Religion: A Convenient Lie (The Reason Why Religion Exists)
29 January 2008 by StardustHumans are afraid of death and cannot accept the fact that they one day will no longer exist (like all living things, even the stars and everything in the universe has a life span.) This video below says everything that I and other atheists have been saying. Religion is a false security blanket based on fear of death, and created because humans cannot accept what they cannot change or natural events they have no control over. Organized religion bolsters a community belief that might not be there if everyone else didn’t believe it, too. Despite the coming together as one, each individual still creates this image of god in their own minds, according to their own experiences, needs and desires. In other words, god exists only in the minds and imaginations of human beings. There is no evidence at all for the existence of a god any more than there is existence of a child’s imaginary friend.
Whether humans flock together in one big herd of belief, or whether we have individual faith in a supernatural being in a supernatural world, it does not prevent the inevitable. We all eventually die. Hopeless? No. New babies are born, the cycle of life continues. There is enough comfort for me in knowing that somehow the world will go on for as long as the Sun lasts, and it too will one day burn out and die and new stars will be born from its remnants.
I have a potentially life-threatening illness. Am I angry? Sad? Will I run to find some comforting delusional beliefs to cling to delude myself that I will live forever in some imagined afterlife? No. I look to science to help me live for as long as I can, as comfortably and as healthy as I possibly can. But when the day comes when medicine no longer will help, will I whimper and turn to a false hope? No…I will look back upon my life with gladness. I am very glad to have been born, and to have lived to see all the wondrous things I have seen, and and glad for all my human experiences whether good or bad. How you live your life brings meaning, as the quote by Joseph Campbell at the top of the main page of my personal blog states.
Now, here is the video. The music is “divine”.
29 January 2008, on 3:59 pm
I thought the video was excellent. However, overuse of the word “depressing” kind of bothered me. I think at some point there should have been a statement to the effect that one achieves a degree of courage and maturity to accept reality.
29 January 2008, on 5:22 pm
Watching this I really feel science is our hope right here and now, and because I have a disability it scares me to think of how ignorant and anti-science a lot of these religious nuts truly are. Like, the video implied it’s all out of fear. Hopefully xians fear won’t get in the way of scientists one day being able to synthesize the protein that some of us aren’t getting enough of to heal our muscles property, or maybe even fix the root of the problem altogether… wih nanobots equipped with itunes.
Oh but the power of prayer flibbitty flibbity jeebus hollybooyah
29 January 2008, on 5:23 pm
i meant “properly” not property
29 January 2008, on 5:42 pm
The overuse of the word “depressing” bothered me too. I don’t find my mortality depressing at all. Except for that, cool video.
29 January 2008, on 6:26 pm
I have to say, that was a boring video. I’m glad I’m not the only one to comment on its moroseness, either.
29 January 2008, on 6:53 pm
Not to nitpick (OK, I am) but the video was wrong on a few points:
Buddhism is atheistic, but believes in re-incarnation.
Many theists don’t believe in or don’t care if there’s an afterlife (Judaism to a great extent, me although I’m not a Jew).
Overall, the video understates the true scale of mortality. Not just you and I die, but our children and our childrens’ children and on and on. Eventually humans vanish from the earth. Everything we thought and built is lost as though it never was. The stars themselves finally run down to nothingness. When it comes to moroseness, the video barely got started.
29 January 2008, on 7:39 pm
I guess the word “depressing” was overused. But I looked past that. I have been thinking a lot about this lately, about inevitable non-existence. I know some of my fundie relatives are praying their heads off that I will “open my heart to gawd and jeebus” before it’s “too late”, but that ain’t gonna happen. I haven’t even had the slightest thought about going back to religion or any kind of god or afterlife belief. Things are as they are and I can’t wish it to be any other way. For some, that might be morose, or depressing. I don’t think it is. It’s just reality of how things are. The video could be edited to make it better. Overall, the reason I liked it is because it says what I have always said. This country is made up of mostly afterlife-believing Christians, Muslims and a variety of other religious folks who are trying to keep the faith that their life will never end.
