and thinking God obviously never took entry level psych, because: 1) punishment is most useful for decreasing a unwanted behavior in the future. 2) punishment is most effective when administered immediately after the unwanted behavior is displayed. Hell doesn’t work in either respect.I remember learning about punishment in a Psych Course
gonna reblog myself, just talking about one of these steps and emphasizing how artificial religion is every once in a while.
15. Remember when they taught us about the book burnings in school? It wasn’t only countercultural books they burned; they burned the alternate versions of scripture.
Anonymous asked
Simple.
Have you ever been to a concert? It’s so easy to get into (good) live music. Throw your hands up and you’re that much more vulnerable.
Think about why they use all those environmental factors to create the feeling of a supposedly omnipresent God’s presence: palming foreheads, epic powerful voices no doubt, and music. Do you need convincing stimuli to feel something thats supposed to be always there?
As a child, and admittedly sometimes now, under the right conditions (namely alone in the dark at night, possibly on the way to the kitchen or bathroom), I’d feel a presence of monsters right behind me, around the corner, or just outside a window. Give it a shot, turn off the lights and imagine the monsters. The presence of the monster in the closet that children feel is of the very same ilk. It’s the same level of reality and it should warrant the same level of both respect and doubt.
Anonymous askedReligion has deep roots in the history of the world. From believers of Apollo, to those of Allah, the religious have greatly impacted the world, giving us what we have today. The spread and fluctuation of the world’s religions allowed for me and you to be born. No doubt. It’s influenced the best and worst of the world, from art, music and architecture, to war and torture. However, none of this has any bearing on whether this or that ideology is true.
Is religion important? Yes, it has shaped our world profoundly. But only important in the sense that a huge meteor penetrates the atmosphere and makes extinct a million species. That is, it has a great impact on the events of the world. Is this impact good or bad? Charity, community, a level of moral teaching: good. Lies, rape, stoning, simply brainwashing: definitely bad. Religion gives bad people reasons to do good things, and good people reasons to do bad things. If the religion is a false religion, these reasons aren’t good.
The problem is, at most, only one of these religions (not to mention denominations) can be true. Each claims to be the only truth and the only way. Which means that there are countless false religions.
The question was rather vague and I could have gone in any direction with it, can you/someone ask something more specific?
question and answers from a secularist in hopes of intellectual discussion. ask me questions, or invite me to ask you something about your faith.
