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. . . and therefore wrong?
Then, how about a man born of virgin birth....
who healed lepers and blind people with his hands, walked on water and turned water into wine....
and how all the wrong in the world happened because a rib ate an apple because a talking snake told her to?
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Religion
(Belief + Experience) - Proof = Delusion.
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Nobody can say with absolute certainty how the universe came into being and I know of no atheist hellbent on going around trying to tell everyone else that such is the case. Yet we surely have enough preachers hellbent on promoting the idea of the "God theory" as if it were a given.
However we do have compelling evidence that there was a big bang and scientists are still researching the subject. We also have overwhelming, irrefutable evidence that life is the result of evolution by natural selection.
I think that the old excuse, "did not witness" argument was poo pooed ages ago by sheer commonsense and logic.
Forensic detectives do not witness the murders they investigate yet are able to collect enough compelling evidence to convict a murderer..
Even without fossil and carbon dating evidence (of which there are mountains) we are still able to conclude evolution through natural selection by an overwhelming abundance of existing, live evidence.
So, anybody is entitled to reasonably assert that there is no such thing as God. Creation (the lynchpin of the existence of God) has been completely overturned and there is no evidence whatsoever of a God, Gods or any other supernatural phenomena.
Nobody is entitled to reasonably assert that there is a God and anybody who does say that there is a God is being totally unreasonable.
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In August 2009 Mark Saylor, 45, his wife Cleofe, 45, their daughter Mahala, 13 and brother-in-law Chris Lastrella, 38 all perished in a horrific car crash on a San Diego freeway.
The circumstances surrounding the accident are bizarre to say the least however what happened a moment immediately preceding the deaths of this family is disturbing to say the least.
Mark, the driver, phoned 911 whilst driving along the freeway asking what he could do since the accelerator pedal had jammed fully down under the floor mat, the car just kept accelerating, applying the brakes had little effect and he was quickly running out of road and time to rectify the situation.
The entire family were devout Christians and actively involved in their local church's activities.
Realising that nothing would work to get out of his predicament and that "his time was near" Saylor uttered his final words to his family (they were actually recorded by the emergency services whilst his phone was connected): "Hold on and pray".
The family fell victim to what turned out to be a faulty floor mat that caused the accelerator pedal to jam. The car's manufacturer, Toyota ended up paying massively for the fault.
Interestingly, there were incidences of the same problem happening to quite a number of other drivers. In each of those cases however, the drivers had the presence of mind to solve the problem....simply pull the mat up or at worst, place the transmission selector in neutral.
Yet, what was the solution Saylor came up with?....."Hold on and pray".
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Here is an prime example of delusion in action. The video depicts the interaction between an obviously intelligent, normal person and someone who is clearly off his rocker.
What are your thoughts on this?
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Seated at a bar is an Irishman, A Canadian and a blond.
The bartender says: "Huh, is this some kind of a joke?"
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Seated at a bar is a Catholic Priest, a liar, and a pedophile.
The bartender says: "Huh, so far you're the only one here."
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Where is God?
I look under my bed
Nope, not here
I looked in the mirror and my face wasn't red
So, he wasn't up there.
I finally found Him, now that's odd
He's in my head.
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God: Geeziz bloody Kerrist!!
Jesus: Yes Dad. What's up?
God: Aww son, it's this bleeding "Piano Drop" app that keeps freezing up on me.
Jesus: Oh, okay. I'll go and reboot the server.
God: I can't see how kicking the butler in the backside again is going to work, but hurry up. I'm well behind on my piano dropping program. That Steinway I plonked on George Clooney last week backfired on me. They made a coffee ad out of it.
But you know what? I dropped that Yamaha down a mine shaft yesterday.
Jesus: Yikes Dad. What happened?
God: Aww son, I got a-flat-minor.
Jesus: Gee, sharp Dad.
God: I tell you what son. Let me do the jokes, okay?
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Some studies have shown that in many cases the biggest preoccupation with many people is their occupation, Their day to day work.
But apart from your career, what sort of thing are you most preoccupied with?
For some, it may be raising a family, for others, It may be a sport or a hobby. my "overindulgence" is my "man cave" full of guitars and sound equipment. I get lost in there for hours on end some days.
But let's spare a thought for many around the world whose one preoccupation in life is being tied down as a slave to serving a brutal master. Remarkably these "slaves" have never seen or heard their master, relying on word-of-mouth utterances by henchmen. They are made to enter into a sadomasochistic relationship whereby they love their master and fear him at the same time.
These slaves are made to pay a portion of their hard-earned money to the henchmen who in turn intimidate the slaves with threats of eternal punishment and separation from their families for not doing as they are told.
What's more many of the henchman of this invisible master are continually pressuring these slaves into the morbid idea that the end of the world is near and all that matters is serving the master since anything else they do for society is fruitless anyway.
It's hard to believe, isn't it?
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Many creationists often use the complexity argument in their assertion that life was designed by a creator. . . . . . "the human body is far too complex to have just happened by accident".
Also: "Complexity is the result of design".
Then, out come the usual, well-worn analogies of a watch dropped in the sand and a Boeing 747 miraculously coming together during a gust of wind over a junk-yard.
