Penn Jillette: "Take some time and put the Bible on your summer reading list. Try and stick with it cover to cover. Not because it teaches history; we've shown you it doesn't. Read it because you'll see for yourself what the Bible is all about. It sure isn't great literature. If it were published as fiction, no reviewer would give it a passing grade. There are some vivid scenes and some quotable phrases, but there's no plot, no structure, there's a tremendous amount of filler, and the characters are painfully one-dimensional. Whatever you do, don't read the Bible for a moral code: it advocates prejudice, cruelty, superstition, and murder. Read it because: we need more atheists — and nothin' will get you there faster than readin' the damn Bible." http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Penn_J...an_Atheist_and_Other_Magical_Tales_.282011.29
That's funny because I made a half-hearted attempt to read it cover to cover one summer back in junior high many years ago, but the boredom, lack of direction, and seeming pointlessness of reading it made me stop very early in Genesis. Even in Church I had always felt sleepy listening to sermons despite having a full night's sleep. Ultimately, I figured for myself that I was wasting my time going to church. I stopped going while my mom continued for many more years until later she stopped going as well. Anyway, many people only act Christian on Sundays!
Apparently what he was saying, when read in context, is not to put anyone before him. Poor wording/translation for sure. It does seem that ol' JC was a bit of a megalomaniac. Oh well, none of us are perfect, he was only human.
What if the universe became self aware at some point? Given enough time, anything is possible. All of us, regardless of belief, or non-belief as the atheists call it, everyone must face the idea that there was a point where time began, and something did in fact come from nothing. At this point in our time we do not have enough factual evidence to be conclusive about our theories. All of us are taking our conjectures on a certain amount of faith, be it science or religion.
And of the two, which do you find has better served our advancement thus far: reason and critical thinking, or the chanting of verses and gospels? (Never mind that science is the antithesis of faith, unless you refer to confidence in critical thinking and confuse the term with unsupported faith. Look around you and see what critical thinking has achieved. And then look at what mere, unquestioning faith continues to perpetrate notably in certain parts of the world, but also in our own backyard.)
Maybe, maybe not. If we accept there is some type of greater being, then it doesn't have to be Christianity. It can be Mormonism, Islam, or the Ancient gods that the Greeks used to believe in. Why not worship Zeus and his mighty thunderbolt, or Poseidon, ruler of the seas, or the Sun God Apollo. Before modern civilization, many cultures worshipped the Sun as a god. Did God create man, or did man create God? My belief is that man created all these religions as a result of our evolved intelligence. We have intelligence, planning, and foresight, which made us try to understand the world and hope for some life beyond. Without science, seemingly the only rational explanation for natural disasters and disease seemed to be the will of God or gods. The ancient people said, "the gods are angry. They want a sacrifice! We must throw one virgin over the cliff!" Or, "ten goats must be slain and the blood spilled onto the Earth!" The powers that be in ancient times saw how religion can be used to control and manipulate people, thus encouraged it. Some other people saw that religion can be abused. Recall in the United States three hundred years ago the Salem witch trials resulted in the deaths of numerous innocent women by hanging. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salem_witch_trials
I believe SCIENCE has done us well otherwise we wouldn't have nuclear bombs pointed at each other. Oh, maybe it is Religion's fault we have bombs pointed at each other? :eek: Science and technology are destroying the world as we know it. Thanks Science! Thanks for all of the pollution and all the other crap you have heaped upon the world!
Those Wacky Atheists read a book that was written ages ago and see it as proof that there is no possibility of a supreme being. Talk about wacky thinking! LOL!