De-Religiosity!

To begin, I am not the following:

• Anti-christian
• Anti-religion
• Evil. Well.... not really. I think. Right?
  
• The Antichrist

Okay? We all understand this, right? Now, onto the good stuff.


I think I opened some eyes today. Well, I suppose I should say we opened some eyes Wednesday, we being me and Jake.

There's this kid in our Math Models class, who is very, very religious. Naturally I won't tell you his name, we'll call him "B." He's a smart kid, though you might not think so on first meeting. I've known him for years, and I'm glad to know him, he's a good guy. But like I said, he's very religous.

Let's get something established here: I am not antireligous. I think faith is a great thing to have, and I'm rather peeved that my mind won't allow me to have it. I simply do not think that people should follow the Bible, or the Koran, or the Torah, or whatever, without ever thinking about it, which is what lots of people seem to do. I think everyone should question all authority at all times, and that certainly includes religion. Here's some of the ways I think it should be questioned.

1. We all recognize that the bible was written by men

The fact that it was written by men means it is colored by man's perceptions. I don't care if God himself if standing in front of you and dictating it directly; you're going to hear what you want to hear, and that's what's going to be written down. Moses put down the laws of the Hebrews, right? It really doesn't matter who did, for this, but let's say it was Moses, okay? [Pure supposition begins here] Suppose Moses was really, really grossed out by homosexuals. He was the first in a long line of homophobes, and decided that it might be a good idea to do something to get rid of them. So, he took the dictation from God, and then.... added some stuff. Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but the bible says nothing about abortion. So shouldn't we be smacking anyone who says "God says abortion is wrong!" Wouldn't that be blasphemy, or at least eisogesis?

2. Could you send good people to hell?

It is believed by most monotheists that those who do not share their faith will burn in hell, or whatever. Imagine this scenario: you are God for a day. Maybe you won a contest or something, I don't know, it's your imagination. Anyway, during your day as God, someone dies. For this argument, let us assume that you are the Judeo-Christian God, and and the man who dies, let's say he's an atheist. Now, he is an atheist, but he has led an exemplary life. He did the regular kid things that are "wrong," such as lying to his parents. We all did that at some point, right? Anyway, he has led an exemplary life as an adult, unknowingly following all the teachings of the church. He dies saving a little girl from a fire. He is pretty much on the fast track to wings, harp, and halo.

But he's an atheist.

What do you do? Could you, as a loving God, send this man to hell? Do you think God Himself can? Do you think he should? God's supposed to know all of us, knitted us together in the womb, etc. Suppose you knew the guy that well? Could you send him to hell then?

3. So, are you absolutely certain you're right?

There's no way to prove God. There is no equation for the divine, no empirical evidence, no scientific process to definitively solve the question of God. You believe you are right, and that what your book says is what you should live by. But what if you're not? Have you ever thought that you might be wrong? This brings us back to question 2: If you are wrong, don't you hope the right people's God is a bit more forgiving than the one you believe in? Uh-oh..... suppose you are wrong, and all your life you've called the people who were right names like "pagan" and "heathen." What does that mean for your immortal soul? And what if no one was right? The theological implications are simply staggering! If no one is right... what happens when we die? Suppose God is really pissed at us 'cause we never figured it out! We'd all be screwed!

4. Do you honestly think God is going to pay particular attention to your prayers, or in fact you in general?

How many people are hanging onto this rock now? Still 6-point-something billion, isn't it? That's a whole lot of people, most of whom are praying to one god or another. And many of the prayers are utter bullshit. "Please, God, let the Angels win the pennant," and such shit. So what do you think the odds are that yours are getting through? And suppose you're one of the people with one of the bullshit prayers? You've run up a huge list of stupid prayers, and at this point even the angel secretary is dumping your requests directly into the ephemral shredder. Then all of the sudden you have a terminal disease, and start praying in earnest, but.... at the same time your team gets into the World Series/Superbowl/Rose Bowl/what the hell ever. The angel starts dumping your stuff even faster, and you're dead as a doornail in a few months. Also, it's kind of hard to believe that he's listening to some well-off middle-class american than some poor guy in Africa who has AIDS, E.Coli, and is starving. He'd rather listen to your pleas for a new season of Trigun or Desperate Housewives or Chapelle's Show (I've got a wide audience here), than some poor guy in Siberia who has to eat snow to survive. You're just bitching, these guys are dying. You really think he's going to help you?

I'm sure there was much more to the argument than that, but I've been working on this post for several days, off and on, and I can't remeber any more of it. I know this post made some people mad, but I really hope it made some people think, too. Comments, please.