The World Is Full Of Gods

            When I started this blog I was only doing it for a grade. As many of my reader know I am in an English Comp class at Jacksonville State University taught by Tanya Sasser. Over the course of the semester I have tried to inform my readers of the various religions that exist and have existed over the course of human history. I tried to let you know about different things that those people believe, or to give you insight to why they lived their lives in a certain way.

·         Vikings Believed that you could only enter Valhalla of you were killed in battle. So they spent much of their life pillaging and burning other civilizations. 

Photo fromWikiCommons

·         Snake Handlers think that if you are a true Christian you are invincible (they’re obviously wrong).

Photo courtesy of The Iranian

·         Hindus and Buddhists believe that you have to answer for your actions weather you “repent” of them or not. Karma even follows you to the next life, this makes them (mostly) very peaceful people.

gif from 4gifs

·         Mormons believe that it is possible for a man to rise to the level of God, if he is important enough (like John Smith). They also believe some other crazy stuff (i.e. Burnt people, and Magic Underpants)

·         Greeks believed their Gods to be fallible and imperfect.

·         Christians believe that as long as they believe in Jesus and repent of their sins, God will forgive them no matter what they do.

Photo from Outside the camp

·         Atheists don’t believe in any of it. We just feel like everyone should be good to each other and get along.

 

Photo from Greg Laden

·         I even showed how religions borrow stories from one another.

Every one of these groups of people feel like their answer is the only correct answer.

Everyone feels like everyone else is wrong.  Each religion has a way of forcing their beliefs on another. For some, like Jehovah’s Witness, this involves knocking on your door at 6 a.m. on Saturday morning. For others, like the Catholic Church, this involves forcing the rest of the world to accept their morals, weather we believe them or not. In many cases spreading the word of religion can be a good thing, many missionaries travel to other countries and build homes and schools, feed, and clothe poor children. But in some cases it is taken too far, today in America, we deny marriages, abortions, birth control, and even sex education all based off the religious views of one group of Americans. We all need to step back and try and see the world through the eyes of someone else sometimes. We get so caught up in our own culture that we forget that other people see things differently, this doesn’t make them inherently bad, this only makes them different. 

 

Pic from ReasonedRants

            Even though the class I started this blog for ends this week, I will still continue to post until people stop reading. Thank you to all of my classmates who have helped me become a better writer over the last few months. I wish you all the best of luck.

Photo from OlaBetiku

 

5 Things You Didn't Know About Religion

1. Greek Gods Hated Babies. Now, some of you may have read my blog last week. So you may actually know this one. The Greeks version of creation is filled with baby hate. The god Erebus trapped all of his children in hell (until one escaped and castrated him). Cronos ate all his babies (except one, and he regretted that).

Picture from Faceplant Review

Zeus had many children (with MANY women) that he ignored, while his wife Hera would torment them and “test” them continuously. I guess Zeus didn't know how diabolical these baby gods can be.

“Origin of Species” By Godzillaz-strip

2.Getting High For Jesus. Have you been busted for trafficking 20 tons (40,000 lbs) of marijuana? Do you want to get off free and clear, and keep your pot? Well, just claim that you are practicing an old Jamaican religion, The Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church. A sect of Christianity founded by pot farmers, in Jamaica.

Picture from I Bud You

In 1979, the state of Florida recognized them as an official religion, and came to the decision that the “use of cannabis is an essential portion of the religious practice." Therefore it falls under the protection of the first amendment. With expensive lawyers and much persistence they beat the system, and people said pot heads are lazy.

3. Scientology. Here is a newer religion that is gaining much popularity, especially with celebrities. This religion was founded by L. Ron Hubbard (1911-1986). Hubbard was a science fiction writer, but some people, for some reason, believe it as fact.

Picture courtesy of Citizen Warrior:

 He wrote that people are actually immortal beings, who forgot our “true nature,” practitioners are often required to relive past traumatic events in order to “free themselves” form their past, this is called an audit. Auditing in scientology involves measuring the body’s resistance to electricity with a machine called an E-meter. An electrical current is passed through your body and the auditor asks questions and reads the E-meter to see if you have been “cleared.”

Picture from FL Dept, of Corrections.

“I’m ready for my audit now guys…. Guys? Ummm… guys?"

Scientologists believe we are the confused spirits of aliens frozen, transported to this planet, killed in a volcano, and then brainwashed (in that order) by the powerful Lord Zenu. The confused alien spirits then inhabited the bodies of pre-historic man.

