Thoughts from Lord Bobo.....
Offline I discovered this site yesterday....Yowerzs! very nice!
In reading some of the post, it is quick to see how the religion works. All religions follow a basic set of rules. All the rules are designed so that man would have control over things he didn't have control over, and to cheat death.
Rule 1. Offer a way to cheat death. - This is probably the most important one. All animals have a "need to survive". Humans are no different. We have doctors who treat the sick, laws to protect us from harm, and so forth. The idea of "once I die, that is the end of me" is so unbearable to most, that just about anyone would try to find a way to avoid it.
Rule 2. Bad behavior will be punished by the deity by exile to a horrible place. - This is a control issue. In order to have control over the worshipers, there has to be a "bad place" that is just so horrible, one would try to avoid it at any cost. Notice one has cheated death to be placed here. (Very important, for otherwise, it breaks rule 1)
Rule 3. Rituals must be performed to please the deity. - This is a control issue in the sense those who want to know what will happen in the future try to use any means necessary to gain the information or gain control over the outcome of future events. Acts such as praying, services, conversion, sacrifice of objects or animals or people are done to accomplish this.
Note- This same rule is used by those who control to keep control over the followers. Group activities have a powerful effect in keeping followers in line. Other tatics include peer pressure, shame, bonds of family, what one is allowed to see or hear, and so forth.
Rule 4. Explain things for people who need guidance - Again, a control issue. It is important to have an answer for every question. Answers must be vague enough so that it will allow for variances in the questions, but be precise enough to satisfy anyone who asked a question. Questions such as "Why are we here", or "Where did I come from" must be addressed, for this would lead to the deity being dismissed if not answered. For those who use the religion to their own agendas, this would be a very bad thing. They would lose power, and control. For those who follow, they would lose their leader, and would be lost.
Note - Some religions will have a master answer that covers anything that their guid book fails to cover. Example: "God wanted it that way"
Rule 5. Leaders must be used to "sheppard the flock" - By having religious leaders, those who use religion to further there own agendas can get to control the local population, thus giving them a sense of control and power. They will use whatever method they deem fit to suit their needs. For example the Aztecs performed human sacrifice, killing thousands. Muslims have clerics that cry for "holy way" that attracts thousands to their cause. Christians have a "pope" that decides how they will live.
Rule 6. One must not question the deity. - By nature, humans are curious. They strive for knowledge. This is a big problem for those who control, for if one ask the question that they can't answer, or see something they are not supposed to see, then all is lost for those who control.
Rule 7. All other deities are false. This is a VERY important rule. Otherwise, all the other rules would not work. Think about it. If both the Aztecs gods and the Christian god was real, then that would cause a real problem for those who are in control. How would one attract followers and gain power if you had a competitor? Just like in business, you would want not to have any competitors, for that would cause you to lose business. In religion, this would cause a loss of worshipers. You only have one product, the competitor has the same product. How can one separate themselfs from the other, and make them the "only one to have"? The only way is to claim all other's are false. Still, the competitor can do the same thing.
Rule 8. The real reason behind conversion is to gain acceptance by others. If all follow the same drummer, then there is no conflict, and the ones in control keep it.
These rules are the basic ones, but you get the idea. Feel free to add to this list.
Gods do not directly kill people for they do not exist...
People who worship gods kill lots of people everyday......
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Basically right, but not all religions follow every one - not all religions have an equivalent of hell, and some, like buddhism, allow people to follow other religions as well.
Matt Shizzle has been banned from the Rational Response Squad website. This event shall provide an atmosphere more conducive to social growth. - Majority of the mod team
Some religions allow you to keep coming back to a life here on Earth until you get it right (reincarnation). I guess living as a peasant on a farm in India might be a close equalivant to hell.
Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful. - Seneca
I see what you are saying. Not all of them follow all the rules. However, most of them do. I do think it is silly how some of them will say things like "you are going to hell" or with some of the Islam nuts who will kill you if you do not convert to their way of thinking. I should add one other rule to the first post.
Maybe these can be rules of thumb - usually apply, but not always. I do believe however, the basic reason for religion to exist is to simply control things one can not, Explain things one does not know about, and to cheat death. If I'm wrong on this, could someone provide a example of a religion that does not follow these 3 principles?
Gods do not directly kill people for they do not exist...
People who worship gods kill lots of people everyday......
if confronted with islam or death i would choose islam, no doubts.
only because i think it would be easy to act like a moslem.........
"Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside awakens."
-Carl G. Jung
If we ended up with nuts like that running around the streets.....wait...we already have idiots like that. ewww!
Gods do not directly kill people for they do not exist...
People who worship gods kill lots of people everyday......
I got to thinking about some things the other day, and I remember being asked by a god-squader this question: "What are you so afraid of? Jesus died for your sins!"
Now, this question got me thinking. I wanted to make sure I gave a good response, so I paused for a moment, and replied something along the lines of: "If you are implying I'm afraid of believing, then you are wrong." This was a poor response from me, and hindsight being what it is, I thought I would post a proper response to this question.
"Afraid...lets see here. I accept and am comfortable with the FACT that when I die, that is the end of me. No afterlife, nothing. The end. You on the other hand do ridiculous rituals and chant silly things for you are so desperate to avoid death. You even make things up like souls just to trick yourself into thinking avoiding death is possible.
I accept and am comfortable with the FACT that there are things I can not control, no matter what I do. You on the other hand do ridiculous rituals and chant silly things in order to attempt to gain some measure of control of things. Notice how things like earthquakes and hurricanes kill lots of people. It didn't help them now did it?
