Another religion rant

First topic message reminder :

Posted this on FB the other day...


As always, I have been reading the bible as often as I can to basically learn what people believe and why people are believers, and also to validate my reasonings for being an atheist. I was looking farther into a story that everyone knows. The Exodus.


I'm going to start with the first part:
What I learned (the basics) is that god talked to Moses through a burning bush to free "his people" from Pharaoh. Moses went, asked....was told no. So Moses was told to tap his staff on the ground, and it made a snake. So Pharaoh's "magicians" also re-created the same thing. Then Aaron then made lice. Pharaoh's people couldn't re-create that....giving Moses the best "show and tell" award for the day. But let me understand something. God allowed "magic" to prove Moses has power...but yet is unable to do that since the bible was written? He turned a staff into a snake, turned water into wine, raised the dead.....yet not one single thing like that has happened, ever recorded, outside of the bible? And how did Pharaoh's magicians do the same thing? I assume it was Satan, right? He gave the power to Pharaoh's people so they could turn a staff into a snake. So, Satan has that same power, wants everyone to be doomed to hell and turn their backs on God, seems (from this story) to have "powers"...yet even he has not done one thing "magical" in recorded history aside from one book. Don't you find that odd? So both of them could turn a stick into a snake to show their power....yet today neither do anything visual or record-able at all to even prove their existence. And I know, I know...."God will not be tested". But what about the Devil? I assume he dances to the beat of a different drummer.....wouldn't he make himself measurable in existence? Wouldn't there be a sign on the moon visible to the human eye saying "God is full of shit, come with me.....you can be rich"? Wouldn't there be at least one, extremely famous/rich person who was an open Satan worshiper as a draw to that "side"? There's not. There's nothing to prove either.....never has been.


Second part:
Basically I was taught that Moses kept asking Pharaoh to let his people go. Pharaoh kept saying no, so god kept "punishing" them for not letting the people go in ways of "The 10 plagues" . So, if I understand this right.... Moses asked for his people to be freed, was told no, so god sent frogs. Moses went back and asked again, was told no, so god turned the water into blood.....and so on. Up until god killed the 1st born of every family....then Pharaoh decided to let them go. He had a change of mind though and went after them, so god killed the army in the Red Sea. That basically sums it up......except what the bible says. After each plague....Pharaoh wanted to let them go......god wouldn't let him. Even after teh "rod into a snake" bit..Pharaoh was going to let them all go....god wouldn't let him. "EX 9:12 But the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not listen to them, as the LORD had spoken to Moses." So I'm not mistaken, god made Pharaoh not give in....then punished him? And even more oddly, basically used Pharaoh as a puppet, controlling him then said to Moses "see, I told you he would do that". Is this a joke?


These are reasons I believe the way I do. The bible is completely full of stories like this....and the sad part is 99% don't take the time to actually read. The base all their beliefs off of things they are told. Including the belief in god. How come religion is typically based on region? Because that's what they were taught as kids. Pretty much everyone disagrees with the Westboro Baptist Church and their "God hates fags" speech.....but if you notice, most of their members (80%+ I believe) are family members. Why? Because it's how they are raised. If you are a "strong christian"...you would be a "strong muslim" if you were born in Arab countries. Your belief is regional...your belief is either from your parents or based on beliefs of peers/surroundings.....with very few exceptions.


I have no problem with people believing in a god. And who knows, maybe there is some "higher power".....but the bible? Come on. Yes, there are moral teachings, as can be found in a ton of other books.....but to claim this is the "word of god" is disturbing. But what is more disturbing is the fact that the people that believe this book, rarely actually take the time to read it. They read what they want, and toss the rest. They change it to fit their lives. They don't actually take the time to read the entire stories....just what suits their needs. It's pathetic. If you believe, then believe and do what the bible tells you. Don't be rich, give to teh government what is the governments (money/taxes) with out complaints, turn the other cheek. Stop living a 1/2 ass christian life because it "works for you". It only dilutes your believed purpose. And please stop with the "Praise god that my cancer stricken grandma had a test and they say she is in remission!!" or "Thank god that my kid who fell out the window only has minor injuries". Atheists have the same rate of diseases. Same rate of recovery. But, a lower rate of divorce and crime....funny how that works. If you are going to thank god for the healing....who do you condemn for the situation in the first place? And before I hear "god doesn't give to anyone anything they can't handle" again....tell that to the millions who committed suicide. Where was he there?