Check out this short, two minute video from The BBC:

4. Burnt Souls. OK, so far everything has been fairly tame. No one has been offended yet, right? Well, I can fix that for you. According to the Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi verse 5:21;

“And he had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, that they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them.”

Video courtesy of JeramiahFilms:

This one is a bit long, if you don't want to watch the whole thing, skip to 2:00 minutes, you'll only have to watch about 30 seconds.

Wow…. They actually believe that black skin is a curse, bestowed by God, as a punishment for not choosing a side in the battle between God and the Devil.

Picture from South Park.

5. Magic Underpants. It comes as no surprise that the same people, who believe that last statement, also believe some other crazy things. Mormons have what they call their “Temple Garments” but to the rest of the world these are known as Magic Underpants.

Picture courtesy of Motifake.com

Mormons believe that wearing these underpants provides them with “Spiritual Protection” and helps them resist the temptation of sin. Many Mormons insist that the underpants also provide physical protection, though they argue on the amount of physical protection it has. Some church leaders claim that their underpants have protected them in car wreaks, fires, and other natural disasters.

Photo from Autoalerts.com

I think I’ll nickname my underpants “Magic Brown"

So, you need not be offended by what Mormons think,  they believe some weird stuff. I mean, the entire religion was founded when a man supposedly found some gold tablets in the woods, he was the only one allowed by god to see or read these tablets. Man, some people are gullible.

Picture By David Horsey

What is wrong with Atheists?

        I am an Atheist. In today’s society saying those words will, more often than not, make people think awful things. Atheists are the least trusted minority in America. In a recent Gallup poll Americans voted that they are least likely to elect an Atheist as president. I personally would like to see a president that has no religious affiliation and is open about it. Although, I am happy to see that seven of ten people would open minded enough to enough to elect a Gay or Lesbian president. Our leaders religious affiliation shouldn’t matter, neither should their gender or sexual preference. It is because of this closed-minded, ethnocentric thinking that our country is struggling, we worry more about the little things than we do about the actual intelligence level of our politicians.

            Another recent study by The University of British Colombia and The University of Oregon, detailed in an article on USA Today states that a majority of people believe Atheists to be less trust worthy than rapists. I don’t think I should have to point out the absurdity of this frame of mind. But, obviously, I am part of the minority and if people think I am less trustworthy than a rapist, then that will eventually cause some major problems in my life.

            Many people think this way because their pastors or other church leaders convince them of it. According to many different people like Heather Basher on Landover Baptist forums “All atheists believe in evolution, which means they don't believe in morality and think we should all act like animals.” She also states in the same post that “a lot of mass murderers were atheists, and all atheists, having no morality to guide them, are only a bad day away from going on a genocide spree. There have no exactly zero cases on Christian mass murderers throughout all of history.” First off I would like to point out that Ted Bundy was a mormon and a man named Burce Lee (no not THE Bruce Lee) killed twentysix people was a self proclaimed christian. And secondly, I would like to state that I do have morals. I argue that atheists, on the whole, are more moral than religious people. Atheists do not need promise of devine punishment to keep from killing, raping, or tortureing anybody. I refrain from doing these things because I feel personally that it is wrong. If the only thing keeping christians from going on a “genocide spree” is the fact that the will go to hell then there is something wrong with them, not me. I suggest you take the time and read the rest of her post, her views on the problems with Atheism are numerious and a perfect example of the ingorance that we deal with daily.

            Although, citizens can hardly be balmed for their hatred and bigotry. In August 1987 George Bush Sr said, “I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God.” He was trying to say that since he feels that our nation was founded on christian principles, non-christians have no place here. There are many problems with his statement. The first problem is that we are not “one nation under god” the phrase wasn’t even added to our Pledge of Allegence until 1954. The United States didn’t adopt the motto “in god we trust” intil 1956. Secondly, Most of our founding fathers were either Agnostic meaning they belive a higher power exsists but do not know which one or Deist which means they think there is a god, but he doesn’t interfere with man, they also didn’t believe the supernatural miricles in the bible and didn’t support the “trinity”. Some were even Atheists like Benjamen Franklin, George Washington, and James Madison. Our nation was founded by men who were trying to escape the religious oppression of the Church of England. They came here to find a freedom to worship or not worship how they wanted without fear of punishment. Once we decide that “Atheists aren’t citizens” we are destroying everything this country was founded for. The problem with people distrusting Atheists and saying the ignorant things they say is that it makes us out the be second class citizens. Most Atheists don’t want to fight with Christians, what you belive is entirely your choice and it has absolutely nothing to do with my life.

