During the Bosnia war, hundred of thousands of Muslim was being killed
by Serb christian. Many of the victim was small kids and women. Look
at people surrounding you that is christian. They are elegant and
selfish. They do anything that is evil just for money. Yet they think
they are good people. Why?
If you read the comment in my blog, one of my christian reader even
believe that there is NO DIFFERENCE between Adolf Hitler and the
nicest person on earth. So for most christian, there is no point being
good because they go to heaven one way or another.... as long as you
believe in Christ. You can do any evil thing you want. God will
forgive you. One pastor even told me heaven is full of bad people and
hell is full of good people. How twisted their mind is.... !
If you want to be a good person, stay away from Christianity.....
Monday, 16 April 2012
Thursday, 12 April 2012
Why a "Christian" doesn't mean "a good person"
Thru our life we having a delusion that a person who is a Christian is a nicer person. What a great delusion that is. After I have been living in this Earth for 40 years. I found out the truth that Christianity change good people to bad.
Why ? Churches used the Bible to turn an intelligence person mind to non function able mind. You must know that Christianity was created by The Roman Empire 2000 years ago to control their citizen. That is why there is the verse like " pay tax to your government" in the New Testament. It was all written by men sponsored by the ruler that time to exercise mind control for their citizens. Christianity was chosen among many other religion by the emperor because it is more 'political friendly'.
A Christian whose brain was control by their Churches has very very low morality sense. Everything refer to the Bible. That is why most people who commit crime are Christian. Their brain has failed to rationalize what they doing is right or wrong.
The only way to become a 'good person' is to always use your brain to rationalize thing. Stop using a fantasy novel that was written 2000 years ago.
Why ? Churches used the Bible to turn an intelligence person mind to non function able mind. You must know that Christianity was created by The Roman Empire 2000 years ago to control their citizen. That is why there is the verse like " pay tax to your government" in the New Testament. It was all written by men sponsored by the ruler that time to exercise mind control for their citizens. Christianity was chosen among many other religion by the emperor because it is more 'political friendly'.
A Christian whose brain was control by their Churches has very very low morality sense. Everything refer to the Bible. That is why most people who commit crime are Christian. Their brain has failed to rationalize what they doing is right or wrong.
The only way to become a 'good person' is to always use your brain to rationalize thing. Stop using a fantasy novel that was written 2000 years ago.
Wednesday, 11 April 2012
Get out of unhappy life
Are you caught up in an unhealthy, compulsive and destructive Christian lifestyle?
Do you feel that your Jesus fetish is screwing up your brain and isolating you from the rest of modern society?
Do crucifixes, Bibles and songs like "Onward Christian Soldiers" turn you on?
The truth is, you don't have to be a Christian. You can recover. There is hope. Many men and woman have reclaimed their brains and walked away from the Christian lifestyle. It's not about hate, it's about hope.
The TRUTH about Christianity:
The truth is, Christianity is a fusion of an ancient Jewish set of legends and myths, such as all ancient societies had, mixed up with a bizarre little personality cult that emerged in the first century. It has no relevance to modern society, and time and time again the progress of reason and science has shown it to be inaccurate.
Symptoms of Christianity:
1)Jesus fetish. Those afflicted with Christianity develop an obsessive fixation on a man known as Jesus Christ, an ancient cult leader who they say 'loves' them and whose corpse, after he was executed, they believe climbed out of his tomb and ate some food and then went on a space trip into heaven. This man apparently 'saved' them from their 'sins' when he came back from the dead.
2)Intellectual suicide. Sufferers completely close down their brain and ignore science, logic and reason. Christians, having abandoned their brains, rely on a book, the "Bible", for answers to everything - including how to handle their sex lives.
3)Anti-social behavior. Christians often retreat from, or condemn the rest of society which they believe is full of "sinners".
4)Paranoia and psychotic delusions. Christians believe that a fearsome monster, which they call 'Satan', is at large in the world 'tempting' them and trying to drag people off and burn them in his den, know as 'hell'. This monster, 'Satan', is alleged to be red with horns and often carries a pitch fork.
5)Anti-family attitudes. Christianity is very anti-family. Anyone who believes in family values should be appalled at this cult. For instance, the mythical leader of Christianity, Jesus Christ, says the following in the Bible: "If any man come unto me, and hate not his father, and his mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple." - Luke 14:26 "For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household." - Matthew 10:35-6 It is clear that the radical Christian agenda is to destroy the sacred institution of the family and therefore it must not be tolerated.
6)Violence. Christians have been responsible for some of the most horrific acts of violence, murders and genocide in history. The Crusades, where thousands of Muslims were slaughtered, the genocide of South Americans conducted by the Spanish Conquistadors, the murder of MILLIONS of men and women accused of being 'heretics' and 'witches' in the 16th and 17th century are only a few examples of countless acts of cold blooded sadism conducted in the name of this cult. While the Christians have cut back on their murders in recent years, they still very successfully drive countless numbers of gay youth to suicide.
7)Sexual hang-ups. Christians often suffer from very severe sexual hang-ups, where perfectly natural and enjoyable human feelings are interpreted as 'evil' and therefore dangerously repressed. This can lead to very unhealthy inner turmoil and psychological trauma.
8)Hatred and bigotry. Although not surfacing in all cases, symptoms of pathological hatred and bigotry often surface in Christians. It is no coincidence that hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan are fanatical Christians. Although not all Christians are like this, the point is that many are, so therefore the potential for such dangerous and insidious mentalities is inherent in the cult. It is interesting to note that a religion such as Buddhism, which for it's widespread influence is the Eastern equivalent of Christianity, although being extremely widespread and diversified has never harbored any hate groups.
Walk out of the Christian lifestyle today! Remember, no one has to be a Christian. You were not 'born that way'. There is hope. You can leave your destructive lifestyle.
Do you feel that your Jesus fetish is screwing up your brain and isolating you from the rest of modern society?
Do crucifixes, Bibles and songs like "Onward Christian Soldiers" turn you on?
The truth is, you don't have to be a Christian. You can recover. There is hope. Many men and woman have reclaimed their brains and walked away from the Christian lifestyle. It's not about hate, it's about hope.
The TRUTH about Christianity:
The truth is, Christianity is a fusion of an ancient Jewish set of legends and myths, such as all ancient societies had, mixed up with a bizarre little personality cult that emerged in the first century. It has no relevance to modern society, and time and time again the progress of reason and science has shown it to be inaccurate.
Symptoms of Christianity:
1)Jesus fetish. Those afflicted with Christianity develop an obsessive fixation on a man known as Jesus Christ, an ancient cult leader who they say 'loves' them and whose corpse, after he was executed, they believe climbed out of his tomb and ate some food and then went on a space trip into heaven. This man apparently 'saved' them from their 'sins' when he came back from the dead.
2)Intellectual suicide. Sufferers completely close down their brain and ignore science, logic and reason. Christians, having abandoned their brains, rely on a book, the "Bible", for answers to everything - including how to handle their sex lives.
3)Anti-social behavior. Christians often retreat from, or condemn the rest of society which they believe is full of "sinners".
4)Paranoia and psychotic delusions. Christians believe that a fearsome monster, which they call 'Satan', is at large in the world 'tempting' them and trying to drag people off and burn them in his den, know as 'hell'. This monster, 'Satan', is alleged to be red with horns and often carries a pitch fork.
