Why Organized Religion is Morally Depraved

[@TridTV]

"Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful." Lucius Annaeus Seneca

[@TheTwil1]

That’s it exactly. It has always been a tool for the ones in charge. Nothing more. Research the first popes .

[@svenerikjohansson8130]

Which is not really true as I see it. Here it´s not the "common" people that are blievers. Actually I think the educational level is a bit higher in our congregation than "common people" in the neighbourhodd.

[@TridTV]

@@svenerikjohansson8130 maybe you see it how they want you to see it, also there is no correlation between education and belief but wisdom comes from intelligence and experience

[@svenerikjohansson8130]

@@TridTV Exactly who are those "they" You speak of? Of course not, but it´s not really as it was in ancient Rome. People in general here in my town are not what I would call christians (among the ethnic Swedes). But there are very many muslim immigrants, and I think they are more directed towards religion. You see incredibly many ,muslim women with hijab in my city. In the congregation I mostly visit here I´d guess the education level is a little higher than "the common workers or farmers", but as ypu saud there is no absolute correlation.

[@TridTV]

@@svenerikjohansson8130 they is the ppl of your congregation, and Seneca is not saying that the common are uneducated or dumb but simply that they are the majority

[@Glennn7]

“Religion Poisons Everything” - Christopher Hitchens

[@wilhelmvonn9619]

Christianity has certainly poisoned sex.

[@theultimategodofgaming3200]

@@TheMilitantMazdakite Hilarious how OP and you are two sides of the same coin. I don't like how OP feels the need to copy-paste the same quote on all of these videos, it's quite irritating, but you have no right to compare Hitchens to a Nazi just because his views disagree with yours. I'll have you know that Hitler was a Christian, by the way.

[@TheMilitantMazdakite]

@@theultimategodofgaming3200 First of all, I am not christian, I am a Zoroastrian, second of all, Hitler was not a christian, his religious beliefs are disputed, and thirdly, yes, [hitchens] was a propagandist for the Iraq war, which killed over a million innocent men, women, and children, all for oil.

[@AntitheistHuman]

​@@TheMilitantMazdakitereport TheMilotantMazdakite bot for spam, I bet this is not even a real person. This creep is commenting everywhere he can just to get attention like braínless Instagram models

[@AntitheistHuman]

​@@TheMilitantMazdakiteand God killed billions of people in the flood, therefore God is a terrorist

[@moviegamer7182]

Religion can make people do evil things while making them believe it’s good

[@TheMilitantMazdakite]

No, anything can do that.

[@AntitheistHuman]

In this world good people do good things, bad people do bad things, but to get good people to do bad things it takes religion... No way around it

[@AntitheistHuman]

​@@TheMilitantMazdakitebelieving things without evidence, which is the basis of religion so don't try to hide it

[@TheMilitantMazdakite]

@@AntitheistHuman No, it doesn't. Provide a shred of evidence for this.

[@TheMilitantMazdakite]

@@AntitheistHuman No one believes in anything without evidence. What the evidence means is subjective, so what one might interpret as evidence for a claim, another might not.

[@kellywilliamson2187]

All these "faithful" people - so smug and superior, so infuriatingly dedicated to ignorance.

[@impulseelectrobrine1259]

Ironically that’s completely opposite to what is preached. They are supposed to be more humble and loving than your average person

[@evanunez8833]

Couldn't agree more. If they would just remain at infuriating they could possibly be tolerable. Unfortunately too many are willing to harm/kill others for the "sin" of not joining in.

[@campfireaddict6417]

@user-nz8uy1zm3z Buddhists do not believe in a god.

[@svenerikjohansson8130]

Do you think that is a truth about all us who have beliefs?

[@campfireaddict6417]

@@svenerikjohansson8130 Not for all. Most atheists were once dedicated christians who hadn't yet gotten to the point where they knew better. That's uncomfortable arrogance to think going to "worship services", throwing money in a gold plate, and saying a few prayers and a Benediction is all that's needed to be good. People with critical thinking skills see through it & break out of that mess & are better for it.

[@katiegoodwin9248]

Tempted to send this to Grandma but I don't want to be disowned... because that's Christian love for you

[@thegametroll6264]

My religious family members make me fear for my life sometimes.

[@TheAlphaLegionnaire]

I learned a long time ago that “convincing” someone religion is an illusion is nearly impossible. They have to seek out the truth themselves to find it.

[@Perish-dc8hp]

​@@TheAlphaLegionnaire Same goes for atheists but still a lot of Christians don't understand that or don't care. They say they don't want you to go to hell and that "God loves you" over and over.

[@gleanerman2195]

That's exactly the way I was, I had to find the truth for myself, and boy is it liberating.@@TheAlphaLegionnaire

[@TheAlphaLegionnaire]

@@Perish-dc8hp Exactly right.

[@Druid75]

“Religion has actually convinced people that there's an invisible man living in the sky who watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever 'til the end of time! ….But He loves you. ….He loves you, and He needs money! He always needs money! He's all-powerful, all-perfect, all-knowing, and all-wise, somehow just can't handle money!” George Carlin

[@thegametroll6264]

" put a dollar in the box!" Cartman pretending to be a preacher- south park

[@nobbynoris]

And yet that same invisible man is fine with slavery and genocide.

[@arthurzettel6618]

Your money that you give doesn't go to God it goes to wherever your church leaders desires.

[@razony]

One would figure over time, this story of this God who requires attention, obedience, praise, admiration... sound exactly like some psychopathic, narcissistic, evil dictator of a man or woman. A God who would send his own children to a eternal burning hell? No, that's what an evil stepfather would do to his kids!

[@happyninja42]

@@razony Funny you should say that. Have you ever noticed in storytelling, one of the easiest, and quickest ways to establish an antagonist as not only a bad guy, but a REALLY bad guy, is to have them quote the old testament? Like they won't even change the lines, they'll just have him quote some biblical passage that's supposedly straight from gawd's mouth, while standing over a collection of people he rules, and boom, instant information exposition to the audience. This is a Really Bad Guy. I always find that so funny, and so telling, on the actual nature of their sky daddy. That when they see ANYONE ELSE act like their sky daddy, it's an evil son of a bitch who must be destroyed. But when it's actually in reference to their sky daddy doing it, it's all "mysterious ways, his ways are not our ways" blah blah blah. Seriously though, keep an eye out when you are watching cinema, tv or film, for when they decide to go biblical with certain elements of it. I'm not talking about actual religious propaganda like the shit on Pure Flix, but just, regular cinema, using religious imagery for their visual storytelling. You'll be shocked how often they just let the person act like the biblical gawd, to show they are evil. It's quite funny once you start noticing it. 🤣

[@TheAlphaLegionnaire]

Reading the Bible was what got me there to abandoning Christianity. It’s easily recognized that this is not literature authored by divinity.

[@arthurzettel6618]

You're right. It was written by witnesses and people of that time period and canonized centuries later by the Catholic Church. The Catholic church picked what they wanted in the Bible, and the book of Enoch, for example, is controversial to this very day. That's why it was never added.

[@gleanerman2195]

@@arthurzettel6618 The cathosick church is the no. one reason to leave christianity, then the buybull.

[@wilhelmvonn9619]

Depends on what "Divinity" is actually like. No guarantee it's benevolent.

[@eeroraute281]

No the catholic church didn’t exist until 1054 the canon we use is that of athanasius who lived in the 400s

[@eeroraute281]

The book of enoch is not canon because it is essentially fan fiction for genesis that expands on the lore for no good reason

[@itsROMPERS...]

The idea that people might need to look in a book to determine whether they should physically or sexually abuse another person is terrifying.

[@LaneTheBrane]

With or without religion, you'd figure one could determine it's wrong. I mean, we have a conscience for a reason

[@itsROMPERS...]

@@LaneTheBrane The only reason the idea of "wrong" exists is that we made it up. We did not get it from someplace else. But no, we don't have a conscience for a reason.

