Christmas is a scam

[Slo_Ride 5,000+ posts]

first day of winter and record high temps. it was 71 degrees well before the sun came up and has rained for almost 24 hours. its the end of the world!

 

[bbeljefe]

Mankind hates to think that this(here and now)might be all there is.

But it's not all there is. This whole mess was here long before I arrived and it will be here long after I'm gone. My only hope is that I can help to make it just a slight bit better for my progeny and those they must share this place with once I'm gone. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/veryhappy.gif.fec4fed33b4a1279cf10bdd45a039dae.gif

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

No, not all of them and not only sun worship. There are about 10,000 gods on record ranging from monotheistic deities to groups of gods charged with the sun, the rain, the moon, fertility, et al... all within one religion or another.
But in the end, all deities and the cults that grow from their invention are merely constructs of the human unconscious and the fears/bigotries within it. And most importantly, they're an impediment to human progress that needs to become nothing more than an embarrasing part of our deep, dark, sinful past. ;-)

About all the mythos I've seen have the sun god at the head of the pantheon/hierarchy of gods.

I don't know if you're an initiate into one of the mystery schools with that line, but that "religion is an impediment to progress" has been the battle cry of some of the most horrific abuses of humanity in recorded history.

Furthermore, the whole premise of the US of A is that men are given rights by their creator, God. Once you remove God, from where to men derive their rights? You want a godless utopia, try China or Russia.

 

[bbeljefe]

About all the mythos I've seen have the sun god at the head of the pantheon/hierarchy of gods.
I don't know if you're an initiate into one of the mystery schools with that line, but that "religion is an impediment to progress" has been the battle cry of some of the most horrific abuses of humanity in recorded history.

Furthermore, the whole premise of the US of A is that men are given rights by their creator, God. Once you remove God, from where to men derive their rights? You want a godless utopia, try China or Russia.

It's no mystery. I'm an empiricist who does not believe in that for which there is no evidence. Nothing mysterious about logic, reason and empiricism.

And no, "battle cries" always, always, always, include some form of worship of some being or collective. Religious atrocities are committed in the name of a deity and communist atrocities in the name of the state. And while I will agree that communist regimes have murdered a good many people, the level of depravity reached by Christians over the years has not yet met its match.

Regarding where we derive our rights. We derive them from the same place we derive deities. Our minds. One does not need gods or nation states in order to understand the notion of self ownership or to respect that ownership for others. In fact, gods and nation states only serve as an excuse to violate that most basic of human rights.

 

[Nutdawg651]

Please guys christmas aint for us its for the kids let em have it while we go in a back room and get high or drunk

 

[brandonkain82 10+ year member]

Im with nut dawg on this one!!!!

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

And no, "battle cries" always, always, always, include some form of worship of some being or collective. Religious atrocities are committed in the name of a deity and communist atrocities in the name of the state. And while I will agree that communist regimes have murdered a good many people, the level of depravity reached by Christians over the years has not yet met its match.

French revolution much? How about have you ever heard of Stalin or Mao? I'm not sure who tops those for inhuman atrocity. That is the world created by the worship of "reason", "intellect", and "enlightenment".

 

[supereikenator 10+ year member]

French revolution much? How about have you ever heard of Stalin or Mao? I'm not sure who tops those for inhuman atrocity. That is the world created by the worship of "reason", "intellect", and "enlightenment".

What about Hitler, the Middle East, the Crusades, the Dark Ages, etc. all those can branch back to religion. The cause of the French Revolution was famine and unfair wealth distribution. Stalin and Mao were both cruel people, And that is why they did what they did, not their lack of religion. Enlightenment and reason ended the dark ages, expands rights, and causes advancement of civilization. Religion is a hindrance. They protest stem cell research and undermine truth. Religion is nothing more than prevalent mind control or a comfort to those who need an answer of our origins.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

What about Hitler, the Middle East, the Crusades, the Dark Ages, etc. all those can branch back to religion. The cause of the French Revolution was famine and unfair wealth distribution. Stalin and Mao were both cruel people, And that is why they did what they did, not their lack of religion. Enlightenment and reason ended the dark ages, expands rights, and causes advancement of civilization. Religion is a hindrance. They protest stem cell research and undermine truth. Religion is nothing more than prevalent mind control or a comfort to those who need an answer of our origins.

Thanks for mentioning Hitler. Yes, he too planned to destroy Christianity : Word for Word/The Case Against the Nazis - How Hitler's Forces Planned To Destroy German Christianity - NYTimes.com

The Crusades had about as much to do with religion as our invasion of Iraq had to do with WMD's. Just a line to throw to the sheep to get them behind imperialism.

I'd also invite you to go to one of your Atheist utopias and let me know how your freedom plays out there.

Also, without the existence of a divine law where do we even define morals? How does society decide right from wrong?

 

[Beatin' 10+ year member]

How does society decide right from wrong?

....with bullets.

 

[bbeljefe]

French revolution much? How about have you ever heard of Stalin or Mao? I'm not sure who tops those for inhuman atrocity. That is the world created by the worship of "reason", "intellect", and "enlightenment".

