There Never Was No God

Discovered this pretty little ditty the other day.

I feel that this really sums up where I feel that the world should be, or rather could be if it weren't for the destructive influence of religion on our societies.

I think that religious people of all faith's often feel like they're given a get out of jail free card for life. They answer to someone that cannot be controlled or even verified and they say he's capable of allowing or condemning just about anything they want.

If only we humans could realize that all the things we want changed, controlled, or different is up to us to make happen. We are our own revolution and the world is what we make it. As Frank says, "We're all in this together". What a beautiful thought that is. We are all in the same exact position in this world, nobody higher or greater than another, and the best way to deal with our existence, our society, our community is to work together, to support each other, to help each other along. Because know amount of prayer is going to accomplish a single thing. Let's put our efforts and positivity in a direction that actually makes a difference.

The religious undoubtedly would take offense to the implication that their belief system is a degradation to an intelligent society, but the distinction is that religion exists in the void between what is knowable and what is imaginable. It is by such a definition, not intelligent.

When intelligent analysis is applied, all religion is found wanting. It may defend itself for a time, but eventually it comes down to believing in spite of itself. As Michael Shermer said, "Smart people are very good at rationalizing things they came to believe for non-smart reasons".

If there Never Was No God, then there are a hell of a lot of things in this world that need to be done away with. Think of the destruction caused by religious intolerance, dogmatic adherence to ancient stories, violent suppression of dissenting ideas. Just think where the world would be today without Hitlers. How would the world be different if an additional 6 million people had been allowed to carry on their lives, procreate, contribute to the world, and make a difference. What if there had been more Copernicuses and Galileos and Keplers. What if they were not only permitted but encouraged with no religious opposition? What might we know by now?

If there Never Was No God then we might life in a world where people were less afraid to be themselves, where there were less complexes, repression and abuse of various kinds. Maybe something would have taken religions place, but maybe not. What is certain is that innumerable counts of harm have been done in the name of the various gods, and all without a single shred of fucking evidence to back up their claim.

Really, religion was inevitable. We don't have these beliefs because they manifested and made themselves known, but because humans seem to desperately want to believe in things bigger than themselves, beyond their own feeble, weak existence. How much bigger we all feel when we think there is an infinite being who is interested in us.

I, for one, see society headed in a gods-free direction and am quite happy to say that There Never Was No God. Let's hope that idea spreads even more rapidly than it has so we might move away from all the chaos, fear and unintelligent ideas that govern our lives.

Debate

One of the more frustrating aspect of debating someone about something is when they only address things easy to defend and leave the really tough important stuff by the wayside. In my opinion, this is largely down to being either human or a christian.

It's fine if you don't want to analyze your own beliefs, as ludicrous as they may be. If you enjoy the comfort of your prescription blinders and see little need to enter into the realm of provable theories like the rest of us, then that's up to you, but if you decided to take the risky first steps known as "rational thought" and enter into a debate, then the very least you could do is be honest with yourself.

Accept the fact, flat out, that you have no evidence. You can't prove a damn thing. You guess a lot, you have to read into things and search for something you can point to as evidence. You've already made up your mind, you're not starting from zero and allowing the evidence to lead you where it will, you're trying to prove your theory AFTER reaching your conclusion.

Can't you see how idiotic that is? Yes, you're an idiot. (ad hominem)

There are plenty of philosophical debates to be had, plenty of "what if" discussions. That's all fine, but do not pretend that your belief is anything but a guess. It's called a BELIEF for notChrist's sake, not a FACT. It's something that you feel is true without being able to show it.

I would be happy if just one young earth creationist, or just one christian, or just one of you idiots would provide me with something tangible, something quantifiable, something measurable, testable and if you don't have it, then feel free to admit that you can't prove anything but choose to believe anyway. Don't pretend it's logical, because it isn't.

I'm sorry I called you all idiots. (makes it OK).