Proof, Belief, and Reality

If you believe in God and that the bible is his word, solely based on faith, then proof probably means little if anything to you. However if you are not the gullible type and you research and weigh evidence to decide what is right and make an informed decision, then you (if you believe in God) were probably brought up in faith. Smart people are very good at rationalizing things they came to believe for non-smart reasons.

 The bible does not offer any proof of God, it is a book written by people who knew as much about the world as a child does now-a-days. The amount of information we are exposed to on a daily basis is more than the people who wrote the bible were exposed to in their entire lives! Perhaps at some time the bible was a moral compass for people that did not have a fair court system. It is nice to believe that there is a cosmic source that hands out punishment for things that some people would have gotten away with it there wasn’t. While that may make you feel better, to know that the person that stole your car radio will get their punishment from God, it is however the same as believing that Santa will bring you better and more presents with the better you behave.

Belief can be a good thing, like the belief that there is a cure for cancer and it is obtainable. However other beliefs do not add to humanity in the least and there are many of them. Like the man, Mony Vital (I doubt that is his real name) who believes that as long as he doesn’t believe in death, than he will never die, this belief is most likely false, however it is not likely to prove to him that he is wrong, because when he does die, we will not be able to explain to him that he was wrong.

This is similar to the belief in religion. It doesn’t aid humanity at all. Infact it hinders human growth!

“The irony of religion is that because of its power to divert man to destructive courses, the world could actually come to an end. The plain fact is, religion must die for mankind to live. The hour is getting very late to be able to indulge in having in key decisions made by religious people. By irrationalists, by those who would steer the ship of state not by a compass, but by the equivalent of reading the entrails of a chicken. George Bush prayed a lot about Iraq, but he didn't learn a lot about it. Faith means making a virtue out of not thinking. It's nothing to brag about. And those who preach faith, and enable and elevate it are intellectual slaveholders, keeping mankind in a bondage to fantasy and nonsense that has spawned and justified so much lunacy and destruction.

Religion is dangerous because it allows human beings who don't have all the answers to think that they do. Most people would think it's wonderful when someone says, "I'm willing, Lord! I'll do whatever you want me to do!" Except that since there are no gods actually talking to us, that void is filled in by people with their own corruptions and limitations and agendas. And anyone who tells you they know, they just know what happens when you die, I promise you, you don't. How can I be so sure? Because I don't know, and you do not possess mental powers that I do not.

The only appropriate attitude for man to have about the big questions is not the arrogant certitude that is the hallmark of religion, but doubt. Doubt is humble, and that's what man needs to be, considering that human history is just a litany of getting shit dead wrong. This is why rational people, anti-religionists, must end their timidity and come out of the closet and assert themselves. And those who consider themselves only moderately religious really need to look in the mirror and realize that the solace and comfort that religion brings you actually comes at a terrible price.

If you belonged to a political party or a social club that was tied to as much bigotry, misogyny, homophobia, violence, and sheer ignorance as religion is, you'd resign in protest. To do otherwise is to be an enabler, a mafia wife, for the true devils of extremism that draw their legitimacy from the billions of their fellow travelers. If the world does come to an end here, or wherever, or if it limps into the future, decimated by the effects of religion-inspired nuclear terrorism, let's remember what the real problem was that we learned how to precipitate mass death before we got past the neurological disorder of wishing for it. That's it. Grow up or die.” –Bill Maher

Many times I ask people that if they were born in a different country with a family that believed (exactly how they do now) in a different belief, then would you have the same faith in that religion, the same ‘belief’ that that is the correct religion? I say this over and over again but I always hear the same response, “No I wouldn’t because that faith or belief is wrong and I would know it!

Bible nuts pride themselves in believing in things that are hard to believe in, they think God will bless them for that. But if you want fact, don’t look towards the bible! Sometime the bible is taken as literal, sometimes it is taken as figurative. But who decides which is which? There are people that believe every part of the bible is 100% real, while others think that they are stories that you should base your life on and nothing more. I personally think that it is a horrible book to base one’s life on. The bible is a human edited socially constructed collection of books, put together by people over many centuries!

The bible doesn’t teach history, it isn’t great literature, if it was published as fiction it probably wouldn’t sell. Noting will make you an Atheist faster than reading the Bible!

When it comes to proof, Theists bear the burden, not Atheists! We are not the ones making the absurd claims. Just as if someone came up to you and said that they had been abducted by aliens, you would need proof from him to believe it. You wouldn’t just believe it until you were able to prove otherwise!

Religion tries to pose as a priori knowledge, as information that is just known. No proof, no experience needed, and it should not be questioned.

However these are not basic questions like why is unleaded gas better than regular, No! These are questions that have a dramatic impact on all of life! If we believe that the world is going to end in our lifetimes, than there is no need to make it better for our offspring. This is what is so wrong with religious views today! People deem it worthy to murder people of different beliefs just because what their belief tells them too. This is not okay! It just isn’t, it is black and white, no maybe! If this is your religious view you should abandon it or at the very least question it severely!

To quote Bill Maher again, “Grow up!”

--Garrett Fogerlie