Are there any others here who have an illness who are being “prayed for’ and urged to accept some sort of gawd beliefs? Certain family members are more concerned that I don’t love their Jeebus than they do for me having SLE!
29 January 2008, on 7:49 pm
^ All the more reason to focus on leading lives as full, rich, and satisfying as we can possibly make them.
All the more reason to revel in the here and now, and recognize that the present is really all we have, whether we define it as the present hour or millennium.
All the more reason to wholly submerse ourselves in thinking, caring for each other, and learning more about our species and the universe we happen to inhabit at this minuscule point in space/time.
Why despair over Sol’s eventual death when it’s shining brightly right here and now (at least here in South Florida)? Why cry over the fact that eventually your family will die out when you have a child right in front of you wanting to talk, or cuddle, or play?
Or, conversely, why obsess over how many have converted to xianity and saved their “souls” when their bodies are convulsed in starvation and disease before your eyes?
29 January 2008, on 7:58 pm
I have always found the idea of “living forever” horrifying beyond my powers of description. I should think that contemplating it would drive a person insane. No rest? No end? No surcease? And eternal happiness bums me out, too. It is simply not human to be full-time happy, and if we enjoyed such a state on earth we would all have the personality of cottage cheese. So I’m neither depressed nor resigned. Death seems like a sensible part of an equation. Why get in a snit over it?
Stardust, I’m indeed sorry to hear of what you’re enduring, and I wish you the very best.
29 January 2008, on 8:03 pm
In case it isn’t clear, I was replying to MM, not you, Star.
And as for Everything eventually Ending, how do we know that for sure? Scientifically speaking, isn’t there a theory or hypothesis that the universe really is eternal, that it’s part of an ever-regenerating cycle that simply starts up, perhaps in another form, as soon as it runs down?
Basically, though, for me, that’s just too far away to worry about. It’s like the sun finally extinguishing itself; I just can’t bring myself to care about something that should happen billions of years down the road. I’d much rather concentrate on the here and now, no matter how limited that time span may be.
29 January 2008, on 8:29 pm
I just can’t bring myself to care about something that should happen billions of years down the road. I’d much rather concentrate on the here and now, no matter how limited that time span may be.
Eve, that is so true. There here and now is all we have, and like I said I am glad that I have existed at all, so glad to have as much time as I can here. I have had a good life and am content.
Old Viking, thanks very much for your kind words. But my problems are small compared to many others as Eve has pointed out. My life has been more comfortable than many even during my bad days. I think of all the little children who are sick with terminal cancer who will never have the chance to experience all the many wonderful things in this world. So, I have been very fortunate.
Watching this I really feel science is our hope right here and now, and because I have a disability it scares me to think of how ignorant and anti-science a lot of these religious nuts truly are.
Travdawg, yes, it is scary that so many would interfere in scientific research that could help people like you who have a disability. Our hope is that science can find a cure for diseases that presently have no cure, like SLE, RA, MS, ALS, and all sorts of cancers, etc.
29 January 2008, on 9:15 pm
I agree that religion stems from fear of death. But I also think that providing an answer to the “reason we are here” is just as important too. I think they are probably interrelated. Having a reason for living makes it easier to accept your impending death.
29 January 2008, on 9:21 pm
I have always found the idea of “living forever” horrifying beyond my powers of description. I should think that contemplating it would drive a person insane. No rest? No end? No surcease?
Indeed. To be perfectly honest, I’m still a bit afraid of dying and being gone forever, but living forever seems scary as well. I just can’t fathom having an eternal soul and still being around to think and feel a few million years from now. That somehow seems scarier. And a little bit unfair, too. I mean, I’ve had my chance at life and it’s been pretty good so far. Every good thing must end, and someone else should get a chance at life.
Seems like if the afterlife existed, it would be too damned crowded anyway. If every human that has ever been born is eternal… then, ouch. Worse than China. Pain in the ass.
29 January 2008, on 9:24 pm
Having a reason for living makes it easier to accept your impending death.
