My theory about Religion

[Real]

Cheers, everyone!

I am an atheist since I was about... 9 or 10 years old. It's simply absurd the idea of this almighty presence that haunts everyone's private lives. Anyway, here's a theory I made up:

Religion is the absence of knowledge. The Man attributes a God or any other mythical being to what is unknown to him. For example, the origins of life. They are still scientifically unkown, so they are attributed to God. The same thing is attributed to the beginning of the Universe.
Religion was in times a basic form of creating hierarchy in a village. The priest is the most knowledgeful person. Or the Absolute Regime that begun in France: the king was sent by God to rule over the people of the nation. And most of wars were religious! Millions have died for an unexisting creature.

Of course, Religion has a good side, like giving hope to people when they more desperatly need it, even if fake... or the catholic missions in 3rd world countries.

Resuming, Religion is a pure waste of time and, therefore, life.


Phil

PS: Of course, that link was a joke.

[iudas]

But man cannot know the origins of the universe, of life, of all that exists. All of it is so precise, it's scientifically impossible to deny the existence of an almighty entity.

And, on the more unorthodox part of religion, it governs all of society: its good parts and its bad parts.

So, here's my theory about atheism: It's the expression of immaturity. Of mental immaturity; of hatred towards something you think has murdered so many people. It's not religion who murdered them. It's people's stupidity. Religion never told them to kill. Religion was an excuse for there states' expansion.
No one is really atheist. In the bottom of their hearts, all atheists have faith in something. They have faith in the very existence of all. They have faith in a better life, in happiness. Science will never describe happiness. It is the very essence of human souls, the very essence of beauty, of conciousness. This is proof enough that no one can deny the existence of something beyond materialness.

[Hafnium]

But man cannot know the origins of the universe, of life, of all that exists. All of it is so precise, it's scientifically impossible to deny the existence of an almighty entity.

And, on the more unorthodox part of religion, it governs all of society: its good parts and its bad parts.

So, here's my theory about atheism: It's the expression of immaturity. Of mental immaturity; of hatred towards something you think has murdered so many people. It's not religion who murdered them. It's people's stupidity. Religion never told them to kill. Religion was an excuse for there states' expansion.
No one is really atheist. In the bottom of their hearts, all atheists have faith in something. They have faith in the very existence of all. They have faith in a better life, in happiness. Science will never describe happiness. It is the very essence of human souls, the very essence of beauty, of conciousness. This is proof enough that no one can deny the existence of something beyond materialness.

Wow, just wow..

"Atheists are immature" is your conclusion?

I can understand why most of the worlds population is more or less religious, but claiming atheists to be just immature and "not getting it" is just utter BS.

You are saying that I have faith in existence, happiness, conciousness et cetera... I'll state what I think. We humans, along with every creature and lifeless object in the universe (if universe isn't sufficient, then everything everywhere should cover it) are comprised of different types of mass, energy and forces. As things are right now, there is a lot we don't know about ourselves, let alone things out there billions of lightyears away. Saying "God did it" is not sufficient.

By the way, the number of non-believers is increasing, and without a doubt almost interely in the most developed countries, which are in essense, the smartest ones.

But it "God did it" and "atheists are immature" does it for you, then I can't convince you otherwise.

Just remember that atheists don't claim to know the ultimate truths, religious people do, and if that's not naive and arrogant, I don't know what is.

The idea of witnessing the Big Bang is absurd, but if the Human's legacy for knowledge was not interrupted, it would be possible to see something at a really great distance. Besides, if the Big Bang actually happened, how do we know of it? Did we travel back in time? No... If so, we can go farther and discover a lot more!

Knowledge about Big Bang comes from studying light that has been billions of lightyears underway. You'd be amazed what scientists can calculate, but of course their data or calculations are sometimes quite flawed. I recently read that they are still trying to determine the age of the universe (which would be the time since Big Bang occured). The current estimate was around 15,8 billion years.

There has never been a truly atheistic society. Ever. All you have to do to be a theist is to worship something. So if I worship a rock, that makes me a theist. Most atheists through out history have worshiped something. In Communist nations, they worshipped the state. In free nations, they worship the environment, or multiculturalism, or some other intangible ideal.

