I keep reading lots of things from people who are super-religious and it’s starting to worry me that there are people in the world that take it to such an extreme.
Here are my main issues:
1. Every religion is essentially the same and based on the same principles. People who believe in Jesus forget that the idea of Jesus is based on a combination of much older belief structures. The ideas in the bible are not new and things that people say and do to defend the legitimacy of the bible and “prove” that it’s the word of some cosmic deity are completely ridiculous. Ninety percent of what people say to site the bible revolves around the language used and how “accurate” it is. I hate to tell you this, but the bible as you read it is a translation of a translation. The things that these people claim fit so well together didn’t even exist in these forms until recently.
2. These same people who believe in the most ridiculous and unprovable things have the tenacity to look at other religions and mock them for their “completely absurd” beliefs. Christians mock scientologists all the time and laugh that there are people out there that believe they’ll get 72 virgins when they die. Is that so much harder to believe than a zombie man who is his own father who sends you to a damnable place when you don’t listen to what he says and give him all kinds of attention and can hear everything everyone says all the time? Really? Really really?
3. Faith. When you bring up questions to these people, it becomes a matter of faith. When you show them facts and poignant questions, they say things like “well, I believe differently than you”. This is a problem for me because science is not a belief. Fact is not a belief. I can drop a rock and watch it fall to the floor and repeat this ad nauseam. Yet no one can show any kind of repeatable proof of what their beliefs are. This is blindly believing in something. This is ignorant. I’m not trying to be condescending but this is exactly what these people are preaching. They are saying that it’s ok to ignore facts because they have a “feeling”.
4. They push these ideas on everyone. They’re trying to teach it in schools. They’re trying to teach it to developing countries. They’re trying to spread the word wherever they can. I’m concerned about this because half of these people don’t even know what it is they’re preaching. They say they’ve read the bible but they haven’t and they don’t understand it. They don’t know how to explain the answers to *real* questions that people have but they’re the first ones to push the ideas on people.
5. Lack of understanding. This goes along with the last point but I feel that it needs to be addressed separately. There are people out there that believe in the bible wholeheartedly and literally. Then there are those that say that the bible is not literal and is meant to be interpreted. The problem is that they can’t decide which one they want it to be. They say that the whole thing is literal but when you question them about parts, they fall back to interpretation. When they say it’s meant to be interpreted and you question the interpretation, they say that Jesus’ miracles were literal. So which is it?
I’m throwing out a honest row of questions to the religious people out there. If you can answer these or are willing to discuss these civilly, rationally and maturely, I’m really up for some answers. Here they are (to start):
- If Noah brought 2 and only 2 of every animal onto the ark, what happened to the animals he had to sacrifice to god after the ark had safely landed?
- We now know how our planet works and we’ve seen it from space. How do you account for light coming before the sun? How do you account for plants being created before the sun in Genesis? Do you believe this literally or is there some figurative interpretation for this?
- Why is it bad to question the bible? Christians that I’ve talked to get very offended when I offer questions. They say that it’s blasphemous to question the word of god. Doesn’t that make the whole idea ignorant?
- What about the inconsistencies with dates in the bible? Historical figures mentioned in the bible are known to have been born after their mention in the bible. Moses went to cities that, historically, didn’t exist when he supposedly went to them. The entire tower of Babel story has been shown over and over again historically. The bible account of it is the only one that differs, yet christians believe it’s the only one that’s true.
- There is absolutely *no* proof that Jesus existed or did any of the things that people claim that he did. The literal Jesus that exists in the bible has not been proven or shown anywhere. If he was so important, wouldn’t *something* (read: anything) else be written about him?
- Why do you believe despite the lack of evidence? Do you not question anything that’s told to you? I don’t mean this in any sort of demeaning way. I simply want to know what thought processes have gone into a belief like this without questioning them. When I typically hear people questioning fallacies in the bible, the answer revolves around the devil planting that seed of doubt. Is that really an honest answer?
Again, these are just a start. I’m fascinated by the whole concept of religion. I don’t want to get into a fight. I’m not trying to start an argument with anyone. This is genuine curiosity from a non-believer to a believer.
I look forward to the responses. 
Tags: religion
nobody responded to this? sad…