You wouldn't go see a civil rights movement from someone in a Nazi outfit, so stop posting about "god" and the bible of you can't even follow your own religions. If there was a god, and he made a heaven.....who would get in? The people who believed in him but wouldn't take the time to actually follow most of his "word"? Or the people that used the brain he gave them to realize he has never actually given any proof of his existence. I vote the ladder.

Most of religious people don't really believe in god, it's for them only perfect excuse for disrespecting and hating others for being different or just because they don't share the same point of view.
They say they love god, but they don't really follow their holy book and decalogue. They are disrespecting, hypocrites who in every possible way trying to spread hate to everything and everyone who is different and don't want to be like them - best example: find some article in internet about some decision of government which affect church - you will see posts made by group of haters who act like little Hitlers. And it's like this in every country on the world.

Maybe a little bit presumptious there shini... I think the majority of religious people do believe in God, but you are right in that many will not follow their holy book's views to the word. And it can also be "fashionable" to be religious in some areas i'm sure. But also peer pressure... if everyone in your town goes to church (e.g. ROI) you are going to be, as you say, hated on for believing something different.

Also, i have some atheistic quotes you all might like from Richard Dawkins:

Let's be open minded, but not so open minded our brains fall out

Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence.

My bad I wanted to say "religious", cuz they clearly aren't religious.

I think that real religious people believe in their god with their heart and don't need to show it everywhere or make personal crusades to make other believe in it too. Faith is for them self, it's not fashion, they don't need to wear it outside.

This ones who openly talking trash to unbelievers are only hypocrites who think they are religious - they simply don't even know rules of their own religion not mentioning about respecting this rules and following it.

Yes, people definitly seem to lose sight of what God means... it doesn't mean you have to go and piss everyone else off who doesn't believe.

To be fair, missionary work is endorsed in the bible, and it is as simple as "go and spread the word"... so you can't say evengelism is wrong. But anyone with their head switched on will realise that pestering and telling atheists that they are wrong doesn't help anyone (and makes you look like an asshole). A positive for of evangelism, is living your life with good moral values, and giving out the message that you are following God.

That might just make people think "That person is so happy and has a purpose in life - they are motovated and are having a positive effect... maybe i should consider Christianity".

And i do think that is a good think... i don't believe in God or the bible, but anyone who genuinely helps other people because they believe it is right (for whatever reason) must be good. Helping disabled, good. (Taking them to lourdes and telling them they might be healed, bad). Helping addicts, good. Helping people get over bad spells in their life, good. So religion can "force" people into moral awakening if you like.

Spreading word isn't bad as long as priest or any other religious person don't force others to change their beliefs and also as long as they don't judge others for believing in smth different.

My point here is that not matter if person is christian, islamic or even atheist, we should judge them by their actions not beliefs. Sadly, people forget about it lately, even priests show their hate toward people with different point of view and explain their actions by will of their god.

Definitly, the idea of forcing others to conform to what you believe is absolutely ridiculous. And as for anyone who goes as far as to "pity" anyone who hasn't "found God"... well for me anyone why uses that phrase is bad enough...

Shinigami wrote:Spreading word isn't bad as long as priest or any other religious person don't force others to change their beliefs and also as long as they don't judge others for believing in smth different.

I disagree. First off, them "forcing" their beliefs and judging are foundations of almost all religions. You can't convert someone unless you "judge" their current situation wrong, and yours, right.

By biggest issue is, I don't see any benefit to society for anyone to spread unsubstantiated claims. They may not see it is snake oil sales, but thats all it is.

That, in it self, is harmful.

Shini didn't say the forcing belief upon people wasn't religious duty, but she did say it wasn't right.

I totally agree, people should be allowed to believe what they want unless it has a negative effect on society. Especially with something as controversial and faith reliant as religion, it's just not right to thrust it upon people.