[@dimensionninja4929]

@@itsROMPERS... not really, abuse is not glorified and and it shouldn't be done. Those people are even punished, please try not to misrepresent something because you don't like it. I'll be willing to help you understand the passage if you'd like. I was once like you afterall, and I argued against the bible and hated it

[@itsROMPERS...]

@@dimensionninja4929 I don't hate any book, they're all just words. And if you're one of those people that need a book to know whether you are abusing someone, then your journey is taking you backwards, and you have nothing to teach me or anyone else. And you were never anything like me.

[@ga6589]

@@dimensionninja4929 Can you justify the actions of your god when he killed nearly every human on the planet, including innocent children and babies? We call that genocide. Wouldn't you agree it was a bit of an overreaction for what's supposedly an all-powerful, just and loving god? I call that the work of a psychopathic monster. Any mortal human who kills their child as punishment would be charged with homicide.

[@lachlann4335]

I was a Christian from birth. When I was around 12 I asked Grandma why am I not allowed to question God if he welcomes it, to which she responded with “Just have faith God is doing what’s right”. Afterwards I showed her God welcomes questions and she put me in time out. That’s when I began stop believing.

[@MrAuskiwi101]

No one is a Christian from birth. A baby doesn't make any decision to imagine a god exists or the nonsensical themes of Christianity are true

[@Jin420]

As a parent -- no one has any right to indoctrinate a child.. That should be a decision to be made by the individual once they're old enough.

[@kathleencross-cj1xd]

God didn't make man in his image. Man made God in his image. And the proof of that is everywhere.

[@ericrivera8410]

If I'm made in his image he must be gay because I am.

[@BloonChip]

This world has became so corrupted by the darkness, that now they are manipulating history as we know it. Eventually, everything here will be gone, and everything known here will be erased. And when the time is right, the universe will restart once again. Whether we believe in a god or not, there is a power out there that holds all life inside it. It may not be in this dimension, but it has traveled around for trillions of centuries. One day, we will all witness the return of God, and we will finally see the truth.

[@encarnacionvillazana3270]

Yes. We as people, Always have to blame someone or something for problems.. So, as crooked cops would do, just make up evidence as you go along to distort any truth that might have been, like religion and religious people did. 👍👍

[@dinard38]

I often wondered why god need a nose and lungs. Does he have to breathe air to live? Does he see and hear EVERYTHING that goes on in the universe with two eyes and ears? Why would he need sexual organs? Does he have a a digestive system and have to eliminate waste??? I always thought the idea that god made us in his image a bit odd.

[@encarnacionvillazana3270]

@rboland2173 Wow. 4000? Huh? No wonder nobody can follow a "pure" original religion. Lol

[@rodolfomorales7017]

EVIDENCE !!! " I don't want faith, I want knowledge"

[@OpenBiolabsGuy]

“In order to be free you must be a slave to Jesus.” “A free thinker is Satan’s slave.” You know what that sounds like? “Slavery is freedom.” George Orwell, 1984. It’s tight control.

[@perfesser944]

I'm a free thinker. I am not Satan's slave. More like his associate.

[@BloonChip]

We have free will to choice what we want. Do we want to play by the rules, and get into Heaven? Or Do we want to play by our rules, and get thrown into Hell? For me, I can only see one right choice.

[@Random_user_8472]

@@BloonChip I'd rather prefer to live free in hell than to live as a slave in some heaven under the dominance of some narcissistic, immoral, genocide approving and blood sacrificing mass killing psychopath, called god, with rapists on Earth working for him 😁

[@Iwannaeatlasagna]

69th like

[@Iwannaeatlasagna]

​@@BloonChipanarchism

[@friscowolf2917]

"Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction." Blaise Pascal

[@MasterSpade]

So True!!! NOTHING has set Mankind back more than belief in "gods"!!!

[@drgibs347]

Spot on

[@campfireaddict6417]

There is no developed nation on EARTH that should cling to such foolishness today.

[@fernandopineda5505]

Agree, if it weren't for religion we would certainly be more advanced, provided that we had the alternative to follow a reason based moral system (non-exisitent). We begin to enter an era with a system backed up by scientific method, We began to light our path with fire but now we use lamps seems like a fitting analogy to the purpose of religion.

[@MasterSpade]

@@fernandopineda5505 -- Look how different life is now compared to just about 120 years ago. In that little time, Science has advanced at an insane rate. Now imagine where we'd be if religion didn't have the power it used to. Where Scientists FEARED for their life if they went against that power with Scientific Discoveries! With those Thousands of years without that Fear of getting KILLED, we'd be on other planets by now.

[@Ronnymikkonen2686]

It's a system of stupifying the working class.

[@rebeccagibson9644]

I, personally, don't care about which faith someone is following but when people use those beliefs to control and hurt others it is a problem.

[@Thedead_treeguy]

Oh, i see that alot with church pastors misleading tons of gullible man and women by telling them they can use the power of god to "heal" them of their ailments 🤪🤪😂😂

[@DavidHarvey-po9le]

That is the purpose of faith - "don't question, just do - while I get rich, I speak to god directly".

[@richardhedd3080]

I believe we people who were raised with religion should file a class action suit against the church for the life long traumas that it has caused. No joke intended. When you tell a 8 year old that swearing is a hell worthy offense, that's mental cruelty of the most dangerous kind.

[@campfireaddict6417]

Another sue-happy person.

[@Nobueno_baby]

​@@campfireaddict6417 Another "Christian" type response. Thank you for being "god-like"

[@lyndawilliamson3050]

My stepfather sexually abused me for several years. He went to church every Sunday to confess his sins. The priest knew what my stepfather was doing to me and did nothing or said anything to stop what was happening to me. Unreal.

[@toyman9642]

Someone said that if we eliminated religion, we would solve 75% of the world's problems. RIGHT ON!

[@DavidHarvey-po9le]

The other 25% is wokism.

[@toyman9642]

Religion is based on two principles...FEAR AND CONTROL!!

[@jasminehasan890]

Stick and carrot

[@9y2bgy]

Stephen Fry's take on the sexual obsession of the catholic church, and using the parallel of anorexics and obese people being the ones who are the most food obsessed, was most enlightening. Respect!

[@razony]

Literally yesterday and almost daily, I am hearing religious folks explain and justify their faith. Always leaving out the fear and the evil humanistic manner their God is. Hell, Judgment, Demons and Devils... if you dont give your love, obedience, attention to him or her. That sounds exactly like my abusive ex-stepfather. (R.I.P.) I'm an Ex-Christian for many of good reasons. The best and easiest reason why? I read the bible front to back several times. I ask for 'truth' to set me free. 'I am' an Ex-Christian...

[@AntitheistHuman]

I am very hardly considering to not allow anyone to talk about religion in my house like justifying with each other mostly visitors, if they wanna hear what I have to say against it then sure they can

[@RobertStambaugh-l5r]

Jesus is the truth .

[@razony]

@user-ki1un4jg2d Jesus is a figure in a story, one may deem as truth. No more/less than Zeus or Apollo as God's in Greek mythology. But that's how cults are created, right?

[@campfireaddict6417]

@user-nz8uy1zm3z Sure, god is goodness. Just look at what happened to the people who WEREN'T on the ark.

[@campfireaddict6417]

@user-nz8uy1zm3z Did you ever consider that there were babies drowned in that myth? How about god does the same thing to your world tomorrow. Would you be on his ark, or would you drown? Do you not think there were any little ones in the world back then? Every society has infants, children, teens, adults, and grandparents. Do you really think they were all desperately evil? 4 questions. Any answers?

[@AlterEgoPerspectivewBronxGirl]

I am much more free as an Atheist. I was introduced to a God. As a young child. I had questions that I could never ask. I never called myself a Christian ever. I’m glad to discovered Atheist. I’m free. Still a work in progress 11:06

[@Ex_christian]

YES! I have found the same leaving the Christian cult for Atheism. I woke up!