Religion is taught, learned and passed on. Naturally most will accept what they are told, and only a fairly small percentage are not brought up religious. So of course no societies have been atheist, because people in history have been taught to believe, and seeing everyone else doing the same. And also because it can be dangerous to go against the norm regarding such an important subject as religion. Luckily that's different now in many places

Theist comes from Theos, which means God/Diety. Worshipping a state, an ideal or the environment is not the same as worshipping a god. And why use the word "worship" outside of the spiritual world? Trusting, liking and working for something is not "worship".

There are a few true atheists, but even many of these people end up worshipping something. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle turned to spiritualism, along with many of his peers. Spiritualism is probably one of the more absurd beliefs, based on forged photographic "evidence" of fairies - yet here were all of these rational realists falling for it.

I claim to be an atheist, am I one of the few true, or can you tell me why you think I'm not?
There are plenty of absurd beliefs, in fact, I can't think of a single religion that I don't find absurd.

Is their weakness in falling for it any greater than that of the mainstream followers?

Man has to believe in something. If he doesn't, working, hunting, raising offspring, building, going to war... every activity becomes pointless, unless it brings pleasure. So at this point, life is little more than a search for food, sleep, and sex.

No. You don't "believe" in hunting/working/whatever. You do it to survive and do well in life, so you can get enough food, sleep, and sex, plus additional bonuses.

[ThiudareiksGunthigg]

But man cannot know the origins of the universe, of life, of all that exists. All of it is so precise, it's scientifically impossible to deny the existence of an almighty entity.

It's also scientifically impossible to deny the existence of unicorns. Or Santa Claus. Or leprechauns.

Does that mean it makes sense to believe in these things?

So, here's my theory about atheism: It's the expression of immaturity. Of mental immaturity; of hatred towards something you think has murdered so many people. It's not religion who murdered them. It's people's stupidity. Religion never told them to kill. Religion was an excuse for there states' expansion.

Weird theory. I'm an atheist and that has absolutely zero to do with any "hatred" and zero to do with who religion has or hasn't killed.

But please tell me more about my "mental immaturity".

No one is really atheist.

Garbage.

In the bottom of their hearts, all atheists have faith in something. They have faith in the very existence of all. They have faith in a better life, in happiness.

None of which has anything to do with atheism. I also have faith that the sun will rise tomorrow, that the mailman will come to my house this morning and that my local barista will make a pretty good cup of coffee for me when I go down to his coffee shop this morning. I have faith in many things.

That's got nothing to do with my position on the existence of God.

Science will never describe happiness. It is the very essence of human souls, the very essence of beauty, of conciousness.

Who said science could describe or explain these things ("souls" aside - I don't believe in those either)? What's any of this got to do with atheism?

This is proof enough that no one can deny the existence of something beyond materialness.

See above. You can't prove a negative, so the fact that you can't definitively deny the immaterial is not a good reason to, therefore, believe in the immaterial. As I said, you can't definitively deny the existence of leprechauns either. So you should, therefore, believe in them too?

[Silver Guard]

All of it is so precise, it's scientifically impossible to deny the existence of an almighty entity.

As Impossible as it is to scientificaly disprove Bertrand Russell's china Teapot. The theory that there is a china teapot Orbiting the sun in an eliptical orbit, too small for our most sensitive telescopes to detect, is essencialy impossible to deny. But it is ridiculous, as the existance of an almighty entity.

So, here's my theory about atheism: It's the expression of immaturity. Of mental immaturity; of hatred towards something you think has murdered so many people. It's not religion who murdered them. It's people's stupidity. Religion never told them to kill. Religion was an excuse for there states' expansion.

However much Muslim's deny it, the Koran orders the death of unbelievers. The infallible popes ordered the death of all heretics in past times. The Bible preaches the giving of your daughters to be raped instead of male visitors (the tale of Sodom) and of the destruction of all who believe in other gods or break the ten commandments (the massacre of the populance of Jericho, ordered by God, and God's commandmant that a man caught collecting sticks on the sabbath was to be killed) There is no escaping that both Islam and Christianity are based on bloody and murderous texts. All be it the new testament is rather less then the old.