5)Anti-family attitudes. Christianity is very anti-family. Anyone who believes in family values should be appalled at this cult. For instance, the mythical leader of Christianity, Jesus Christ, says the following in the Bible: "If any man come unto me, and hate not his father, and his mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple." - Luke 14:26 "For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household." - Matthew 10:35-6 It is clear that the radical Christian agenda is to destroy the sacred institution of the family and therefore it must not be tolerated.
6)Violence. Christians have been responsible for some of the most horrific acts of violence, murders and genocide in history. The Crusades, where thousands of Muslims were slaughtered, the genocide of South Americans conducted by the Spanish Conquistadors, the murder of MILLIONS of men and women accused of being 'heretics' and 'witches' in the 16th and 17th century are only a few examples of countless acts of cold blooded sadism conducted in the name of this cult. While the Christians have cut back on their murders in recent years, they still very successfully drive countless numbers of gay youth to suicide.
7)Sexual hang-ups. Christians often suffer from very severe sexual hang-ups, where perfectly natural and enjoyable human feelings are interpreted as 'evil' and therefore dangerously repressed. This can lead to very unhealthy inner turmoil and psychological trauma.
8)Hatred and bigotry. Although not surfacing in all cases, symptoms of pathological hatred and bigotry often surface in Christians. It is no coincidence that hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan are fanatical Christians. Although not all Christians are like this, the point is that many are, so therefore the potential for such dangerous and insidious mentalities is inherent in the cult. It is interesting to note that a religion such as Buddhism, which for it's widespread influence is the Eastern equivalent of Christianity, although being extremely widespread and diversified has never harbored any hate groups.
Walk out of the Christian lifestyle today! Remember, no one has to be a Christian. You were not 'born that way'. There is hope. You can leave your destructive lifestyle.
Where is hell ?
By Mriana ~
The
idea of hell, heaven, and eternity are very much a human concept and I
going to attempt to show just how they are. A word of warning for
people now, concerning what I am about to “show” you: this article maybe
difficult to stomach and not meant to be family oriented. However, if
you read on, you will see “My Little Box”* that I live in when I have
nightmares and waking flashbacks of a “torturous hell.”It is quite a
different definition of the Christian hell and is in this life, right
here on earth.
Towards the end of 2010, I came out to my mother as a humanist and explained to her why am I not a Christian. The main reason I am not a Christian is that I have studied Christianity, other religions, mythology, philosophy, and psychology. The study of religion and psychology were the big two that helped to deconvert me. My experiences as a Christian, especially as a child, are only minor reasons, but these experiences helped me to define my thoughts concerning heaven, hell, and eternity.
I did not have a choice concerning Christianity as a child. It was either profess to being a Christian or my elders would get very anger. Just expressing my thoughts, as a child, about various Christian concepts was enough to get them upset with me. Not to mention, I was the type of child who would easily break down in tears if I even thought an adult was angry with me. Thus, I went along to get along as not to get into trouble. I was a big people-pleaser, along with suffering from sexual, physical, and emotional by my biological father and spiritual abuse from my Evangelical Fundamentalist relatives. All of this contributed to an eating disorder also and one of the reasons for the Anorexia was because I had little control in my life.
When I was in elementary school, my great uncle could not understand why I would not go up to his altar and “be saved.” I tried to tell him that he scared me, but he denied it and said it was the devil scaring me. I still would not go up to his altar and in an effort to get the adults to stop; I told them I turned my life over to Jesus in private. They seemed to have bought it or at least had little reason to doubt it given that I would cry over things such as the Crucifixion and strived hard to be perfect.
I grew up in Wesleyan theology, so the doctrine of perfectionism was very important, but they had no idea why I did the things I did and even my mother called me “The Best Little Girl in the World,” especially after she saw the movie. Teachers called me “too good” according to my mother. Again, theological reasons were not the number one reason as to why I obeyed my elders. I feared what they would do to me and their enabling of my father’s abuse did not help to change this.
Even when speaking to the therapist, in my 20s, my mother insisted she had no choice about staying with my biological father as long as she did and spewed religious dogmatic ideology. Their divorce was final when I was fourteen, after the State threaten my mother that they would take me from her if she did not leave my father. It was after that my grandfather stated that they had me away from my abuser and that was enough, adding, “God would take care of him.” When I tried to say I wanted to prosecute my father for what he did to me, my grandfather told me anger was a sin and I could see his anger with me in his eyes. Therefore, I back down, in favour of obedience, so he would not get angrier with me. Mind you, this was not obedience to a god though, but obedience out of fear of my elders.
Thirty years later, after telling my mother that I am not a Christian, the current therapist that I am working with has been helping me with my “inner child”. For more on this subject, please see Dr. Marlene Winell’s book, “Leaving the Fold
.”
After a suggestion she made, I started having nightmares about dolls,
both hard and soft ones. In one very vivid nightmare, I dreamed that
this hard doll was forcing himself on me, while someone watched, without
helping me and with a smile. I could not fight the doll off me and
woke up in a cold sweat. I spent days fighting sleep because I did not
want the dreams and consequently I cried about almost everything,
especially things, both secular and religious, that reminded me of my
experiences. What was worse was that I suddenly had this memory, from
when I was around five years old, in which I took Ken and raped Barbie,
scaring my friend away, never to see her again. Even then, despite the
memories before I was seven years old being rare, I could not keep
quiet, but no one listened to my cries for help. Either they refused to
listen, attempting to silence me, or they disappeared from my life when
I tried to say something.
Those experiences were a living hell for me and I have spent a lifetime dealing with flashbacks and nightmares over it, sometimes with the simplest thing triggering them, such as dolls. Until recent years, even some foods, such as a cookie, would trigger flashbacks, because he tried to use such things to entice me to sit on his lap and have his way with me. I was probably a rare child in that I rejected cookies, especially when my father offered one to me. If he was offering me one and I rejected it, he forced me to sit on his lap or be wherever he wanted me to be, just so he could get his own satisfaction.
What is worse, my mother recently admitted she walked in on those times, seeing my father “attack” me, more often than I realized. Her excuse for not doing anything was that she would get hurt and then she would be of little help to me. She was of little help as was, relying on religious ideology and dogma to solve the problem, which did not work. She even stated that she only had two choices- living with her parents or staying with my father. That is what women did, in her view, and she did not want to live with her parents.
When I told her what all that happened to me as a child is my definition of hell, hell on earth, created by humans, she replied, “That’s not hell. Hell is eternal. What happened to you ended, so it’s not hell.” Obviously, she has no comprehension of my definition of eternity either. Such haunting dreams and memories of the past, not just the abuse from my father, but the spiritual abuse of my relatives too, IS eternity and I will admit, during those times, I sometimes think that death is the only way out of that hell. Except for one thing, since I cannot end life myself, I have to wait for death to come to me, but it does not come, not even in my sleep. I wake up, during those episodes, only to face the same haunting memories and dreams again. For me, that is eternal torture and it did not end just because the actual sexual and physical abuse ended.
When I try to explain it all to my mother and that I do not have dreams of hell as she defines it, her response is, “Well, maybe you should be having dreams about hell.” This woman wants her grandsons and me to be Christians so badly, even if it is just words, because she fears not seeing us in her definition of heaven. Again, just as many other Christians, she has no idea that her concepts are only human concepts.
