Some random thoughts on religion

[unapologetic]

I'm in a contemplative mood and I ought to practice communication skills. So I'm gonna bore you if you're idiot enough to keep reading.
For some reason, this morning, I've been thinking of that lame question "what happened to you to turn you into an atheist?" (horrors)
The only things that comes to mind are the Chicago police riots of '68, The Viet Nam war, And the Kent State murders.
No, not religious at all. But those are 'events' that radicalized me. Started me to seriously question authority. And what is more authoritarian than gODD?
Before that my 'belief' was just slipping. I don't remember being very shocked about santa being a fantasy of the grown-ups.
Or listening to my mother fuss about how Superman comics would warp my sense of reality. (ironic that)
(Back before 'continuity'. Mostly 'what-if' stories. Like the different effects of the different colors of kryptonite.)
I went to Scout camp one summer. When I got back I found my mother had thrown out my comics. I meekly accepted that I was now too old for comics.
But disbelief was a slow burn till the politics of the late '60s. And the realization that I was living in a culture of mass delusion, that turned me into an 'angry' atheist.
Following the adventures of an admitted fictional hero with inhuman abilities might warp my sense of reality?
While everyone around me pledged allegiance to the same thing every Sunday? For real? Yes I'm angry.
Lex Luther has grown orange hair, and they pledge allegiance to him now. Yes I'm angry.

 

[DBT]

Stories that are told often enough seem to take on a life of their own, where what may seem unlikely at first telling may gain credibility when repeated over and over, to the point where temples of worship are built for imaginary gods.

 

[Thomas II]

 

[SLD]

Interesting, but hard to follow. The accompanying article indicates that they were there preaching the gospel of Jesus. Looks like the may have been using a loudspeaker. And sure enough they got a negative response. A pox on all of them, I say. But you don’t go running into a foreign country and basically denigrate their faith and expect them to be polite about it. I don’t go to India and tell them how Hinduism is a bunch of crap. It is, but hey it should be a free world, if you want to believe that shit, I don’t care too much. Just leave me out of it.

 

[Politesse]

What did they think was going to happen?

Well, obviously they thought they'd get some video footage they could edit into antisemitic ragebait they could post to Reddit later. And they got it. Congratulations?

 

[steve_bank]

Christians try and smuggle bibles into North Korea, and send them across the birder on ballons.

I watched a report of a Christian who violated a Japanese order to stay off a protected islnand with a native population.

John Allen Chau - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

John Allen Chau (December 18, 1991 – November 17, 2018) was an American evangelical Christian missionary who was killed by the Sentinelese, a tribe in voluntary isolation, after illegally traveling to North Sentinel Island in an attempt to introduce the tribe to Christianity.[3][4]

Chau expressed a clear desire to convert the tribe and was aware of the legal and mortal risks he was taking by his efforts, writing in his diary, "Lord, is this island Satan's last stronghold, where none have heard or even had the chance to hear your name?", "The eternal lives of this tribe is at hand", and "I think it's worthwhile to declare Jesus to these people. Please do not be angry at them or at God if I get killed ... Don't retrieve my body."[22][23][24]

On November 15, Chau attempted his first visit in a fishing boat, which took him about 500–700 meters (1,600–2,300 ft) from shore.[20] The fishermen warned Chau not to go farther, but he canoed toward shore with a waterproof Bible. As he approached, he attempted to communicate with the islanders[25] and to offer gifts, but he retreated after facing hostile responses.[24][26]

On another visit, Chau recorded that the islanders reacted to him with a mixture of amusement, bewilderment, and hostility. He attempted to sing worship songs to them, and spoke to them in Xhosa, after which they often fell silent. Other attempts to communicate such as echoing the tribesmen's words ended with them bursting into laughter, making Chau theorize that they were cursing at him.[26] Chau stated they communicated with "lots of high-pitched sounds" and gestures.[27] Eventually, according to Chau's last letter, when he tried to hand over fish and gifts, a boy shot a metal-headed arrow that pierced the Bible he was holding in front of his chest, after which he retreated again.

On his final visit, on November 17, Chau instructed the fishermen to abandon him.[28] The fishermen later saw the islanders dragging Chau's body, and the next day they saw his body being buried on the shore.[20]

They derive a god given mandate to proselytize from interpretation of NT passages.