And too many people are unhappy because they are so busy looking for a reason or a meaning for living instead of just living their lives. Each day is a new canvas. We can paint each new day as we will. Some people can make a beautiful picture with very little, and some have a lot and create very little or nothing.
29 January 2008, on 10:11 pm
Loved the video but I agree that the world “depressing” doesn’t quite cut it.
Our response to death is also cultural. I notice how Americans tend to be so estranged from their mortality. Mexicans literally laugh at death. When I was a kid we used to eat sugar skulls with our names written in some sort of candy paste across the skull on the Day of the Dead (Dia de Muertos). We also went to the cemeteries to eat (yes, PICNIC) on top of our loved one’s grave. Mexican art is full of skulls and laughing skeletons. When tragedy strikes, the very Mexican reaction is to make morbid jokes. Funerals are for drinking and poking fun at the dead. Life is held cheaply because it signifies NOTHING. There is even a saying, “El muerto al pozo, los vivos al gozo.” This loosely translates into “the dead are in the pit, the living continue to enjoy life.” Whenever an elderly relative dies, nobody cries or wails. We just shrug our shoulders and crack jokes about the deceased all night.
29 January 2008, on 10:24 pm
…and we feast on tamales, tequila and menudo at the deceased’s expense…
29 January 2008, on 10:30 pm
Barbiebrains,
Your descriptions beautifully illustrate how life and death go hand in hand, and death is celebrated as a milestone of a life.
The Irish are also noted for celebrating a deceased loved one’s life with telling stories about the person’s life while often drinking a wee bit too much!
About the skull candy…when I studied Spanish, the teacher brought in some of those little sugar skulls to share and ooooo they are sweet! Pure sugar! When she told the students about picnics in cemeteries everyone who was not Mexican was sitting there like “eeww”. Maybe we could accept death better if we focused on celebrating the person’s existence rather than mourning their non-existence.
30 January 2008, on 12:30 am
The puzzler to me is why so many of the supposed GODISTS have to accoutre themselves with all kinds of material crap when SKYBOSS is going to give them everything, forever, just as soon as they die.
Me, I beleived in that shit, I’da figured out some way to whack myself a long time ago.
30 January 2008, on 12:53 am
“SKYBOSS”
Ha! Love it!
30 January 2008, on 12:54 am
RE MellowMonotheists’s…
“Buddhism is atheistic, but believes in re-incarnation.”
I would say YES to the atheistic part; in that, unlike Western, Abrahamic (from Brahma?) religions, Buddhism has no belief in any ‘Creator god’. As to reincarnation; there are conflicting views WAY to complicated for any comment from my scant non-Buddhist knowledge. One of my Chicago artist, neighbor friends, back in the 1970s was a member of a Japanese Buddhist temple, a variation which, as I recall, had no belief in Reincarnation…at least, as is usually thought of in the more familiar “New Age” parlance; of which I spent years delving into.
As per usual, some browsing at Wikipedia might clarify…or (probably) not?…
“Homina, homina!” (ala Ralph Cramden?)
“Schools of Buddhism”:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schools_of_Buddhism
Old Viking?…You beat me to it! Thanks for your:
“I have always found the idea of “living forever” horrifying beyond my powers of description”….etc.
Yeah…the thought of being an Eternal ‘property’ of some strange, secretive, infinitely warped, weird beyond any comprehension, even manifestly ultra-irrational…a Psychopathic “goody-two shoes” monster…is WAY scarier than the thought of just plain…non-existence.
What!…Similar to Bill Maher’s fairly recent comment(?):
“An invisible Sky Daddy partying with your ghost…forever!”
After all, we have no memories of anything regarding our pre-birth ‘darkness’; what’s the big deal with simply fading to black…with absolutely NO consciousness thereafter. And contrary to an old joke…”NOT holding your breath forever!” or “Spinning in your grave”?
“Nice spinning!…Ye silly, deluded, worm infested skeleton!!!”
As to Reincarnation, which has many variations in that notion of “consciousness evolution”; evolving toward WHAT exactly? Becoming gods? Oy Vey!!!
