I recently came across two articles dealing with separate incidents that took place thousands of miles apart, but both of which, when put together, have great bearing on the prevailing state of affairs in my country Nigeria, and Africa in general.

The first incident is a recently published scientific study conducted in the Uk that seem to suggests that poverty diminishes a person's mental capacity.

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/aug/29/poverty-mental-capacity-complex-tasks

Excepts from the study reads:
"The cognitive deficit of being preoccupied with money problems was equivalent to a loss of 13 IQ points, losing an entire night's sleep or being a chronic alcoholic, according to the study. The authors say this could explain why poorer people are more likely to make mistakes or bad decisions that exacerbate their financial difficulties."

I would like to add to it that in Nigeria, general insecurity at all levels tend to heighten this effect to very unprecedented levels.

The second recent incident that sort of ties in with this is the recent brutal murder of anti-superstition crusader in India Dr. Sarenda Dabholkar, who was staunch campaigner against the debilitating effects of harmful religious superstition, and for the enthronement of scientific temper and reason in his native India.


http://www.ummid.com/news/2013/August/29.08.2013/who-killed-dabholkar.html

Here are some points I picked from the article:

1. During last few decades the tendency for promotion of rational thought parallel to social change came up as Popular Science movement.

2. These Godmen and their types claim to be in possession of supernatural powers and advertise this claim. Many a times they claim to be reincarnation of a particular Saint or God, and this way they cheat the gullible and God-fearing simple folks.

3. Faith is a complicated phenomenon, true it is needed by a section of society. Faith in supernatural power, faith in institution built around the names of prophets and individuals operating in the name of some religion or God have to some extent provided an emotional support to many in this cruel World with gross deprivations and inequalities.

4. Recognizing this weakness of humans many a religio-entrepreneurs have systematically converted the faith into blind faith, a series of rituals, acts, which are deliberately used to exploit the gullible.

5. Reason believes in questioning the existing beliefs and to keep going beyond the prevalent knowledge .

6. Faith, particularly the one constructed around the 'institutions of religion' begins with unquestioning subservience to the prevalent norms, beliefs and rituals.

7. Many individuals who go in to establish their enterprises around these rituals, claim to be having divine powers.

8. the political tendencies operating in the name of religion, kept opposing scientific, rational thinking and kept uncritically glorifying the ancient past, ancient practices cultivated by the clergy to exploit the gullible society, society in the grip of uncertainty and deprivation.

Now, when I tie these two articles together, I cannot escape how these issues are clearly manifest in the failure of leadership, the poverty, the insecurity, the attendant fear, and of course, the religious scavengers that feed fat on the prevailing confusion n Nigeria.

There seem to be some kind of unholy alliance between the leaders of government and the new-age religious scavengers.

The government bankrupts the nation, poverty ensues and continues to spread without any social buffers.

The individual is faced with ever dwindling prospects for a decent and secure existence.

His mental capacity or IQ takes a nosedive as he is now inclined to be more instinctive and animalistic than rational.

Recognizing this oversupply of confused and incapacitated sheep ,the newly minted churchprenuars, acting as the wolves or hayenas, move in by the truckloads, straight for the jugular, to mop up the sheep and line their pockets with an inexhaustible supply of filthy lucre.

This is exactly what has been going on in Nigeria over past few decades.

It is time to start an anti-superstition movement in Africa to stem the financial exploitation and mental degradation of this and future generations of Africans.

What you write is tru because i see a documentation about india and about this fake stories.

A good friend is writting at the moment on his PhD thesis and it has to do with - religion - corruption - and economic in Africa.

He show me informations he has that is realy very very bad.

In america the people who belong to RCCG - Church are the people with the lowest income, with the lowest IQ.

Should I say more.

Very sad situation.

Religion enjoys ignorance and relishes poverty

What we have to do is quench that ignorance

Logicboy03: Very sad situation.

Religion enjoys ignorance and relishes poverty

What we have to do is quench that ignorance

Economic stagnation and political confusion make it doubly impossible.

no matter how much you expose religion for what it truly is, the faithful simply replace knowledge with more blind faith. The Devil is always on the prowl trying to defame God. you can never win against that. Man transcends where he has answers to questions.. Religious folks already have an answer.. no matter how stupid is sounds, no matter how idiotic is looks, no matter how stark honest you put it. there is just no breaking through that crucible made up of stone and iron.

voltron: no matter how much you expose religion for what it truly is, the faithful simply replace knowledge with more blind faith. The Devil is always on the prowl trying to defame God. you can never win against that. Man transcends where he has answers to questions.. Religious folks already have an answer.. no matter how stupid is sounds, no matter how idiotic is looks, no matter how stark honest you put it. there is just no breaking through that crucible made up of stone and iron.

It is not surprising that the religious avoided this thread!!!

Logicboy03:


It is not surprising that the religious avoided this thread!!!