The fundamental flaw of creationists' arguments is the erroneous assumption that complexity is the result of design.
Quite the opposite is true.
The top watchmakers in Switzerland create superb precision timepieces but not out of complexity. Each component and mechanism fulfills its intended purpose, No more, No less. The watch operates with the bare minimum of parts in order for it to reliably keep time. . . . . It is as simple as possible to perform its function and therefore not complex.
Compare this with life forms that are highly complex.
The body of a mammal (the human is a mammal) is a mass of convoluted valves and conduits, fluids, and extraneous organs. There is no way that a designer would ever set out to create a living entity by haphazardly whacking together bunches of organic components on the fly.
The point creationists seem to conveniently overlook is that complexity is the result of "accumulation over time".
For example, We can marvel at the vast and wondrous beauty of an underground cave full of giant stalagmites and stalactites. They weren't created, they were formed by minerals accumulating and bonding over a very long period of time. . . hundreds of thousands of years.
The same goes for life. Life developed over a very long period of time and here, we are talking of billions of years.
Is it not then, more valid to say that life is far too complex (and convoluted) to have been designed?
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Customer 1: I would like you to issue a wedding license. But I must tell you though that my husband-to-be has short hair and is cleanly shaven. (Leviticus 19:27 Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard. ) I hope that poses no problem for you.
Christian Marriage Registrar: Oh, No of course not. I will be glad to issue you with a wedding license.
Customer 2: I would like you to issue a wedding license. But I must tell you though that my husband-to-be has tattoos on his body (Leviticus 19:28 Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves) I hope that poses no problem for you.
Christian Marriage Registrar: Oh, No of course not. I will be glad to issue you with a wedding license
Customer 3: I would like you to issue a wedding license. But I must tell you though that my wife-to-be will be wearing a wedding dress made from polyester and silk. (Leviticus 19:19 Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material.)
I hope that poses no problem for you.
Christian Marriage Registrar: Oh, No of course not. I will be glad to issue you with a wedding license.
Customer 4 : I would like you to issue a wedding license. But I must tell you though that my fiance is another guy, We are gay. (Leviticus 18:22 Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman. ) I hope that poses no problem for you.
Christian Marriage Registrar: There's the door. . . . . . Now use it.
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What many religious followers don't want to accept is that there are many religions, each claiming to be the only one and the only path to an afterlife of bliss for eternity.
So which is the right one?
Just because one subscribes to a particular religion (usually because of one's geographical placement), It doesn't make it the correct religion, Does it?
Well, May we all barrack for our national football team, but, surely religion is something different and the choice of a religion based solely on one's location or culture is fraught with danger.
Shouldn't we look at the first religion as being the one and only authentic religion and subsequent copies as fake?
According to the Ancient History Encyclopedia, Christianity, For example, Comes well down the timeline of when religions started.
Preceding all these religions, and, by a considerable margin of time is the Australian Aboriginal "Dreamtime".
We are looking at 40,000 years BCE and the religion is still followed by Aboriginals today.
So, Shouldn't we give these people the benefit of the doubt that what they say about their spiritual attachment to the land through Dreamtime is the one true and only valid religion?
In which case, Abrahamic religious followers should take note that their afterlife may not be one of their spirit returning to the Dreamtime but, because of their errant choice, will more likely end up existing in an eternal nightmare in the middle of the Simpson desert with not a drop of water to touch their tongues, enduring constant searing heat and constantly fending off satanic, deadly taipans.
Perhaps it may be time to throw those Bibles, Qurans, And Torahs in the fire, get out the souvenir boomerang and start a corroboree.
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Does anybody have a signed copy of the Bible?
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I was checked into a hotel room recently and found a bible sitting on the desk.
Obviously the room hadn't been cleaned properly and there was some rubbish left behind.
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Yet another unpleasant episode in the history of organised religion is the hideous practice of "conversion therapy". And, there are reports that this cruel pseudo-scientific practice of brainwashing gay church members to change to being heterosexual is still going on.
"Based upon the assumption that homosexuality per se is a mental disorder or based upon the prior assumption that a patient should change his/her sexual homosexual orientation" (Wikipedia)
Given that churches still overwhelmingly condone the vilification of gays, isn't it about time we turn the tables to make churches undertake conversion therapy for their bigotry and hatred of homosexuals?
And while we are at it, how about including therapy to rid church folk of their vilification of other minority groups, those of other religions, those of no religion and their cruel anti-euthanasia and anti-abortion stances?
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At face value, most people would answer "hate".
But if one were to apply a bit more thought, the correct answer would be "indifference".
It stands to reason when we talk about relationships for example. A couple can love and hate each other at different times or even at the same.
But what would be far worse?
Indifference. There is no feeling worse than being hated than not even being recognised.
I bring this up after reading a post (# 94) in the topic "Why Do Christians Hate Gays?"
The respondent finally came up with the following comment after contriving any number of euphemisms to play down the simple fact that he outrightly hates homosexuals: "We certainly don't recognize a union between two members of the same sex as a marriage.
