Faith
2 Comments »This is a very long piece, not only because of the words typed, but because of the videos embedded within it. If you do not have time to read what I have written, as well as watch three videos of about nine minutes each, then please do not even bother. If you cannot show this piece the respect it deserves as a lifetime of my own soul searching, then you do not deserve to know any of it.
The Beginning
No one really wants to hear my opinions on religion. If you've ever been around me when the subject of god comes up, you'll notice I don't say anything. No one asks me my opinion. I've noticed that when people talk about religion, they don't really want anyone's opinion. They want to hear themselves speak their beliefs out loud, and get back a bunch of, "Oh yeah, you're absolutely right." They don't want to hear, "That's interesting, but what about..." It makes people uncomfortable. For good reason, I'd expect, since the government (and not just this one) has been telling people for centuries that anyone that doesn't believe what they believe is a heathen and ought to be stoned to death.
I was raised Catholic. I believed in god, the bible, heaven, hell, angels and everything else for a long time. Looking back, though, I'd say my faith was doomed from the beginning. I am a questioner. I do not trust something just because others believe it. In fact, that usually makes me doubt it more than anything. I'm a rebel I guess, and I don't mean that in a good way.
When I was around 15 years old, circumstances brought me to start questioning my faith, something I had never done before. It was difficult mostly because up to this point, my 'faith' wasn't really important to me. It was just something everyone did, like brushing your hair before school. The first epiphany came from the following question I asked myself: "If god granted only humans free will, and angels were only his servants, then how could the morning star, Lucifer, have ever thought he was more beautiful or better than god?" God made these rules, god is apparently infallible. Angels have no free will. An angel, a servant of god, suddenly realizes it and challenges god's authority. This is not logical. This makes no sense.
Eventually, after about a year of thinking about this, I came across another question. I had been thinking a lot about Lucifer himself and doing some immature research; we didn't have the internet back then, and I was too young to understand the implications of true research.
My next thought process went something like this: The Garden of Eden. Humans here were just like their 'dumb' animal friends. They were naked, and didn't realize it. They had no real knowledge of their world. So, here comes Lucifer, the snake. He says, hey, eat this apple, and you will learn. What raddled me about this is that he wasn't lying. He was not deceiving anyone. Now, whether or not his intentions were noble (we only see one side of this story, so you can't possibly tell me that you know what his intentions were) we did become aware after this. The original sin, it seems, was to gain knowledge. Today, we thank god for all we have learned, for technology and society and blah blah blah. Really, we should be thanking the snake. God wanted us in his garden forever; only the snake showed us the path that led to this.
This makes no sense either. I always knew that humans were the plague of the earth, so at this point I thought the snake should have just shut up. Apparently, though, most people think this world is just for humans, so they, unknowingly or not, thank the snake for his gift.
After a year or so of thinking these things through and trying to find fault with them, I finally decided that I would abolish my beliefs in favor of an opinion. Opinions can be easily changed, something I needed, whereas a belief system cannot. At this point, I still believed in god, but I did not believe in hell or the devil because these points lacked any semblance of logic.
Over the years, I adapted and changed a few minor things, but mostly it kept to the same theme of believing only in god, not the devil. It wasn't until I got to college that my opinions would change drastically yet again. The reason for this is simple: I learned the meaning of true research here while having to write research and literary papers.
I almost picture this breakthrough like a movie. My teacher explaining it, and me, wide-eyed, brain working furiously, everything I thought was true coming crashing down on top of me. My teacher was explaining how to find good sources for research. She said if you find one thing false in a work, no matter how small, you cannot, logically or in good conscience, believe anything else in the work. Well, I guess you can believe it if you want, but it is no longer considered a true source. This, of course, made me think of the bible right away.
I have heard many people over the years say that they only believe certain things out of the bible. I used to be this way as well. The difference between believing only part of the bible and believing none of it is not that big.
The 'Good' Book
According to "Samuel," David took a census of the people. This excited the wrath of Jehovah, and as a punishment he allowed David to choose seven years of famine, a flight of three months from pursuing enemies, or three days of pestilence. David, having confidence in God, chose the three days of pestilence; and thereupon, God, the compassionate, on account of the sin of David, killed seventy thousand innocent men. Under the same circumstances, what would a devil have done?
-- Robert Green Ingersoll, "About the Holy Bible" (1894)
The bible... I could say so much here, but I honestly don't care enough to go into it. It's a crazy book that copied most of its stories from Egyptian god stories. There are so many contradictions in it, it is ridiculous. It absolutely blows my mind how many people claim to believe it as true have never even read it. It also makes me pity a species that can read this, fully understanding all the contradictions within, and then still not only believe it, but work to cover up and explain away all the things wrong with it.