With all of these recent disputes happening between my mother and me, the suggestion from Marlene, concerning using a doll for therapy purposes, seemed to have tipped the scales just enough to trigger nightmares again, of what I define as hell, which lead to crying fits and lack of sleep for a good solid month. Do not get me wrong, I am not blaming Marlene. She did not know what would happen with such a suggestion and I am not sure I did either. All I knew is that the idea was impossible for me, no matter how hard I tried.
In the middle of the night, unable to sleep due to waking in a cold sweat from one of these nightmares about dolls, I sent off a quick email telling her about a couple of these dreams and the waking flashbacks, as well as what I felt was the connection. There was no blame in my email, or at least if she perceived that there was, that was not my intent. I wanted her help, but I was not about to admit, at the time, that I longed for death to come and end the nightmares and flashbacks. Her response was something like, “If it triggers something, then don’t do it.”
I occasionally looked at Muñeca, a doll I received from my aunt before I was born, for weeks, just trying to take Marlene’s suggestion. My aunt got the doll for me during a trip to Mexico just before I was born, thus the name. Occasionally I would pick up Muñeca and fiddle with her dress, only to put her back down again due to painful uneasiness. Memories would flood my mind, including the fact that I eventually gave up actually playing with dolls before I was seven. They would sit beside me as I played school by myself, but I did not actually play with them. Even so, I cannot tell anyone why I have a difficult time with such things, because most of my memories before I was seven are almost non-existent, only coming to me in bits and pieces during times of extreme emotional difficulty.
Not only that, my mother told me stories, when I was little, of a doll that she had growing up, which she prayed to God to make real. After telling me that, many times as a child, she insisted I was that doll, which God caused to come to life. Therefore, in that concept, I was nothing more than an object which others control, except I knew I was a person and people should not be forced into things nor should they be controlled by others either. Unfortunately, I was forced into many things as a child, with not even control over my own body, and try as I might, I could not get any of the adults in my life to listen to me as a child. The only control I had was over my own thoughts, which even those I had to keep to myself, unless I wanted to get in trouble with the adults in my life. I also had control of what I did not eat, thus why I developed anorexia by the time I was eleven.
My mother insisted, in our recent conversations, that was the way it was back then and of course, religious dogma had a lot to do with it. Even my minister great uncle and my grandfather would spew religious dogma and verses at me about obeying my elders, stating I still had to obey my father no matter what. I could not fathom, as a child, why I had to obey a monster or even why a raven would pluck out my eyes and feed them to her young (Proverbs 30:17) or why the days of my life would be short (Deut. 5:16), if I did not. Again, with various verses about obeying one’s elders, I was forced into silence and submission.
My mother also recently admitted that she never once used the word incest when trying to speak to the patriarch about what was happening to us and even she did not think I knew what the word was when I was young. I told her, maybe not, but by the time I was twelve, I knew what a concubine was, because it is in the Bible, and I felt like one as a child. Her response was, “Then you should have used that word when talking to your great uncle and grandfather. That might have gotten their attention.” Somehow, I doubt that it would have.
That is my definition of hell and eternity in painful details. What is my definition of heaven? To me, it too is right here on earth, because this life is what people make it, even for the helpless child that they are suppose to take care of and protect. For me, when I meet another human being who is compassionate, attempts to understand, and tries to help when needed, then that is a taste of heaven here on earth. Such individuals are metaphorically angels, but I do not believe in actual angels as portrayed in the Bible. Thus, Marlene Winell and Valerie Tarico, for example, are angels because they are compassionate people, who try to help others when needed. Thus, I have great respect and appreciation for them or as some would say, “love for them”, but the word “love” is difficult for me say, except to my own children or maybe a lover. I do not easily apply it to others.
When we honestly help others, then we are attempting to create heaven here on earth. This is not some metaphorical external heaven, only experienced after death, but rather one in the here and now. Humans make earth either heaven, hell, or both and their actions can cause an “eternity” of memories, both good and bad. None of my concepts about heaven, hell, or eternity can be applied to any afterlife. They are all in the here and now, created only by humans. Thus, the Christian concepts verses my own concepts are good examples as to how these ideas are nothing more than human concepts. My mother or any other Christian can deny my concepts all they want, but the fact remains that they are all human concepts, right down to the definition of what angels are.
My nightmares about what I consider hell are really no different from those of people who have nightmares about a religious hell. The only differences are that my dreams of “hell” and theirs are a matter of reality, as well as what we define as eternity. Eternity for me is a lifetime and like the nightmares others have of a fictional hell, I am tortured and haunted unmercifully, but from past real life experiences. The other difference is how we are tortured and haunted in our concepts of hell. However, my concept of heaven, it totally different than the Christian view and it is one only humans can create here on earth, with a little effort towards being compassionate towards others and giving mercy, as well as peace, to others who need it.
Until such Christians get into the minds of those who have been abused spiritually, psychologically, emotionally, sexually, and physically, they will never have a clue as to what a real hell actually is. They will also never admit and face the reality that they contribute and enable the abuse themselves, creating a living hell, right here on earth, for others. When they choose to see and examine my Little Box, then they will see the horrors of hell that I live with due to such abuse.
Therefore, dear Christian, do not tell me what hell is. I know what hell is, because I have lived it, and it is not some fictional place, but right here on earth. I also know what eternity is and again, it is not what you conceive it to be. I have also had a taste of what heaven on earth could be, if more human beings would just try to create it with love, compassion, and empathy. For me, such a concept of heaven is very much numinous, but that brings us to another human created concept concerning transcendence, which I might discuss another time, but again, such a concept is very much centered and focused on the human, not something outside ourselves. The same goes for the concept of heaven too. Until the religious face reality, they can have no concept of what I describe, much less what I am referring to when I speak of heaven being here on earth, much less my concept of hell and eternity.
Towards the end of 2010, I came out to my mother as a humanist and explained to her why am I not a Christian. The main reason I am not a Christian is that I have studied Christianity, other religions, mythology, philosophy, and psychology. The study of religion and psychology were the big two that helped to deconvert me. My experiences as a Christian, especially as a child, are only minor reasons, but these experiences helped me to define my thoughts concerning heaven, hell, and eternity.
I did not have a choice concerning Christianity as a child. It was either profess to being a Christian or my elders would get very anger. Just expressing my thoughts, as a child, about various Christian concepts was enough to get them upset with me. Not to mention, I was the type of child who would easily break down in tears if I even thought an adult was angry with me. Thus, I went along to get along as not to get into trouble. I was a big people-pleaser, along with suffering from sexual, physical, and emotional by my biological father and spiritual abuse from my Evangelical Fundamentalist relatives. All of this contributed to an eating disorder also and one of the reasons for the Anorexia was because I had little control in my life.
When I was in elementary school, my great uncle could not understand why I would not go up to his altar and “be saved.” I tried to tell him that he scared me, but he denied it and said it was the devil scaring me. I still would not go up to his altar and in an effort to get the adults to stop; I told them I turned my life over to Jesus in private. They seemed to have bought it or at least had little reason to doubt it given that I would cry over things such as the Crucifixion and strived hard to be perfect.
