Religion

[Trar]

I remove the atheist bit from my signature (not because I converted or anything, but because I don't want to project I'm some sort of denigrating r/atheism asshole, yes reddit can be bad like 4chan in some areas) and then I find this thread. (Also been reading A Canticle for Leibowitz.) The rational part of my mind will chalk it up to chance. (I'm sure if I were born in the Middle East, I'd be thinking more about Mohammed than, say, Jesus.)

This link is rather interesting. I've seen a number of atheists and atheist websites claiming that prayer and saying that one will pray for something or for another is ultimately meaningless because, oh hey, "there is no God, motherfuckers!" The person doing the praying still has it in their thoughts, though, as a non-religious person would also think about it (without any praying involved, though). "Doing good instead of thinking good" can also apply to non-religious thoughts. Christianity and Christians on a majority of the internet and much of the USA are far from being really persecuted, but 'internet rationalists' do give it and believers a good amount of shit. And then the fire-and-brimstone types condemn gays and nonbelievers. It goes both ways, I guess. (Peaceful, everyday religious people being shit on by ~internet atheists~ is something I really don't like, though. They have a right to their beliefs.)

I still don't like that stupid faith healing crap though. It gets in the way of actual medicine and has caused enough needless death. I'm pretty sure God wouldn't want godly healing powers channeled like that, by people who probably dabble in mysticism too. Then again, TIL that "God helps those who help themselves" is not actually scripture. Which is interesting.

Anyway. I can accept Christians, as long as they don't aggressively proselytize in my face or try to shit on the rights of others...which describes a good portion of GOP legislation and Catholic writ, although Pope Francis is doing a better job than I expected from the papacy. Satanism, on the other hand, is just weird. Hey, guys, let's if not worship then at least look up to this former angel who's supposedly a consummate liar and deceiver who got kicked out of Heaven for a failed coup d'etat so we can live vaguely in our own self-interest instead of worshiping God! Oh yeah, and creepy rituals. That too. Individual thought is good, but this seems like a very roundabout way to do it. I would have thought God would appreciate it, as well, but then again I stopped believing around 2007 and never really got to examine the religion that closely, so I don't know. Given the nature of biblical and clerical thought, I'm not too optimistic.

Wait a minute. Satainism, at least LaVeyan Satanism, is worse than I thought. Here's an excerpt from the Wikipedia article on the Satanic Bible (which oddly enough is not called a leliB):

Quote:Much of the first book of The Satanic Bible is taken from parts of Redbeard's Might Is Right, edited to remove the racism, antisemitism, and misogyny present in the original version. It challenges both the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule, advocating instead a tooth-for-tooth philosophy. LaVey, through Redbeard, strongly advocates social Darwinism, saying, "Death to the weakling, wealth to the strong!" Humans are identified as instinctually predatory, and "lust and carnal desire" are singled out as part of humans' intrinsic nature. The Book of Satan suggests a hedonistic outlook, saying, "I break away from all conventions that do not lead to my earthly happiness." Indulgence is endorsed, and readers are encouraged to make the most of their lives. It criticizes both law and religious principles, instead suggesting doing only what makes one happy and successful.

So it's akin to a mix of Freud's pleasure principle and Nietzsche's will to power without any pretense of practicality, with voodoo and borderline sadism thrown in. Now THAT is kinda funny.