What is Digg?327 Comments
- inactive, on 03/17/2008, -48/+108Religion is a detriment to society.
1. Proclaiming things to be 'evil' does nothing but create conflict.
2. Christianity encourages people to label things as 'evil' and in doing so it promotes judgment.
3. It gives believers a false sense of superiority and in doing so promotes arrogance.
4. It encourages the belief that when science opposes biblical teaching then science is automatically wrong and in doing so creates in its followers a sense of willful ignorance.
5. It encourages the idea that humanity is to subdue the earth and in doing so encourages the destruction of the environment.
6. It encourages the idea that humanity is unable and helpless and in believing that to be so humanity can not move beyond what hinders it.
7. It encourages the idea that things will be better with the return of Jesus and in believing so there is no reason to try to make things better now.
The list could go on and on....
Therefore Christianity (as most religions) is a detriment to society. It should be abandoned. - inactive, on 03/17/2008, -15/+52Religion causes different levels of psychosis in people.
The recent study by UCLA's Neuropsychiatric Institute confirms the earlier findings by hundreds of researchers at dozens of universities and research institutes such as CU, USC, Stanford, Duke, Harvard Medical School, RAND, Brookings Institute, etc. showing that Christian belief is symptomatic of delusional thought disorder--"a serious mental ilness."
http://portal.ctrl.ucla.edu/npi/institution/person ... - inactive, on 03/17/2008, -7/+39There was a guy on Oprah explaining this type of stuff probably about 15 years ago. He was talking about how religious people who have near death experiences often times see God, Jesus, Buddah, Angels, etc because their brains are trained to expect that sort of thing. It was a very similar study he had conducted.
- PaxImperium, on 03/17/2008, -6/+34How do you explain the use of various drugs that give exactly the same experience as an out of body experience?
Do you know that there is a part of the brain that actually is responsible to the feeling of "self". When this part of the brain is stimulated/repressed, you feel as if you are out of your own body...in fact these subjects state they are standing outside themselves and looking at themselves.
There are a few experiments that show your claims to be false. There was a study(which I will have to dig up) where they asked these "out of body" people in near death experiences concerning specific details that they claimed to have seen(how many nurses were in the room,which room were you in etc.) and they are all innacurate. - uhhNo, on 03/17/2008, -1/+27You watch Oprah?
- banmaster, on 03/17/2008, -15/+39It all comes down to:
Science = Questions that might never be answered
Religion = Answers that must NEVER be questioned - kakwakas, on 03/17/2008, -5/+28And you base "reality" on...?
Oh, right. You use your brain. - banmaster, on 03/17/2008, -4/+23So, what you are saying, in a nutshell, is that religion is an emotional crutch for the mentally weak who are incapable of accepting reality, right?
- PaxImperium, on 03/17/2008, -5/+19I have and found the Bible to be a violent but rather amusing story...not as good as the Odyssey but still amusing. I like the sex parts and all the bondage stuff. So what was your point?
- Mnementh2230, on 03/17/2008, -3/+17What if it's not God, but Zeus? Allah? Shiva? Odin? Harry Potter? Pick your favorite god from any religion/myth.
False Dichotemy. - n00ns, on 03/17/2008, -4/+18Wrong. Atheists believe that you have one chance to live, and that you have one chance to get it right. Religious people believe that they have another life after this one. This leads to some people beliving that if they fly planes into buildings, blow up innocent people and do other horrific things in the name of their faith, they will gain the acceptance of their god and be given another chance to live.
- hcharger, on 03/17/2008, -2/+15 Your out of body experience was all quite real, just as a person's imagination is all quite real, its just the material and matter in focus at the time is all hallucinatory.
- banmaster, on 03/17/2008, -3/+16What a load of ***** bollocks!!
There is absolutely NO falsifiable evidence for ANY supernatural events! - jj101, on 03/17/2008, -1/+14Key sentence - "no one could ever tell me that it was all neural". I'm sure they could, you just wouldn't believe them right?
- EpicSelekta, on 03/17/2008, -2/+14What they are basically doing in this study is inducing a small bout of temporal lobe epilepsy, a disorder which is already well known to induce intense religious and/or spiritual feelings. To base all religious experiences (or any more than 5% of religious experiences) on this "feverish brain activity" is to ignore the fact that the number of sufferers of this disorder is immensely dwarfed by the number of people who have religious experiences.
On a side note, Dr. Ramachandran (a professor cited in this article) is a leading researcher into temporal lobe epilepsy. His published case studies (including several videos) offer very good insight into this type of brain activity. - ChrisPelletier, on 03/17/2008, -3/+15Dr. Persigner is a prof at my University. He's been doing studies with the "God Helmet", as he likes to call it, for as long as I can remember.