[@gleanerman2195]

@@Ex_christian Me too!!!!!

[@TheMilitantMazdakite]

Dude, you were never freed because religion is not slavery.

[@Ex_christian]

@@TheMilitantMazdakitefreed from the lies of religion….

[@TheMilitantMazdakite]

@@Ex_christian Any evidence that it is a "lie".

[@J_to_the_F]

Best summary of churche and fiew on sex: Church: "Everyone is sinfull due to wanting sex" Asexual people: "well we don't feel sexual attraction." Church: "What a pitty, you'll never know gods graitest gift to humanity./You are not fully human." WTF

[@starscreamthecruel8026]

I can explain this. I am Aro/Ace and I was raised Catholic. The trick isnt to be immune to the desires to sin, the trick is to feel them, to SUFFER and rise above them. If you dont feel them at all, then technically you are cheating. To be loved by the Catholic God is to know deep down you are EVIL, you are a sinner, you are depraved and a wicked individual no better than the beasts that walk the land and can only be ELEVATED to a human by giving yourself over to God completely in all things and obeying his priests in all things. It is, a deathcult to all intent purposes, that is revelling in the way the world is going because its the END OF DAYS where they will march with God's angels on the world and destroy the wicked once and for all. If we have a third world war it will be started by the Catholics to force people to convert to escape the nightmare world that will be left behind. If somehow you dont FEEL these urges, these SINS that God placed inside you ON purpose so he could TEST your faith, its like having a mass cheatcode in the game and you are ALSO bad, because you are not playing the game his way. It's not about understanding, its about OBEDIANCE. You must OBEY or you go to hell. That is what I learned growing up in this faith. I quit at 9 going through puberty when a very gross priest told me I was touched by the devil(I had boobs already) and sent to TEMPT him to thinking bad thoughts instead of thinking of God. I had gone to confession terrified of my growing rage(I was starting to develop BPD) against the bullies in school who kept groping me and trying to kiss me against my will(kiss chase anyone?) thinking I'd be given a rosary and comfort about Jesus looking out for me etc, instead I was physically thrown out of the church, called wicked and evil, told never to darken his door again. I didnt return at 14 for my confirmation and turned my back entirely on the Catholic faith. I became Pagan later and embraced a more nature based way of seeing the world and I finally have some peace.

[@SamuelBlack84]

How did they expect Adam and Eve to birth Cain and Able? Telepathy?

[@DavidHarvey-po9le]

@@starscreamthecruel8026 If people rose above sex there would be no people to worship your imaginary friend.

[@starscreamthecruel8026]

@@DavidHarvey-po9le hes not MY friend anymore. I quit and if more people did too, that would be a good thing :)

[@thegametroll6264]

Even when i was young there was a red flag going off in my head that something just didn't feel right with a god that would tell me " love me, mean it, believe what i say or terrible things your mortal mind couldn't begin to wrap around will happen to you. But hey, i LoVe you." It's one of the driving forces that made me leave organized religion for good. It's like poison someone willingly drinks because someone constantly insits that it's a cure.

[@doneestoner9945]

When I was around 10 years old and heard the Noah's Ark flood story, I thought to myself "What ! There was only 1 good family in the whole world ? God killed everyone ? He's a mass murderer". I guess I was "woke".

[@eeroraute281]

Hod doesn’t punish you you punish your self

[@Raven27120]

@@eeroraute281 Did the infants in Noah’s ark drown themselves? Did the INNOCENT family of job strike themselves down with lightning? No. God did. What you are saying is the textbook of an abusive relationship, the equivalent of a husband beating his wife and saying “Look what you made me do!” It shifts blame from the person obviously in the wrong to the victim. Besides, if god is all moral, he doesn’t’t have to use punishment, he can just redeem the ‘sinner’ into a good person anyway.

[@thegametroll6264]

@eeroraute281 nope. What you just described is the former relationship I had with God. God allowed all the bad shit he could have prevented with his far reaching omnipresent all knowing all seeing all loving power and then said "that's indirectly YoUr fault but hey, I forgive you". What? That would be like if I had a son and saw a news report on the news about an earthquake and said "see that son? That happened because God sensed you had a dirty thought and all those people are suffering for it."

[@evangelicalsnever-lie9792]

​@@eeroraute281 Are you a Christian? No wonder you have zero debate skills.

[@toyman9642]

The author Mark Twain said it best when he stated, "religion began when the first con artist met the first naive fool." How true!

[@SamanthaPyper-sl4ye]

Theology + fascism = religion

[@taserdom]

Don’t bring fascism into this

[@justbarelysociable2211]

@@taserdomI would have thought Christo-fascism.

[@taserdom]

@@justbarelysociable2211 fascism’s (nacism) long term goal was to obliterate christianity because it’s irrelevant in any aspect of human life. Totalitarian state was there to supervise and substitute religion’s influence.

[@Lordidude]

​@@taserdom I know, the truth hurts.

[@itsoblivion8124]

​@@justbarelysociable2211 lsIamofascism is only real term.

[@tuliolopez9749]

I think religious people in general mean well within their own set of morals and beliefs, but what really bothers me is that they don’t stop to think whether what they have been taught is true - truth to them is irrelevant. That really bothers me.

[@freetibet1000]

I agree! Each of the Abrahamic religions set up their own logical bubble in which everything seems to fit. To prevent the believer from straying outside these constructed bubbles strong incentives and warnings are put forward within the systems themselves. That’s why conversions are such a tabu. If you leave or questioning the validity of the bubble you’re effectively undermining the whole structure. Which is the same as death to these belief systems. There could be nothing worse according to their dogmatic views. When we understand these principles we also understand how hollow and destructive these systems of beliefs are. They are man-made systems of beliefs for political reasons and has nothing to do with the emancipation of humanity. Control and obedience are their real objectives and they often use their versions of “morality” as their means of control. To make their type of morality stick they invent a super-human author that cannot be scrutinised or questioned. That is the precise reason these beliefs systems doesn’t hold water upon deeper scrutiny. But very few seems interested in questioning from within these bubbles and prefer to wander around in a world of delusion.

[@DavidandCharla]

​@@freetibet1000 Well said

[@arthuroldale-ki2ev]

Its wonderful to listen to someone talking sense, instead of with forked tongue, from an arrested intellect

[@derreckwalls7508]

What an excellent compilation of speakers and arguments. Thanks!

[@gmanw3]

I took two years of advanced theology classes with a focus on the ancient languages of the Bible. Seeing how poorly written and how poorly translated that book is , left me with deep doubt. Further study , caused me to lose my faith and deeper consideration, made me an agnostic atheist

[@Deadgurl717]

As a child that lost mom to cancer at 5 years old & on top of that had a Baptist preacher as a pa-pa (whom I loved dearly) I started fearing hell at 5 years old . I spent way too many hours in deep deep thought terrified about burning in hell always from my mother from a way to young age. I had night terrors and panic attacks. I cried constantly. I spent my whole childhood worrying about my eternal soul bc what I was taught in church about burning eternally in hell with fire and brimstone. All I knew was people talked about my mom like she was an angel so I knew she was in heaven and I knew I had to go there tp be with her. Losing my mother was traumatizing enough but spending my entire childhood and next 35 years in fear I would do something wrong and not make it to heaven was way more traumatizing and I made life choices I never would have if it wasn’t bc of religion and the Bible. I had my doubts even as a child about the Bible and all the contradictions and I questioned why would A good God take my angel of a mother at 25 years old and spare many many more evil POS? Finally after 35 years of devoting my entire life and money devoted to a fictional character and not even a good one the lightbulb went off and now I am soo angry having lies forced upon me as a 5 year old , which completely changed my life in a negative way . Religion is extremely damaging especially coming from a perspective like mine .

