Tuesday, June 19, 2007
I will never step into a church again!
That's right, made this promise to myself. This thought suddenly came to me when my sis asked me again, for the umpteen times, to attend service at her church on Good Friday.
I am an atheist for the longest time, and yet she never gives up trying to convert me. So, I politely declined her. Not wanting to suffer through another torturous session in a bunch of people so eager to believe in some un-proven deity.
At her invitations I have been to countless church services, including a introductory session on the Alpha Course. She asked me to keep an open mind. Told me to learn more other faith, in particular, that of her own. But each service just got me more bored and unconvinced.
So finally I decided, church going for me is a colossal waste of time. Why should I waste 4 hours of my life sitting in the pew, listening to those religious litany which are based on nothing but blind faith? There are hundreds of religions out there, I don't see my sis keeping an open mind about them. I don't think she even knows about these religions as well as I do, she should be the one who should be finding out other faiths.
There is a limit to openmindedness, because not every idea is equally plausible and worth investigating, religious beliefs are those bad ideas. So finally, I have sworn to myself, never would I step into a church and waste my time to listen to someone preaching about a 2000 year old faith.
I am an atheist for the longest time, and yet she never gives up trying to convert me. So, I politely declined her. Not wanting to suffer through another torturous session in a bunch of people so eager to believe in some un-proven deity.
At her invitations I have been to countless church services, including a introductory session on the Alpha Course. She asked me to keep an open mind. Told me to learn more other faith, in particular, that of her own. But each service just got me more bored and unconvinced.
So finally I decided, church going for me is a colossal waste of time. Why should I waste 4 hours of my life sitting in the pew, listening to those religious litany which are based on nothing but blind faith? There are hundreds of religions out there, I don't see my sis keeping an open mind about them. I don't think she even knows about these religions as well as I do, she should be the one who should be finding out other faiths.
There is a limit to openmindedness, because not every idea is equally plausible and worth investigating, religious beliefs are those bad ideas. So finally, I have sworn to myself, never would I step into a church and waste my time to listen to someone preaching about a 2000 year old faith.
Religion and its harm
Strip away the divine and mystic overtones of the Old Testament and all you are left with is a distorted history of a poor nomadic people who were as rultless in their conduct of war as they were dishonest in using a God's name to justify their self-serving atrocities.
Brush away the God-calling and bashing of human nature, all that is left in the NT is is the story of a man not unlike a modern doomsday fanatic prancing the streets of New York with a picket with THE END IS NIGH emblazoned across it.
Is the Ten Commandment really helpful to humankind? Does it better human lives more than any other form of rules, precepts and regulations? Does it do much more good than other scientific discoveries and invention in making this world a better place?
The first few Commandment are unneccessary; the rest are not even unique to the Judio-Christian religion, having been expounded in all major religions, many of which pre-dates Jesus himself.
True, Jesus did preached the Golden Rule, and the virtue of non-judgment. But which religion doesn't?
While most modern civilised people detest slavery, a precept that even discourages it is conspiciously absent in the Ten Commandment. In fact Paul explicitly preached that slaves should obey their master like christians to Christ. On second thoughts it is probably an inadvertent revelation of the relationship between believers and his God: a slavery of the mind.
And what good has religion done over the centuries? Has medicine save more lives, alleviate more sufferings, better the living condition of mankind than religion with its ineffectual prayers, indulgence, confessions and services? The answer is an unequivocal yes.
Has rationalism, concept of democracy, human rights, environmental protectionism, equility of the sexes and between races contributed more to the wellbeing of human than a imaginary God that can only mete out imaginary punishments?
In fact, religions' little contribution to betterment of human lives is further eroded by its many actions that demeans the human spirit. Religions detested the use of reason, suppressed the freedom of thoughts, encouraged-- or even were the source of-- superstitions and destroyed lives of those who thought differently from prevailing belief.
As a source of knowledge, religion failed not only through its suppression on new ideas, but also through its generation of superstitions. Any effort to define the universe was first scrutinised for conformance to dogmatic doctrines before given a chance at fair hearing and experimentation. And when experimentation proved contrary to dogmas, proven science was abandon in favor of the unseen, untouched and unproven.
How often have we heard the cliched apologetic defence that our feeble mind is unable to fathom the limitless universe? And yet who were the ones who preached to us about God, one whom they themselves cannot even see? While we maintained an agnostic stance to God's existence, who were the ones who were adamant that such a God exists, and in the exact way that they have defined Him? Who were the ones who said we are arrogant with our little human knowledge when they seem to 'know' everything from comsology to biology by just reading the Good Book?
As long as Man loves God more than Humanity, we will continue to live in the dark shadow of religious tyranny.
Brush away the God-calling and bashing of human nature, all that is left in the NT is is the story of a man not unlike a modern doomsday fanatic prancing the streets of New York with a picket with THE END IS NIGH emblazoned across it.
Is the Ten Commandment really helpful to humankind? Does it better human lives more than any other form of rules, precepts and regulations? Does it do much more good than other scientific discoveries and invention in making this world a better place?
The first few Commandment are unneccessary; the rest are not even unique to the Judio-Christian religion, having been expounded in all major religions, many of which pre-dates Jesus himself.
True, Jesus did preached the Golden Rule, and the virtue of non-judgment. But which religion doesn't?
While most modern civilised people detest slavery, a precept that even discourages it is conspiciously absent in the Ten Commandment. In fact Paul explicitly preached that slaves should obey their master like christians to Christ. On second thoughts it is probably an inadvertent revelation of the relationship between believers and his God: a slavery of the mind.
And what good has religion done over the centuries? Has medicine save more lives, alleviate more sufferings, better the living condition of mankind than religion with its ineffectual prayers, indulgence, confessions and services? The answer is an unequivocal yes.
Has rationalism, concept of democracy, human rights, environmental protectionism, equility of the sexes and between races contributed more to the wellbeing of human than a imaginary God that can only mete out imaginary punishments?
In fact, religions' little contribution to betterment of human lives is further eroded by its many actions that demeans the human spirit. Religions detested the use of reason, suppressed the freedom of thoughts, encouraged-- or even were the source of-- superstitions and destroyed lives of those who thought differently from prevailing belief.
As a source of knowledge, religion failed not only through its suppression on new ideas, but also through its generation of superstitions. Any effort to define the universe was first scrutinised for conformance to dogmatic doctrines before given a chance at fair hearing and experimentation. And when experimentation proved contrary to dogmas, proven science was abandon in favor of the unseen, untouched and unproven.
How often have we heard the cliched apologetic defence that our feeble mind is unable to fathom the limitless universe? And yet who were the ones who preached to us about God, one whom they themselves cannot even see? While we maintained an agnostic stance to God's existence, who were the ones who were adamant that such a God exists, and in the exact way that they have defined Him? Who were the ones who said we are arrogant with our little human knowledge when they seem to 'know' everything from comsology to biology by just reading the Good Book?
As long as Man loves God more than Humanity, we will continue to live in the dark shadow of religious tyranny.
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