- ApokalypseNow, on 03/17/2008, -1/+13Remote Viewing has been shown in double-blind tests to be absolutely bunk, in every tested case.
- JoeVet, on 03/17/2008, -1/+13@xtraa kakwakas was simply pointing out that perception is a neural event. When that neural system is damaged or out of regulation due to disease, anaphylaxis, drugs, ect then it is likely that perception will also be corrupted and those who need to worship a god will understandably misinterpret that corruption as spiritual. This is not rocket science but a simple explanation based on neuroscience.
- benjorino, on 03/17/2008, -1/+12DMT
- o0joshua0o, on 03/17/2008, -1/+12Yes, the good scientist is clearly attacking everyone who believes in elephants.
- PaxImperium, on 03/17/2008, -2/+13"Atheists and evolutionalism are products of a man's independence from a creator,..."
Atheism and evolution are not equivalent or dependent on each other. One is a rejection of a claim of a "god" and another is a scientific theory. Lumping them together is either dishonesty or ignorance.
"...thereby falsely conprehending within their own mind that they will never be made accountable for their actions while living on this earth."
Non-sequitur. Please justify this claim.
"Those two issues above along with the indifferences of politics and religion are the sole reason why we have so many atrocities committed against humanity throughout the centuries and because of education revolving around this corrupt system of things,"
Another non-sequitur. Please justify your claims.
"...the 20th century and beyond seem to reflect an uncaring ,unloving population that has no conscience or feelings for others. Without that, they have no hope, ever!"
Incomprehensible garbage.
Your entire argument is based on false premises and logical fallacies giving no credence to your claims. - xtraa, on 03/17/2008, -0/+10Not if I would miss David Hasselhoff in concert.
- PaxImperium, on 03/17/2008, -1/+11I also like the Epic of Gilgamesh myself...although the similarities with the Bible is...miraculous!!
- PaxImperium, on 03/17/2008, -2/+12Define murder because in the Old Testament it was okay to kill off entire populations of non-believers even children and pregnant women.
Murder usually only applied to an in group and killing "outsiders", slaves and others was not considered murder. - EpicSelekta, on 03/17/2008, -8/+17Proclaiming Christianity to be a "detriment" to society (clearly implying that it's evil) and then saying that "proclaiming things to be 'evil' does nothing but create conflict" isn't really the way to promote atheism. Secondarily, abandoning Christianity altogether is a fine way to ignore some very good teachings. To quote Ghandi: "I like your Christ; I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."
- Esstee, on 03/17/2008, -22/+311. Proclaiming things to be 'evil' does nothing but create conflict.
Call it what you will but there are aspects of society and people that are in every sense of the word *harmful and wrong.
I doubt labeling it makes any difference in the end. And religion has nothing to do with it.
2. Christianity encourages people to label things as 'evil' and in doing so it promotes judgment.
everyone labels things. "He's an Athiest, Fag, Creationist, Radical, racist, sexist, pacifist, yadda yadda yadda. You'd better get used to it because generalizing and categorizing people is somewhat of our specialty.
3. It gives believers a false sense of superiority and in doing so promotes arrogance.
Superiority? Arrogance? You have just described two characteristics which define human nature.
4. It encourages the belief that when science opposes biblical teaching then science is automatically wrong and in doing so creates in its followers a sense of willful ignorance.
And vice versa. Then again aren't we just expanding on point 3. People are arrogant and we all suffer from the effects of self assurance whether it be right or wrong in the end. Whatever the case, narrow mindedness is a bi-product of knowledge.
5. It encourages the idea that humanity is to subdue the earth and in doing so encourages the destruction of the environment.
Utter nonsense. If you want to argue about environmental destruction, you had better take a seat because the cause of our dying planet is quite a stetch from religion based(read much?).
6. It encourages the idea that humanity is unable and helpless and in believing that to be so humanity can not move beyond what hinders it.
This is pretty much the same as the previous point and false.
7. It encourages the idea that things will be better with the return of Jesus and in believing so there is no reason to try to make things better now.
Again... same point, different wording. For the record, Jesus drive a message of love and compassion, respect and a preservation of ones self. He did so towards his fellow man and the governments of that day. Which contradicts your line of thinking. Caring for one self and others is anything but sitting back arms drawn while the earth falls apart beneath our feet. However, as I mentioned earlier, the destruction of our planet is anything but religion based.
@Therefore Christianity (as most religions) is a detriment to society. It should be abandoned.