[@campfireaddict6417]

@user-nz8uy1zm3z I'm sorry about your comment, can I please give you some insight into reality? If your god has the right to take and give life whenever he pleases, what about the lives that are constantly & daily consumed with unrelenting pain, fear, loneliness, panic, misunderstanding, threats, guilt, and worse? There's nothing righteous, graceful, good, or decent about allowing this kind of suffering if it can be alleviated. Your comment has totally invalidated this person's personal pain. You have not helped at all.

[@ga6589]

@user-nz8uy1zm3z Your god is a vengeful, vindictive and violent entity that brought sin into the world. He set us up, so to speak. That's the work of a psychopathic monster. I'm so glad that there's no evidence proving this tyrant exists.

[@ga6589]

@user-nz8uy1zm3z What you have described is a demented and tyrannical god. If worshipping such an entity works for you , have at it. But don't pretend that your beliefs are based on any evidence for any god, demented or otherwise. Using your beliefs as an excuse to proselytize to others about how they should view life, death, good or evil is called intellectual dishonesty. And it is insulting. What god-believers fail to address is that science can confirm one exists if he would simply come to earth, and interact with people in a measurable way. Maybe perform a few miracles, like walk on water, restore sight to the blind, turn a river to blood, or raise my parents from the dead. That's not asking anything more than what your Bible claims. I guess your all-powerful and all-knowing god should have thought of that, especially if he thinks it's urgent we love and worship him. Instead, he has people like you trying to justify and rationalize his actions for him. Not a good plan. All god-belief stems from fear, mainly fear of death and what happens afterward. It's simply easier for people to make up stories that help them cope with the unknown and say their god works in mysterious ways that we cannot understand.

[@campfireaddict6417]

@user-nz8uy1zm3z Is there anything your god cannot do?

[@Deadgurl717]

@@campfireaddict6417 he also created sin, slavery, Satan himself , Hell, childhood cancer , mosquitoes, Hitler (who’s supposedly in heaven lmao) schizophrenia, dementia, hurricanes, pedophiles, etc etc etc you get the point.

[@oldretireddude]

Religion getting its own call-out in both mind and law is a self sustaining problem for the future. It needs to be lumped into and characterised as the superstition that it is.

[@TheMilitantMazdakite]

It is not dogmatic, nor is it superstition.

[@DavidHarvey-po9le]

I disagree - it's not superstition. Walking under a ladder may get you hurt by whoever is on the ladder being clumsy and dropping a can of paint, a hammer, anything heavy etc on your head, not believing in a ghost will not harm you, unless you happen to live by ghost believers who will bomb you/ persecute you/ stone you for not believing in their ridiculous dogma.

[@louiscolborn6715]

I am absolutely ashamed that humanity has not outgrown this superstitious medieval mythology. Nothing has caused more death and destruction than religion and the invention of God.

[@bridgefin]

Except atheism and the rejection of God.

[@daxleone]

In this age of information, ignorance and stupidity are a choice ... soon the world will no longer tolerate nor accept ignorance and stupidity, and all religions and their gods shall vanish

[@sueronhaworth5713]

FINGERS CROSSED!!

[@attosharc]

Great video. I'm embarrassed that so many people believe this barbaric mythology represents reality.

[@DavidandCharla]

Same here

[@arekwittbrodt]

I wish I could express my thoughts that eloquently as those gentlemen.

[@patriciareilly530]

I eventually came to realize that my years in Catholic school were child abuse.

[@DavidHarvey-po9le]

That their god not only allowed but condoned - "Dost thou renounce Satan and all his works, the vain pomp and glory" I don't see any followers of satan showing any pomp or glory, only priests, imams or bishops. By the way if you follow god you also have to believe in satan - the rest of us believe in neither.

[@patriciareilly530]

@@DavidHarvey-po9le You've got that right!

[@Chicken-dq9zg]

My take is, these channels showing the how ridiculous the god theory is, supports those who are cut off (or would be cut off from family and friends). I don’t give money but I do click/like/and subscribe if the channels are interesting and mind provoking. I think more and more people are deconstructing from religious ideology. It’s more difficult for the religious community to destroy free thought when they become the minority. It also helps to keep government and religion separate. I literally had nightmares when I began my deconstruction from the Pentecostal faith. Early on, I thought there were a few religions that I considered harmless but now I consider any religion harmful that *preaches the invisible man in the sky, *feels the need to proselytize *Or collects money in order to spread the faith (much of this money gets put into the collectors pockets for personal gain)

[@eeroraute281]

Thats where you went wrong pentacostalism isn’t true orthodoxy is Pentacostalism prioritizes personal experience over reason and if a person has not the first they are not likely to have it later

[@johnfleet1854]

Religion and its purpose - the BIGGEST and BEST con ever to lead humans in to avoiding what truth(s) we are able to discover.

[@DavidHarvey-po9le]

Didn't stop us though - have you ever thought why the devil punishes bad people and god rewards good ones - aren't they on the same side or the same thing?

[@johnfleet1854]

@@DavidHarvey-po9le "who" says the devil punishes bad and god rewards good ? Do you believe that nonsense ? There is not ONE shred of actual evidence to support these kind of claims, and I honestly doubt there ever will be. How convenient that just over 2,000 years ago 'god' decided to introduce his laws etc ... when global communication took weeks if not months and technology was poor and the masses were much more easily led .... phooey.

[@Silentsouls]

When you replace the word God, with love, you will find a lot of lies in the bible. probably works with the quran and the thora as well

[@razony]

Yes. Those that thought and believed the fear of a manmade hell, judgement, Demons and Devils... was the reason to believe. They never thought that LOVE is all one needs.

[@eeroraute281]

When you replace the word morality and ethics in atheist literature with god you will see who believes in absurdities

[@lukedegraaf1186]

​@eeroraute281 can you elaborate?

[@Silentsouls]

@@eeroraute281 That does not even make sense. what you are saying there is just absurdity. - Gods are not even possible. - Nothing ever comes from a god - To get to a god, you have to deceive yourself Therefore no one actually can believe a god exists. Those who claim it anyway lie. Well that is my experience with the religious anyway.

[@eeroraute281]

You believe those without evidence because it is convinient because it is easy morality and ethics that is

[@leonardgibney2997]

In my RC church we schoolchildren were brought in to partake in a "ring-kissing ceremony" where the Archbishop sat on the altar steps and we queued up to kiss his ring while an altar boy wiped it with a cloth after each kiss. The cloth was not changed meaning it contained the bugs of the saliva of 800 children. But what an act of hubris. They can't show you God, so just worship them.

[@tommccarthy3052]

Yikes & UGH! My RC story is at my 1st confession I blatantly lied to the priest. He had no clue - duh, right? When I got home I told my mom that it was ridiculous & I was never doing that again! I was 12 when my parents bailed on the church!

[@DavidHarvey-po9le]

What normal man would want this anyway, if god existed this Archibishop would fear the sin of arrogance.

[@richardholland4533]

The power of the promise of heaven or hell is a powerful hold on people. Power corrupts and the absolute power corrupts absolutely.

[@DavidHarvey-po9le]

Something that none of them can give - apart from corruption.

[@gaillewis5472]

Thomas Jefferson, who owned and violated human beings had the nerve to say we are naturally compassionate?

[@campfireaddict6417]

Who had a secret tunnel leading to his favorite place in the world -- the female slaves.

[@DavidHarvey-po9le]

Muslim governments anyone?

[@NakAnderso]

The way religions have talked about women is abysmal.

[@bridgefin]

It was only through the Catholic religion that women were given respect. They were not educated before. They had to live under a man before. Now they are taking over...maybe we went too far.

[@paganphil100]

@@bridgefin: How many female priests / priestesses does the catholic church have?

[@bridgefin]

@@paganphil100 Zero. Priests are in a servant position and we respect our women too much to make them servants.

[@jasminehasan890]

@@bridgefin😂

[@WoodstockG54]

I believe in a conscious singularity, I do not buy into religion. Consciousness does not die, and I’m not alone in knowing this.

