Religion is a scam.

Religion is simply the biggest scam in history. There was a time, long ago, when there was no religion - cavemen had no Catholicism, no Islam, etc. All religions at some point in time were created by man for one reason or another. They are all equally false and invalid, as they are all simply a set of rules and beliefs that someone made up. The major religions that exist today are seen as valid only because they have existed for so long and have millions of followers.

If I decided to make up a religion today that claims that the universe was created by a big purple dinosaur who floats in outer space, people would call me crazy and say that it is ridiculous - yet my purple dinosaur theory is just as valid as Christianity or any other religion. All religions are simply crazy ideas that were thought up by people. The beliefs of Christianity, Islam, Mormonism - they are all equally ridiculous - the only thing that separates them from my purple dinosaur theory is that they are older and have more followers.
Christianity and The Purple Dinosaur Theory - the only difference between the two is that one was invented a long time ago, and the other one I invented just now.

The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is a religion invented by someone to make fun of how ridiculous relgions are. The notion that the universe was created by a spaghetti monster is just as ridiculous as any of the far-fetched beliefs held by Christians.

Anyone can invent a religion at any time. A long time ago, certain religions caught on and gained popularity. These big religions have millions of followers because they originated back when people were stupid enough to believe anything. Those dumb, primitive people believed all the crap they were being told and they passed these beliefs onto their children. These religions still exist today because most people just believe what their parents and grandparents taught them. It's hard for people to admit that their parents and grandparents are idiots for believing in a stupid religion, so they teach the same crap to their kids and continue the tradition for thousands of years....and here we are today, still not using our brains!

The major religions of today started when people were much more gullible (back then people actually believed that a burning bush could speak to a man). If a friend came to you today and said a burning bush spoke to him, you would contact the local mental hospital and tell them to make room for a new patient. Yet no one questions the story of Moses - people just accept that a bush spoke to him and they don't see anything wrong with that. These days people are informed enough to know better, yet many still choose to blindly follow like a flock of sheep.

Isn't it funny that all these amazing things (speaking bushes, parting of seas, resurrections, walking on water, etc.)...none of these things happen anymore. How convenient. Now that we have video cameras, the internet, forensics, and the news...now that we have ways to disprove these things, they don't happen anymore. How convenient for the church.

Because people long ago were so gullible, these old religions managed to accumulate MILLIONS of followers. After millions of people believe in an idea, that idea suddenly seems more valid just because it is popular - it is the mob mentality: "a lot of people believe in this, so it must be valid." For some reason religion gets a free pass from logic - if something is old enough and popular enough, people will not question its validity, no matter how stupid it is. Those who disagree keep their mouths shut because they fear being seen as an "outsider" who isn't "normal." No alternative ideas are even given a fair chance because they are stifled by the dumb majority. Well, I'm an outsider and I'm proud of it.

The overall trend is that the more open and free a nation is, the more it will move away from religion. Things like television and the internet expose people to all sorts of ideas that they would never have even considered. Knowledge and exposure to various viewpoints will ultimately lead to the slow death of religion in prosperous nations. That is why in many European countries the majority of people are no longer religious. European nations tend to be more liberal and open to discussing alternative ideas. When people are free to discuss alternative ideas, they will ultimately come to the logical conclusion that religion is completely worthless.

Prosperity (or a lack of it) is another important factor - when people's lives are full of suffering and chaos, they will turn to religion to help them deal with this enormous stress in their lives.  But when people are healthy and live in a prosperous nation, they are able to see things more logically because they no longer need religion to help them deal with their pain.

America is not very open to discussion when it comes to religion. America is very conservative compared to Europe. In America, you are ostracized if you criticize religion...thus it is taking America much longer to break free from these obsolete beliefs. You may have a nagging suspicion that all this religion stuff is bullshit, but if you are the only one who thinks this way, you will likely just forget about it and continue following the other sheep. BUT...if someone else speaks up and expresses a suspicion that is similar to yours, you will be more likely to speak out about your own suspicions. If people can be honest about their views without consequence, then alternative ideas will be able to grow.

"I support freedom of speech and all, but if you question my faith I'll drop a WMD on yer heathen ass!"

In order to feel comfortable expressing their views, people need to feel as though there are others who will support their ideas. With television and the internet exposing people to ideas and creating discussion, America is slowly becoming more open to change.

Places that are struggling and isolated from alternative ideas will always remain religious. Without exposure to other ideas, people will always believe what they were told as children....and people who are suffering will always use religion to rationalize and make sense of their suffering.

I tend to lean toward atheism, since I have never witnessed anything that suggests god is real. If you look into the origins of religion and why people believe in god, you will find that the concept of god was created out of fear and convenience (fear of death and the convenience of knowing that god is protecting you). I question the validity of anything that is created out of fear and convenience.

Most people choose to believe in god because it makes them feel better to know that someone is looking out for them and that they will live in paradise after they die.

"Weeeeeeeeee! Death isn't all that bad - you get to party in heaven forever! Weeeeeeeeee!"



People want to believe in god because they want the world to make sense. They can't accept that life is random and that things happen for no reason at all. The cold truth is that sometimes good people suffer and bad people succeed. Some people are born with diseases and some die young for no reason - it is simply the luck of the draw. Many people simply don't have the mental strength to accept this (they can't handle the overwhelming mental stress caused by a cruel, random world), so they choose to believe in god because it makes them feel better - they believe in god because it alleviates mental stress. It is an impulse exhibited by all living things - they favor the thing that makes them feel good and avoid the thing that makes them feel bad. Those who can rise above this impulse and are able to look at things logically tend to be agnostics or atheists.

Religion is for babies."Waaaaaaaaaaah! The world is scary and I don't wanna die! I want my god to make it all better!"

If an innocent baby dies from a terrible disease, people want to make sense of it - they want to believe that the baby will go to heaven and the baby will be happy forever in god's arms. It's much harder to accept that the baby died for no reason and that it won't go to heaven. It makes them happy to think that the baby's death had a purpose and that the baby will go to heaven. Weak people believe what makes them happy, rather than what is logical. They take the easy route.

Yet in all other aspects of our lives, we are expected to accept difficult truths and face them. Let's say you work for a company and that company is failing because it has a bad business plan. The people running that company aren't allowed to avoid the problem simply because it's easier to do nothing and avoid the stress. They are expected to accept the flaw and deal with it, even though it may be difficult and stressful.

So, in all other aspects of our lives we are expected to suck it up and face things that are difficult, yet when it comes to death and religion we are allowed to take the easy route...we are allowed to be illogical and incompetent....strange. I don't know about you, but I'd rather be competent in all aspects of my life, including my views on religion.

People say that god watches out for them and keeps them healthy and prosperous - so why do people die from cancer? Why do people suffer? The only answer is that god doesn't watch out for you. If he does exist, he sure as hell doesn't care about you, so you might as well quit wasting your time praying and going to church. Use that time to do something enjoyable, like playing a video game, reading a book, visiting friends, or getting some extra sleep.

We can't prove the existence of god, but we can prove that he doesn't care - one look at the world and it becomes quite obvious (with all this suffering and senseless death).

You can believe that god created the universe, but it's dumb to believe he gives a shit about you. So, if he doesn't care about you, why should you care about him? Praying and attending church - they are a waste of time. Live your life...do what makes you happy, and do what is right - those are the only things you need to know to live a fulfilling life.