I'm not knocking your comment per say, but if you want to stake a real case against religion. The least you could do is get educated on things first. Most all of your points seem limited to your own short minded ideas of how things are. It sort of reminds me of a time where blacks were deemed as "the cause of all of mankinds problems" in some part of the world. - phoenixp3k, on 03/17/2008, -4/+13Very old news... 1999, that is so Matrix and Fight Club...
- offspring06, on 03/17/2008, -1/+10If there is a God, than where is he. He has never shown himself to me so why should I believe in him. I don't trust other people who made religion to control the peasants.
- EarlOfLade, on 03/17/2008, -2/+11Cruelty in NT, see http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/cruelty/nt_list. ...
Examples:
Matthew
# Those who bear bad fruit will be cut down and burned "with unquenchable fire." 3:10, 12
# Jesus strongly approves of the law and the prophets. He hasn't the slightest objection to the cruelties of the Old Testament. 5:17
# Jesus recommends that to avoid sin we cut off our hands and pluck out our eyes. This advice is given immediately after he says that anyone who looks with lust at any women commits adultery. 5:29-30
# Jesus says that most people will go to hell. 7:13-14
# Those who fail to bear "good fruit" will be "hewn down, and cast into the fire." 7:19
# "The children of the kingdom [the Jews] shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." 8:12
# Jesus tells a man who had just lost his father: "Let the dead bury the dead." 8:21
# Jesus sends some devils into a herd of pigs, causing them to run off a cliff and drown in the waters below. 8:32
# Cities that neither "receive" the disciples nor "hear" their words will be destroyed by God. It will be worse for them than for Sodom and Gomorrah. And you know what God supposedly did to those poor folks (see Gen.19:24). 10:14-15
# Families will be torn apart because of Jesus (this is one of the few "prophecies" in the Bible that has actually come true). "Brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death." 10:21
# Jesus says that we should fear God who is willing and "able to destroy both soul and body in hell." 10:28
# Jesus says that he has come to destroy families by making family members hate each other. He has "come not to send peace, but a sword." 10:34-36
# Jesus condemns entire cities to dreadful deaths and to the eternal torment of hell because they didn't care for his preaching. 11:20-24
# Jesus will send his angels to gather up "all that offend" and they "shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth." 13:41-42, 50
# Jesus is criticized by the Pharisees for not washing his hands before eating. He defends himself by attacking them for not killing disobedient children according to the commandment: "He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death." (See Ex.21:15, Lev.20:9, Dt.21:18-21) So, does Jesus think that children who curse their parents should be killed? It sure sounds like it. 15:4-7
# Jesus advises his followers to mutilate themselves by cutting off their hands and plucking out their eyes. He says it's better to be "maimed" than to suffer "everlasting fire." 18:8-9
# "And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors." 18:34
# In the parable of the marriage feast, the king sends his servants to gather everyone they can find, both bad and good, to come to the wedding feast. One guest didn't have on his wedding garment, so the king tied him up and "cast him into the outer darkness" where "there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." 22:12-13
# Jesus had no problem with the idea of drowning everyone on earth in the flood. It'll be just like that when he returns. 24:37
# God will come when people least expect him and then he'll "cut them asunder." And "there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." 24:50-51
# The servant who kept and returned his master's talent was cast into the "outer darkness" where there will be "weeping and gnashing of teeth." 25:30
# Jesus tells us what he has planned for those that he dislikes. They will be cast into an "everlasting fire." 25:41
# Jesus says the damned will be tormented forever. 25:46
Intolerance in NT, see http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/int/nt_list.html
Examples:
Matthew
# While insulting the Pharisees and Sadducees, John the Baptist calls an entire generation a "generation of vipers." 3:7
# Those who bear bad fruit will be cut down and burned "with unquenchable fire." 3:10, 12
# Jesus says that most people will go to hell. 7:13-14
# Those who fail to bear "good fruit" will be "hewn down, and cast into the fire." 7:19
# "the children of the kingdom [the Jews] shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." 8:12
# Jesus tells his disciples to keep away from the Gentiles and Samaritans, and go only to the Israelites. 10:5-6
# Cities that neither "receive" the disciples nor "hear" their words will be destroyed by God. It will be worse for them than for Sodom and Gomorrah. And you know what God supposedly did to those poor folks (see Gen.19:24). 10:14-15
# Families will be torn apart because of Jesus (this is one of the few "prophecies" in the Bible that has actually come true). "Brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death." 10:21
# "Whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven." 10:33
# Jesus says that he has come to destroy families by making family members hate each other. He has "come not to send peace, but a sword." 10:34-36
# Jesus condemns entire cities to dreadful deaths and to the eternal torment of hell because they didn't care for his preaching. 