[@El-Rey369]

We too ❤

[@joyehsan6928]

Conscoousness is within you. it dies with you

[@Guanda70]

What do you mean by that? Without a brain, there's no consciousness. It's a product of a living brain. Brain dead, consciousness dead. Game over. More than that, it would magical thinking.

[@DavidHarvey-po9le]

"knowing this" - you sound like them - no one knows.

[@WoodstockG54]

@@DavidHarvey-po9le in 1968 i had an NDE. It is what it is. For me that and among other personal experiences, give me know other choice. Its personal and I never try to make other believe in something they haven't already experience.

[@chriswilliams5982]

I’m the son of a baptist minister who truly believed what he preached. Ironically it’s he who made me an atheist. He made my six year old mind fear id die and go to hell. So when I was 10 I read the Bible cover to cover and even at that age I read things that made me question. At 17 I’d read it seven times! There should be an award just for putting oneself for through that. Each time I found more and more crazy, more depraved, and showed god as cruel beyond belief. Read the Old Testament and find where god asks for love? You won’t find much, but what you will find is his demand that you fear him! In fact he makes the Sa’tan look like a saint in comparison. I still have my Bible full of notes and underlined verses that conflict with others, or demonstrate what god approves of. Then I began to study the scholars of the Bible who had no horse in the race. In other words they wanted answers no matter what they found. Biblical scholars of faith simply cannot be unbiased sources. As I studied the history of Christianity and discovered the New Testament was written decades after Jesus death, and not by anyone who actually saw him. I knew I simply could not base my life on lies. By the way, the New Testament Gospels are all written in the third person so that alone should show one that whoever the authors were are recounting stories hand down. Otherwise they would say Jesus and me were talking, or I saw Jesus do this or that. Anyway it may shock some to know that the Bible as we know it was not created till some 300 years after Jesus death, and there are no eyewitness accounts of Jesus that have ever been found.

[@campfireaddict6417]

Your parents raised a critical thinker. They should be proud, and you should be thankful. More people should do the research that you've done, rather than just believe someone who says it's true. Have you checked out the website "evil bible"? It's great.

[@DavidHarvey-po9le]

In the old testament god asks for love all the time - he rarely gives it - usually spite.

[@chriswilliams5982]

@@DavidHarvey-po9le exactly! In fact he really doesn’t ask for love that much, but he demands fear. Look at what the angel says to Abraham when he stops him from killing Issac. “ stay thy hand, and do not harm the boy. For now I know you Fear! God”. Really? Mr. All knowing didn’t know that already?

[@Damesanglante]

@@chriswilliams5982 Fear, kneeling, submission, slavery, turn the other cheek, etc. Funny how all of these are good for power-hungry megalomaniacs, isn't it ? Ref : Leviticus 25 : 44-46

[@chriswilliams5982]

@@Damesanglante amen brother. Pun intended))

[@alansimpson596]

I'm a 77 years old male and am grateful that at the early age of 18 years or so I became an atheist.

[@buffynicole108]

Currently my situation,I feel like I’ll never break this chain of religion

[@thegreatgazoo7579]

Truly excellent presentations by some of the brightest people on the planet.

[@pagandeva2000]

From day ONE, religion has taught me fear and manipulation.

[@Believer221]

Then advance beyond day one

[@michaelquinn1377]

Religion = Men Power and Money - that covers it .

[@daveburrows9876]

Religion alone is benign. Combine it with conservatism, and the atrocity we've seen develop over the last 3,500 years is the result.

[@DavidHarvey-po9le]

Germany 1933 - SOCIALIST NATIONAL party comes to power - Catholic church makes a pact with it. I'm not defending Conservatives but get it right.

[@ArthurShedsJackson]

Bottom line: Religion has been dividing mankind since it's inception.

[@bradz007]

How are believers and religious people so sure of what they believe is true without a scrap of evidence ?

[@gleanerman2195]

CHILDLIKE faith, that's why they brainwash us as children.

[@anthonymorris5084]

Like children, they are emotional thinkers. Most people learn to control emotions and grow into intellectual thinkers. It's just like a child who suddenly thinks there is a monster under the bed simply because it's dark. They have no fear of this in the day time. Most grow out of these emotional ways of thinking.

[@JustReed]

Fear. Why they created Demons and Devils without a scrap of proof. It's their word against the ignorant.

[@SmilingDeer-dt5sjk]

Only one rule you should obey and that is do not disrespect anyone .

[@bridgefin]

Why not survival of the fittest? Why respect anyone if he is only the result of a cosmic accident.

[@Timelord2001]

Brilliant and *Correct.* The benefits of a Reason-Based worldview. People may pray in cathedrals, but I've never seen or heard of prayer building them. Prayer and faith have yet to put two bricks together. *That* takes a lot of Science (e.g. architecture and engineering), and a lot of hard work. All from *Reason* alone.

[@leoinsf]

If you are weak-minded, you reach out for religion. Catholics run to church every Sunday to helplessly sit in a pew and let their priest do everything: think for them, act for them, as if God created weakness as a prerequisite for salvation and then leave the church thinking God is happy with this act of helplessness!

[@DavidHarvey-po9le]

Don't forget that you can sin all you want as long as you confess to a priest that has probably done far worse things that you can imagine.

[@jakenolt8561]

It's a slavery cult. Parishioners are the slaves. The (oftentimes corrupt) clergy are the slavers.

[@JenniferRusso5]

I call them pew warmers.

[@PqV72MT4]

Accusing others while secretly guilty of the same behavior.

[@eddiequinn1335]

I've always believed instinctually their was something not true about the religion I was born into by chance . Fortunately there came a time in my life when I questioned and answered the dogma using my adult reasoning and common sense and through choice left that religion . Now I'm my own philosopher and live a reasonably happy way of life . I'm only as happy as I make up my mind to be . I listen to everyone but follow no one . Now a humanist through choice .

[@ronholfly]

Our planet earth is so insignificant in our solar system and our solar system is so insignificant in our galaxy and our Milky Way galaxy is one of trillions of galaxies in the universe. Our human differances and silly troubles are a pointless exercise of our own making. We have nothing whatsoever to do with existance, if we blow ourselves up in our silly wars, it will not matter on little bit to the universe, it will just carry on without us.

[@craigdouglas9979]

Just every now and them something pops up and makes me think there is some hope for all of us!!!!!!

[@georgeblackley6028]

Religion is a blight on humanity.

[@eveofthewood]

"If we want to deal with our real problems, we need to accept what nature is telling us instead of imposing our beliefs on nature." DAYUM

[@berkah6240]

Thank you for this!

[@Iwannaeatlasagna]

Watching this infront of my christian family at over half volume🤩

[@MarlaMartenson]

😂

[@DavidHarvey-po9le]

Should've been full volume.

[@jerrylanglois7892]

Great video, too bad most people don't want to admit they're being controlled and exploited through fear.

[@maartenhappel9014]

These are three great minds. Thnx for sharing. You just have to watch these every now and again...

[@monsterguyx]

Typical Christian argument: "without God's morality, how can you know murder is wrong?" me: "If you don't understand why murder is wrong, then I hope you keep believing in God."

[@Echo81Rumple83]

Two observations I want to make here: first, as an asexual born and raised secular, I find it mind-bogglingly stupid how a religion is so hung up on sex that they have to regulate it to absurdity while giving themselves a pass in whatever they fancy, even if their sexual desires are for a literal child. And second, having been raised in a secular family with both parents having careers in the field of biochemistry and ogeonagraphy, I'm quite comfortable with science being the governing power we must navigate through. After all, as I've often say whenever a natural disaster happens against one's will and wishes, be it weather, miscarriages or aggressive cancer, Mother Nature will always have the last word. It's a shame that these men who wrote a dusty old tome of housebound domestic policies refuse to accept that absolute truth...

