ReligionsAreStupid.com

In The End of Faith, author Sam Harris semi-seriously makes the argument that if it weren’t for religion, the world as we know it today might be far more advanced than it currently is.

There is no telling what our world would now be like had some great kingdom of Reason emerged at the time of the Crusades and pacified the credulous multitudes of Europe and the Middle East. We might have had modern democracy and the Internet by the year 1600.

In other words, that religion is an impediment to progress.

Sure, Pascal was a Catholic, and Muslim scholars invented algebra. But there’s also plenty of evidence to make the case that religion has been an obstacle to progress, from Galileo to stem cell research. In fact, it would not be hard to show that throughout history, religion has pretty much never stimulated progressive thinking and innovation.

What do you think? Napoleon with an I-pod?

Say you’re an agnostic. And you’re single.

Could you date a fundamentalist Christian? Let’s say a very cute one, to complicate matters.

This couple tried. They’ve been married 2 years and so far it looks like it’s working. The family dinners are a little weird, but then again, aren’t most family dinners?

And on Sundays, one goes to mass and the other sleeps in.

Personally, I think I could do it. I love discussions and provided that sex wouldn’t be a no-no, such a relationship could certainly make for some interesting conversations, besides the pillow talk…

But I wouldn’t be very optimistic that it would last. Seems to me that fundamentalist Christians have a very close view of the world to begin with. Or they wouldn’t still think that the world is 6,000 years old. I just don’t see myself with someone who can’t open up to science.

What about you?

Interesting discussion at my blogging friend LA Sunsett’s new blog yesterday.

In introducing himself, LA called himself a “non-denominational Christian” and a “free thinker.”

I took issue with it.

Here is what I argued:

Of course you can describe yourself as you wish. But if words have meaning, then you are not a free-thinker. Freethought is defined by wikipedia as a “philosophical doctrine that holds that beliefs should be formed on the basis of science and logical principles and not be comprised by authority, tradition, or any other dogma.”

Further: “When applied to religion, the philosophy of freethought holds that, given presently-known facts, established scientific theories, and logical principles, there is insufficient evidence to support the existence of supernatural phenomena.”

So you either are a Christian who by definition and no matter the denomination believes that Christ was (is?) the Son of God, died, resurrected, and ascended to heaven or you are a free-thinker and you do not believe in supernatural events and thus you cannot believe in, say the resurrection or the afterlife.

Read more…

My predictions for 2007:

1. The US stock market will continue to go up but will remain behind the European and emerging markets.

2. The US will have as many soldiers in Iraq at the end of 2007 as it currently has.

3. Jesus will not come this year. Maybe 2008.

That last prediction puts me at odds with fully one American out of four. That’s right, 25% of Americans are anticipating the second coming of Jesus Christ for 2007!

Any way we could find out the time and day? I mean, I’ll want to make sure I wear a shirt and a nice tie!

And does that mean I won’t have to repay my car loan?

But seriously, I’m not yet convinced that he even came the first time around.

Where do people get those insanities from?

Saddam is dead. Killed by his former enemies.

That seems to make the Fox News moralists and culture warriors absolutely giddy. They’ve been on the death watch for the last 3 days, and have turned their network into a morbid wall-to-wall, 24-hour Saddam death orgy, even preempting other shows. If they could break open bottles of Champagne in front of the cameras, they’d do it. With confetti to boot.

I thought Christians (I’ll assume most Fox News hosts are Christians) always wanted to “err on the side of life.”

I’ll certainly note that it’s the Godless Europeans that are opposed to the death penalty no matter what the circumstances.

Is life always precious, or only when it’s convenient to those Christians?

What’s the deal?

Note: To their credit, the Vatican strongly condemned the execution.

How would you like to spend 6 months with a Christian fundamentalist family?

That’s what happened to Polish student Michael Gromek, 19, who went to North Carolina on a student exchange program, and ended up with a couple that had not had sex for 17 years because they were “devoting their lives to God.”

Besides having to go through weekly sex and alcohol lectures and being treated like a five-year old (they gave him lollipops,) Gromek also had to endure being told he had “the devil in his heart,” as did his mother (she was separated from his father…)

The nightmare ended when the religious zealots asked him to help them set up a Fundamentalist Baptist church in his home country of Poland. That was too much, and he asked to be transferred to a different family.

Had you been Michael Gromek, how long would you have lasted?

