Posts Tagged ‘religious faith’

Who Hijacked Reality / #421 God said it, I believe it, that settles it! Or the wheels on the bus go round and round.

Sunday, April 24th, 2011

 

 

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

Who Hijacked Reality / #364 The internet is making god obsolete.

Sunday, February 27th, 2011

 

Journal Entry #364

February 27th, 2011

In fact it is becoming its own god.

Freedom of information is something that any organization that is based on the control of information is afraid off. The push for faith based ideals is strong now, why? Because it realizes it if it was an entity it is in a fight for its survival and it is losing.

At this point it will be impossible to stop the flow of information, the exchange of ideas and if one wants it the quest for knowledge. We can see this change happening in the many revolutions of the mind taking place around the world right now. People are embracing freedom of thought which will eventually topple any control system.

People openly challenge once unchallengeable ideas. The youth have embraced social networking and the exchange of free thought. Truth will prevail and this cannot be stopped. There will be bumps along the way but the changing of the guard is in full swing.

Change is inevitable and cannot be stopped. Once enclosed circles of religious faith are now opening to the world and the young are hungry for knowledge. They always have been but now they have the method to be free.

Countries that have been gripped in fear and oppression are now demanding their freedom and freedom is the one human ideal that can never be silenced.

God is being replaced, god is being challenged, god is being dethroned and god is being revealed. God is disappearing.

There is no excuse to be ignorant any more. Yes I realize that the entire world does not have access to the internet yet but they will it is just a matter of time. All the weapons in the world cannot stop the flow of information.

This can be humanities greatest time. We have moved from ignorance to knowledge and it will be available to all not just the select few. Are there difficult times ahead? Absolutely as change can be volatile but nevertheless change will happen. Where will you be during this change? Will you be fighting for the ways of the past or will you embrace the future of humanity?

The digital age is in full swing with all its greatness and all its problems. If there is one thing about time it always moves forward. Technology will not go backwards the means will always be there.

I am excited to live in this time of great change with knowledge being the great equalizer.

Seek the truth always

Gary David Currie

Who Hijacked Reality / #101 Free will & faith the beautiful illusion.

Monday, June 21st, 2010

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Journal Entry # 101

June 21st, 2010

I have had many conversations over the years with people who were religious being deeply spiritual to what I call just in casers. After all of the questions, the questioning and debating the argument / discussion usually ends up one of 2 ways; they are either very angry or they end it with this standard response “you just have to have faith”. Over the years of my searching this seems to be the standard answer I would get when there was no answer. Instead of being honest and saying I don’t know they retreat to this standard position of ignorance.

What exactly is faith? I wanted to know so I looked it up.

  faith [feɪθ] n

1. strong or unshakeable belief in something, esp without proof or evidence

2. a specific system of religious beliefs the Jewish faith

3. (Christian Religious Writings / Theology) Christianity trust in God and in his actions and promises

4. (Christian Religious Writings / Theology) a conviction of the truth of certain doctrines of religion, esp when this is not based on reason

5. complete confidence or trust in a person, remedy, etc.

6. any set of firmly held principles or beliefs

7. allegiance or loyalty, as to a person or cause (esp in the phrases keep faith, break faith)

bad faith insincerity or dishonesty

good faith honesty or sincerity, as of intention in business (esp in the phrase in good faith)

 Basically it means that you can firmly believe in anything without any evidence. It doesn’t matter if it is true or not so anything can be fair game. You can step outside of reality and call it reality in your mind. In our society this position especially when it comes to religious faith has taken on a role of untouchability.

6383

I see it this way; what many call faith I call a choice based on evidence. The position that people take is based on evidence from a holy book, the telling of stories, traditions and numerous other sources. It is not due to a lack of evidence it is due to a lack of credible evidence. It is not faith when you have guidance. The moment that a God revealed himself/herself in any way is the moment it was no longer a matter of faith. True faith would be to believe in something that you have completely made up in a fantasy world without any influence. The “you just have to have faith” position is also a way of avoiding the real issue in your faith and that is that it is probably not true. Once you have credible evidence to proof something you no longer need the illusion of faith.

Free will is the companion illusion that follows faith. According to religious doctrines you are given the choice to believe or not. You are not forced to have faith. Here is the problem with this; complete choice is not possible within religion when the set of choices has already been determined for you. You can either follow the religion and receive the rewards or not follow and receive the punishment of those actions. There is no free will because your choices have been determined for you. Free will would be to make your choice without any determining factors from the religion. You would not even now of its existence before you made the choice. Now of course once you have any kind of evidence free will no longer applies. True free will would involve no consequences for your actions but what would be the incentive for that.

Liberty

Free Will has consequences

Free will within the confines of religion does not exist just as it does not exist within reality. I may think in life I have free will but really my choices have been predetermined for me. Nature has limited what I can and cannot do before I even think of doing it. I think this is absolutely necessary to achieve balance in this world. A world without this balance could not exist and I would not be sitting here writing about it.

So next time you hear someone talk about free will and faith you will realize that it is only an illusion that they are not willing to recognize. Ignorance can seem blissful at times until reality joins the party.

Seek the truth always

Gary David Currie