I grew up in Wesleyan theology, so the doctrine of perfectionism was very important, but they had no idea why I did the things I did and even my mother called me “The Best Little Girl in the World,” especially after she saw the movie. Teachers called me “too good” according to my mother. Again, theological reasons were not the number one reason as to why I obeyed my elders. I feared what they would do to me and their enabling of my father’s abuse did not help to change this.
Even when speaking to the therapist, in my 20s, my mother insisted she had no choice about staying with my biological father as long as she did and spewed religious dogmatic ideology. Their divorce was final when I was fourteen, after the State threaten my mother that they would take me from her if she did not leave my father. It was after that my grandfather stated that they had me away from my abuser and that was enough, adding, “God would take care of him.” When I tried to say I wanted to prosecute my father for what he did to me, my grandfather told me anger was a sin and I could see his anger with me in his eyes. Therefore, I back down, in favour of obedience, so he would not get angrier with me. Mind you, this was not obedience to a god though, but obedience out of fear of my elders.
Thirty years later, after telling my mother that I am not a Christian, the current therapist that I am working with has been helping me with my “inner child”. For more on this subject, please see Dr. Marlene Winell’s book, “Leaving the Fold
.”
After a suggestion she made, I started having nightmares about dolls,
both hard and soft ones. In one very vivid nightmare, I dreamed that
this hard doll was forcing himself on me, while someone watched, without
helping me and with a smile. I could not fight the doll off me and
woke up in a cold sweat. I spent days fighting sleep because I did not
want the dreams and consequently I cried about almost everything,
especially things, both secular and religious, that reminded me of my
experiences. What was worse was that I suddenly had this memory, from
when I was around five years old, in which I took Ken and raped Barbie,
scaring my friend away, never to see her again. Even then, despite the
memories before I was seven years old being rare, I could not keep
quiet, but no one listened to my cries for help. Either they refused to
listen, attempting to silence me, or they disappeared from my life when
I tried to say something.Those experiences were a living hell for me and I have spent a lifetime dealing with flashbacks and nightmares over it, sometimes with the simplest thing triggering them, such as dolls. Until recent years, even some foods, such as a cookie, would trigger flashbacks, because he tried to use such things to entice me to sit on his lap and have his way with me. I was probably a rare child in that I rejected cookies, especially when my father offered one to me. If he was offering me one and I rejected it, he forced me to sit on his lap or be wherever he wanted me to be, just so he could get his own satisfaction.
What is worse, my mother recently admitted she walked in on those times, seeing my father “attack” me, more often than I realized. Her excuse for not doing anything was that she would get hurt and then she would be of little help to me. She was of little help as was, relying on religious ideology and dogma to solve the problem, which did not work. She even stated that she only had two choices- living with her parents or staying with my father. That is what women did, in her view, and she did not want to live with her parents.
When I told her what all that happened to me as a child is my definition of hell, hell on earth, created by humans, she replied, “That’s not hell. Hell is eternal. What happened to you ended, so it’s not hell.” Obviously, she has no comprehension of my definition of eternity either. Such haunting dreams and memories of the past, not just the abuse from my father, but the spiritual abuse of my relatives too, IS eternity and I will admit, during those times, I sometimes think that death is the only way out of that hell. Except for one thing, since I cannot end life myself, I have to wait for death to come to me, but it does not come, not even in my sleep. I wake up, during those episodes, only to face the same haunting memories and dreams again. For me, that is eternal torture and it did not end just because the actual sexual and physical abuse ended.
When I try to explain it all to my mother and that I do not have dreams of hell as she defines it, her response is, “Well, maybe you should be having dreams about hell.” This woman wants her grandsons and me to be Christians so badly, even if it is just words, because she fears not seeing us in her definition of heaven. Again, just as many other Christians, she has no idea that her concepts are only human concepts.
With all of these recent disputes happening between my mother and me, the suggestion from Marlene, concerning using a doll for therapy purposes, seemed to have tipped the scales just enough to trigger nightmares again, of what I define as hell, which lead to crying fits and lack of sleep for a good solid month. Do not get me wrong, I am not blaming Marlene. She did not know what would happen with such a suggestion and I am not sure I did either. All I knew is that the idea was impossible for me, no matter how hard I tried.
In the middle of the night, unable to sleep due to waking in a cold sweat from one of these nightmares about dolls, I sent off a quick email telling her about a couple of these dreams and the waking flashbacks, as well as what I felt was the connection. There was no blame in my email, or at least if she perceived that there was, that was not my intent. I wanted her help, but I was not about to admit, at the time, that I longed for death to come and end the nightmares and flashbacks. Her response was something like, “If it triggers something, then don’t do it.”
I occasionally looked at Muñeca, a doll I received from my aunt before I was born, for weeks, just trying to take Marlene’s suggestion. My aunt got the doll for me during a trip to Mexico just before I was born, thus the name. Occasionally I would pick up Muñeca and fiddle with her dress, only to put her back down again due to painful uneasiness. Memories would flood my mind, including the fact that I eventually gave up actually playing with dolls before I was seven. They would sit beside me as I played school by myself, but I did not actually play with them. Even so, I cannot tell anyone why I have a difficult time with such things, because most of my memories before I was seven are almost non-existent, only coming to me in bits and pieces during times of extreme emotional difficulty.
Not only that, my mother told me stories, when I was little, of a doll that she had growing up, which she prayed to God to make real. After telling me that, many times as a child, she insisted I was that doll, which God caused to come to life. Therefore, in that concept, I was nothing more than an object which others control, except I knew I was a person and people should not be forced into things nor should they be controlled by others either. Unfortunately, I was forced into many things as a child, with not even control over my own body, and try as I might, I could not get any of the adults in my life to listen to me as a child. The only control I had was over my own thoughts, which even those I had to keep to myself, unless I wanted to get in trouble with the adults in my life. I also had control of what I did not eat, thus why I developed anorexia by the time I was eleven.
My mother insisted, in our recent conversations, that was the way it was back then and of course, religious dogma had a lot to do with it. Even my minister great uncle and my grandfather would spew religious dogma and verses at me about obeying my elders, stating I still had to obey my father no matter what. I could not fathom, as a child, why I had to obey a monster or even why a raven would pluck out my eyes and feed them to her young (Proverbs 30:17) or why the days of my life would be short (Deut. 5:16), if I did not. Again, with various verses about obeying one’s elders, I was forced into silence and submission.
My mother also recently admitted that she never once used the word incest when trying to speak to the patriarch about what was happening to us and even she did not think I knew what the word was when I was young. I told her, maybe not, but by the time I was twelve, I knew what a concubine was, because it is in the Bible, and I felt like one as a child. Her response was, “Then you should have used that word when talking to your great uncle and grandfather. That might have gotten their attention.” Somehow, I doubt that it would have.
That is my definition of hell and eternity in painful details. What is my definition of heaven? To me, it too is right here on earth, because this life is what people make it, even for the helpless child that they are suppose to take care of and protect. For me, when I meet another human being who is compassionate, attempts to understand, and tries to help when needed, then that is a taste of heaven here on earth. Such individuals are metaphorically angels, but I do not believe in actual angels as portrayed in the Bible. Thus, Marlene Winell and Valerie Tarico, for example, are angels because they are compassionate people, who try to help others when needed. Thus, I have great respect and appreciation for them or as some would say, “love for them”, but the word “love” is difficult for me say, except to my own children or maybe a lover. I do not easily apply it to others.
