In the End

I've often said in the past that if I could get just one religious person to put fear aside and to really examine the belief-system that they've likely been handed(just as it was handed to me), then it would all be worth it in the end. But who am I fooling? Come on....... really? Do I really believe that deep down?

I'm starting to wonder. I mean, is it really worth leaving the impression with the people I encounter online that I'm "difficult", trying to "one-up" everyone, and overall, just a big meanie because they are the ones who can't see that being an atheist blogger doesn't define me? Is it really worth the thousands of hours of blogging/discussing/debating, and yes, sometimes arguing, just to have most people write-off what I have to say with the wave of a hand, simply because they've been indoctrinated to do just that? Is it really worth putting aside the things in life that bring joy, as opposed to conflict and derision, just so someone can tell me with straight face that I'm "blinded by Satan"?......::sigh::

There's only one thing worse than having an invisible friend, and that's having an invisible enemy.

Church Marquees Continued...

The words of wisdom for today are:




Feed your faith.......

......starve your doubts.

 I suppose that there could be worse advice than this, but I can't think of any at this present moment. Of course, this is straight off the church marquee I saw just a few hours ago, so it's fresh in my mind. Then again, viewed from within the Christian bubble it makes perfect sense, doesn't it? Yes. If a thought that conflicts with your Christian worldview attempts to enter your mind, DON'T let it in! Thought be gone!...vamos! This is the devil tempting you!.......::sigh::


But today, being on the outside of the Christian bubble, there stands a herd of elephants in the living room. When it comes to religion, "doubt" is bad thing. Amen. Yet, interestingly, doubt and skepticism, which go hand in hand, are tools that we use in our everyday lives that keep us from being duped, and at times, doubt and skepticism keep us from being physically and/or emotionally harmed, and in some cases even killed.

I've said it before and it's worth repeating: Being skeptical weeds out error. Doubting the used car salesman whose sales-pitch seems too good to be true might very well save you from investing your hard-earned money in a hunk of junk or a lemon that might break once you drive it off the lot, and if not then, a week later.

See, in no other facet of life but religion (or "spirituality") do we cast skepticism aside and just believe, unquestionably. It's almost as if the redactors of the Bible knew damned-well that what they were selling was outrageous and unbelievable - mind you, this is coming from people who didn't even know where the sun went at night - so they needed to include a clause or two that admonished the reader to NOT allow doubt into their minds.

The red flag unfurls.