So let’s see, 75% of Americans stop believing in Santa Claus by the age of 8, because they “start questioning“. Like “How can reindeers fly?”

Good question, but then what exactly makes 81% of adults believe in angels, even though they can’t even explain what they are?

Considering that there is more evidence for the existence of Santa Claus (he delivers presents at Christmas) than for God or angels, shouldn’t it be the other way around?

OK, I’ll get into the “spirit of Christmas,” whatever that is, and slow down on bashing religions.

But just for the weekend…

After all, most atheists I know have no problem with Christmas.

Personally, the house is decorated (somewhat), there’s a tree, and there’s probably an angel or 2 on top of it. It has become a secular event. And I have no problem with Christians celebrating it some other way, as long as they don’t force me to do the same.

How do you celebrate Christmas?

Been to the mall lately?

Well, you probably have, and so you must have met him or her:

The Salvation Army Bell Ringer!

They’re at every mall entrance, this time of the year, asking for donations.

I’ve also been asked by the organization to fill a slot ringing the bell. Help the poor, they say!

I won’t do it.

Not that I don’t want to help the poor, but I think they’re misleading the public. When you put money into the kettle, you are first and foremost helping a church.

Yes, the Salvation Army is a church, not a charity, or a social services organization. It wants to evangelize the entire world.

Here is its mission:

The Salvation Army, an international movement, is an evangelical part of the universal Christian Church.

Its message is based on the Bible. Its ministry is motivated by the love of God. Its mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in His name without discrimination.

Without discrimination! Yeah, right. Except if you’re gay, maybe!

No thank you. If I want to help the poor, I’ll find another way.

Note: There’s more nonsense here.

It’s a safe bet that millions of Americans have prayed for the missing climbers on Mount Hood to return safely.

So far, one of them has tragically been found dead.

To me, that would be overwhelming evidence that either God doesn’t care, or that nobody is listening.

Yet, it’s also a safe bet that almost no believer will come to that conclusion. Likely, it will not even cross their minds. In fact, believers often say their faith was strengthened by such events. They call that God’s mysterious ways…

Let me get this straight: millions pray for any possible outcome but death, death occurs anyway despite being the one thing specifically not asked for, and people’s faith is strengthened?

What exactly would it take to shake someone’s faith?

Some religions are more stupid than others.

Take the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, aka the Mormons, for example.

They believe that Jesus appeared to a guy named Joseph Smith, an American then in his mid-teens, and asked him to restore the original Christianity. That was in… the 1820’s.

So let’s see: after 1,800 years, Jesus thinks his movement is not doing well in the world, so to turn things around he calls upon a teenager who happens to live in a country which at the time had less than 10 million people!

Wait, there’s more! Read more…

You work at the Pentagon, or in the military, and you’d like to be promoted?

It would help to be a Christian.

According to Reuters, senior officers at the Pentagon are accused of “using their rank and influence to coerce soldiers and airmen into adopting evangelical Christianity.”

“Such proselytizing, according to the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, has created a core of ‘radical’ Christians within the U.S. armed forces and Pentagon who punish those who do not accept evangelical beliefs by stalling their careers.”

A video filmed inside the Pentagon shows military officers in uniform praising the work of a group called the Christian Embassy, which aims to evangelize military leaders, politicians and diplomats.

Ever felt like you were passed on promotions because of your lack of religious beliefs?

When talking about religions with believers, I’m often reminded that I shouldn’t always take scriptures literally.

Some things are symbolic, they say.

But which is which, and how are we supposed to know?

Especially when believers don’t even agree between themselves.

Take hell, for example.

Many believers say it’s a fire and brimstone place populated by demons and guarded by Satan, where evildoers are made to suffer for eternity.

Others reject it as an antiquated myth to be interpreted symbolically to describe a state of mind. Read more…

Some of you had already started the debate as early as this blog’s very first thread: when did we come to doubt?

For me, there was never really any period of doubt. I pretty much went from an ordinary believer who doesn’t ask questions to a complete non-believer the minute I asked myself a couple of serious ones, around the age of 15.

Like, “could it have something to do with the fact that death frightens us, and it would be so much more confortable to not really die…”

The answer being more like: duh!

So how about you, when did you come to doubt? What lead to it? When did it happen?

And if you still believe, do you sometimes have those doubts?

And while we’re at it, any atheist with serious doubts the other way around? (not to be confused with uncertainty, which probably defines the “beliefs” of most atheists.)