[@bridgefin]

You: I'm quite comfortable with science being the governing power we must navigate through. Me: Can you support that decision scientifically? Get out your Bunsen burner and let me know when your experiment is repeatable.

[@MaximMelamed]

All these arguments work great when they come from someone with a microphone and everyone is there to listen to them. When I try this with a co worker they don't even let me talk. They get triggered, start yelling about how I have parent issues and how I just don't understand the Bible and I'm not able to grasp it etc...its just not worth it. I know all these arguments. I read all the books. You can never succeed in changing someone's mind who does not consider themselves being capable of being wrong.

[@Lotanna20]

Story of my life,i have stopped trying to explain my position, it's a waste of time.

[@My_trashtalking_account]

Here's what you do. Ask them what they believe and why. Then as they're fumbling up the why part, you exaggerate your "see what mean" face. They'll begin to understand your skepticism, though they won't admit it.

[@ingenuity296]

God of the bible is ridiculous.

[@Vintage-Bob]

ALL gods are ridiculous.

[@ingenuity296]

@@Vintage-Bob Yes

[@drgibs347]

And doesn't exist in reality.

[@ingenuity296]

@@drgibs347 Absolutely correct! The study of psychology is more real than God or gods.

[@Damesanglante]

@@Vintage-Bob Odin promised to get rid of frost giants. Do you see any frost giant ? Vote Odin. 🤣

[@tedgrant2]

My wife is not religious and she has an amazing sense of humour. On our wedding night, she couldn't stop laughing

[@RupertMay]

Doubt is an unpleasant thing for man but certainity is absurd.... VOLTAIRE

[@birdofevil7970]

Worrying about going to Hell has ruined my life. I am in fear all the time.

[@gleanerman2195]

Don't fear it's not real, none of it.

[@DavidandCharla]

Same here. I've lost so many years that can never get back.

[@gleanerman2195]

@@DavidandCharla Just enjoy what you have left, free from the shackles of christianity.

[@DavidHarvey-po9le]

"We have nothing to fear but fear itself" - said by a man in a wheelchair (knew he was dying) in charge of a country involved in a World war and didn't live to see his country win - that is inspiration.

[@analizandoliteratura9958]

Because it's not about "Religion", It's about political parties.

[@DavidHarvey-po9le]

Before these political parties existed there was wealth - greed is at the heart of it - a sin they tell us we shouldn't do - so they can have more.

[@jamescampbell2521]

When will we stop using “ in god we trust” & “ so help me god” on our money & in our courts & politics. 🤷🏽‍♂️ Separation of state & church seems to be fading in this current GOP.

[@evangelicalsnever-lie9792]

They cannot force you to swear on a Bible or to a god. They must administer an alternate oath.

[@sueronhaworth5713]

hopefully? i will never need to ALTERNATE OATH SOUNDS GOOD.

[@denisemcdougal6445]

Organized religion is nothing more then crowd control

[@DavidHarvey-po9le]

No - crowd control costs money - religion makes it.

[@denisemcdougal6445]

@@DavidHarvey-po9le valid point

[@Ex-Mohammed_Anwar]

I remember one time that I had been told to seeks the truth and the truth shall be revealed when I was a religious back then and when I follow the truth and knowledge I discovered the ultimate truth that every Clergyman are laying what's ever they know they are laying or not it irrelevant

[@kantraxoikol6914]

another asian comment....no pluarals no pronouns , plenty of verbs and no meaning. yep

[@gen-zeke-8571]

I go with "The MOTHER of ALL" and she doesn't threaten Hell if I change my mind. No Hell. *But, I have "The 85% Rule (100% of the time).

[@nobbynoris]

Preach on, Brother! I could listen to this all day. You are only echoing my own beliefs about the bible which I have held my whole life. More people need to be more educated.

[@tyamada21]

A segment from 'Saved by the Light of the Buddha Within'... My new understandings of what many call 'God -The Holy Spirit' - resulting from some of the extraordinary ongoing after-effects relating to my NDE... Myoho-Renge-Kyo represents the identity of what some scientists are now referring to as the unified field of consciousnesses. In other words, it’s the essence of all existence and non-existence - the ultimate creative force behind planets, stars, nebulae, people, animals, trees, fish, birds, and all phenomena, manifest or latent. All matter and intelligence are simply waves or ripples manifesting to and from this core source. Consciousness (enlightenment) is itself the actual creator of everything that exists now, ever existed in the past, or will exist in the future - right down to the minutest particles of dust - each being an individual ripple or wave. The big difference between chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo and most other conventional prayers is that instead of depending on a ‘middleman’ to connect us to our state of inner enlightenment, we’re able to do it ourselves. That’s because chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo allows us to tap directly into our enlightened state by way of this self-produced sound vibration. ‘Who or What Is God?’ If we compare the concept of God being a separate entity that is forever watching down on us, to the teachings of Nichiren, it makes more sense to me that the true omnipotence, omniscience and omnipresence of what most people perceive to be God, is the fantastic state of enlightenment that exists within each of us. Some say that God is an entity that’s beyond physical matter - I think that the vast amount of information continuously being conveyed via electromagnetic waves in today’s world gives us proof of how an invisible state of God could indeed exist. For example, it’s now widely known that specific data relayed by way of electromagnetic waves has the potential to help bring about extraordinary and powerful effects - including an instant global awareness of something or a mass emotional reaction. It’s also common knowledge that these invisible waves can easily be used to detonate a bomb or to enable NASA to control the movements of a robot as far away as the Moon or Mars - none of which is possible without a receiver to decode the information that’s being transmitted. Without the receiver, the data would remain impotent. In a very similar way, we need to have our own ‘receiver’ switched on so that we can activate a clear and precise understanding of our own life, all other life and what everything else in existence is. Chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo each day helps us to achieve this because it allows us to reach the core of our enlightenment and keep it switched on. That’s because Myoho-Renge-Kyo represents the identity of what scientists now refer to as the unified field of consciousnesses. To break it down - Myoho represents the Law of manifestation and latency (Nature) and consists of two alternating states. For example, the state of Myo is where everything in life that’s not obvious to us exists - including our stored memories when we’re not thinking about them - our hidden potential and inner emotions whenever they’re dormant - our desires, our fears, our wisdom, happiness, karma - and more importantly, our enlightenment. The other state, ho, is where everything in Life exists whenever it becomes evident to us, such as when a thought pops up from within our memory - whenever we experience or express our emotions - or whenever a good or bad cause manifests as an effect from our karma. When anything becomes apparent, it merely means that it’s come out of the state of Myo (dormancy/latency) and into a state of ho (manifestation). It’s the difference between consciousness and unconsciousness, being awake or asleep, or knowing and not knowing. The second law - Renge - Ren meaning cause and ge meaning effect, governs and controls the functions of Myoho - these two laws of Myoho and Renge, not only function together simultaneously but also underlies all spiritual and physical existence. The final and third part of the tri-combination - Kyo, is the Law that allows Myoho to integrate with Renge - or vice versa. It’s the great, invisible thread of energy that fuses and connects all Life and matter - as well as the past, present and future. It’s also sometimes termed the Universal Law of Communication - perhaps it could even be compared with the string theory that many scientists now suspect exists. Just as the cells in our body, our thoughts, feelings and everything else is continually fluctuating within us - all that exists in the world around us and beyond is also in a constant state of flux - constantly controlled by these three fundamental laws. In fact, more things are going back and forth between the two states of Myo and ho in a single moment than it would ever be possible to calculate or describe. And it doesn’t matter how big or small, famous or trivial anything or anyone may appear to be, everything that’s ever existed in the past, exists now or will exist in the future, exists only because of the workings of the Laws ‘Myoho-Renge-Kyo’ - the basis of the four fundamental forces, and if they didn’t function, neither we nor anything else could go on existing. That’s because all forms of existence, including the seasons, day, night, birth, death and so on, are moving forward in an ongoing flow of continuation - rhythmically reverting back and forth between the two fundamental states of Myo and ho in absolute accordance with Renge - and by way of Kyo. Even stars are dying and being reborn under the workings of what the combination ‘Myoho-Renge-Kyo’ represents. Nam, or Namu - which mean the same thing, are vibrational passwords or keys that allow us to reach deep into our life and fuse with or become one with ‘Myoho-Renge-Kyo’. On a more personal level, nothing ever happens by chance or coincidence, it’s the causes that we’ve made in our past, or are presently making, that determine how these laws function uniquely in each of our lives - as well as the environment from moment to moment. By facing east, in harmony with the direction that the Earth is spinning, and chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo for a minimum of, let’s say, ten minutes daily to start with, any of us can experience actual proof of its positive effects in our lives - even if it only makes us feel good on the inside, there will be a definite positive effect. That’s because we’re able to pierce through the thickest layers of our karma and activate our inherent Buddha Nature (our enlightened state). By so doing, we’re then able to bring forth the wisdom and good fortune that we need to challenge, overcome and change our adverse circumstances - turn them into positive ones - or manifest and gain even greater fulfilment in our daily lives from our accumulated good karma. This also allows us to bring forth the wisdom that can free us from the ignorance and stupidity that’s preventing us from accepting and being proud of the person that we indeed are - regardless of our race, colour, gender or sexuality. We’re also able to see and understand our circumstances and the environment far more clearly, as well as attract and connect with any needed external beneficial forces and situations. As I’ve already mentioned, everything is subject to the law of Cause and Effect - the ‘actual-proof-strength’ resulting from chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo always depends on our determination, sincerity and dedication. For example, the levels of difference could be compared to making a sound on a piano, creating a melody, producing a great song, and so on. Something else that’s very important to always respect and acknowledge is that the Law (or if you prefer God) is in everyone and everything. NB: There are frightening and disturbing sounds, and there are tranquil and relaxing sounds. It’s the emotional result of any noise or sound that can trigger off a mood or even instantly change one. When chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo each day, we are producing a sound vibration that’s the password to our true inner-self - this soon becomes apparent when you start reassessing your views on various things - such as your fears and desires etc. The best way to get the desired result when chanting is not to view things conventionally - rather than reaching out to an external source, we need to reach into our own lives and bring our needs and desires to fruition from within - including the good fortune and strength to achieve any help that we may need. Chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo also reaches out externally and draws us towards, or draws towards us, what we need to make us happy from our environment. For example, it helps us to be in the right place at the right time - to make better choices and decisions and so forth. We need to think of it as a seed within us that we’re watering and bringing sunshine to for it to grow, blossom and bring forth fruit or flowers. It’s also important to understand that everything we need in life, including the answer to every question and the potential to achieve every dream, already exists within us.