Well…if being a god means that one is ultimately going to end up, after an unknown number of reincarnated “school episodes”, ultimately graduating in order to end up creating all kinds of weird things like strange, other planetary, predatory animals killing one another for food, birth defects, diseases, inevitable death…more delusional, literalist Fundies…yada, yada; then count me out.
That reminds me of one of Joseph Campbell’s Buddhistic “Brahma” stories about high flown, evolved, “Indras” falling from ‘grace’ and ending up back at the state of being lowly ants.
“See those ants?…(pointing at the ants scampering on the ground)…Indras ALL!”
Yeah…after unknown eons of evolving…upward(?)…an oh-so-depressing FALL!
Like…erm…”What’s the point?”
ZZZZZama, zzzzzzama!
30 January 2008, on 2:13 am
Star: “Despite the coming together as one, each individual still creates this image of god in their own minds, according to their own experiences, needs and desires.”
Very true, Star. When I was well on my path to becoming an atheist (probably my deistic phase) I started making the point to others with whom I would discuss religion that there are as many gods as there are believers.
Organized religion is a group of people compromising–agreeing to disagree on some matters for the sake of cohesion (even if they disagree on only .1% of their ideas about Gawd, they are still compromising.) No two gods are identical. Reverse polysolipsism. I just made that term up, but I like it.
Travdawg: “…it scares me to think of how ignorant and anti-science a lot of these religious nuts truly are.”
Star: “Our hope is that science can find a cure for diseases that presently have no cure, like SLE, RA, MS, ALS, and all sorts of cancers, etc.”
My hope is that science can find a cure for diseases that presently have no cure, like scary religious nuttery.
Eve: “All the more reason to focus on leading lives as full, rich, and satisfying as we can possibly make them…”
Agreed. How sad for those who spend their one, entire TRUE life chasing after a pipe dream life.
Bruce: ” I agree that religion stems from fear of death. But I also think that providing an answer to the “reason we are here” is just as important too.”
I agree that this video was a bit simplistic in it’s explanation for why people are religious, but it did effectively hit on several of the key reasons.
Old Viking/Sarah: “I have always found the idea of “living forever” horrifying beyond my powers of description. I should think that contemplating it would drive a person insane.”
When I was a believer, I used to have panic attacks, lying awake at night, attempting to imagine the “Paradise” Gawd had in store for me. I sleep much better now.
Frankly, given the option of non-existence after death, or spending an eternity hanging with Roy Comfort and Kirk Cameron, I gladly and expediently choose the former.
And this video helps illustrate how one can never truly transcend the self/ego if you are a devout follower of a dualistic religion. Everything you do when you follow the dictates of religion ultimately fuels your ego (promises of eternal reward or escape from everlasting torment) and helps pad the pang of the existential crisis of the inevitability of life, rather than actually facing it head on.
I can agree with the Buddhist notion that most of the misery in the world can be attributed to our stubborn fixation to our egos. (Not to say I’ve transcended mine, but I certainly see the value in it
Religion is fueled by fear (of oblivion). People fueled by fear cannot be trusted to act morally or rationally.
Sorry for the long comment–I just thought many people made some really good points that I had to respond to!
30 January 2008, on 4:15 am
- One point that was not addressed is why people create church hierarchies investing some individuals with more religious power than everyone else. I don’t understand why the vast majority in a religion believe that certain people who are just like them have some greater power or insight to “explain” what gawd or religious texts mean. It should be obvious that no one person can have greater contact with gawd than anyone else.
- As to belief in the afterlife, the calvinists are in a peculiar class in believing in predestination where only a select few will benefit and everyone else will disappear. Another odd thing about that is that they believe no one can know who has already been “saved”.
30 January 2008, on 8:08 am
I thought the video was decent. Mostly, I’m wondering if anyone knows what the music is. I’d like to get a copy of that.
My main point of contention with the video was that it is, to be blunt, rather pretentious. Seemed that way to me, anyway.
30 January 2008, on 8:09 am
MellowMonotheist: There are countless of deities in buddhism’s countless branches.