Have you ever had the impression that many in the West treat the Shia-Sunni conflict currently raging in Iraq as some sort of ethnic or nationalistic conflict?

It’s not! It’s a religious conflict.

The Sunni believe that religious leaders should stay within Mohamed’s descendants, or those appointed by him. The Shia believe that leadership should have passed to his cousin/son-in-law, Ali.

No kidding?

I mean, seriously, they’re killing each others for that?

And someone wants to argue that religions are not stupid? Or that we shouldn’t speak out against them?

When advocating my positions, I have often been called intolerant. That was one of the main reasons I got banned from the pseudo science blog I used to participate in.

I’ll admit it: I am intolerant.

No, I don’t want to slip poison in your food to prevent you from speaking out about your religious beliefs, or put you in jail. But if we’re having a conversation, I ask that if you make a claim you’d be able to back it up with facts and evidence.

The more extraordinary the claim, the more evidence you should have. And claiming there is a God is just about as extraordinary a claim as they come. Without the smallest bit of evidence to back it up.

And no, I am not special. We all do it, atheist or not. Would you be tolerant towards someone who in the middle of a conversation starts claiming that the Holocaust did not happen? No, you would first demand facts, and in the absence of such, you would become intolerant, and likely ask the person to shut up. Same thing if someone starts claiming that there are Martians in the White House.

I don’t care how polite the society, once someone starts making unsubstantiated claims, the tolerance level goes way down. Nobody would be banned from the conversation for demanding evidence of historical or scientific claims.

Yet when it comes to religion, tolerance is viewed as a virtue.

Why the different standard?

Great debate recently between atheist Sam Harris and nationally syndicated radio talk show host Dennis Prager, a fervent advocate of the virtues of the Judeo-Christian tradition.

The debate was held in the form of a 4-day back and forth series of emails between the two on Jewcy.com and tried to answer the question “Why Are Atheists So Angry?”

If you’d ask me, I’d say Sam Harris won handily. But I’ll admit I’m biased.

There’s one thing that’s bothers me though, and that’s the premise for the whole debate: are we really angry?

I certainly wouldn’t say I am. Eager to be heard, perhaps. But not angry.

Are you?

I don’t believe in the War on Christmas. I think it’s a phony confrontation set up by the religious right and its media outlets such as Fox News.

And I say Merry Christmas. It has become a secular holiday and I have no problem celebrating it along with those who keep it a religious one. I have a Christmas tree in my house, and there’s probably an angel or two decorating it.

No Nativity scene though.

I must have shopped at IKEA.

Yes, IKEA, the international furniture chain. They sell chairs and sofas and beds and stuff like that. But they also sell decorative objects, and Christmas tree decorations. Except if you want to buy a Nativity scene, they don’t sell one. IKEA is a Swedish chain, and in their words, Nativity scenes are “not part of the Scandinavian tradition” which they promote.

That, apparently, is bothering some conservative Italian politicians. They call it “anti-catholic prejudice.” And they want people, including atheists, to boycott IKEA.

Well, I’ll do my part! I will continue not to buy a Nativity scene at IKEA.

I hope you don’t either!

My understanding is that at least in most states, vanity plates that would include a religious message would not be approved.

In Alabama however, you don’t need to come up with your own message: the state does it for you!

That plate is a standard-issue one. That means that you don’t have to request it.

Isn’t that government-sponsored religion? And what if you’re an atheist getting one of those? Can you refuse it? What would you do?

Several years ago, I sold a company of mine.

Before I left for good, the new owner, a gentleman in his 60’s, gathered the staff in a meeting, and presented himself.

He went over his education, his career, his family, and finally over his character:

“I’m a God-fearing person,” he said.

Huh? Is that supposed to be good?

Apparently, it is. At least it was in his own mind.

I certainly wouldn’t have liked to be part of his new staff!

Why would being fearful of something you’ve never seen and that supposedly loves you, be a good thing?

And does that make those of us, who are not particularly scared of imaginary beings, bad persons?

Note: Incidentally, under his leadership, the business failed a couple of years later.

Has your toddler been indoctrinated yet?

If not, Christmas is right around the corner, and the “wonderful” story of Noah’s Ark might be very fitting.

How about this book by illustrator Lucy Cousins? It’s recommended for ages 1 to 3.

