fear of God or Hell’s fire.

If world peace can ever be possible, we must break this cycle and stop brainwashing our young. Children should be taught facts, not superstitions, so that they can grow up to be open-minded, thinking adults who are able to form their own objective opinions. Their is a difference between teaching a child about the religions of the world and scaring a child into thinking they are going to burn in hell if they don’t believe in whatever particular god their parents worship. They should be taught history, science, literature, mathematics and most importantly critical thinking.

It’s time for free thinkers to step forward and say, enough is a enough. In order to become a global community, we need to move beyond these ancient myths and taboos; we have plenty of real-world differences and problems to overcome. Once a child has been infected with the god virus, it is almost impossible to cure them. As always, prevention is the best medicine.

Imagine

Imagine there’s no Heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today

Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

You may say that I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world

You may say that I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one

– John Lennon

Share

Flying Spaghetti Monster

Finally, Pastafarians get some serious attention!

Religious scholars mull Flying Spaghetti Monster

When some of the world’s leading religious scholars gather in San Diego this weekend, pasta will be on the intellectual menu. They’ll be talking about a satirical pseudo-deity called the Flying Spaghetti Monster, whose growing pop culture fame gets laughs but also raises serious questions about the essence of religion…

Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster

Share