30 January 2008, on 8:18 am
Fritzy said ,I agree that this video was a bit simplistic in it’s explanation for why people are religious, but it did effectively hit on several of the key reasons.
I think the video is aimed at god and afterlife believers. Must keep things simple and repetitive for them, because that is what the herd is used to. Priests and pastors use simplicity and repetition to hammer home their points. As we have all seen in our experiences with fundies, we are forced to simplify and repeat our responses to them over and over again.
So, if we look at the video as it is meant for Christians we can then see why it was simple and sort of boring for atheists.
skribb said, “There are countless of deities in buddhism’s countless branches.”
skribb, thanks for pointing that out.
Inari, I am still trying to find out what the music is.
30 January 2008, on 1:20 pm
RE skribb’s comment:
“There are countless of deities in buddhism’s countless branches.”
Actually, I think that may be more a confusion with Hinduism; which, indeed, has “countless deities”.
As in…
“Be careful not to step on that dish with milk in it…it’s for our household’s Elephant god over in the corner of the room!…
and in the other corner is the 800 pound Gorilla god; who’s been very naughty lately…he purposely shit on the couch yesterday…
and will get absolutely NO milk for at LEAST a week!”
“As to sex…
I’ll never tell!”
I miss Old Git on this subject. He seemed to be the most informed about the various ‘Buddhistic’ details.
To my understanding, there’s NO absolute, “Top Dog”, Infinite Creator god, as in the Western Abrahamic traditions; the Buddha is NOT really considered a god, but an IDEAL (or model) to be strived for by the adherent in the application of the basic priciples of consciousness raising. However, like all religions, literalist, fundamentalist versions seem to evolve, over time, out of the original, basic…”pure & simple” origin. I think the same thing happened in Hinduism, starting with the original Vedas, etc. Yeah…bonkerdom ensues!
And I think we all know what happened in the history of the Abrahamic mythology!
There does seem, however, to be a LOT of confusion by ‘Westerners’ in the discussion of Buddhism and Eastern thought…erm…
“Confusion-ism”?
Here’s another Wiki page (for more confusion?) devoted to…
“God in Buddhism”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_in_Buddhism
Then again…
What the fuck do I care!…?
30 January 2008, on 1:55 pm
Austin Cline has an explanation about Buddhists and gods. Like any other religion, there are various sects that differ in their views and beliefs.
Gods in Buddhism
30 January 2008, on 3:09 pm
God is not mocked. Jesus is real! At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow and, in heaven and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God tehe father. Phillipians 2:10-11 IT is written!!
melissa, first you are in violation of the COMMENT POLICY.
Secondly…Jesus, if he ever existed is dead. His sky daddy did not help him when he was tortured and killed in the most gruesome way.
Thirdly, your evidence is from a mythology book written by flawed humans. If I quoted to you something from a Hindu text would you believe it is true just because some person wrote it down? I guess you would not because you want to believe your god is real while others are not.
This imaginary friend of yours never seems to be able to speak for himself. That is because your god lives only in the imaginations of humans, each human making this god in his or her own image, according to his or her own needs and desires. Going around posting on atheist sites is not going to change reality, nor will it earn you brownie points with your imaginary SKYBOSS. (I love that new name for Gawd! Thanks democommie!)
~Moderator
30 January 2008, on 3:29 pm
Old Viking
Thank you for putting so succinctly exactly how I feel about the prospect of immortality. I really think that people who long for it haven’t really thought it out.
30 January 2008, on 3:36 pm
“IT is written!”
To melissa the troll,
Lots of things are written in your Bible that most of you believers choose to ignore…(thank goodness for laws that force you to.)
Do you hide yourself away during your “unclean days”?
God lays down the law on menstruating women. Such women are to God both filthy and sinful, and anyone who comes near them is contaminated by them. Leviticus 15:19-30, 33
Do you agree with killing smart-mouthed children?
