The Bible

Have you ever noticed why reason and evidence get you nowhere with religionists?

The reason they believe in God is that they, as very young children, were repeatedly abused with the false dichotomy that either they believe (and, seeing no gods, their senses lie to them), or they disbelieve and everyone but them is insane. This abuse is coupled with:

1) The explicit notion that if they disbelieve, they are perverse -- conversely, if they believe, they are good. No one wants to be bad. At least not when you're 2 years old.

2) The implicit or explicit threat of violence or abandonment.

So what's a child to do? Believe its own eyes and ears, or believe their parents' lies, under what must appear to the child as a sure penalty of death?

And so their parents' lunacy is irrevocably grafted in a child's unconscious, while at the same time severely damaging the natural rational machinery of the child. The child learns, in effect, that rationality and evidence is only to be used in certain circumstances, while it is to be explicitly discarded in other matters (like religiousity).

And that very same child, as parent, will repeat this treatment with their children. This is how the circle of perversion perpetuates itself.

In most individuals, this conditioning is so powerful that the individuals will feel genuinely tormented by anything that is at odds with the conditioning. Yes, even reality, since the child was taught that reality was not to be trusted in matters of religion.

So it's no wonder that logic and evidence are usually met with resistance, dissociation, projection, ex post facto rationalizations... and violence.

Rudd-O from reddit

Why would a God, any God, allow a world like this?

Already, since food prices began to rise 100 million more people have been pushed into poverty, according to the World Bank, with as many as two billion on the verge of disaster. Almost half the world's population, let's remember, live on less than $2.50 per day. Millions die annually of hunger and starvation, and more than a billion do not have access to fresh water.

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/real-tragedy-financial-crisis-people/story.aspx?guid=%7BA02D915A%2DE3DB%2D4E24%2DAAC7%2DE5F8EA18DA75%7D

Pharmacy follows faith, no birth control sales

CHANTILLY, Va. (AP) — A new drug store at a Virginia strip mall is putting its faith in an unconventional business plan: No candy. No sodas. And no birth control. Divine Mercy Care Pharmacy is among at least seven pharmacies across the nation that are refusing as a matter of faith to sell contraceptives of any kind, even if a person has a prescription.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iFLoWwSaVUeLMHe8mPIPm-DymIMAD93V56MO0

Albert Einstein

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 fraility. Neither can I believe that the individual survives the death of his body, although feeble souls harbor such thoughts through fear or ridiculous egotism.

Albert Einstein

Hanged for being a Christian in Iran

Eighteen years ago, Rashin Soodmand's father was hanged in Iran for converting to Christianity. Now her brother is in a Mashad jail, and expects to be executed under new religious laws brought in this summer.

A month ago, the Iranian parliament voted in favour of a draft bill, entitled "Islamic Penal Code", which would codify the death penalty for any male Iranian who leaves his Islamic faith. Women would get life imprisonment. The majority in favour of the new law was overwhelming: 196 votes for, with just seven against.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/3179465/Hanged-for-being-a-Christian-in-Iran.html

Pope: financial crisis shows futility of money

Mon Oct 6, 6:17 AM ET

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI says the global financial crisis show the futility of money and ambition.

Benedict says that "now with the collapse of big banks we see that money disappears, is nothing and all these things that appear real are in fact of secondary importance." He urges those who build their lives "only on things that are visible, such as success, career, money" to keep that in mind.

The pontiff was speaking Monday as he opened the works of a meeting of 253 bishops at the Vatican.

Benedict says "the only solid reality is the word of God."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081006/ap_on_re_eu/eu_vatican_pope_meltdown

On a related note:
Bankers' best guesses about the Vatican's wealth put it at $10 billion to $15 billion.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,833509,00.html

Give me a break.

Thomas Jefferson

Question with boldness even the existance of a god; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear

Bill Maher and Larry Charles, Getting 'Religulous'

If you're familiar with the work of political satirist Bill Maher, you probably know that he thinks religion has done way more harm than good in the world.
In his new film, Religulous — a satirical documentary in which Maher travels to religious sites around the world, ranging from the Vatican and Jerusalem to a Muslim gay bar in Amsterdam and a Christian theme park in Orlando, Fla. — he describes religion as "dangerous."

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95210724