When we honestly help others, then we are attempting to create heaven here on earth. This is not some metaphorical external heaven, only experienced after death, but rather one in the here and now. Humans make earth either heaven, hell, or both and their actions can cause an “eternity” of memories, both good and bad. None of my concepts about heaven, hell, or eternity can be applied to any afterlife. They are all in the here and now, created only by humans. Thus, the Christian concepts verses my own concepts are good examples as to how these ideas are nothing more than human concepts. My mother or any other Christian can deny my concepts all they want, but the fact remains that they are all human concepts, right down to the definition of what angels are.
My nightmares about what I consider hell are really no different from those of people who have nightmares about a religious hell. The only differences are that my dreams of “hell” and theirs are a matter of reality, as well as what we define as eternity. Eternity for me is a lifetime and like the nightmares others have of a fictional hell, I am tortured and haunted unmercifully, but from past real life experiences. The other difference is how we are tortured and haunted in our concepts of hell. However, my concept of heaven, it totally different than the Christian view and it is one only humans can create here on earth, with a little effort towards being compassionate towards others and giving mercy, as well as peace, to others who need it.
Until such Christians get into the minds of those who have been abused spiritually, psychologically, emotionally, sexually, and physically, they will never have a clue as to what a real hell actually is. They will also never admit and face the reality that they contribute and enable the abuse themselves, creating a living hell, right here on earth, for others. When they choose to see and examine my Little Box, then they will see the horrors of hell that I live with due to such abuse.
Therefore, dear Christian, do not tell me what hell is. I know what hell is, because I have lived it, and it is not some fictional place, but right here on earth. I also know what eternity is and again, it is not what you conceive it to be. I have also had a taste of what heaven on earth could be, if more human beings would just try to create it with love, compassion, and empathy. For me, such a concept of heaven is very much numinous, but that brings us to another human created concept concerning transcendence, which I might discuss another time, but again, such a concept is very much centered and focused on the human, not something outside ourselves. The same goes for the concept of heaven too. Until the religious face reality, they can have no concept of what I describe, much less what I am referring to when I speak of heaven being here on earth, much less my concept of hell and eternity.
Tuesday, 10 April 2012
Imagine there is no heaven
By dealdoctor ~
John Lennon's song “Imagine” contains the famous lines:
Gosh it seems if we actually start to imagine that there is no heaven or hell it brings on a whole list of questions that would pop into the minds of people who had never even stopped once to imagined that God and all things of God might not be real. Why man alive without God in the picture the entire meaning of life must be re-evaluated as well as the meaning of death. It is about like the comedian Stephen Colbert who no longer practices the Catholicism of his youth saying that the thing he is going to give up this year for Lent is the whole damn Catholic religion. He is a funny guy but there is no danger that without Catholicism he will become a crazed ax murderer who has no concern for other people.
People do not have meaning in this life because of gold, lead or copper streets in a next life, but because they have found ways to create meaning in this world -- while they are here. Atheists find meaning in loving their significant others, family and children. They might really enjoy their sports teams. Music, art, good books, philosophy, exercise, volunteer work, helping their neighbors, work, civil rights, politics, hobbies are just a few things which might provide meaning and make living interesting for atheists. The list goes one and on and on and well on. Think about it if people do not find meaning in such things as these their life while in THIS world must be crappy and meaningless. You can only sit on a bench and sing, pray, and read the Bible so long and most people will get impatient to get on with their lives even if they are Christians. Meaning in this life must come from things in this life that happen seven days as week. If you are only in line for the movie you better find something to do in the damn line like talking to the people who have come with you to go to the movie, or you are going to be bored as hell until you get inside and the lights dim and the show starts.
Imagining there is neither heaven nor hell after death means a couple of things for life in this world. It makes this life become so very special and precious. Each moment, each second, each situation is unique, limited and valuable. The birth of one of your children in this context is more precious, not less precious.Morality and human kindness are certainly not things that belongs to theists alone. The prisons are full of Christians as well as a few non-believers too. Having been a pastor for over twenty years I can assure you that immorality is common among Christians at least to the same degree as it is among atheists. Arguments can be made that there are lower rates of crime among non-believers than among Christians and that the divorce rate is now higher among Christians than non-Christians. The debate will rage on each side because statistics can be manipulated by anyone. Christians will say that these stats do not apply to Christians who read their Bibles everyday. Whatever!
Atheists who want to be successful business people better deliver what they promise their customers. They better not terrorize their neighborhoods by raping, pillaging or stealing or the damn cops are going to bust their ass. Crime may pay in the short run but communities, Christian or otherwise, will not put up with it for long. Non Christian countries have jails too. Morality and its being put in the codes of laws that prohibit stealing and murder is absolutely required by any society religious or non-religious that are going to function. So just like Christian parents atheist parents teach their children to be “good” and pick up their toys and share their toys with the other children. You get the idea.
Now, imagining there is neither heaven nor hell after death means a couple of things for life in this world. First it causes this life to be so very special and precious. Each moment, each second, each situation is unique, limited and valuable. The birth of one of your children in this context is more precious, not less precious.
Also atheists who do good do it for goodness sake not for the sake of going to heaven as a reward or going to hell as a punishment. They do good things because they believe it is good and that we all benefit when we all do the good things that benefit our communities and planet.
Fear of hell can make Christians neurotic and worrisome so that they are not able to enjoy the simple pleasures of life. Each little group has its list of things “good Christians” do not do. Many Baptists think it is wrong to have a beer. Some Methodists think it hurts not only your health but also your “witness” if you smoke. All Evangelical Churches will try to make teenagers feel guilty as a Federal Bank robber if they masturbate. News flash almost 100% of teenagers and most adults do masturbate so calling this harmless pleasure sin causes them to live in painful guilt and of course if true believers to fear of hell daily. The church induces the guilt and then has the only store for “forgiveness” each Sunday with the altar call. Gotcha! Everything from women wearing makeup to spending money on something that is not a basic essential can be made into a sin worthy of hell. Of course there is the “unforgivable sin” that is thrown in as a joker in the deck that keeps all imperfect Christians in fear to some degree that they have fucked up so bad that there is perhaps not even a chance that God will ever forgive them because they have gone too far. Hell is an essential of the Bible’s version of Christianity. Preachers have let their own imagination run wild with descriptions of hell throughout the centuries. But for once imagine there is no hell. Fear of hell vanishes at least for that moment. Fully embrace atheism and that irrational fear is gone forever.
Imagine there is no heaven. That means that when you are dead there is no Eternal Christian Disneyland or Islamic Heaven with 72 virgins for terrorist’s bombers. I guess this would also mean there is no one employed eternally to sweep the gold streets of heaven since there are not any gold streets there to be swept.