Some believers ... alter the original text of the gospel ... to enable them to deny difficulties in the face of criticism. -- Celsus, Against Celsus, 2, 27
Here are some examples of contradictions in the bible:
What were the names of the apostles?
| Simon (Peter) | Simon (Peter) | Simon (Peter) | Peter |
When did Jesus ascend into heaven?
On the day of his resurrection.
Luke 24:1-51
Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre.
...
And returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest. ...
And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus....
...
And they rose up the same hour, and returned to
...
And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
...
And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.
Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils.
...
After that he appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country.
...
Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.
...
So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.
At least eight days after his resurrection.
And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.
Many days after his resurrection.
And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to
Forty days after his resurrection.
Until the day in which he was taken up ... he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:
...
And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
Who carried Jesus' cross?
| Jesus carried his own cross. | Simon the Cyrenian carried Jesus' cross. |
| And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull. | And as they came out, they found a man of And they compel one Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross. And as they led him away, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus. |
The list goes on and on and on. I recommend looking at this site if you wish to see more: http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/
The website has many, many more contradictions and covers a wide variety of other topics. Of particular interest to me were the sections on women, homosexuality, and cruelty and violence. It's still amazing to me that god killed so many hundreds of thousands of innocents in the bible, and I believe the devil only killed something like 5 or so.
One idea I’ve heard is that the gods of all religions are really the same god. This is an old idea, and it’s a good one. C.S. Lewis liked this idea; the gods of Narnia are thought to be the same single god by some of the book characters. I have one problem with this though. The bible calls god the “Lord God”, saying, in essence, that this god is the lord over all other gods. So yes, the bible does actually recognize other gods. There are other examples of this in the book itself.
I have often wondered, what makes people choose one god over the other? Isn’t that in itself a form of atheism? There’s a very good quote floating around the internet about this, it goes something like this: “I contend that we are both atheists, I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.” Here’s a good site with this quote along with a list of gods Christians don’t believe in and a list of gods atheists don’t believe in. You’ll notice the only difference in the two lists is the god Yahweh:
http://lukeprog.com/religion/gods.html
Zeitgeist
I think this is a good place for the videos. I knew a lot of this information already from taking college history classes, but having it all together in one place is nice.
These are long videos, and if you do not have time to watch them all, then you might as well stop reading this now. This is really just one long segment of the movie ‘Zeitgeist’, broken up into three separate videos. They must be watched in order and all the way through to be understood completely:
Here are links to the sources used for these videos, as well as a transcript with page specific sources:
http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/sources.htm
http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/transcript.htm
’Zeitgeist’ goes into much more detail about other things besides religion. I recommend watching the whole movie. Of course, if this offended you, then you probably don't have the open mind required to comprehend the rest of it.
As I said, college history courses do teach a lot of this information. Some professors will not touch much on it for fear of offending people. Luckily, my main teacher was not scared to dive right into it. I would recommend everyone taking a survey of world civilizations class and a world religions class (from an actual college, not a theology school... they are skewed to say the least).
If you don’t believe something said in the videos, please do use the links above to go find the quote you have trouble with and use the sources to look up the information. I have already done my research on these topics; I will not be doing someone else’s for them.
Biology
Being a biology student, you should have expected me to get to these subjects. How could I be studying this subject for so long and not have it affect my faith (or lack thereof)?
As I said before, I have always considered this planet as a shared community, with the humans being the impolite and selfish plague that ruins the harmonious cycle of every other living thing. I know I am not alone in this thinking, but a vast majority of ignorant humans seem to think that this world was created just for them. This would probably be my main problem with the bible; it encourages (and probably started) this kind of thinking.
First of all, I will show you two figures: (Please click on them to show full size!)
Figure 1
Figure 2
These figures are a little busy, especially the second one, but these are proof to me that this planet is not for us. Figure one is a rough estimate of all living species, including plants. Figure two is the same but without the plants. If you’ll notice, the insects make up the majority of all species. We, on the other hand, are extremely small in comparison.
Looking at figure 2, you can see that the class Mammalia, to which we belong, only compromises around 4,000 species. And if your brain is with you today, you will realize that we are only a very small branch of mammals. Take this number and compare it to the total animal species estimation: 4,000 to 1,032,000.
If you can’t see from these numbers that this planet was more likely made for insects than for humans, I really don’t know what else to tell you. It is arrogant and ignorant human nature to think they we are the most important species on the planet.
I was going to go into a long-winded explanation of evolution and how it fits into all of this, but I think this is enough for now. I will say one thing on the subject, however.