11:20-24
# "He that is not with me is against me." 12:30
# "Whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him." 12:31-32
# Jesus often called people names. One of his favorites was to call his adversaries a "generation of vipers." 12:34
# Jesus will send his angels to gather up "all that offend" and they "shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth." 13:41-42, 50
# Jesus refuses to heal the Canaanite (Mk.7:26 says she was Greek) woman's possessed daughter, saying "it is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to the dogs." 15:22-26
# The ever-so-kind Jesus calls the Pharisees "hypocrites, wicked, and adulterous." 15:2-3
# In the parable of the marriage feast, the king sends his servants to gather everyone they can find, both bad and good, to come to the wedding feast. One guest didn't have on his wedding garment, so the king tied him up and "cast him into the outer darkness" where "there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." 22:12-13
# Jesus condemns the Jews for being "the children of them which killed the prophets." 23:31
# Jesus blames his the Jews (who were then living) for "all the righteous blood" from Abel to Zecharias, 23:35
# The servant who kept and returned his master's talent was cast into the "outer darkness" where there will be "weeping and gnashing of teeth." 25:30
# Jesus tells us what he has planned for those that he dislikes. They will be cast into an "everlasting fire." 25:41
# "His blood be on us, and on our children." This verse blames the Jews for the death of Jesus and has been used to justify their persecution for twenty centuries. 27:25
Mark
# Jesus becomes angry at those who said that he had "an unclean spirit," so he announces the unforgivable sin: "blasphemy against the Holy Ghost." 3:29
# Any city that doesn't "receive" the followers of Jesus will be destroyed in a manner even more savage than that of Sodom and Gomorrah. 6:11
# Jesus initially refuses to cast out a devil from a Syrophoenician woman's daughter, calling the woman a "dog". After much pleading, he finally agrees to cast out the devil. 7:27
# If you're ashamed of Jesus, he'll be ashamed of you. (And you'll go straight to hell.) 8:38
# Jesus says that those that believe and are baptized will be saved, while those who don't will be damned. 16:16
I recommend everyone to read http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/index.htm - lopla, on 03/17/2008, -7/+15This article and the following comments are a God damned abomination! You will all burn in Hellfire for eternity God damnit!
- jj101, on 03/17/2008, -1/+9@Drahkar - but how do you control experiments like that. How do you know the person didn't ever see a photo of the place or actually went there. People do all sorts of thing to get attention and feel special. Also surely this type of thing is very open to interpretation.
- JoeVet, on 03/17/2008, -0/+8If there is a god and the bible is real then nothing changes because the god of the bible clearly will only save those descendants of one family only and he regularly smites other people just for fun. I don't worship that.
- ApokalypseNow, on 03/17/2008, -0/+8Are you familiar with WW2 anti-aircraft tactics? Flak and whatnot, I mean. The stuff wasn't terribly accurate, so the theory became "Put enough ***** in the air and something is bound to run into it". Prophecy is much the same, make enough predictions, and word them all vaguely enough (inaccuracy) and some of it is bound to come true.
- ian9outof10, on 03/17/2008, -2/+10It does amaze me sometimes that people who aren't religious feel the need to enlighten those that are about the error of their ways.
Sure, you can argue that a lot of bad things get done in the name of religion, which is true. The problem is, almost universally there is some other motivator. Iraq wasn't invaded because they believe in different things to the middle America. It was invaded out of greed, ignorance and stupidity.
As long as there are selfish, greedy, ignorant people on this planet there will be pain and suffering. - inactive, on 03/17/2008, -1/+8----------I challenge you to dig deeper and find out what the real truth of Christianity is. I challenge you to actually read the Bible.----------
I do need some advice from you, regarding some elements of God's Laws and how to follow them.
1. Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?
2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?
3. I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanness - Lev.15: 19-24. The problem is how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.
4. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord - Lev.1:9. The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?
5. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2. clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or should I ask the police to do it?
6. A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination - Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this? Are there 'degrees' of abomination?
7. Lev.21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle-room here?
8 . Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though Lev. 19 expressly forbids this: 27. How should they die?
9. I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?
10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev.19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? Lev.24:10-16. Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair? (Lev. 20:14)
Yeah, funny how Christians only interpret the Bible anyway they seem fit. Funny how they interpret it to justify their intolerance, their own politics, their hypocrisy and the self-righteous bullsh1t they impose on others, huh? - Esstee, on 03/17/2008, -2/+9Do you think that is actually air your breathing?