No one is really atheist. In the bottom of their hearts, all atheists have faith in something.

I don't, I assume what around me is real for the sake of my own sanity, but blind faith i detest and avoid.

They have faith in the very existence of all.

They assume, not have faith in

They have faith in a better life, in happiness.

Hope for, not have faith in

Science will never describe happiness. It is the very essence of human souls, the very essence of beauty, of conciousness. This is proof enough that no one can deny the existence of something beyond materialness.

Pleasure is scientificly explained, love is explained by darwinist evolution, conciousness is something purely human only as far as the fact we have no way of knowing wether creatures like cats and dolpins are concious.

EDIT: Sorry for answering such an early post
For heavens sake, the burden of proof is not on Atheists. Else we would need proof to deny the existance of the flying spaggetti monster (which has a text) middle earth (which never claims it is fiction, and it's author is dead, much like relgious texts) fairies in my guarden or blue birds on my shoulder (Zip i dee doo dah).
I have faith that I have an imaginary friend, he told me to kill people and set fire to things (The Leprechaun told me to buuurn things!) It is now up to you to prove its inexistance else I'll preach it to the world. Such ridiculous claims are the foundation of religion.

[Commander_Vimes]

But man cannot know the origins of the universe, of life, of all that exists. All of it is so precise, it's scientifically impossible to deny the existence of an almighty entity.

You could be an agnostic which are a bit like atheists but an agnostic thinks it impossible to know the truth in matters such as God and the future life with which Christianity and other religions are concerned. Or, if not impossible, at least impossible at the present time.

[Perikles]

While being an agnostic (probably more athiest) myself I'd like to see what you found these beliefs upon.

I am an atheist since I was about... 9 or 10 years old. It's simply absurd the idea of this almighty presence that haunts everyone's private lives.

But for a lot of people the idea of an omnipresent and omniscient being is not absurd. I can see how in the absence of not knowing 'why?' the universe was created/came into existence, people will ask the question 'who?'. As in every day life when something happens when something happens questions are bound to be raised, it is my belief that earlier humans had to come up with some theory to explain how everything came into existence and to explain things they did not understand. For them saying that it just came to be would be unsatisfactory and like they saw humans/life 'causing' everything to happen they would attribute the 'causing of the universe' to a greater human/life form. Slowly some of the processes of phenomena of the universe have been discovered to be caused by inorganic processes, taking away the relevance of god. However, I recognise there could be a good, for we have no proof of what caused the universe to come into being.

And most of wars were religious! Millions have died for an unexisting creature.

No, wars are caused by people.

[William the Bastard]

No, wars are caused by people.

Usually for power masquerading as religion and a fight against evil. Perhaps the saying "innocent until proven guilty" can be used here. The innocent being our lack of knowledge/evidence and the guilty as the final verdict on the matter/the proof. I personally doubt we are even capable of finding out the truth and the facts as our brains tend to settle on a concept that makes sense (particularly if other people see things the same way). Even writing this now my brain hurts trying to focus on it. However I do not put down the beliefs of others as religion has had it uses over time. Without religion would civilisation have even happened? Who knows all I know is that it is here to stay and all I can offer as advice is "Tolerance" of other peoples ideas (even if you know they are wrong)

[Giorgos]

No, wars are caused by people.

QFT...religion is used as a scapegoat.

[Falconius]

More people have died under the banner of Nationalism then that of Religion.

[Real.]

Dear Friends,


Wars were caused by people because of religion.

I think we tend do defend our beliefs rather than achieving a good amount of power, William. When I have a feeling of power... I don't even like it... it's cruel, it harms me and it harms everyone around me. No one should have power. And generally I have no power, since I'm under someone's control (and she doesn't even know how much power she has over me) all the time.

Going back on the matter, Eqcards said "still scientifically unknown". We may still discover those origins, as well as the beginning of the Universe. In 50 years Mankind has evolved more than in 40000 years in terms of outer space knowledge. Immagine in the next 50...
People used to say "We'll never set foot on the moon..."


Forever ashamed of our Human society,
Real

[William the Bastard]

Immagine in the next 50...
People used to say "We'll never set foot on the moon..."