[@heinmolenaar6750]

Chanting coca cola has the same effect babe

[@MelodyT-o4g]

There is No Hell.....God wouldn't be that cruel

[@gleanerman2195]

Of course not, the catholic church invented it along with everything else christian.

[@Pete-the-great1964]

I will not be controlled by the invisible, silent so called dictator in the sky. Grow up and throw away these imaginary toys for good . Spread the love ,not religious hate. We will all be a lot happier and free😊😊❤

[@sueronhaworth5713]

more sense in that THANK YOU.

[@graymain]

well said Stephen :)

[@anthonymorris5084]

Man created God in his own image. Religious belief in the 21st century should be openly mocked.

[@TW-lz3nd]

THANK YOU!!!!!! Pure gold!! 😁

[@TheRealTruthBygod]

Thank you Panel for your illumination of the wonderful truth. The “Bible” is simply the rule book for one tribe- the Israelites/Jewish People. Here is a powerful definition of the Bible, including the New Testament. “ The Bible is an overarching set of rules to BIND the human spirit to imagined higher powers of control and judgment, designed by, and for the benefit of, the Priestly/Ruling Class.” As a child my darling wife had nightmares about going to hell. The world is better off without the preacher man and his Book. Reason, commonsense, and love is what nourishes the human spirit.

[@samuelburleigh1895]

The miracle of Evolution is too much to accept for many.

[@DavidHarvey-po9le]

So is quantum physics - it doesn't mean it doesn't work.

[@hughmann1118]

That's why I rejected Christianity--the morally bankrupt and cruel threat of hellfire. And the joy some Christians experience, imagining non-Christians suffering the torments of hell. Deplorable.

[@JackerEMPilate]

These great humans sown seeds and now they became big trees of reason and logic.

[@thunderousapplause]

The cognitive dissonance that I buried for half of my life was finally relieved once I decided to Google and found out that there were people like Dan Barker, and Christopher Hitchins. I found out that I wasn't the only one who thought religion was filled w massive contradictions and anti-science crap- so for decades I told myself I was wrong, and did not have, could not acquire, the proper faith required. Ahhahha! How we doubt ourselves. Of course, through religion, women have been taught we dont have minds equal to men. More absurd crapola.

[@rae0521]

Did I hear Stephen Fry say he does a lot of work in Uganda? This video I think was recorded somewhere in 2009. Isn't that the country that in 2023 just passed the anti-gay bill that puts you in jail for LIFE for just saying you're gay? I hope Fry isn't spending much time there now.

[@campfireaddict6417]

His heart is in the right place.

[@lobstermash]

Governments change.

[@rae0521]

@@lobstermash You've got that right!

[@DavidHarvey-po9le]

Don't worry - he's a millionaire - it doesn't apply to him.

[@MadebyJimbob]

Rights and law is wholly based on the threat of violence.

[@theultimategodofgaming3200]

It's based on the threat of punishment, not necessarily violence (although that is sometimes the case) Violence in this case is unnecessary harm inflicted upon another individual, which the God of the Bible commits in abundance.

[@robertfindley921]

OK, so there's a being (male of course) that created the universe 14+ billion years ago, including galaxies billions of light years away with billions of stars. I guess he played solitaire for an infinite amount of time before that because he always existed. But he can see inside my brain today and will tor*ture me forever if I don't ha*te hom*osex*uals? Does that really make any rational sense?

[@ericjohnson6665]

Yes, threatening otherwise good people with "hell" is emotional abuse, regardless of age. And I did wrestle with it as a youth. The Spirit of Truth helped me realize that the concept of "original sin" was bankrupt, just as it is helping atheists reach the same conclusion. A simple reality check told me I was a good person; thus, hell was not in my future. Nowadays, I recognize the concept of 'hell' for what it is, a psychological cudgel for enforcing conformity to the group's ethos. We no longer have one ethos to conform to. In America, the Constitution is our guiding legal principle. The worst it can do, is lock people up until they're dead. And 'hell' is just one of many concepts from the Bible that are now counterproductive. But there are other concepts in the Bible that are worthwhile, and it's the rare atheist that is willing to acknowledge that. I have yet to see anyone claim 'loving your neighbor as yourself' is a bad idea.

[@DavidHarvey-po9le]

What if you live by a narcissist that certainly doesn't love you - turning the other cheek gets both sides slapped.

[@Sirrus-Adam]

@@DavidHarvey-po9le - (Eric here, alternate label) Loving someone and turning the other cheek, are two different issues. To love someone is to desire to do good to them. That can include steering clear of them. "Turning the other cheek" is actually code for "do the unexpected" in order to take control of the situation. With normal people, taking it literally can be productive. Or 'a soft word turns away wrath', would be another one. Conversely, 'anger is like a stone hurled into a hornet's nest'... everyone gets stung. I lived with a narcissist for a while, then I moved to get out of the situation. If it's a neighbor, there's always 'fences make good neighbors'... It's not covered in the Bible to my knowledge, but learning what your boundaries are and standing up for them is essential. As children, Mom is in charge, and we have no real boundaries. But as we grow up, if we're lucky, we're taught what they are, and how to establish them. Boys are taught "boys don't hit girls" but how many girls are taught "don't be a bitch"?