I accept and am comfortable with the FACT that there are things in the universe that I have not learned yet, but given time, I can. I will look at things objectively, and question things to gain a better understanding. You on the other hand attempt to do things in such a manner that deliberately puts blinders , handcuffs, and a muzzle on you, limiting you to what you can think, do or say. Your reasoning is if you stray from this path, bad things will happen to you after your "body" has worn out.
Oops! You broke the speed limit one day by 1 MPH. OH NO! Your going to the bad place! Oh wait, you say.."I can do a silly chant and a ridiculous ritual to protect myself. I can't let myself go to the bad place. I can't let myself die!!! I just can't!"
You have the nerve to call me "afraid"?
Please.
The only one who is afraid is you. "
Gods do not directly kill people for they do not exist...
People who worship gods kill lots of people everyday......
Had a thought - why is it the god-squader thinks they will live forever, but they get really defensive when someone tries to hurt them? For example; if you were to take a gun and point at one, they would do things to ty to stay alive. JUST ABOUT ANYTHING. Yet they keep talking how it is so great to be "With the lord" How it will be wonderful to be in heaven after death.
Isn't this odd?
I'm not condoning pointing a gun at anyone. I'm just making a point here.
Gods do not directly kill people for they do not exist...
People who worship gods kill lots of people everyday......
Thought for today..
No amount of faith will change a lie to the truth.
I always thought it was a bit hypocritical that the Pope has a bulletproof car. Don't kill me, I may die and go to heaven, just like the plan says.
The paper read yesterday, the earth exploded, nobody noticed the passing of this hapless planet.
A Muslim blows himself up, thinking he will me in heaven with 72 virgins. How stupid is this? Why would one need sex in heaven if you live forever? For that matter what happens after you have sex with all 72 of them for lets say 1000 times each? Wasn't the whole point of the virgins is to have fresh unused women to have sex with? Notice how the virgin thing has no mention of girl or boy. That is just sick when one really thinks about it. What if when they get to heaven (we know it doesn't exist, but bear with me here) and they find 72 guys just like them! (I got that from a Walter & Jeff Dunham skit)
Seriously, what are these dudes thinking? They blow stuff up, thinking "We will drive out the infidels, and have a pure Islamic state." It has been happening for years now, and they are no closer than they were centuries ago. If anything, it has gotten worse for them. For the most part, the entire world is pissed at them, and is hunting them. I honestly believe the world will be nuked to cinders because of them one day. (And that will be the end of them and everything else on the planet....except cockroaches...they can survive anything.)
Gods do not directly kill people for they do not exist...
People who worship gods kill lots of people everyday......
A buddy of mine post this link on another forum I lurk in today.
www.facebook.com/album.php
I went to give it a look and I'm discusted by what I see. Here you have people suffering. Homes destroyed, lives lost, fires everywhere. This "person" has the nerve to imply the following:
"Wow, if the fires on earth are this bad, the fires in Hell are even worse. God and I don't want you to burn in hell forever, therefore, accept christ as your savior"
This is nothing more than using fear to promote their religion. The basic message being "Either worship me, or you will be punished". And this from a deity that "loves you".
Gods do not directly kill people for they do not exist...
People who worship gods kill lots of people everyday......
Give it up for terrorism.
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Indeed.
Enlightened Atheist, Gaming God.
I always though the message was:
"Worship me or I'll fucking kill you and your whole family. Then I'll cast you all into the lake of fire where you'll burn forever. By the way, I love you"
After eating an entire bull, a mountain lion felt so good he started roaring. He kept it up until a hunter came along and shot him.
The moral: When you're full of bull, keep your mouth shut.
MySpace
He love peole so much that their "good" book says he killed over 10,000,000 folks....
That's right! He LOVES YOU SO MUCH HE WANTS YOU DEAD!
By the way, how do they know he is a "he"? Why not a "she", or "it", or some tri-gender thing.
Tri-gender...how in the f*** would that work? Wait, I rather not know that one....
Gods do not directly kill people for they do not exist...
People who worship gods kill lots of people everyday......
When I'm driving down the road, I really have this urge sometimes to alter the signs the churches put up in an attempt to lure people in so they can spew lies at them. I saw one that said:
"Sign broken. Come inside to get message"
All I want to do is add ONE word here to make it truthful.:
"Sign broken. Come in to get deceitful message"
Another one I saw:
"Be a big kid with a Big God."
Truthful editing to -
"Be a smart kid with no god."
Gods do not directly kill people for they do not exist...
People who worship gods kill lots of people everyday......
Here is the setup:
You have 2 friends in 2 locations in eyesight with video cameras.
You are wired for sound.
This is so your actions and sounds around you can be recorded.
You carry signs that say the following in large type>
Now you carry the signs on a Sunday morning on the street, mainly showing the first sign. You friends film you. If anyone approaches you, you do not attempt to engage them in conversation. If they start talking religion, you switch between the first 3 signs. YOU DO NOT SPEAK OR ENGAGE THEM IN COMMUNICATION AT ALL. That is extremely important.
How long would it take before someone attempts to take the signs from you by force? Odds are less than 5 minutes.
If they try - show them the 4th sign, point to the cameras, smile, and keep walking around on the street.
The point I'm making here is try to threaten anyone's religion at all, and usually they will do something to silence you.
Sad isn't it? Are not humans better than this?
Gods do not directly kill people for they do not exist...
People who worship gods kill lots of people everyday......