NewtonPooton

...while watching History Channel... (and I’m long winded)

People who have near death experiences "see" and "feel" EXACTLY what they would expect to see. If their physical experience while unconscious is good or bad then it seems to follow that they would dream of either heaven or hell. Ex: the guy on TV has a punctured stomach (or something) and goes to the ER for surgery. They said he was completely out of it but I bet he was still somewhat aware of what was going on around him: the doctors and nurses and getting cut open and cut up and fixed and stuff. His mind translated that into a Hell experience so he could handle it. Like when people will forget bad childhood experiences as a tool by the brain or psyche to protect themselves.

We have Christians living their lives according to beliefs they pull out of the Bible whose authors pulled their ideas from the ancient Greeks and Egyptians, like the Book of the Dead or the Greek idea of Hades that Jesus stole. Ideas of the soul and heaven and hell come almost directly from them. Hell, in the old testament, all the dead Jews all went to She’ol whether they were good or bad. And the folks who preach hellfire and damnation use fear as a way to control people into believing what they want them to believe or living the way they want them to live. The ancient Levites (OT) scared people into following their ways by threatening death (not damnation) by way of stoning or something.

I think people just want something to be scared of. And people who want to control others (i.e. Politicians/ Levites) want to scare them into submission to make them easier to control. It’s easier to control somebody’s mind than it is their body. If you convince the majority that something is wrong because their “God� says so, then they’ll take you seriously. Bush saying that same sex marriage destroys the sanctity of marriage is an example. He sites all sorts of bogus bullshit religious reasons as why he thinks that way. Control using fear is a form of power over the people, especially ignorant small minded people who can’t really think for themselves. It even seems the news media are more interested in keeping us scared of each other and the world than anything else.

Why are there so many people today who believe without question? I think it has something to do with selective breeding. Some people are more apt to believe anything somebody in an authority position tells them. Maybe a genetic trait? If so then the huge number of people in the world who are so easily convinced could be explained by this. A stupid gene. :-) Think of the inquisitions in Europe (Spanish and papal) where all those thousands of people were murdered and tortured and burned at the stake. What do you think that did to the gene pool?

And when biblical scholars talk about the serpent in the garden of Eden, they don’t even seem to consider when that was written and by whom. I’ve read that scholars think the Levites wrote it about 700 years b.c.e. as a way of getting people to fear and hate the different Goddess religions. “When God was a Woman� by I forgot, explained (in agonizingly boring detail) the history of the several goddess religions and how they were changed and destroyed over hundreds or thousands of years. The serpent used to represent the Goddess/ Creatress and was not a bad thing. People 2700 years ago hearing the story of the serpent and how she brought the downfall of MAN because of WOMAN would have known what the serpent represented. Back in the day the Levites were the ones who wanted the power and who wrote the rules (Leviticus) and they benefited in big ways: the best food, clothes, housing and a cut of everybody’s money.

And the book of Job reminds me of something the ancient Greeks would write. “The God’s are hanging out on Mt. Olympus talking about this dude and...� blah blah blah. I can’t believe that story is even in the bible. When I did believe a couple years ago, I went to a 7th day Adventist church (WEIRD!) and they were trying to explain scientifically the happenings of Job. Even being a believer at the time, I thought it was all really stupid. I want to know who heard the conversation between god and the devil before they wrote it down.

Religious people on TV would sound less idiotic if they were speaking of something old and mythical and they admitted that it was just some shit somebody made up to explain away weird weather or to have power over others. That would make sense, but no, they actually really believe in it. Billy Graham’s daughter sounds like an idiot too.

There is no heaven, there is no hell. To prove it one must only prove how ridiculous the bible is. Just research its authorship, its construction, its age. Compare it to texts older and it’s easy to see where most of the ideas came from. Compare the Levites to any politicians throughout history and their motives become clear.

I still think there might be something genetic to believers, at least life-long believers. They only marry and reproduce with people who are easily led and controlled and who believe easily in anything they’re told to believe so why wouldn’t that be genetic? Tall people have tall kids, red heads and red headed kids, and stupid people have STUPID kids.

What do you think?

Shawn

jonesg

So your parents were stupid or clever ?
Does it matter?

Its not what you got served up with, its what you decide to make of it.

NewtonPooton

You don't think it makes any difference?

I knew guys who would go to church to pick up girls based an certain things they wanted in a girlfriend/wife... a lot of these guys wanted ditsy dumb pretty i'll-do-whatever-you-tell-me-cuz-you're-the-man-and-the-bible-says-that's-the-way-it-oughta-be type girls. I went to school with a LOT of DUMBASS girls (just using girls as the example here) who didn't think for themselves and I don't know if they COULD. You must know the type. I met their parents. Usually their moms were just as dumb.

I didn't make this idea up out of thin air. I don't see why it would be in improbable concept either.

I know a lot of what you do with your life is what you chose to do... but some people never even ONCE in their whole lives question what they've been taught and told. I did. I was taught not to question it and I never did. But after a while I just started researching and reading (a lot of it at IIDB) and I found out what a load of crap it was.

A lot of people, even if they read this stuff, would never shake from their viewpoints. Look at the people who come here saying they'll pray for everybody. PLEASE! Tell me there's not something to it.

And maybe you WILL tell me there's not something to it. I've never really studied genetics and stuff like that in much detail except biology 1 in college... so...


thanks for the reply

jonesg

Yeh it makes a difference but its not a set of handcuffs or a guarentee.
T.E LAwrence (Lawrence of Arabia) was the illigitimate son of sir Lord Chapman, and yet he rose from an obscure soldier to lead a nation to freedom, I attribute that largely to his genetic makeup.
But still , he made decisions, it didn't just happen by luck.

Others have done the same but without genetic pedigrees, the Polish pope is one.

People don't walk away from their faith because it works for them in their lives. When it doesn't work (Actually its when they fail to work it) , they do walk away from their faith, when atheism stops working you will walk away from it.

NewtonPooton

---when atheism stops working you will walk away from it.


what the hell is that supposed to mean?