Ah but that is a physical challenge not a spiritual one. To find out the truth of the matter is to pass into a world that is not a world, a place that does not exist and we can not experience. This is why death is the closest link we have to the concept of spirituality. Personally I like to believe that when I die a big sign saying "Level 2" will appear and I will be another step to the end game. However it is all about possibility and because this is soo far off the scale that it is unbelievable it is slightly more believable than any other opinions. The truth is it is the ultimate impossibility compared to a physical challenge like "I could run a 100m in 3 secs". It is more possible yet very improbable.

[Zenith Darksea]

Wars were caused by people because of religion.

This concept is as asinine now as it was the first time it was brought up. But firstly, let's consider the statement that

And most of wars were religious!

This is just plain wrong. On the contrary, I'd ask you to name any war that was really caused by religion. The Crusades? No, these were caused by the defeat of the Byzantine army at Manzikert and a Byzantine appeal for military aid against the Turks. The Roman Pope then used religion as a way of attracting more people to go on the Crusades. Perhaps many were genuinely motivated by religious belief, but even so, without the purely secular war between Romanos Diogenes and Sultan Alp Arslan there would have been no First Crusade. Islamic Jihads? Possibly, though again these would seem more likely to be grasps for secular, imperial power given a religious veneer for justification.

Even if you accept that these few wars were primarily religious (which I do not believe that they were), these are a bare handful of examples. The numbers of wars not caused by religion however - those caused by politics or by economics, for example - are practically limitless. Would you then abolish politics and economics? Of course not! It's a ridiculous idea. So the statement that most wars are religious is nonsense.

Now we move on to Soviet Russia. Under Lenin and Stalin the religious minorities of Russia - predominantly Orthodox Christians, Jews and Muslims - were brutally persecuted and hundreds of thousands killed for the simple reason that they were theists. It is futile to claim that the Soviet Union did not have an aggressively atheistic policy during these years, and just as the prejudice against the bourgeois led to the massacres of the kulaks or the prejudice against freedom of speech led to the suppression of 'dissident' thinkers, so the prejudice against religion led to the persecution and killing of many theists. Could we not then take the logic behind the original statement that

And most of wars were religious! Millions have died for an unexisting creature.

and say that, since millions have died for the sake of trying to prove that God does not exist, atheism is an extremely bad thing too?

[Real.]

Dear William,

You are right in some way, but it would still be possible to witness Big Bang with our own yes... of course, this is a very, very, very, very, very remote possibility, since the human race will cease to exist within the next 500 years. Warning: the following statement is not a fact, but a simple crazy theory: who knows if right now, right now that you're reading these words, there is a Big Bang on the other side of... wherever the Universe is. This is, again, a very remote possibility. And to witness the origin of life? Perhaps in another planet? Well, as I said, Mankind will not survive for more than half a millenium, and life isn't made in one century.


Forever ashamed of our Human society,
Real

Edit:

Would you then abolish politics and economics? Of course not! It's a ridiculous idea.

If I could, I would. I would even purge Humanity out of its pitiful existence.

[William the Bastard]

but it would still be possible to witness Big Bang with our own eyes... of course

I doubt that. Too much energy and radiation would destroy you instantly. It is the calming and expansion of the universe that enabled the possibility of life to exist. Where would you sit? I don't believe there would be any chairs around at the Big Bang?

[Real]

The idea of witnessing the Big Bang is absurd, but if the Human's legacy for knowledge was not interrupted, it would be possible to see something at a really great distance. Besides, if the Big Bang actually happened, how do we know of it? Did we travel back in time? No... If so, we can go farther and discover a lot more!

[Mig el Pig]

I blame it on the hot weather.

[Real.]

I blame it on the hot weather

That makes no sense...

Can you explain yourself better?

[iudas]

That makes no sense...

Can you explain yourself better?

He was actually sarcastic toward the stupidity of the people who say religion is to blame when, in fact, people, still, are to blame. The human nature which sends us to war. NOT religion. Period.

[Mig el Pig]

That makes no sense...

Can you explain yourself better?

I always found it funny that the 2 main faiths around the mediterrean started in a rather warm place. While everyone knows heat makes you see and hear things that ain't there.