Find God’s Match for You
“Find God’s Match for You.” Every time I hear Christian Mingle’s slogan on the radio, red flags go up in my head. Someone is making a claim that they have a system where God coordinates “matches” or pairings of Christian singles. Here is a little excerpt from The Daily Irritant to get you thinking about this: So God has someone in mind for you. But what, he doesn’t do retail? He needs a middle-man? Man. I’d really like to see Jim and Judy get together, those kids would be perfect for each other, but if I set them up, then I”m going to have to fix up everybody, and who has the time? Plus, last time didn’t work out so great, and I’m never gonna hear the end of that! How is it not offensive to claim...
10 Reasons You Should Never Have a Religion
While consciously pursuing your spiritual development is commendable, joining an established religion such as Christianity, Islam, or Hinduism is one of the worst ways to go about it. In this article I’ll share 10 reasons why you must eventually abandon the baggage of organized religion if you wish to pursue conscious living in earnest. Since Christianity is currently the world’s most popular religion, I’ll slant this article towards Christianity’s ubiquitous failings. However, you’ll find that most of these points apply equally well to other major religions (yes, even Buddhism). 1. Spirituality for dummies. If you have the awareness level of a snail, and your thinking is mired in shame and guilt (with perhaps a twist of drug abuse or suicidal thinking), then...
Master Delusionist
The pastor or priest is the master delusionist. His job is to present a delusion to you, reinforce it constantly, and ask you to pay for his effort. A liar is a delusionist too, but a master delusionist would be one who is very nice to you, speaks in a soft tone, shows restraint and diplomacy when challenged, and may actually believe the delusion he is promoting. Here is an entertaining little exercise: Go to church and, on the bulletin, keep score with little tally marks every time you hear something that is false, unsubstantiable, or a baseless declaration of fact. Try to be as objective as you possibly can be. When you hear something, ask yourself, “Is this true?” If the answer is “no,” put a hash mark. I have done this and it is...
Your Local Church
Your local church is not interested in walking away from religion. Its parent organization, its pastor, and its people all have vested interests in maintaining the delusion of the existence of God. For the parent organization, whether that might be a conference, a synod, a diocese or whatever, it is truly all about the money. Any church that fails reduces the income of the parent organization. For the pastor, it is huge: his life-work and life-purpose are on the line, not to mention his salary and his retirement benefits. Unpaid church leaders have their own personal identities wrapped up in church. Some get their need to be important fulfilled through their position in the church. Church provides an opportunity to teach and lead, care for others, and have a...
House of Cards
With a house of cards, every card props up the others around it. The house is fragile because the cards are merely leaned against one another. There is no bedrock and no concrete foundation. A house of cards collapses when a card or two is pulled from the bottom. The church is like a house of cards. It has no bedrock beneath it; no concrete foundation. Oh the buildings do, but I’m talking about the very basis for belief. In order for the church to stand, a few foundational premises must stand. 1. Man is inherently sinful and needs salvation. 2. Blood sacrifice is a good way to bring about salvation. 3. There is an afterlife. Let’s look at each one of these: 1. Man is inherently sinful and needs salvation. The creation story of Genesis is a myth....
His Most Reverend Excellency
I don’t rub shoulders with too many “high-ups” in the Catholic church, but if I did I might be tempted to suggest that they tone down the self-aggrandizing titles. We had a function recently where the person giving the opening prayer was the “Very Reverend _____, Vicar of ____.” I wondered what made him very reverend, and, “wouldn’t any reverend want to be very reverend?” I looked up the Wiki on this and to my irreverent delight I found that one might also aspire to be: “His Most Reverend Excellency“–when he enters, you should stand and remove your hat and you may kiss the sacred ring at the greeting and again at closing . If he is your bishop, you may kneel when kissing the ring (bowing at the...
It’s About the Money!
What does religion cost me? A lot! The money you give to the church is money out of your pocket and into your pastor’s. Your church’s biggest budget items are likely to be the pastor’s salary and the building. If your church is larger, there might be a second pastor or possibly other staff too. As you become a core member of the church, you will feel increasing pressure to give more and more. Trust me, I know firsthand. If I asked you to give me 10% of your gross income, would you have questions of me? “What are you going to do with it?” “What kind of return should I expect?” If I lie to you, would you cut off the money? You should. It doesn’t “come back to you ten-fold.” That is a false claim by some...
When and Where Religion is Useful
I wrote this for an online discussion for one of my classes. The prompt was about how religion helps maintain stability in societies. I think in small, non-literate societies, religion is useful for stabilizing the society and perpetuating the culture. Some of its institutions can facilitate education by traumatizing children enough that they remember everything they’re taught. It puts a name on shared beliefs and values and gives people something in common and a reason to gather and work together. It also incorporates myths about how and why the natural world works for people who don’t know or understand the scientific explanations, and addresses the supernatural, which natural science can not explain or prove even exists. It can also placate...
The Grand Delusion
“Remember we’re in the presence of God.” “I will pray for you.” “God will help us.” “Thank God we made it out alive.” We credit God with everything good in our lives. We implore God to help us with everything that is bad in our lives. We praise God. Well here’s a dose of reality. If God is worthy of thanks for the person who survived the car crash, then God is also responsible for NOT saving the life of the one who died. If God has blessed us with an abundance of food, he is to be blamed for the lack of food in other parts of the world where people are dying of starvation. So should we be angry at God then? No, of course not. God is a figment; its all a delusion. God is our delusion. It’s a grand...
The Clergy Club
As a former church lay leader (elder, Sunday school teacher, youth leader, church president), I have had occasion to deal with pastors with serious personal problems who have literally torn the congregation apart. An interesting observation for me was that members of the clergy tend to have an unwritten code to protect one another. Akin to the code of silence that police officers often have, the clergy staunchly protect one another from their congregations, even when they are absolutely wrong. As naive sheep, we often defer to the wisdom of the clergy in many matters. Interestingly, even those who have no religious affiliation whatsoever, confer a profound respect toward the clergy. This is not warranted or deserved. While there are many good examples of loving...
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