Heaven and Hell gone. Poof! Evolution has made humankind, along with the dogs, chickens, ducks, lizards, fish, grass, and flowers. All of life is still evolving including humankind and there is no break in the Tree of Life just different branches. Most of the Universe is made up of vast reaches where there is no life at all. How marvelous it is to be alive! What a wonder it is to be, to hear, see, love, cry, hope, work, and dance. Yes, oh, hell yes there is meaning. If you do not see this you are already dead in the head. Not everyone cares about smelling the flowers so they might as well be plastic for those people anyway. To the Christian everything in this world is like plastic flowers. Only the flowers of heaven will be real flowers. The pains of this world for the Christian are only minor inconveniences when compared to the flames of hell. I remember somewhere in C.S. Lewis’ writings I think it was in Mere Christianity where he has an American Christian soldier and a German Christian soldier shoot one another in World War II and they are both killed only to wake up laughing together in heaven. So much for the value of life in this world from a Christian perspective! The deal is to sell all you own and give it to the poor and take up your cross and die to this world. If you save your life in this world you lose it in the next. For the Christian when push comes to shove only the next life counts. It is the pearl of great price for which a person if wise is to buy even if it costs them everything they have in this world. That will leave you broke and empty emotionally and physically given time. A Catholic monk takes vows of chastity, poverty and obedience for just these reasons. Even the right to marry must go.
We atheists give a promise to the world. After death all people will have an equal amount of pleasure. After death no person will feel any pains of hell. After death everyone is the same. They are dead. They are gone. Imagine that. There is no need to fear anything at all after you die. Toss the fear and start living. Christians will have not one ounce more joy or pleasure in the non-existent afterlife than atheists. They also are just as dead as a rock. No pleasure, no pain. Ask a rock if they are ok. Yep, says the rock. It rocks to be a rock!
So today we are alive. Today is the day to love your significant other, your children, your grandchildren, your community, your friends, your hobbies, and as many others as you can and do not forget to love yourself too. Be your own friend while you can be a friend to you. When you are a rock no worries too. Wow! It’s all good. Imagine that! Some people are hurting. The rocks are fine. Help someone today. You will feel good, they will feel good and that is a damn good thing. Imagine an atheist saying that! Friendly caring atheists could that be possible? Imagine!
John Lennon's song “Imagine” contains the famous lines:
Imagine There’s No HeavenAtheists simply do not believe in Heaven or Hell after this life, but rather that this life is the only life an individual will have to live. What are the implications of such a belief? Does this leave atheists in a sad hopeless situation while living this life, because once it is over it is really flat out over with no encore? Would this make us depressed people because there are no golden streets on which we will walk for eternity? Does this mean that atheists will live irresponsible, immoral lives now, because there is no hell to punish us when we die? Gosh if God does not have a carrot of heaven to inspire us and a big stick of hell to fill us with fear, what in the world would motivate us to act in kind ways toward others?
It’s Easy If You Try
No Hell Below Us
Above Us, Only Sky
Gosh it seems if we actually start to imagine that there is no heaven or hell it brings on a whole list of questions that would pop into the minds of people who had never even stopped once to imagined that God and all things of God might not be real. Why man alive without God in the picture the entire meaning of life must be re-evaluated as well as the meaning of death. It is about like the comedian Stephen Colbert who no longer practices the Catholicism of his youth saying that the thing he is going to give up this year for Lent is the whole damn Catholic religion. He is a funny guy but there is no danger that without Catholicism he will become a crazed ax murderer who has no concern for other people.
People do not have meaning in this life because of gold, lead or copper streets in a next life, but because they have found ways to create meaning in this world -- while they are here. Atheists find meaning in loving their significant others, family and children. They might really enjoy their sports teams. Music, art, good books, philosophy, exercise, volunteer work, helping their neighbors, work, civil rights, politics, hobbies are just a few things which might provide meaning and make living interesting for atheists. The list goes one and on and on and well on. Think about it if people do not find meaning in such things as these their life while in THIS world must be crappy and meaningless. You can only sit on a bench and sing, pray, and read the Bible so long and most people will get impatient to get on with their lives even if they are Christians. Meaning in this life must come from things in this life that happen seven days as week. If you are only in line for the movie you better find something to do in the damn line like talking to the people who have come with you to go to the movie, or you are going to be bored as hell until you get inside and the lights dim and the show starts.
Imagining there is neither heaven nor hell after death means a couple of things for life in this world. It makes this life become so very special and precious. Each moment, each second, each situation is unique, limited and valuable. The birth of one of your children in this context is more precious, not less precious.Morality and human kindness are certainly not things that belongs to theists alone. The prisons are full of Christians as well as a few non-believers too. Having been a pastor for over twenty years I can assure you that immorality is common among Christians at least to the same degree as it is among atheists. Arguments can be made that there are lower rates of crime among non-believers than among Christians and that the divorce rate is now higher among Christians than non-Christians. The debate will rage on each side because statistics can be manipulated by anyone. Christians will say that these stats do not apply to Christians who read their Bibles everyday. Whatever!
Atheists who want to be successful business people better deliver what they promise their customers. They better not terrorize their neighborhoods by raping, pillaging or stealing or the damn cops are going to bust their ass. Crime may pay in the short run but communities, Christian or otherwise, will not put up with it for long. Non Christian countries have jails too. Morality and its being put in the codes of laws that prohibit stealing and murder is absolutely required by any society religious or non-religious that are going to function. So just like Christian parents atheist parents teach their children to be “good” and pick up their toys and share their toys with the other children. You get the idea.
Now, imagining there is neither heaven nor hell after death means a couple of things for life in this world. First it causes this life to be so very special and precious. Each moment, each second, each situation is unique, limited and valuable. The birth of one of your children in this context is more precious, not less precious.
Also atheists who do good do it for goodness sake not for the sake of going to heaven as a reward or going to hell as a punishment. They do good things because they believe it is good and that we all benefit when we all do the good things that benefit our communities and planet.
Fear of hell can make Christians neurotic and worrisome so that they are not able to enjoy the simple pleasures of life. Each little group has its list of things “good Christians” do not do. Many Baptists think it is wrong to have a beer. Some Methodists think it hurts not only your health but also your “witness” if you smoke. All Evangelical Churches will try to make teenagers feel guilty as a Federal Bank robber if they masturbate. News flash almost 100% of teenagers and most adults do masturbate so calling this harmless pleasure sin causes them to live in painful guilt and of course if true believers to fear of hell daily. The church induces the guilt and then has the only store for “forgiveness” each Sunday with the altar call. Gotcha! Everything from women wearing makeup to spending money on something that is not a basic essential can be made into a sin worthy of hell. Of course there is the “unforgivable sin” that is thrown in as a joker in the deck that keeps all imperfect Christians in fear to some degree that they have fucked up so bad that there is perhaps not even a chance that God will ever forgive them because they have gone too far. Hell is an essential of the Bible’s version of Christianity. Preachers have let their own imagination run wild with descriptions of hell throughout the centuries. But for once imagine there is no hell. Fear of hell vanishes at least for that moment. Fully embrace atheism and that irrational fear is gone forever.
Imagine there is no heaven. That means that when you are dead there is no Eternal Christian Disneyland or Islamic Heaven with 72 virgins for terrorist’s bombers. I guess this would also mean there is no one employed eternally to sweep the gold streets of heaven since there are not any gold streets there to be swept.