Common sense stings.

bump

Bump

very interesting OP

Religion is for the unintelligent who have problems facing reality thus the need to rely on fairy tales and superstition

Written 3 years ago......... Still true today

Very insightful post OP and I couldn't agree more. What's that quote again, "It's easier to fool a man than convince him that he's been fooled." Ego will prevent a lot of church-goers and prophet-followers from acknowledging the truth in what you've said here.

hahn:
Religion is for the unintelligent who have problems facing reality thus the need to rely on fairy tales and superstition

some of them even go as far as saying Noahs ark happened
If this is not ignorant I don't know what is

no matter how much you expose religion for what it truly is, the faithful simply replace knowledge with more blind faith. The Devil is always on the prowl trying to defame God. you can never win against that. Man transcends where he has answers to questions.. Religious folks already have an answer.. no matter how stupid is sounds, no matter how idiotic is looks, no matter how stark honest you put it. there is just no breaking through that crucible made up of stone and iron.

by exposing holes and more holes in their god idea, you have sowed seed of doubts which would germinate at its own time

could be immediate, could be decades from now and may not germinate; either way, the planting is what's necessary, THAT is our part

jonbellion:
some of them even go as far as saying Noahs ark happened
If this is not ignorant I don't know what is

It is not only the ignorance. It is also the need to believe no matter what.

The Nigerian education system is failed. Most of us who know these things read about them after leaving school. Many Nigerians only read when they need to prepare for an examination.

As Tai Solarin would say, "Knowledge is light. Ignorance is darkness"

hahn:


It is not only the ignorance. It is also the need to believe no matter what.

The Nigerian education system is failed. Most of us who know these things read about them after leaving school. Many Nigerians only read when they need to prepare for an examination.

As Tai Solarin would say, "Knowledge is light. Ignorance is darkness"

so true

The funny thing about religious people is how they manage their everyday tasks.

Their beliefs are so ridiculous . Their worldview so exclusivist and monotonous, everything is always black or white for them. The moment you object their beliefs or even if you believe with them but deviate a little from mainstream beliefs then you are manipulated by the devil.

They are like paranoid schizophrenics that see danger and evil people everywhere. But the funny thing is that some of them happen to hold respectable and relatively difficult jobs. Some are engineers, doctors even very smart lawyers. Some are businessmen, creative artists etc. I wonder how they merge such stupidity with brilliance at times.

My conclusion is that the brain is like an orange with different sectors. And its quite possible to buy an orange that has a rotten sector. That's how religious brains are, the moment you turn their minds to cosmology and the fear of death[ which is what religion really addresses] , they become dumb. Its like an Achilles heel or a soft spot in their brains.

LibraDeus has been impressing me
keep it up bro
may FSM continue to strengthen you

hopefulLandlord:
LibraDeus has been impressing me

keep it up bro

may FSM continue to strengthen you

Thank you Oga Landlord.

Please what is FSM.

LiberaDeus:


Thank you Oga Landlord.

Please what is FSM.

that's the name of the one true God, The Flying Spaghetti Monster

plaetton:
I recently came across two articles dealing with separate incidents that took place thousands of miles apart, but both of which, when put together, have great bearing on the prevailing state of affairs in my country Nigeria, and Africa in general.

The first incident is a recently published scientific study conducted in the Uk that seem to suggests that poverty diminishes a person's mental capacity.

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/aug/29/poverty-mental-capacity-complex-tasks

Excepts from the study reads:
"The cognitive deficit of being preoccupied with money problems was equivalent to a loss of 13 IQ points, losing an entire night's sleep or being a chronic alcoholic, according to the study. The authors say this could explain why poorer people are more likely to make mistakes or bad decisions that exacerbate their financial difficulties."

I would like to add to it that in Nigeria, general insecurity at all levels tend to heighten this effect to very unprecedented levels.

The second recent incident that sort of ties in with this is the recent brutal murder of anti-superstition crusader in India Dr. Sarenda Dabholkar, who was staunch campaigner against the debilitating effects of harmful religious superstition, and for the enthronement of scientific temper and reason in his native India.


http://www.ummid.com/news/2013/August/29.08.2013/who-killed-dabholkar.html

Here are some points I picked from the article:

1. During last few decades the tendency for promotion of rational thought parallel to social change came up as Popular Science movement.

2. These Godmen and their types claim to be in possession of supernatural powers and advertise this claim. Many a times they claim to be reincarnation of a particular Saint or God, and this way they cheat the gullible and God-fearing simple folks.

3. Faith is a complicated phenomenon, true it is needed by a section of society. Faith in supernatural power, faith in institution built around the names of prophets and individuals operating in the name of some religion or God have to some extent provided an emotional support to many in this cruel World with gross deprivations and inequalities.

4. Recognizing this weakness of humans many a religio-entrepreneurs have systematically converted the faith into blind faith, a series of rituals, acts, which are deliberately used to exploit the gullible.

5. Reason believes in questioning the existing beliefs and to keep going beyond the prevalent knowledge .

6. Faith, particularly the one constructed around the 'institutions of religion' begins with unquestioning subservience to the prevalent norms, beliefs and rituals.

7. Many individuals who go in to establish their enterprises around these rituals, claim to be having divine powers.

8. the political tendencies operating in the name of religion, kept opposing scientific, rational thinking and kept uncritically glorifying the ancient past, ancient practices cultivated by the clergy to exploit the gullible society, society in the grip of uncertainty and deprivation.

Religious folks need help. They carry a whole lot of negative psychological and emotional burden. They are full of:

Despise
Judgemental
Suspicious
Hateful
Persecutory delusion
Depression
Fatalistic
Bitterness etc

It's only empathy towards them that can help. Our writings shall continue to cast doubts on their beliefs, it's only a matter of time, they will start embracing rationality.

hopefulLandlord:


that's the name of the one true God, The Flying Spaghetti Monster

Nawa oh. Christians don suffer.
Una no go kill person with laugh

LiberaDeus:
Nawa oh. Christians don suffer. Una no go kill person with laugh

Hehehehehehehehe

yes

The poverty part weak me, e really weak me