“For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.” Leviticus 20:9
Here’s some more:
After a woman gives birth, a priest must kill a lamb, pigeon, or dove as a sin offering. This is because having children is sinful and God likes it when things are killed for him. Numbers 12:6-8
Leviticus 20:10 And the man that committeth adultery with another man’s wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
More can be found HERE
30 January 2008, on 4:24 pm
Hey Karen and Old Viking,
I think you folks are really on to something. Immortality would present lots of practical problems. If people think that the Social Security system is screwed up now…
30 January 2008, on 4:30 pm
Immortality would present lots of practical problems. If people think that the Social Security system is screwed up now…
How would they figure out the age of retirement? Or would everyone just work forever…yuck.
30 January 2008, on 4:58 pm
Brooklyn Boy
I’m assuming that in the xian hereafter, life’s amenities will be free of charge. I wouldn’t for example have to find a way to pay the $650+ propane gas bill that’s on my desk right now. But still, the thought of spending eternity finding ways to amuse and challenge my mind when everything is supposed to be milk and honey-ish is just - ewww. I mean, just what would one DO for forever and ever? Besides avoiding the Stepford people- but you don’t get in unless you are one, so I won’t be going. Heaven would be hell.
30 January 2008, on 5:15 pm
melissa
Ah, but he is. So you’re wrong straight off the bat.
Um, no he isn’t. Or someone, somewhere would be able to supply proof.
See, that’s not happening either. Are you starting to notice a pattern?
You can write “I am the Queen of Hearts” a million times, but it won’t make you royal.
But thanks for stopping by, and presenting such a strong argument for your faith.
30 January 2008, on 5:16 pm
*sings softly along to Queen’s “Who Wants to Live Forever?” (Love Theme from Highlander)*
Who wants to live forever,
Who wants to live forever,
Ooo-oo-oo-oooh…
30 January 2008, on 5:35 pm
I would only want to live forever if my hubby, kids, family and friends could live forever, too. I would love to see what the world is like in 500 years. I know there is a big chance I won’t like what I see . . . on the other hand it might be a world full of marvelous inventions.
Thanks for the link, Eve…Queen rocks on…Freddie Mercury lives on! I would love to leave something behind for people to remember me.
30 January 2008, on 6:06 pm
Yeessss!!!!
I love Crapping Jeebus! And Skyboss too!
30 January 2008, on 6:23 pm
I should let more of these trolls through for our occasional entertainment.
30 January 2008, on 11:27 pm
I’m not even sure whether I’m atheist, agnostic or just plain apathetic. I do know that people who think religion will cure all of their problems have just added another to their personal list. I have several good friends who tell me they don’t believe in God, I tell them that’s fine with me and I don’t believe that is there is a God (which I’m just not sure about) that he really doesn’t give a flying fuck. If a deity was that all-fired determined to get us to worship, adore and obey–why the hell give us free will? It’s a fucking puzzle, harder than sudoku, for sure.
31 January 2008, on 1:18 am
To Melissa:
JESUS IS NEVER COMING BACK! EVER!
31 January 2008, on 2:00 am
The explanation that religion and afterlife belief stems from survival instinct is woefully inadequate, although it is surely a poignant reinforcing aspect.
Afterlife belief more accurately comes from conceptual limitations. When a person tries to imagine “what is it like after death?” they run a mental simulation that is doomed to fail because it is consciously trying to figure out what non-consciousness is like. The question “what is it like after death?” is what could be classed as “not even wrong” for it misses the point so badly. See http://www.edge.org/q2008/q08_print.html#bering
side note: Buddhism is not so unlike other religions. The whole “Buddhism is atheistic” is a flawed myth perpetuated in the West by scholars who based their reports on “ivory tower” and modernist Buddhist movements. It would be like taking that rare scholar who calls himself a “Christian atheist” and saying that it is representative of the Baptist church down the road. See Jason Slone’s book “Theological Incorrectness” for reference.
31 January 2008, on 5:06 am
Thanks for purveying the truth, DNA (’bout afterlife and buddhism).