Heaven and Hell gone. Poof! Evolution has made humankind, along with the dogs, chickens, ducks, lizards, fish, grass, and flowers. All of life is still evolving including humankind and there is no break in the Tree of Life just different branches. Most of the Universe is made up of vast reaches where there is no life at all. How marvelous it is to be alive! What a wonder it is to be, to hear, see, love, cry, hope, work, and dance. Yes, oh, hell yes there is meaning. If you do not see this you are already dead in the head. Not everyone cares about smelling the flowers so they might as well be plastic for those people anyway. To the Christian everything in this world is like plastic flowers. Only the flowers of heaven will be real flowers. The pains of this world for the Christian are only minor inconveniences when compared to the flames of hell. I remember somewhere in C.S. Lewis’ writings I think it was in Mere Christianity where he has an American Christian soldier and a German Christian soldier shoot one another in World War II and they are both killed only to wake up laughing together in heaven. So much for the value of life in this world from a Christian perspective! The deal is to sell all you own and give it to the poor and take up your cross and die to this world. If you save your life in this world you lose it in the next. For the Christian when push comes to shove only the next life counts. It is the pearl of great price for which a person if wise is to buy even if it costs them everything they have in this world. That will leave you broke and empty emotionally and physically given time. A Catholic monk takes vows of chastity, poverty and obedience for just these reasons. Even the right to marry must go.
We atheists give a promise to the world. After death all people will have an equal amount of pleasure. After death no person will feel any pains of hell. After death everyone is the same. They are dead. They are gone. Imagine that. There is no need to fear anything at all after you die. Toss the fear and start living. Christians will have not one ounce more joy or pleasure in the non-existent afterlife than atheists. They also are just as dead as a rock. No pleasure, no pain. Ask a rock if they are ok. Yep, says the rock. It rocks to be a rock!
So today we are alive. Today is the day to love your significant other, your children, your grandchildren, your community, your friends, your hobbies, and as many others as you can and do not forget to love yourself too. Be your own friend while you can be a friend to you. When you are a rock no worries too. Wow! It’s all good. Imagine that! Some people are hurting. The rocks are fine. Help someone today. You will feel good, they will feel good and that is a damn good thing. Imagine an atheist saying that! Friendly caring atheists could that be possible? Imagine!
Monday, 9 April 2012
rationalizing - Did God exist ?
There are millions of different kinds of species in this Earth. But there is only one kind of species that can rationing. And that is us - human being.
If human cannot rationing, we will be still living at the stone age.
So all human must rationing. Another word - we must use our common sense. or else we better be dog and cat.
So, the big question today is - Did God exist ??
According to Christians, God knows everything. And he has a plan for all of us. He even know what will happened to us even before we are born !!!
Every Christian agreed to that.
But why he cannot predict that the snake will cheat Eve to eat that apple and all human has to go to hell ?
WHY ?????
Maybe he knows nothing.
If God has a plan for everyone, Then why should we pray to God ? We must NOT DISTURB HIS PLAN !!!!!!!!!!!!
Christian cannot answer this question because the answer is simple :
THERE IS NO GOD.
If the bible is really true, the scale of killing, torture and mass murdering done by God will made Adolf Hitler looks like mother Teresa.
If human cannot rationing, we will be still living at the stone age.
So all human must rationing. Another word - we must use our common sense. or else we better be dog and cat.
So, the big question today is - Did God exist ??
According to Christians, God knows everything. And he has a plan for all of us. He even know what will happened to us even before we are born !!!
Every Christian agreed to that.
But why he cannot predict that the snake will cheat Eve to eat that apple and all human has to go to hell ?
WHY ?????
Maybe he knows nothing.
If God has a plan for everyone, Then why should we pray to God ? We must NOT DISTURB HIS PLAN !!!!!!!!!!!!
Christian cannot answer this question because the answer is simple :
THERE IS NO GOD.
If the bible is really true, the scale of killing, torture and mass murdering done by God will made Adolf Hitler looks like mother Teresa.
Why I am not a Christian by Mike
By Mike ~
I attend church with my girlfriend and her family even though I've recently rejected Christianity. I won't go into my de-conversion process, perhaps another day, but recently I wrote a summary of the reasons why I can no longer consider myself a Christian. The pastor at the church last Sunday issued a challenge to anyone in the church that day who hadn't "accepted Christianity" to write down any reasons the at we might have for not accepting the faith and to speak to to him and discuss our reasons. So in the late hours of the night, the day before church, I decided to write out a little essay declaring why I could no longer consider myself a Christian.
When we got to the church I decided I was going to give the Pastor my writings after the sermon, but after the sermon, I just couldn't do it, I saw the futility of it. I figured in my head, after his emotionally charged sermon and the emotionally charged worship service in which the worship pastor began weeping, that one of two things were going to be the result of issuing my writings to these people.
Either way, it was going to be awkward and I just figured it would be best to just leave it be. But! I didn't want my late night brain droppings to go to waste and since I don't feel that there is anyone I can share my musings with right now, I thought of you wonderful people!
So, here it is, my unedited essay and in no way complete, the core reasons why I am not a Christian.
There are a myriad of reasons why at this point in my life I no longer consider myself a Christian, but I’ll try and list the most important ones.
First, there is simply not enough evidence to back the supernatural claims in the Bible. Personal and unverifiable revelations and supposedly revealed scripture should not be accepted as evidence of a supernatural force.
The Biblical God is a cruel and sadistic being and the New Testament doesn’t change that. Concerning the Old Testament I find it odd that I am asked to “consider the times” when confronted with the moral laws created by a being that is supposed to be all knowing, all wise and timeless. And yet, the overall morality of the Bible is not all knowing, all wise or timeless.
Religion and morality are not mutually exclusive, one can be moral and religious, immoral and irreligious, moral and irreligious or immoral and religious.
Jesus, even among non-Christian’s, is usually considered by default the epitome of morality and I disagree. The core of Jesus’ philosophy is that all humans are sinful beings that are in need of redemption. The only way to redeem oneself is through Jesus and to truly accept him as your lord and savior. The punishment of not being redeemed in this lifetime is eternal punishment in a hellish afterlife. This is one of the most grossly immoral beliefs ever concocted. I think it is shameful that parents and other adults instill this belief into the minds of young children or the minds of adults who are/were in their most vulnerable positions and are not equipped with the cognitive tools to reason against such depravity. I think those that teach this type of belief system are participating in an emotional blackmail that has gripped humanity for thousands of years and this type of emotional blackmail is not exclusive to Christianity. There is simply not a single sliver of objective evidence that one can show that I or anyone else will or has spent an eternity in suffering because we committed thought crime during our temporal lives.
If there is a higher and more transcendent being or beings in the universe it doesn’t have to be the Biblical God. In fact if there are beings that exist outside of the bounds of the physical universe and they or it created everything. I have my doubts that it was the Christian God or the Muslim God or the Hindu God or any of the various god’s that human beings believe to exist. I don’t think that a transcendent being that could create the whole universe would be so nit picky to care whether or not his flawed and infinitesimally finite creations acknowledged his existence or not. But, if the universe does operate in this fashion, that the Christian God requires his acceptance as a savior in order so that his flawed creations can escape the eternal punishment which is said they deserve. Then it certainly cannot be said that this being is benevolent and has humanities best interests at heart. If the universe operates in this fashion the vast majority of mankind will have been created for eternal damnation, this world is a factory for the damned. How can an all powerful, omniscient and “benevolent” being be blind to this? If I had a personal revelation and through this found that the universe did operate in this fashion and found that one did end up eternally damned for non-belief, I would be saddened by such a revelation. It would mean that many great, deserving or innocent people, past, present and future, are going to be thrown as trash into an abyss manufactured by a supposedly loving being. I don’t believe that this is true and the chances of it being true are as good as any other supernatural claim without evidence.
