Journal Entry #421

April 224th, 2011

I am interested in how a person can rectify this dilemma which I actually hear more than I want to;

God is always right but man makes mistakes and is fallible. Well the obvious conclusion to this is that man could be wrong about god. So if you can be wrong how can you possibly be absolutely sure that god is right or that anything you believe about god is right?

Watch the 2 videos below and then we will talk.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYtYQ0a7btQ&feature=youtu.be

How Christians Brainwash kids with creationism

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEv2-ocFYUQ

Class On Islam In Germany

I could write a book on the issues these 2 videos present, the fallacies and just outright lies but I think most of you can figure out the obvious on your own. I will say that brainwashing young people and children with religious doctrine is just wrong.

My focus here will be on the idea that children and humans in general need to know that they have a choice, they need to understand that critical thinking skills allow them to decide for themselves and that they are under no obligation to be told what to think.

A dose of reason will quickly put  the ideas that are presented in these videos in the realm of dumbass but the very idea that each religion presents their god is the one and only authority on all things in life is scary as hell. Children should be taught how to think not what to think.

I keep trying to get across to the faithful that until god any god actually comes down here and tells us what the bible or Quran actually means it will all be interpretation, all subjective and since we are creatures that can be easily fooled we can certainly be wrong on what we believe is true. Well they bypass these by saying;

I can be wrong but I follow he who cannot be wrong.

The stupidity in this statement is astounding but this is the basis of religious faith. The very idea that god is always right is self serving and circular logic.

God said it, I believe it, that settles it!

This is about as stupid as it gets. Now we have to determine exactly what it is that god is saying and the fact that there are so many versions of god and even within a certain faith different interpretations testifies to the stupidity of this. Within the Christian faith alone there are 38,000 different denominations each following a different version of what god says all thinking they have the right one.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christian_denominations

Once an individual realizes that they have the power to think for themselves everything changes, the spell is broken and the questioning begins as it should. The control mechanism presented so well in these videos falls prey to reason. The vast majority of believers I would say are ignorant to the facts that surround life and want to remain blind to the opposition of their delusions. There really is no sane argument that supports an absolute belief in god or anything else that easily falls under a dose of reality.

I would like to see Critical Thinking taught alongside reading, writing and arithmetic as a basic skill in life. This allows the individual to feel empowered to not only realize they are making their own choices but to also be responsible for those choices.

Critical thinking; It has been described in a much more comprehensive sense as “the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skilfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_thinking

Now this is exactly what any authority based doctrine does not want as this will lead to dissention as it should. If something is not true it should not be taken as true and all things should be put to the test. You don’t have to be a philosopher or a scientist to apply the basics of this principal.

Once some general skills are a acquired one could easily refute the doctrine and dispute the facts that are presented in these videos.

Let’s take evolution for an example. Ken Ham http://creationmuseum.org director of the Creation Museum and Answers in Genesis who is the main speaker in this video presents a distorted and incredibly narrow minded view of what evolution truly is. The very idea that he shows that your grandmother is not a monkey is ridiculous. A quick tutorial on what evolution really is will dispel this and many other ridiculous points he makes. The very idea that dinosaurs and humans lived at the same time falsifies so much science that is beyond intellectually dishonest.

What he believes has no bearing on the facts but that is not what he teaches, he teaches what he would like to be true because the real doctrine behind his message is this; If just one thing in the bible is not true then the possibility for all things to not be true exists and that is just unacceptable so it must be taken literally. The biggest hurdle the bible presents is a creation storey as all the verifiable evidence shows this as false. That is why he and many others spend so much time trying to verify creation even though it has been proven time and time again that evolution is a fact and that creation is a myth.

To say “who are you going to believe god or the scientist” is another masterfully stupid statement. This if followed creates ignorance and stupidity as it is science that has given us our greatest achievements. Of course the kids will just do as they are told and enjoy the cool pictures and fun music but this is neglect through and through.

The “god says it so it must be true” defence and doctrine must be shown for what it truly is, stupidity. We don’t need soldiers of god, any god we need productive intelligent members of the human race so we can move in a positive direction for mankind.

Ken and all those advocating this doctrine should be ashamed of themselves and the parents who buy into this nonsense need to learn the skill of critical thinking themselves.

I find it funny how they will only take the things that they like that god said and then excuse away all the nasty stuff in the bible and there is plenty of the nasty.

The argument from ignorance keeps rearing its head everywhere I turn.

Let me offer a different version of the god says it argument;

I think that god said it but I don’t really know so I will say it the way I would like god to say it and then tell everyone that god said it hoping that they believe me thinking that it was really god that said it.

Stupidity

Seek the truth always

Gary David Currie