I have been handed pamphlets on the street and had pamphlets left on my desk at work.

Way back when I was in the Memphis area during the VN war when I was at a navy base I had a bible put in my face on a Memphis street.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

I’m sitting in a Coffee shop reading some mathematics and physics - which is why I posted the Three body problem in the math forum. IAE, sitting nearby are a man and woman studying the Bible - not sure if they are a couple.They are discussing what constitutes the promised land under the Bible, and thus whether Israel has a “right” to Gaza and the West Bank. They are reviewing the Bible to determine what is and what isn’t in the so called promised land - biblical geography.

In the meantime, I am Trying to figure out the three body problem and some Lagrangian formulation of mechanics so I can better understand quantum physics.

I can’t help turning that these people aren’t stupid, but they are engaging and focusing on a pointless and useless intellectual exercise. I mean what a waste of intellectual talent!

I look closely at the man, and I can’t be entirely sure as his back is turned to me, but I believe he is US Congressman Roger Aderholt. Republican obviously. Gotta love Jesus to get elected around here. I know he’s been to this coffee house before even though his district is north of here.
I’ve talked to him once and he seems reasonable and well informed. But this obsession with the Bible and Jesus around here really bothers me. People seem so obsessed with understanding the Bible rather than our world around us, or making it a just and peaceful place. We need to make the world like god has ordered and if someone disagrees, then war is an appropriate response. All religions believe this, and many other stupid non theistic philosophies. (China thinks that it is entitled to the nine dashed line.).

I think this disproves libertarian principles entirely. Humans are not fundamentally economical in their approach to life. They don’t really maximize profits. But they may be trying, however misguided, to maximize their reproductive potential. Maybe killing others maximizes your genetic potential to fill t space left over by killing others. Religion is the rationale for such.

Religion really poisons everything. John Adams once said that a world without religion would be hell. I don’t think I can agree. Voltaire said that if the gods did not exits we would have to invent them. Maybe. Marx called religion the opiate of the masses. I am not a communist, but he was a smart man. Do the great masses need god to be kept in line?

I want to interject myself into some of these conversations or sometimes when I see someone studying the Bible just sit down and ask them why. But I refrain.

He just turned around. It is him.

OK, I don’t know where I am going with this other than I really wish religion would die off maybe. Or at least organized religion. I wish that people would focus their energies on making this a just earth and solving advanced scientific problems. But maybe most of us are simply incapable of doing so. I doubt I will ever solve some great scientific problem. I’m too old and long ago chose other paths.

Welcome to my world! I think about these things a lot. Humans are certainly a mixed bag. Our behaviors are a mixed bag. We don't behave any differently than any other organism. Some of us are good observers and ask the kind of questions you pose. Some of us are terrible observers and cause the kinds of questions you pose. Why would anyone believe in all that religious hooey without evidence to support it? That's a perfectly reasonable question.

 

[SLD]

I’m sitting in a Coffee shop reading some mathematics and physics - which is why I posted the Three body problem in the math forum. IAE, sitting nearby are a man and woman studying the Bible - not sure if they are a couple.They are discussing what constitutes the promised land under the Bible, and thus whether Israel has a “right” to Gaza and the West Bank. They are reviewing the Bible to determine what is and what isn’t in the so called promised land - biblical geography.

In the meantime, I am Trying to figure out the three body problem and some Lagrangian formulation of mechanics so I can better understand quantum physics.

I can’t help turning that these people aren’t stupid, but they are engaging and focusing on a pointless and useless intellectual exercise. I mean what a waste of intellectual talent!

I look closely at the man, and I can’t be entirely sure as his back is turned to me, but I believe he is US Congressman Roger Aderholt. Republican obviously. Gotta love Jesus to get elected around here. I know he’s been to this coffee house before even though his district is north of here.
I’ve talked to him once and he seems reasonable and well informed. But this obsession with the Bible and Jesus around here really bothers me. People seem so obsessed with understanding the Bible rather than our world around us, or making it a just and peaceful place. We need to make the world like god has ordered and if someone disagrees, then war is an appropriate response. All religions believe this, and many other stupid non theistic philosophies. (China thinks that it is entitled to the nine dashed line.).