[@pammer12345]

Yes reading the bible os a gateway to atheism. Happened to me after 40 yrs as a Christian.

[@gleanerman2195]

And now you are a much better human I'm sure, it happened to me too.

[@nicholasmccarthy8771]

God save us from religion.

[@herchelleonwood7463]

christians gave god to many human emotions when they made him up,,if god was real he would be above petty human emotions !!

[@BrandonKratz-ey5qd]

Santa claus- your parents Tooth fairy-your parents Easter bunny-your parents Religion- for if you dont have parents

[@TheAnarchitek]

Something cataclysmic happened about 5,000 years ago, wiping out whatever human civilization was prominent until then. The Hindi and Chinese calendars fizzle out before then, the Mayan Calendar was interpolated to produce its 5,137 years, and the granddaddy of them all, the Jewish Calendar, is another interpolation of "ages of the Patriarchs" listed in the Bible, although numbers in general cited in Scripture are suspect as a rule. The number arrived at, in the 19th Century AD, is 5,784, some 3,761 years before the zero year, or the birth of Christ (assumed). Religion grew out of these, and other, events and experiences, misinterpreted by later groups, who took the survivor stories as apocryphal, rather than eyewitness accounts. It's not hard to understand, the stories described events that eclipsed anything known or, even known to be possible. Some of the stories defied belief, regardless of knowing, so the rabbis of the 7th Century BC, who assembled the Tanakh, the books of Moses, from Genesis to Deuteronomy, heavily edited the stories. In the 3rd Century BC, when the Tanakh was written down, the text was edited, again, the last of the stories now 500 years in the past, the earliest more than a thousand years distant, Noah, and the Tower of Bable, more than two millennia distant. Six centuries later, Christians would begin taking their whacks at the stories, continuing down the centuries, to modern times. Religion, besides being the biggest and most-profitable business in history, is an artifact of ancient times we so misunderstand, venally misinterpret, and casually disregard. Events happened that wiped out up to 90% of ALL life on the planet, not once, not even twice, but at least three, maybe four, possibly five times, between Noah, circa the mid-25th Century, and Ezekiel, at the Fall of Empires. Survivors were scared out of their freaking minds, by events that beggar description! The world was turned upside down, at least once, and possibly twice. Seas leapt out of their beds, washed over the land, dragging humans, beasts, and all manner of buildings across the landscape, depositing them helter-skelter. The are good reasons why reason we find so many massive stone constructs, from Baalbek and Göbekli Tepe to Skara Brae and the mysteries of Central and South America, built to withstand torrential rains, floods, and winds that made a mockery of the Beaufort Scale, "moaning" so loudly and continuously, humans interpreted it as the "name" of God: Yahweh, later Jehovah, and all the derivatives of that sound. Something titanic happened, and happened again, repeatedly, for almost 1,700 years. The events so deeply affected the survivors, they made point of passing down their stories. After the first millennium of chaos, cataclysms, and catastrophes, humans adopted the notion that an intelligence beyond their understanding was directing the danger. Jews would only become "monotheistic" in the 12th Century BC, a period that saw the "Fall of Empires" (also the arrival of the "boat people"--displaced peoples who'd mastered the art of ship-building), a time when Zoroaster (aka Zarathustra) started his religion, still going some 3,250 years later, and probably the time of Akhenaten (Egyptology is good for one thing above all: screwing up the ancient timeline, in ways great and small). In the 7th Century BC, Jews "assembled" the Tanakh (basically the Old Testament), from the lore passed down to them in "survivor stories", disposing of some, altering others, because, "Hey, who's going to believe this?" They would do this again, in the 3rd Century BC, when vowels were added to Hebrew, and the earliest written copies of the Tanakh were committed to clay tablets and papyrus scrolls. In the process, much editing occurred, some because the lack of vowels and speakers of ancient Hebrew were causing problems, and, again, because, "Hey, who's going to believe this in a God who might kill you as look at you?", and other philosophical debates of the ignorant kind. About five hundred years later, Christians took up the task, beginning their own editing of the "old stories" they would call the Old Testament. They're still at it, as long later as the calamities of the ancient past lasted, seventeen centuries. In the process of all this religious zeal, human nature went merrily on, as venal, bloodthirsty, and far from perfect, or God-like, as ever. More evil has been done "in the name of God", than for any other single reason. Torquemada, the Salem Witch trials, the excesses of televangelists, Jim Jones (of Guyana infamy), David Koresh, and the likes of Duplantis and Osteen have to be a stench in the nose of God, for their inhumanity. Sadly, an entire political organization is currently trying to "force" God's hand, to "speed up" the Rapture, a 15th Century AD wackadoodle theory. The one thing the Bible reinforces beyond the shadow of any doubt is that humans bear little resemblance to their deity, and never have. The idea we are "created in His image" is vanity, and hubris, not exaltation.

[@maylingng4107]

China has continuous history without interruption or extinction for the past 20,000 years, and so do many other civilizations.

[@TheAnarchitek]

I'd like to see records of those millennia, now lost to time. Sadly, those earlier people left few, if any records, until about 5-6,000 years ago, so no, probably not. Or, very probably, unless you leave a monument like the Pyramids, time will take its toll. Humans like us have been around for a long, long time, and all women are related to one common female ancestor one or two hundred thousand years ago, so we're a very incestuous group. Even at a microscopic birthrate, there should be a lot more of us. We've been very efficient at self-pruning. Some would say, "Too efficient!" We may be the latest version, but whatever the fact, something drastic cut us off from the past, about 5-6,000 years ago. Since that general time, we have some continuous idea of events, personalities, and the flow of time. Something happened to erase most of the 240 to 480 generations between that woman and the women of today from the ledger. Even adjusting for two world wars, and the naturally rapacious and disputative natures of men, there are not enough people, today. The world population increased from around 1.6 billion, in 1900, to more than 8 billion, today, more than five times over, in almost 125 years, or every 25 years, a generation. It doesn't take higher math to realize, "Where'd everybody go?" Some force wiped out 95% of all life, more than once. If that hadn't happened, we'd have in the neighborhood of 17 septillion people on the planet, now, instead of 8 billion. Asia and India seem to have had more survivors, but their numbers could be caused by their histories, as easily. Maybe the lesson we haven't been learning is how to get along. There're a lot of people willing to kill for Jesus, or Allah, but few want to volunteer to be one of the victims. @@maylingng4107

[@maylingng4107]

@@TheAnarchitek The world's population is controlled by natural events. The slow growth in centuries ago was influenced by uncurable illnesses. As recently as two centuries ago, around 1 in 2 children died before reaching the end of puberty (50%) Today child mortality is 38 per 1000 or 3.8% --- a gigantic improvement. Nothing wiped out masses of people, nobody went anywhere. You are implying a catastrophic event like the Global Flood, which has never happened (all evidence refutes such a claim; it is a fraud perpetrated by religions). I can list 20,000 years of uninterrupted Chinese history without any mass extinction occurring (would you like to see it?). Allah, Jesus or any other gods are inventions of the terrified human minds; they never existed. Actually, more than 3,000 gods were invented by people, all with different god stories and full of myths and falsehoods. There is zero evidence for any of them: Allah, Jesus, Mithra, Zeus, Brahma, Jehovah.....etc. You list under your ID "Keep an eye out for The Arrival of God, arriving soon." Which god would that be? and what is the evidence for that god? Or are just in the habit of making things up without any evidence? Apparently so!

[@meofamily4]

@1:12 Holy Roman Emperor Charles V said he spoke Spanish to God. Apparently he was well-advised, because here we have God speaking Spanish to everyone else. Along with Hebrew.

[@DominusNox106]

I believe there may be some kind of Creator or Source. I also believe that it would not be found in these "holy books"

[@campfireaddict6417]

It's call The Universe.

[@gleanerman2195]

It's called NATURE.

[@DavidHarvey-po9le]

It's called something that doesn't care how you die as long as you do.