Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Religion Produces Intellectually Bankrupt People

I have no problem with people believing whatever they want to believe as long as their beliefs do not include physical harm to myself or other people.

However, I am opposed to religion because it intellectually bankrupts peoples minds. Belief in a supernatural being is so wrong because there is no evidence AT ALL to support such a belief. They will argue that it is all based on faith and that is exactly my point...

If someone was trying to rip you off, would they provide proof of their claim or would they tell you to just trust them?

Whoever invented god was the biggest scam artist of all time. Only a man-made belief would require you to take it on blind faith.

And let's assume that it is all true, God, Jesus, etc. Even if it was faith based, there would be evidence as a natural consequence of it being true. But there is no evidence.

My last post about true/false initiated a conversation between my wife and I (with me doing all the talking and her sitting on the couch with her arms folded accusing me of attacking her). I won't go into all the details, but I have come away from that one-sided conversation thoroughly convinced that my wife is intellectually bankrupt, thanks to that disease known as religion.

It is such a fucking bullshit fairytale and yet has people willing to bet their lives that it is true. They will be the first to admit that there is no evidence. But the whole idea is that god blesses you based on your blind obedience.

So if I understand correctly, I'm supposed to take a wild shot in the dark and hope that I picked the right belief system.

Or a better example. I give you a bucket full of candies. They are all poisoned except one. You have to pick one and eat it based upon faith that you picked the ONE that is not poisoned. If you pick the wrong one, then you're dead. If you won't pick one at all, then I'll just shoot you in the head.

Religion is just a gamble. And their argument for it's truth is simply because they believe it. But when I point out that I believe the sky is purple... that doesn't automatically make it purple. They just look at you with that glazed over, "huh?" type of look. Your example went so far over their head that it could have hit Kolob.

Why waste your entire life on a gamble? You have nothing but faith to backup your outrageous religious claims. None of them are realistic. None of them have any scientific backing. And yet, smart, intelligent, educated people still believe in the bullshit as if it was cold, hard fact.

For the fucking life of me I can't understand why!

And when I tried to explain to my wife that all I want to know is the why, she folds her arms and mumbles something about, "I can't believe this is happening to me..." and sits there about ready to cry.

Then I tell her that, as a non-believer, my mind is totally open to being proven wrong. If you can show me where I am wrong, then I not only want you to, but I openly welcome it!

Nothing. She sits there, arms folded, still muttering to herself.

If you have all the truth, then this is your big chance to blow me out of the water!

Nothing...

More nothing...

Finally, "Can I go to bed now?"

"What are you so afraid of? If you have the complete and utter truth, then it should be easy to shoot me down."

Intellectually bankrupt.

What a sad thing.

Thank you, to the one and only true church for producing such intelligent followers...

...brain dead is actually more like it.

By their fruits...

8 comments:

JackMormon said...

I'm not so sure that very many people would consider religion as wasting their entire life on a gamble. I have heard many believers make exactly the opposite claim, that they are perfectly comfortable with the possibility that they might be wrong but they have no regrets either way (Pascal's Wager). As far as they're concerned religious faith works for them. Sure the LDS Church makes many demands like tithing, callings, the Word of Wisdom, etc. but some Mormons have gotten used to this to the point that they don’t really notice the cost and think this is the best way to live.

Think about it, if given the choice would you rather believe that you are going to heaven when you die or that you will simply cease to exist? Wishful thinking makes people feel warm and fuzzy and they often like to associate with other optimistic believers as well and want to be part of a group. Religious faith is more about what people want to believe rather than trying to prove anything.

It's not really fair to claim that there is no evidence of God whatsoever. Some people see the fact that humans exist at all as evidence enough that there probably is a God. Then there is the Bible that claims to record eyewitness accounts of what Jesus said and did. Now you can try to claim this is not very reliable or trustworthy evidence and maybe people have misinterpreted what this really means but in the end these are your assumptions and opinions not verifiable facts.

Paul said...

First off, I'm appalled at the way you described treating your wife. Does it make you feel good to get online and call her names? What is wrong with you?

Secondly, I am a Christian not because I believe that my belief makes it true, but because I believe it's true regardless of my belief. Much in the same way you believe atheism to be true regardless of your belief. I can understand your beef with the LDS church when it comes to believing in things in spite of facts, but that's not how Biblical Christianity is supposed to be. I welcome you to read this article by my friend Jim Wallace. It's entitled: The Christian faith is an evidential faith. I think this is the type of faith a person like you would be interested in.

http://www.pleaseconvinceme.com/index/The_Christian_Faith_is_an_Evidential_Faith

Mormon411 said...