The Pope has recently said that people that believe in evolution can still be good Catholics. He went on to say that the debate between creationism and evolution was an “absurdity,” saying that evolution can coexist with faith. He also said that while there is much scientific proof to support evolution, the theory could not exclude a role by God.
Of course the Pope would say that. He's not going to cut off that many would-be followers. He's a good leader, and he knows he must lose some fights to win the big ones. Just like when Christianity was being born, and they added in all the pagan rituals to get them to join their cult.
"Hey, you guys decorate trees...we do that, too!"
"Rabbits as symbols of fertility, huh? We got those!"
"Holiday festivals on the solstices, eh? Well, who cares what day Jesus was really born anyway!"
And so on and so on...
The Pope also said evolution did not answer all the questions: “Above all it does not answer the great philosophical question, ‘Where does everything come from?’”
There is a theory that life originated from space. It apparently floated here on a meteor or some such. This has been argued immensely because lots of scientists believe that nothing can survive the vacuum of space. If you’ve been reading my blog from the beginning, you’ll remember I’ve already debunked this. If you need the links, here they are:
http://pixienoms.blogspot.com/2008/08/lightning.html
http://science.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/ast01sep98_1.htm
"I always thought the most significant thing that we ever found on the whole...Moon was that little bacteria who came back and lived and nobody ever said [anything] about it."
- Apollo 12 Commander Pete Conrad
Yeah, they left some equipment on the moon. For a long damn time. They go back and get it, and there’s some bacteria living on it.
Wonder why that didn’t make the news.
Famous Atheists
I will end this with some quotes from some famous atheists. You may be surprised at the names you see here; if you don’t read every quote (but you really should), you should at least take a look at all the names. I’ve italicized my favorite quotes.
"The Bible is not my book nor Christianity my profession. I could never give assent to the long, complicated statements of Christian dogma."
- Abraham Lincoln, American president (1809-1865).
"I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly. If something is in me which can be called religion than it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it."
"I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the objects of his creation, whose purposes are modeled after our own -- a God, in short, who is but a reflection of human frailty. Neither can I believe that the individual survives the death of his body, although feeble souls harbor such thoughts through fear or ridiculous egotism."
"I do not believe in the immortality of the individual, and I consider ethics to be an exclusively human concern with no superhuman authority behind it."
"If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for a reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed."
-Albert Einstein, German-born American physicist
"All thinking men are atheists."
On page 144 of Paul Johnson's book Intellectuals, it states that despite being raised in a strict Congregationalist household, Ernest "did not only not believe in God but regarded organized religion as a menace to human happiness", "seems to have been devoid of the religious spirit", and "ceased to practise religion at the earliest possible moment."
Others have pointed out that Hemingway used the non-existence of God as a theme in his books.
- Ernest Hemingway, American author (1899-1961).
From the age of forty he was, to use his own words, a complete dis-believer in Christianity. He professed himself an Agnostic, regarding the problem of the universe as beyond our solution, "For myself," he wrote, "I do not believe in any revelation. As for a future life, every man must judge for himself between conflicting vague probabilities."
"The mystery of the beginning of all things is insoluble by us, and I for one must be content to remain an agnostic."
"It appears to me (whether rightly or wrongly) that direct arguments against Christianity and theism produce hardly any effect on the public; and freedom of thought is best promoted by the gradual illumination of men's minds which follows from the advance of science." [Quoted in How We Believe: The Search for God in an Age of Science by Michael Shermer.
Charles Robert Darwin, English naturalist (1809-1882).
"I have found Christian dogma unintelligible. Early in life, I absenteed myself from Christian assemblies."
"Lighthouses are more helpful then churches."
-Benjamin Franklin, American Founding Father, author, and inventor
"They know that it is human nature to take up causes whereby a man may oppress his neighbor, no matter how unjustly. ... Hence they have had no trouble in finding men who would preach the damnability and heresy of the new doctrine from the very pulpit."
-Galileo Galilei, Italian astronomer
"Every sensible man, every honorable man, must hold the Christian sect in horror."
"Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd and bloody religion that has ever infected the world."
"Nothing can be more contrary to religion and the clergy than reason and common sense." [Philosophical Dictionary, 1764]
"Superstition, born of paganism and adopted by Judaism, invested the Christian Church from earliest times. All the fathers of the Church, without exception, believed in the power of magic. The Church always condemned magic, but she always believed in it: she did not excommunicate sorcerers as madmen who were mistaken, but as men who were really in communication with the devil." [Philosophical Dictionary, 1764]
"If we believe absurdities, we shall commit atrocities."
"Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd."
Perhaps never really an atheist, nonetheless, Voltaire changed late in life into a fearless crusader against religious cruelty and injustice. In Voltaire’s time it was forbidden to be an Atheist. Admitting to be one, brought the death sentence. Hence he was a Diest for most of his life.
- Francois Marie Arouet "Voltaire", French author and playwright (1694-1778).
"Faith means not wanting to know what is true."
"So long as the priest, that professional negator, slanderer and poisoner of life, is regarded as a superior type of human being, there cannot be any answer to the question: What is truth?"
"The Christian faith from the beginning, is sacrifice: the sacrifice of all freedom, all pride, all self-confidence of spirit; it is at the same time subjection, a self-derision, and self-mutilation."
"All religions bear traces of the fact that they arose during the intellectual immaturity of the human race – before it had learned the obligations to speak the truth. Not one of them makes it the duty of its God to be truthful and understandable in his communications."
"The most serious parody I have ever heard was this: In the beginning was nonsense, and the nonsense was with God, and the nonsense was God."
"There is no devil and no hell. Thy soul will be dead even sooner than thy body: fear therefore nothing any more."
- Friedrich Nietzsche, German philologist and philosopher (1844-1900).
"During almost fifteen centuries has the legal establishment of Christianity been on trial. What has been its fruits? More or less, in all places, pride and indolence in the clergy; ignorance and servility in the laity; in both, superstition, bigotry, and persecution."
"In no instance have . . . the churches been guardians of the liberties of the people."
"Religious bondage shackles and debilitates the mind and unfits it for every noble enterprise."
"What influence in fact have Christian ecclesiastical establishments had on civil society? In many instances they have been upholding the thrones of political tyranny. In no instance have they been seen as the guardians of the liberties of the people. Rulers who wished to subvert the public liberty have found in the clergy convenient auxiliaries. A just government, instituted to secure and perpetuate liberty, does not need the clergy."
- James Madison, American president and political theorist (1751-1836)
"Where do we find a precept in the Bible for Creeds, Confessions, Doctrines and Oaths, and whole carloads of other trumpery that we find religion encumbered with in these days?"
"The divinity of Jesus is made a convenient cover for absurdity."
"This would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it."
-
"Say what you will about the sweet miracle of unquestioning faith, I consider a capacity for it terrifying and absolutely vile."
-Kurt Vonnegut, American author
"Religion is excellent stuff for keeping common people quiet."
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."
"All religions have been made by men."
-Napoleon Bonaparte, French emperor
"I don't think we're here for anything, we're just products of evolution. You can say 'Gee, your life must be pretty bleak if you don't think there's a purpose' but I'm anticipating a good lunch."
-Dr. James Watson, American biologist, (Discoverer of DNA.)
"Faith is believing something you know ain’t true."
"If Christ were here now there is one thing he would not be -- a Christian."
"It (the Bible) is full of interest. It has noble poetry in it; and some clever fables; and some blood-drenched history; and some good morals; and a wealth of obscenity; and upwards of a thousand lies."
"A man is accepted into a church for what he believes and he is turned out for what he knows."
"Our Bible reveals to us the character of our god with minute and remorseless exactness... It is perhaps the most damnatory biography that exists in print anywhere. It makes Nero an angel of light … by contrast."
"I cannot see how a man of any large degree of humorous perception can ever be religious -- unless he purposely shut the eyes of his mind & keep them shut by force."
"If there is a God, he is a malign thug."
"'In God We Trust.' I don't believe it would sound any better if it were true."
"It ain't the parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand."
"Man is a marvelous curiosity . . . he thinks he is the Creator's pet . . . he even believes the Creator loves him; has a passion for him; sits up nights to admire him; yes and watch over him and keep him out of trouble. He prays to him and thinks He listens. Isn't it a quaint idea." [Letters from the Earth]
Mr. Clemens was once asked whether he feared death. He said that he did not, in view of the fact that he had been dead for billions and billions of years before he was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it.
- Samuel Clemens "Mark Twain", American author and humorist (1835-1910).
These quotes and many others from:
http://www.wonderfulatheistsofcfl.org/Quotes.htm
As I said in the beginning, this is not intended to convert anyone. These are my own life experiences and choices, and no one else can have them, even if they wanted them. Faith is a very personal thing, and it is adjusted and readjusted throughout the lives of everyone, whether they know it or not. To try and convert someone is to try and force your own life upon them; not only an impossible venture, but also incredibly rude and ignorant.
Image credit to: Edward O. Wilson, from his book, "The Diversity of Life"; pgs: 134 and 136
