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...
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...
Religious Education is Bad
Wow, how can religious education be bad?! Almost all educators would agree that teaching critical thinking skills to our students is paramount. Religious education is contrary to that very basic premise of teaching and learning. Religion is false–The world was not created in 6 days. The earth is certainly more that 6,000 years old. Sacrificing a person by killing him on an altar or a cross is pointless. There is no evidence of heaven or hell. Noah couldn’t have built a boat that could contain all the species of the earth and provide the food, temperature, and habitat so those specimens could survive. I could go on and on. The point is, these things are false. In a typical Catholic school, students are required to take a full-year religion class every...
Recent Comments