            Oh, and as far as “Atheists aren’t patriots” I would like to refer you to a picture that I found. It pretty much sums up how I feel.

In conclusion, what is wrong with Atheists? Nothing is wrong with us, we are human and therefore we have our own opinions. That doesn’t make us bad.

Religionless

I was started in church earlier then I can even remember. Every Sunday my mother would load my sister, brother, and I into the station wagon and take us to pick up our grandmother. We would then head out to a small Baptist church somewhere in Decatur, Georgia. I have vague memories of Sunday school and I seem to remember getting disciplined on more than one occasion for climbing in the church.

        After a few years my mom stopped taking us and we mostly just forgot about church in general. I didn’t start going to church again until I was in middle school, then I went to Zion Christian Fellowship in Lithia Springs. Church was a good escape from my home life and whenever things would get bad at home I would go to church. There I learned many things about the bible. I developed a close friendship with the pastor and his family.  I became a rather devout Christian for some time, but the more I learned about the bible and the more I watched the news and learned about the world I started to have questions. Why is God so cruel? Why in the bible did God turn Lot’s wife to a pillar of salt simply for looking back towards home? How did God make light before he made a light source? Why did he need to send Jesus to die for our sins? If he were truly all powerful could he not simply forgive us?

Image from: Think That Through

         By high school I started to learn the theory of evolution and saw how it contradicted the creation story in Genesis. And it occurred to me, if one part of this book is untrue than the book as a whole loses credit as being fact. It was then that I decided to look into other religions. I spent much of the next couple of years looking into different religions, my mother works at a book distributor so this made it easy for me to have fairly unlimited access to many religious texts. For a short time in tenth grade I started a “coven” with a few other friends from school, we really didn’t do anything but draw pentagrams on all of our stuff, dress in all black, and read a lot of books on witch craft. I looked briefly into the Necronomicon which is a book on summoning the dead, but couldn’t take it seriously. All these things had one major flaw in common. They all had a creation stories or similar stories that contradicted known scientific facts. Buddhism, in my opinion, is the only contradiction to the previous statement. A quote from Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama says "if scientific analysis were conclusively to demonstrate certain claims in Buddhism to be false, then we must accept the findings of science and abandon those claims." I wish all religions would be so reasonable, but I will talk more about Buddhism in a later post.

        It was at this point that I turned my attention and efforts to my science book. I found an abundance of answers to nearly all my questions. Why is the universe so big? Where did it all come from? Which came first the chicken or the egg? How can there be life and beauty without god/ gods? It was only after much study and debate that today I confidently call myself an Atheist. I honestly do not believe that any gods exist; we are here through random chance. The fact that there is no god does not make life any less beautiful or meaningful. In fact I think it makes life more important, we don’t need to focus on what we imagine will happen to our “spirit” when we die. We need to focus on living the only life we will ever get and make the most of it. Not believing in god does not make me immoral either, I chose to be good because it is the right thing to do, not because I think I will be punished for all eternity. I don’t however think that other people should have to give up their religions, some people need a coping mechanism to keep them happy until such a time as their heart stops, their brain turns off and they go into the ground forever. Because once someone is dead, they will never know if they were wrong.

Introduction

          Greetings and salutations! My name is Jeremy I am starting this blog primarily for my EH 101 class for spring 2013. I do not know yet if I intend on keeping track of it after this semester. So if you like this blog and I suddenly stop posting, I apologize in advance.

        In this blog I will be covering many different religions around the world, to give you a better understanding of what other cultures believe. In most societies religion in the driving force, despite efforts to keep religion and government separate. Most devout believers refuse to accept that their "god" has no actual place in politics. In many countries it is illegal not follow the national religion, even punishable by imprisonment of in some cases death. Most people won't look outside of their own theology to try and expand their mind. Most parents show their children to be the same way, they raise their child to believe blindly in their own god/gods while condemning all others as lies or "of the devil." Because of this with each passing generation we as a people get more and more divided. As this happens believers become more ingrained in their beliefs and are more likely to defend their religion in radical ways. This has been the cause of countless wars and genocides over the course of human history. I feel that if everyone had enough respect to simply learn about other beliefs and cultures we would all live on a much more pleasant planet. I hope that this blog helps just a few people to open their mind, and think for themselves. instead of blindly following the (usually outdated) teachings of our parents or grandparents.