Surely, isn't that the pinnacle of arrogance and ignorance and worse than hatred?
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Arguably, three of the most notorious charlatans of all time were Jim Jones, Adolf Hitler and (the alleged) Jesus Christ.
Although Hitler did not lead a religious cult he was known to be devoutly Catholic and clearly let it be known that he had a mandate from God to carry out the elimination of Jews. He was also fully backed and financed by the Catholic Church.
But let's take a look at the facts:
Adolf Hitler was a distinguished soldier, fine dresser, a vegetarian a non smoker and drank very little. He was known to have been responsible for the killing of 6 million Jews during the holocaust.
Jim Jones was a charismatic, rapist who was responsible for the murder of over 900 of his followers.
(the alleged, by some) Jesus Christ was a low-paid hippie-like carpenter's laborer who, like Jones conned his followers into believing that he was the son of God. He was responsible for the persecution and murder of more than over 8 million of his deluded followers.
You be the judge. Who was the worst of the worst?
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. . . . . . who happens to be a baker, Would you bake a wedding cake for:
* A groom with short hair and cleanly shaven?
(Leviticus 19:27 Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard. )
* A couple with tattoos?
(Leviticus 19:28 Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. )
* A bride whose wedding dress is part polyester, Part silk?
(Leviticus 19:19 Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material. )
* A gay couple?
(Leviticus 18:22 Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman. )
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Apparently so.
Numerous, authoritative studies have revealed that those who are religious followers have lower IQs than atheists.
“It is well established that religiosity correlates inversely with intelligence,” (Richard Daws and Adam Hampshire, Imperial College London)
Some findings indicate that, on an international level, countries with more intelligent people tend to have more atheists.
Other reports suggest that religion is an instinct and people who can rise above instincts are more intelligent than those who rely on them.
Yet more telling studies have shown that because religious institutions shun followers from acquiring knowledge that may contradict their belief (for example, scientific studies), the chances of religious followers gaining a balanced knowledge base are stifled, therefore producing lower IQs.
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The irrefutable evidence that overwhelmingly supports the fact that life is a result of evolution by natural selection very much puts the kibosh on any notion that life was in any way created.
However, there are some unanswered questions as to how matter or energy came to be.
If we were to assume that there is a God responsible for at least being the prime mover of existence it is not just good enough to say "God has always been there and that's that"
If one were to believe there is a God so complex as to be responsible for creating such a massive universe (or life for that matter) without "just happening" then one would have to accept that there would be an even greater entity (or God) to have created that God.
And so the conundrum continues ad finitum.
We now accept life is due to evolution through natural selection so, could it be that if a God exists, such an entity was itself a result of the same process?
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Christians have often uttered the adage, "We don't hate homosexuals. We just hate what they do".
Such a dictum has no weight to it since homosexuals are no different from heterosexuals in what they do. In any case, isn't "we just hate what they do" no more than a euphemism for saying "we hate them"?
If we take a look at the Bible we can see where Christians get their mandate to hate homosexuals. The book of Leviticus states that "it is an abomination for a man to lie with a man as with a woman."
But then, the same chapter tells Christians (men) not to cut their hair.
Do we see many Christian homophobes wearing long hair as well?
Which brings us to the word "homophobic".
Here we can get a good insight as to why Christians are so hateful.
As with any phobia, homophobia is a fear of homosexuals.
Experts will tell us that the key cause of fear is ignorance or lack of knowledge (of what is feared). This is born out by the saying that the greatest fear is the fear of fear itself.
All Christian institutions urge their followers to shun any information (for example, scientific publications) that contradicts their beliefs and even promote the idea that followers should not associate or do business with others outside their circle.
Is it not fair to say then that Christians hate gays for no other reason than ignorance?
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At last count, there are about 10,000 different Gods known to be worshipped around the world and each religious cult claims its God as being the only true God in existence.
Therefore, a religious follower would reject 9,999 Gods, which isn't that much different from a full-blown atheist who rejects just one more God.
Which begs the question (given that each religion claims their respective God is the only pathway to an afterlife and indeed do different sects within a religion claim the same thing about how they worship the same God):
Given that not one God has a single ounce of proof of its existence, (and assuming that there is a God), how do religious followers feel about the fact that they have less than 1 in 10,000 chances of (going to heaven)?
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Or are religious people deluded to start with?
If we look at the first question, we would need to consider the effect religion has on followers.
For example, followers are required to believe in an entity that is invisible, silent and completely unproven.
Also, the fundamental principals of religions state that humans have a "soul". Again there is not one piece of evidence to support such a concept and the word soul is normally used as a metaphor.
To this extent, could we say that religion influences or even, forces followers to become deluded.
It could be that religious followers are deluded regardless of religion and find themselves attracted to the abstract, nature of believing in an unknown, contrived entity. For example, comprehensive research and authoritative studies have concluded:
"The God gene hypothesis proposes that human spirituality is influenced by heredity and that a specific gene, called vesicular monoamine transporter 2 (VMAT2), predisposes humans towards spiritual or mystic experiences."
Could the delusion in some religious followers be due to both factors, i.e., hereditary and conditional? In which case would some religious followers be more deluded than others
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