I think this disproves libertarian principles entirely. Humans are not fundamentally economical in their approach to life. They don’t really maximize profits. But they may be trying, however misguided, to maximize their reproductive potential. Maybe killing others maximizes your genetic potential to fill t space left over by killing others. Religion is the rationale for such.

Religion really poisons everything. John Adams once said that a world without religion would be hell. I don’t think I can agree. Voltaire said that if the gods did not exits we would have to invent them. Maybe. Marx called religion the opiate of the masses. I am not a communist, but he was a smart man. Do the great masses need god to be kept in line?

I want to interject myself into some of these conversations or sometimes when I see someone studying the Bible just sit down and ask them why. But I refrain.

He just turned around. It is him.

OK, I don’t know where I am going with this other than I really wish religion would die off maybe. Or at least organized religion. I wish that people would focus their energies on making this a just earth and solving advanced scientific problems. But maybe most of us are simply incapable of doing so. I doubt I will ever solve some great scientific problem. I’m too old and long ago chose other paths.

Welcome to my world! I think about these things a lot. Humans are certainly a mixed bag. Our behaviors are a mixed bag. We don't behave any differently than any other organism. Some of us are good observers and ask the kind of questions you pose. Some of us are terrible observers and cause the kinds of questions you pose. Why would anyone believe in all that religious hooey without evidence to support it? That's a perfectly reasonable question.

Sometimes, I like to get a big book on Atheism or with Atheism boldly in the title and take it to a coffee shop.

But it has rarely brought anyone out.

 

[Thomas II]

I’m sitting in a Coffee shop reading some mathematics and physics - which is why I posted the Three body problem in the math forum. IAE, sitting nearby are a man and woman studying the Bible - not sure if they are a couple.They are discussing what constitutes the promised land under the Bible, and thus whether Israel has a “right” to Gaza and the West Bank. They are reviewing the Bible to determine what is and what isn’t in the so called promised land - biblical geography.

In the meantime, I am Trying to figure out the three body problem and some Lagrangian formulation of mechanics so I can better understand quantum physics.

I can’t help turning that these people aren’t stupid, but they are engaging and focusing on a pointless and useless intellectual exercise. I mean what a waste of intellectual talent!

I look closely at the man, and I can’t be entirely sure as his back is turned to me, but I believe he is US Congressman Roger Aderholt. Republican obviously. Gotta love Jesus to get elected around here. I know he’s been to this coffee house before even though his district is north of here.
I’ve talked to him once and he seems reasonable and well informed. But this obsession with the Bible and Jesus around here really bothers me. People seem so obsessed with understanding the Bible rather than our world around us, or making it a just and peaceful place. We need to make the world like god has ordered and if someone disagrees, then war is an appropriate response. All religions believe this, and many other stupid non theistic philosophies. (China thinks that it is entitled to the nine dashed line.).

I think this disproves libertarian principles entirely. Humans are not fundamentally economical in their approach to life. They don’t really maximize profits. But they may be trying, however misguided, to maximize their reproductive potential. Maybe killing others maximizes your genetic potential to fill t space left over by killing others. Religion is the rationale for such.

Religion really poisons everything. John Adams once said that a world without religion would be hell. I don’t think I can agree. Voltaire said that if the gods did not exits we would have to invent them. Maybe. Marx called religion the opiate of the masses. I am not a communist, but he was a smart man. Do the great masses need god to be kept in line?

I want to interject myself into some of these conversations or sometimes when I see someone studying the Bible just sit down and ask them why. But I refrain.

He just turned around. It is him.

OK, I don’t know where I am going with this other than I really wish religion would die off maybe. Or at least organized religion. I wish that people would focus their energies on making this a just earth and solving advanced scientific problems. But maybe most of us are simply incapable of doing so. I doubt I will ever solve some great scientific problem. I’m too old and long ago chose other paths.

Welcome to my world! I think about these things a lot. Humans are certainly a mixed bag. Our behaviors are a mixed bag. We don't behave any differently than any other organism. Some of us are good observers and ask the kind of questions you pose. Some of us are terrible observers and cause the kinds of questions you pose. Why would anyone believe in all that religious hooey without evidence to support it? That's a perfectly reasonable question.

Sometimes, I like to get a big book on Atheism or with Atheism boldly in the title and take it to a coffee shop.

But it has rarely brought anyone out.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Demon-Haunted_World