Concerning the matter of the “ultimate questions” I value truth. I cannot with confidence tell a young child or friend that the world operates the way it does in the Biblical paradigm. I cannot with confidence follow intellectually deceptive groups like the Young Earth Creationists that lie about the age of the Earth and evolution, while making the same refuted and deceptive claims concerning the natural world over and over and over again. But alas, selective bias and just pure laziness runs deep and those captured by such movements will rarely venture far enough to investigate the refuted claims that they are being fed by these groups.
Anyways, I’ll close it up at this point, it’s hard to write about topics such as these and even harder at 4 A.M. This is a good baseline of about where I’m at concerning Christianity and religion in general though. I know many people that practice their beliefs for the most part mean well and I know for many people these beliefs are the reason that they might have pulled themselves out of hellish life conditions. I also know that there are religious groups and organizations that do a lot of good in the world. But none of these things are evidence that the supernatural claims of their beliefs are true. The truth, personally, is what is important to me if I am to be a follower of any system of belief.
So, this is what I was going to give to the pastor. I just wanted something that was rather short and matter of fact and I figured I'd fill in the blanks with our discussions, but as I said it didn't happen and probably won't ever. As pointed out these people are the YEC types that think the world is 6,000 years old and evolution is some secular conspiracy created by the devil or something. It really is rather sad that these people that are so arrogant on the subject and yet, have never bothered to pick up a book on evolutionary biology or read "Origins Of The Species" to figure out what Darwin actually said concerning Natural Selection, instead they make rash caricatures of the man that are way out of the bounds of reality. It's sad really.
I attend church with my girlfriend and her family even though I've recently rejected Christianity. I won't go into my de-conversion process, perhaps another day, but recently I wrote a summary of the reasons why I can no longer consider myself a Christian. The pastor at the church last Sunday issued a challenge to anyone in the church that day who hadn't "accepted Christianity" to write down any reasons the at we might have for not accepting the faith and to speak to to him and discuss our reasons. So in the late hours of the night, the day before church, I decided to write out a little essay declaring why I could no longer consider myself a Christian.
When we got to the church I decided I was going to give the Pastor my writings after the sermon, but after the sermon, I just couldn't do it, I saw the futility of it. I figured in my head, after his emotionally charged sermon and the emotionally charged worship service in which the worship pastor began weeping, that one of two things were going to be the result of issuing my writings to these people.
- They were going to raise their biblical force fields and frustrate me to no end with their illogical biblical conclusions about the universe.Their emotional sensibilities would be harmed and I would feel bad for attacking a belief system that these people base their core life purpose and the way in which they provide for themselves.
- Their emotional sensibilities would be harmed and I would feel bad for attacking a belief system that these people base their core life purpose and the way in which they provide for themselves.
Either way, it was going to be awkward and I just figured it would be best to just leave it be. But! I didn't want my late night brain droppings to go to waste and since I don't feel that there is anyone I can share my musings with right now, I thought of you wonderful people!
So, here it is, my unedited essay and in no way complete, the core reasons why I am not a Christian.
There are a myriad of reasons why at this point in my life I no longer consider myself a Christian, but I’ll try and list the most important ones.
First, there is simply not enough evidence to back the supernatural claims in the Bible. Personal and unverifiable revelations and supposedly revealed scripture should not be accepted as evidence of a supernatural force.
The Biblical God is a cruel and sadistic being and the New Testament doesn’t change that. Concerning the Old Testament I find it odd that I am asked to “consider the times” when confronted with the moral laws created by a being that is supposed to be all knowing, all wise and timeless. And yet, the overall morality of the Bible is not all knowing, all wise or timeless.
Religion and morality are not mutually exclusive, one can be moral and religious, immoral and irreligious, moral and irreligious or immoral and religious.
Jesus, even among non-Christian’s, is usually considered by default the epitome of morality and I disagree. The core of Jesus’ philosophy is that all humans are sinful beings that are in need of redemption. The only way to redeem oneself is through Jesus and to truly accept him as your lord and savior. The punishment of not being redeemed in this lifetime is eternal punishment in a hellish afterlife. This is one of the most grossly immoral beliefs ever concocted. I think it is shameful that parents and other adults instill this belief into the minds of young children or the minds of adults who are/were in their most vulnerable positions and are not equipped with the cognitive tools to reason against such depravity. I think those that teach this type of belief system are participating in an emotional blackmail that has gripped humanity for thousands of years and this type of emotional blackmail is not exclusive to Christianity. There is simply not a single sliver of objective evidence that one can show that I or anyone else will or has spent an eternity in suffering because we committed thought crime during our temporal lives.
If there is a higher and more transcendent being or beings in the universe it doesn’t have to be the Biblical God. In fact if there are beings that exist outside of the bounds of the physical universe and they or it created everything. I have my doubts that it was the Christian God or the Muslim God or the Hindu God or any of the various god’s that human beings believe to exist. I don’t think that a transcendent being that could create the whole universe would be so nit picky to care whether or not his flawed and infinitesimally finite creations acknowledged his existence or not. But, if the universe does operate in this fashion, that the Christian God requires his acceptance as a savior in order so that his flawed creations can escape the eternal punishment which is said they deserve. Then it certainly cannot be said that this being is benevolent and has humanities best interests at heart. If the universe operates in this fashion the vast majority of mankind will have been created for eternal damnation, this world is a factory for the damned. How can an all powerful, omniscient and “benevolent” being be blind to this? If I had a personal revelation and through this found that the universe did operate in this fashion and found that one did end up eternally damned for non-belief, I would be saddened by such a revelation. It would mean that many great, deserving or innocent people, past, present and future, are going to be thrown as trash into an abyss manufactured by a supposedly loving being. I don’t believe that this is true and the chances of it being true are as good as any other supernatural claim without evidence.
Concerning the matter of the “ultimate questions” I value truth. I cannot with confidence tell a young child or friend that the world operates the way it does in the Biblical paradigm. I cannot with confidence follow intellectually deceptive groups like the Young Earth Creationists that lie about the age of the Earth and evolution, while making the same refuted and deceptive claims concerning the natural world over and over and over again. But alas, selective bias and just pure laziness runs deep and those captured by such movements will rarely venture far enough to investigate the refuted claims that they are being fed by these groups.
Anyways, I’ll close it up at this point, it’s hard to write about topics such as these and even harder at 4 A.M. This is a good baseline of about where I’m at concerning Christianity and religion in general though. I know many people that practice their beliefs for the most part mean well and I know for many people these beliefs are the reason that they might have pulled themselves out of hellish life conditions. I also know that there are religious groups and organizations that do a lot of good in the world. But none of these things are evidence that the supernatural claims of their beliefs are true. The truth, personally, is what is important to me if I am to be a follower of any system of belief.
So, this is what I was going to give to the pastor. I just wanted something that was rather short and matter of fact and I figured I'd fill in the blanks with our discussions, but as I said it didn't happen and probably won't ever. As pointed out these people are the YEC types that think the world is 6,000 years old and evolution is some secular conspiracy created by the devil or something. It really is rather sad that these people that are so arrogant on the subject and yet, have never bothered to pick up a book on evolutionary biology or read "Origins Of The Species" to figure out what Darwin actually said concerning Natural Selection, instead they make rash caricatures of the man that are way out of the bounds of reality. It's sad really.
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