Would I rather go to heaven with the Christian god? No. I would rather cease to exist. The Christian god has ZERO respect from me. Yes I would like to be with loved ones again, BUT I would also rather expect nothing and be pleasantly surprised than expect everything and be sorely disappointed.

There is no evidence of god. The Bible is full of nonsense and is not a reliable source of any type of moral guidance.

The existance of the earth and life upon it is not evidence for gods existance, although I can see how the religious mind would connect the two. There is actually no connection whatsoever that anyone can prove.

And no, they are not just my opinion. There is far more reliable evidence that the Bible is fiction than there is that it is true.

The world would be such a better place if everyone would quit believing in nonsense and base their 'faith' on reality.

If I had a quarter for every person who was appalled by this blog, then I wouldn't need to work. If you had heard the entire conversation, and some of her absolutely ludricus statements, then you would know exactly why I said what I did. I wasn't attacking her or calling her names. I was lamenting the fact that her brain is warped by a disease.

Paul said...

You're right, I wasn't there but from what you described it was quite appalling. You lament because her brain is warped by a disease, when you yourself have no idea if you're suffering from the same disease. It's just a matter of perspective.

Christianity is not only the most reasonable explanation for existence and reality as we know it, but it is also completely evidential in nature. That's not my opinion or belief, that is the fact of it.

"There is no evidence of god."
-Even most atheistic scientists concede that the Universe appears to have been "designed" by some Intelligent Force. Objective Morality. The person Jesus Christ. The Bible.

"The Bible is full of nonsense and is not a reliable source of any type of moral guidance."
-You don't have to believe in God to know that the Bible is a terrific source of moral guidance, when taken in context. "Full of nonsense" would be an opinion, one I could see easily justified by any number of quick Biblical excerpts, but I would contend that a closer look would yield any number or plausible, reasonable, explanations.

Exactly what evidence are you basing your atheism on?

JackMormon said...

I agree that the Bible is full of plenty of nonsense like talking donkeys and I understand that you think all religion is stupid. However, expecting everyone else to agree with your opinions is not very realistic. To some people atheism looks like one of the absolute worst possible beliefs and telling them that this is the answer will only make them want to cling to religion even more even if they need to completely deny reality in order to defend their faith.

To many believers, your view of reality is essentially bad news that that will make them depressed. I doubt that the world would be a better place without any religious faith regardless of whether God exists or not. If there are some Mormons or Christians that are not very nice then they are hypocrites, it's not because Jesus ever said they should act this way. It seems like people are already selfish and irresponsible enough without needing to exacerbate the situation by convincing them that there is no God or afterlife.

Brandy said...

I'm wasn't LDS, but I was Christian and I have been in the same boat as your wife. It's very hurtful,however I finally listened to my husband and now my eyes are open, but it was a year long journey and I'm still figuring things out. I've heard my husband say many of the things you are saying.

Just give her time and patience and try not to get so angry even though I understand why you do. Maybe, just maybe she will come around like I did.

Also I tried commenting with my wordpress blog and it wouldn't let me. So here it is it's where I do my venting and in the earlier days my hurting. Maybe your wife would like to read it.

http://theagnosticswife.wordpress.com/

Mormon411 said...

Hi Brandy,

Thank you for that insite. I know that what I wrote sounds harsh but it wasn't meant to be. It just saddens me to see her trapped in a mind numbing cult and she chooses it over her own family. Religious people see people like me as the enemy and yet all we are trying to do is free them from mental oppression.

Congratulations on seeing the truth. I hope that you left religion because of your own convictions and not just to please your husband. The choice to leave religion is truly one that only you yourself can make.

Thanks again for your comment.

Brandy said...

I was very careful to make sure I left on my own accord I was worried about that too. It took me a year to make that decision and I do at times still grapple with a little guilt because it was what I was born into and I live in middle america where everyone loves jesus.

I'm not going to lie it was a painful journey, but one I'm glad I took. Most of my early writings talk about how angry I was and how hurt, and the more recent ones about how I feel now.

Thanks for responding and I'll be back to catch up on some reading.

http://theagnosticswife.wordpress.com/