“The familiar gathering of animals two by two onto the ark before the great flood takes on a gentle and joyous tone as expressed by Cousins’ brief and simple sentences and by her naive painted figures,” says Publisher’s Weekly, which categorizes the book as “Juvenile Nonfiction”. “Noah wears a kind, comforting smile and provides the benevolent leadership this story calls for. The text will naturally have added appeal for those seeking an introduction to the literature of the Bible.”

How cute!

And how does the book explain the little detail of God basically wiping out all humanity (and most animals as well) in a flood while preserving just one “righteous man” and his family?

This way:

“There were also many wicked people in the world. God wanted to punish the wicked people, so he said to Noah…’I shall make a flood of water and wash all the wicked people away. Build an ark for your family and all the animals.’” (My emphasis)

Ah, isn’t it great to learn of God’s infinite benevolence, compassion and love of humanity before you’ve even been taught how to write your own name?

Note: think that most people take the story symbolically? (Symbolic of what, incidentally?) Think again: 60% of Americans believe it is “literally true!”

Bonus question: what do you do if and when the well-meaning Aunt Samantha puts that book under your family tree?

I got kicked out of a blog for stating that religions are stupid.

Partly, I argued that God is no more likely than Santa Claus or the tooth fairy.

Wisely, I never mentionned leprechauns…

Not the case for Bob Averill, a student at the Art Institute of Portland, though.

He claims he was expelled for being an atheist after he challenged another student’s belief in “energy layers and astral beings.”

“I jokingly asked her if she believed in leprechauns. It turns out, she does. They live on another energy layer,” Averill told the local newspaper.

Continues Averill: “In the interest of bringing my own view to the discussion, I began to ask her how she knew these things. Again I know all too well that people can be sensitive about their spiritual beliefs, so I was pretty much walking on glass as I did so.”

What happened next? The student was expelled.
Read more…

So here is my first proposal for a debate:

Should we capitalize God?

According to Wikipedia:

Capitalization: the development of English orthography was dominated by Christian texts. Capitalized, “God” was first used to refer to the Judeo-Christian concept and may now signify any monotheistic conception of God, including the translations of the Arabic Allāh and the African Masai Engai.

Further:

The use of capitalization, as for a proper noun, has persisted to disambiguate the concept of a singular God from pagan deities for which lower case god has continued to be applied, mirroring the use of Latin deus.

Yeah, right. But this is a blog that prides itself in having no respect for religions. And would like to make it clear at every opportunity. Plus, it’s not like I fear going to hell if I use a lowercase g to refer to Him (or him?).

At the same time, I’d prefer my posts to be grammatically correct.

What’s a godless (Godless?) blogger to do?

And what about outside of blogging? Should atheists ever capitalize God? Are we offending someone if we don’t?

A couple of weeks ago, I got banned from a blog. Essentially and in the words of a particularly contemptuous blogger, for saying that “religions are stupid“. I had not attacked anybody personally, nor did I use any profanity, troll or even start the discussion about religion.

It wasn’t just any blog either. It was one that advertises itself as, in part, “focus[ing] on science.” Yes, science. You can be banned from a blog that focuses on science for saying that religions are stupid.

And it wasn’t some sort of personal blog either, where I could have offended the sensibilities of the blog owner, or some of his friends or family. No, we’re talking about a blog published by the Washington Post, in my opinion the most respected newspaper in the world.

I did not break any rule, although one was erected just for me right prior to my banishment.

But I did give my opinion about religions. I did not try to hide it, or to water it down so that some sort of consensus could be reached with the other bloggers, which apparently they wanted me to do. My opinion is that religions are stupid, and I said it.

And a journalist who says he writes about science banned me.

So I started this blog. It will be about and for people who think religions are stupid, and want to be able to say it, calmly, without anger or any sort of disrespect for people who disagree, but also without fear of being ostracized. Or banned from the discussion.

In short, it will be about what it’s like to be living as an atheist in today’s world, particularly in America. The frustrations, the strange looks we sometimes get, the intimidation and the pressures exercised by the religious majority.

When we make progress, we’ll talk about it. Same thing when we go backwards. For some reason, I have the feeling that we’ll talk a lot more about the latter…

This is the 21st century. It’s high time we’d be allowed to say it loud and clear: religions are stupid!

Hope you join me in that effort.

Note: At some point, I’ll write an ‘About‘ page to tell you more about who I am. In the meantime, there’s quite a bit more about me at my other site: superfrenchie.com.