Atheism vs. Religion

[Aedak]

Let me say this first, I'm probably one of the most socially open-minded people around. That said, I'm also one of the most hardcore rationalist/atheist/freethinkers around as well.

Logic and science rule my universe, and in that universe there is no need for a God. However, as long as there are people fearing death, a new religion will be created. I have a quote I'll share with you guys, as I think it is actually a good representation of social history:


"The religion of one age is the literary entertainment of the next."


I'm not going to go into this too much, but just in case someone doesn't understand...

Think of the ancient Aztecs, who believed human sacrifice was necessary to keep the world from being destroyed by an Apocalypse. Obviously, today we don't believe this, nor do we make human sacrifices in fear of the world ending. I can imagine people talking about Christianity, Mormanism (especially but I won't get into that yet), and other current religions in the future as we talk about the ancient Aztecs today. However, most of the world doesn't see this, they go to church every Sunday, and tend to take their religious text (every religion has one :P) too literally.

It's my opinion that religion preys on the weak-minded. Ready for another fun quote?


"Organized religion is like organized crime; it preys on peoples' weaknesses, generates huge profits for its operators, and is almost impossible to eradicate."


That's my view anyway, and to me holidays like Christmas are now only mere economically driven events used by the media and businesses to generate profit. Now I'll give it to you guys, there are plenty of Christians out there that seriously celebrate Christmas, but let's be honest here and acknowledge the state our society is in.

Now, on to the Bible... Oh yes another quote:


"Santa is to God, as the Bible is to Mother Goose."

Now here's one I really love. Not only does it capture exactly what I want to say, it's only mildly offensive. You've all heard of Santa right? He's the myth your parents told you about when you were all children. Now, imagine this same concept on a larger scale. Instead of Santa, imagine your god, and instead of your parents, imagine our ancestors pre-dating early Roman society. A bunch of people get together and say, "Hey, let's start a religion!" Sounds like a good idea right? Teach people some morals and gain some power in the process! They say, "Sure, that's a great idea, now for the religious text!"

Ok, maybe it didn't happen exactly like that, but you hopefully see the point I'm getting at which is religion is a scheme created a long time ago to keep the weak-minded in check, cattle if it were.

Sadly, today we live in a time where the cattle-mentality dominates, and people no longer think for themselves. Instead of people doing things for themselves, they rely on a magical man in the sky to fulfil their desires and needs. Ready for more quotes? I knew you were...


"Give a man a fish, and you'll feed him for a day; give him a religion, and he'll starve to death while praying for a fish."

and...

"I'm sickened by all religions. Religion has divided people. I don't think there's any difference between the pope wearing a large hat and parading around with a smoking purse and an African painting his face white and praying to a rock."


That second quote brings up another point I'll talk about, since it seems I'm in the rambling-on mood today.

Religion "has" divided people. Look at the war in the middle east which has been going on for nearly 2 millenia now. These people have been fighting over their "holy land" (and I say those words with extreme sarcasm) and from an Atheist viewpoint, it's just absurd and ridiculous.


I look forward to seeing the replies, since I can't think of anything else to cover. I'll wait till they start showing up as I'm sure they will.