Look, I found an old post of mine from here:
“Old Git; you are wrong on the Buddhism part. There are many gods in Buddhism. The fifth Dalai Lama even tried to summon the wargod Begtse to have his political views made into laws and whatnot. “
31 January 2008, on 8:46 am
Stardust, you should let the trolls through once in a while. They keep us amused until the next lion feed.
31 January 2008, on 10:44 am
I should let more of these trolls through for our occasional entertainment.
I agree, as long as it’s not one protracted cut-and-paste of the Word of the Gord.
If a deity was that all-fired determined to get us to worship, adore and obey–why the hell give us free will?
Well, as someone raised in the Calvinistic predestination tradition, “he” doesn’t even do that. You’re fucked because…well, you’re just fucked. It reminds me of the whimsically evil characters Cormac McCarthy often generates in his stories (I’ve always wondered it that is the symbolic meaning of the trio of evil in “Outer Darkness”).
31 January 2008, on 11:33 am
Melissa the Troll:
God IS mocked, but as for the flying spaghetti monster:
His starchy goodness is real! “At the name of FSM every knee shall be padded from here to Toledo and, in Davenport IA and under every overpass, and every tongue salivate to the savory sweetness that FSM is Lawd, to the glory of Tomato gravy. Boyardee 2:10-11. IT is written (2 minutes ago!)!
Convinced Melissa? I thought so!
31 January 2008, on 5:07 pm
For the disappeared troll melissa. Did you know that the cult of the mythical jeebus was probably the cult of eunuch gawd Attis? True to their gawd, jeebus and john the baptist self-castrated and became eunuchs.
1 February 2008, on 8:11 am
Hmmm…
Fritzy, you have given me an idea.
Perhaps we should all write the “Book of FSM.”
“And lo, let it be known that noodles shall be eaten in remembrance of FSM our Lord. And let them be eaten plain, and salted, and covered in tomato sauce. Yea, all ways shall ye eat of them, for it is good in the eyes of FSM.” Pasta 12:5-6
Maybe in a thousand years people will worship our crazy ramblings.
1 February 2008, on 9:29 am
OK, but why lie to oneself about it? I remember back when I was a believer, I used to say, “Once you’re conceived, you’re screwed.” That’s true, because according to the Christian beliefs I acquired, once the egg was fertilized, that was a living being who could go to Heaven or hell. I pretty much accepted that my misery on Earth would forever exist no matter where I went. Finding atheism was a good thing, though, since it teaches me that my life will finally cease one of these days.
Also, as MellowMonotheist says, we will one day perish and everything we do will be gone and as if they never existed. It definitely makes one wonder, what’s the point?
1 February 2008, on 10:08 am
It definitely makes one wonder, what’s the point?
There is no point. Our life is what we make of it. That’s why there are so many unhappy people and why there are oogie boogie religions. People are looking for a reason for something when there is no given reason or point for our existence. People would be happier if they just were glad they do exist, and make the best of the time we have here.
1 February 2008, on 10:28 am
2 Count it all joy, my pirates, when you meet pasta of various kinds, 3 for you know that the boiling of your water produces tasty noodles. 4 And let Newmans Own Vodka Sauce slowly simmer that your noodles may be slimey and soft, lacking in nothing.
5 If any of you lacks a yummy sauce and garlic bread, let him ask our Noodly Master, who extends his Noodly Appendage and Meatballs to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in hunger, with no over-cooking, for the one who isn’t hungry for Italian food is like a piece of rigatoni that is driven and tossed by a bowl of pesto. 7 For that pirate must not suppose that he will receive any recipe from the FSM; 8 he is a double-minded man, who sucks at making fettucini and is more than likely a complete bastard!
1 February 2008, on 10:30 am
Excuse me that was taken from the Book of Antipasti 1:2-8
5 February 2008, on 6:32 pm
Heretics! The Only True Spaghetti Sauce (TM) is Heavenly Pink Sauce (which I think is a combo of white and tomato sauce)!
OK, now I’m hungry…
5 February 2008, on 11:27 pm
non-existence I can handle, no problem, it’s the waiting for death that is depressing. but on the other hand, i really dig that immortality, that’s why Ray Kurzweil is my god.