- dancee, on 03/17/2008, -8/+15Very interesting article
- inactive, on 03/17/2008, -1/+8"I challenge you to actually read the Bible."
Well, on that: Do you want me to read all of it, or only the parts that are STILL the word of god? You know, throw out the old testament (except the part about gays being an abomination. Gotta hang on to that part!) because even though it USED to be the word of god, it was relegated to back burner after the NEW word of god?
What you fail to understand is there are many who have read the bible, and found it lacking. - EarlOfLade, on 03/17/2008, -1/+8Killing every first born baby must be a good thing, not to mention selling your daughter into slavery, what's the going price again?
The bible is nothing but a collection of 2000+ year old goat herder and camel driver scifi stories and should not be taken for real. - PaxImperium, on 03/17/2008, -1/+7Yes, you are special. God made you. That must prevent you from killing yourself everyday.
- Esstee, on 03/17/2008, -0/+6Just as it is not up to us(as individuals) to judge others based on standings alone, it would be unfit for us to go measure or determine those same others claiming to stand with God. Likewise, though we can present our own understandings of the bible, I doubt it is up to us to point the finger and accuse others of false worship. However, a wise man once put it best when he told that it would be by there works that people would prove whether or not they were worthy of carrying God's name with them. As old as this advice is today, it continues to serve as the simplest and most reliable method to weed out the rats from the cats so to speak.
The last portion of your statement poses a very weak argument against religion. Defining human nature with a religious label proves nothing really. People are people whatever the case, and this goes without race, genre, religious stature or otherwise. What we have here is nothing more than old fashion discrimination. Something we have seen time and time again throughout history(blacks were the root of all evil) and remains very much alive and well to this day.
Having said this, it is true that people abuse, missuse and exploit the bible. Hell, Hitler makes a great case. However, it was quite obviously not religion that was at fault but the person who applied it and the same could be said for people today.
As for the bible, I think it does a phenomenonal job providing people with the tools needed towards a better life. Whether or not it is applied properly is another story altogether. Just look around you for a shining example of how humans are inherently incapable of managing even the simplest forms of freedom(not good!). - ApokalypseNow, on 03/17/2008, -0/+6No, not an accident, but the result of the non-random survival of randomly occurring traits.
If we were to be able to find some connection like what you posit, then we'd have to be able to measure "spirit" in some way. Can we quantify it at all? Do we have evidence for its existence? No? Then there is no connection to be drawn. - Esstee, on 03/17/2008, -0/+6And win at bingo.
BINGO! - PaxImperium, on 03/17/2008, -3/+9Dildo's statements do not apply to ALL Christians but it does apply to Dominionist and Dispensationalist Fundementalist Christians.
1)Without religion, there is one LESS cause for conflict.
2)Really? So define evil. There are many Christians who would call atheist/muslims/hindus etc. evil. So tell me, would this labelling occur withour religion?
3)That's not excuse. So you're stating that because the rich are arrogant, that gives Christians the same right to be arrogant?
4)So says you. Many fundamentalist who are definately Christian would call you a pagan or not a "real" Chrisitian for even believing in science.
5)Go read up Domininists propoganda.
6)In what way is Dildo's statement wrong?
7)Who believes that? Fundamentalist Christians who read to many Left Behind books.
Are you sure you know what you are denying? - PaxImperium, on 03/17/2008, -3/+9So any scientific evidence or knowledge that may consider "god" to be nothing more than a brain phenomena is an "ad-hominem"?
Wow, what weak faith you have. - VinceNoir, on 03/17/2008, -0/+6Shhh!!! You're calling into question what the definition of reality actually is. That's dangerous thinking there. "They" might go after you for thinking that way. I know "they" are already onto me.
- PaxImperium, on 03/17/2008, -1/+7wow..you've convinced me with absolutely no justification or evidence.
- arsheroica, on 03/17/2008, -4/+10This is absurd, your brain experiences similar feelings when it falls in love with the production of seratonin and equally feverish, unreasonable brain activity. The problem is that simply because a metaphysical or "irrational" emotion like being in love or experiencing God has a physical counterpart doesn't negate its metaphysical properties. Ultimately this is the situation where everyone will skew and interpret as they see fit. Like everything else!
- TheDHC, on 03/17/2008, -2/+7I don't thnik God had much inner conflict when he killed all those sinners in the bible.
- Ph34rb0t, on 03/17/2008, -3/+8Telling people that they are the chosen, and/or that their religion (read, way of thinking/belief system) is 'right' implies the other religions, cultures, and ways of thinking are wrong, thus inferior.
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