France and Europe in general was very religious during the time of the revolution. Stalin was raised by a brutal Gorgean orthodox father in A Russia that was highly religious at the time he was growing up. That he converted to atheism is irrelevant, as the hate he had for others was instilled in him by his devoutly religious and brutal raising.... much the same that Hitler's hate for humanity was instilled in him. Did you know that Hitler's father quite often beat his son to the point of unconsciousness? The elder Hitler was a devoutly religious man who beat his son daily in an effort to rid him of the Jewish blood he inherited... from his father, who was the bastard child of a Jew and whom couldn't bear the thought of being so.

In short, Stalin, Hitler, Mao and every other despotic dictator in history, whether theist or atheist, were not rational thinkers. Nor did they use reason and evidence to form the foundations of their beliefs. They were, one and all, the products of brutal religious childhoods... as almost all murderers are.

And let me step back to the subject of Hitler. He was not and never was an atheist. He was a devout Catholic. And Germany, at the time of Hitler's reign, was the most religious country in Europe. Second only to Austria, where Hitler was born and raised. Those were also the countries of origin of the most horrific and brutal series' of child rearing manuals that have ever been published. These books were written not by atheist but by Christian "doctors" and there isn't one advised disciplinary action in any of them that would land the offending parent anywhere but in prison today.

And now lets step back a few centuries to the time before the Enlightenment. Back to the middle ages when religion and the state were indeed, one in the same. Have you ever heard of an Iron Maiden? How about the Choke Pear? The Scavenger's Daughter? The Judas Chair? How about the Breast Ripper? In case you haven't, these are all torture devices that were invented by those who followed the exact tenets of the Christian Bible and they were used to punish people who were found guilty of crimes such as, say, blasphemy. That might get you a day in the shackles but if you were unpopular, it might well get you the choke pear shoved in your throat and spread to the point that your jaws and throat were ripped until they bled uncontrollably. Or if you were a woman and were found guilty of ************ or, even, flirting, you could have the choke pear shoved into your ****** and spread to the point that your innards were torn... more often than not to the point that you were left with fatal wounds. Again... for talking to the wrong person or, dare I say, having coitus with someone who paid you voluntarily and willingly.

So yeah, there are a couple of atheist dictators who have the blood of 70 or 80 million people on their hands during the 20th century and frankly, those men were monsters and not at all rational. And then you have a few dozen of centuries of murder, torture, infanticide, **** and theft of billions of individuals all in the name of basically the same invisible Sky Ghost. Some of you call him God, some Allah and still others, Yahweh. But none the less, he's the same fiction and he's still the excuse for more murders than any other excuse in human history. And, he's still being used as that excuse to this day.

As for how freedom plays out in my atheist utopia... there is no yelling in my home or in my business. There is no punishment and no violence. Our furniture doesn't get broken, nor do our walls have holes in them. We do not force our will on others and we do not support those who do. And we defend our home with guns only if that is the absolute last resort, because we value the lives of other humans, even those who would do us harm. And... we manage to live this peaceful life in the midst of the bigotry and superstition that guides our contemporaries. How is this possible? We have no enemies, because we make none.

And lastly.... "Also, without the existence of a divine law where do we even define morals? How does society decide right from wrong?"

You'll first have to prove that society and divine law have come anywhere close to defining morality or what is right. I'll give you a few easy examples....

For divine law, you'll have to explain how it is moral to murder every man and non virgin woman of a town you invade, while saving the virgin girls as *** slaves, is justified on any planet, for any reason, at any time... ever.

For societal law, you'll have to explain how it is that kidnapping and caging peaceful people who choose to imbibe a naturally occuring plant that someone else doesn't like is somehow "right".

When you've reasoned those out and when you have empirical evidence to back up your reasoning, I will listen.

 

[Beatin' 10+ year member]

For divine law, you'll have to explain how it is moral to murder every man and non virgin woman of a town you invade, while saving the virgin girls as *** slaves, is justified on any planet, for any reason, at any time... ever.
For societal law, you'll have to explain how it is that kidnapping and caging peaceful people who choose to imbibe a naturally occuring plant that someone else doesn't like is somehow "right".

Neither is right. However, these conclusions have been brought on by poor circumstances and rationality.

Put it this way........Is it right or wrong that you are not lawfully allowed to develop or own nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons? Is such a law rational? Will such a law still be rational and reasonable one thousand years from now?

hmmmm......

 

[bbeljefe]

Neither is right. However' date=' these conclusions have been brought on by poor circumstances and rationality.
Put it this way........Is it right or wrong that you are not lawfully allowed to develop or own nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons? Is such a law rational? [i']Will such a law still be rational and reasonable one thousand years from now?[/i]

hmmmm......

Who said I'm not allowed to do those things? After all, I could well be a government official. And if I was, then it is obvious that most people would say it's right for me to develop and own those weapons.

However, what is a government official if not just another fallible human being with a job?

So to answer your question in the context of how society is currently structured... it is absolutely wrong that I'm not allowed to own those things when there are known sociopaths who are obliged to.

 

[Jes 42 10+ year member]

"Nowhere in the Bible does Jesus have a sword fight."