joseph1013:
stephenmorris, got your mention. How have you been? Where have you been? Be well, bro.

Seun:
Religious People Are Suffering & They Need Our Help

People often ask outspoken atheists why they like to argue with religious people. "If you don't believe in God", they ask, "why do you spend so much time attacking people's religious beliefs?" They often respond by saying, "religious people keep trying to impose their religious beliefs on us through evangelism and politics, so we have to defend ourselves." Atheists who don't feel threatened usually choose to remain silent. I used to be a pretty quiet atheist myself, until I noticed something about religious people that I hadn't noticed before. Religious people are suffering!

Religion is not a harmless delusion. It's not a benign folly that merely wastes people's time. It's a malignant malady that systematically robs the majority of humanity of their freedom, pleasure, joy, comfort, knowledge, intelligence, health, money, lives, and much more. It would be selfish of us as atheists who are free from religion not to make every effort to free people from religion so that they can have much better lives.

Many religious people are not allowed to have blood transfusions. This means thousands of religious men, women and children have died from treatable medical conditions, such as pregnancies with any kind of complications, non-fatal car accidents, treatable gunshot wounds, etc. simply because they are not allowed to accept blood transfusions. So many children have become orphans needlessly; so many men and women became widows and widowers; so many fathers and mothers lost their children. All because of a religious rule that make no sense at all.

Many religious people are forbidden by their religions from enjoying most of the good things in life. Things like secular or instrumental music, fine art, poetry, sculpture, owning dogs, wearing make-up, friendship with the opposite sex, eating ram meat, eating sausages, pleasuring yourself or the opposite sex, watching fantasy movies or reading fantasy novels like harry potter, making friends outside the religion, dancing, tattoos, playing ludo because it relies on luck, barbie dolls, sexy clothes etc. Can you imagine what your life would be like if you had to forgo most of these wonderful things? Horribly boring. You'd probably kill yourself. I guess that's why many religious people are suicidal and violent.

Most religious people believe in the afterlife. As a result, instead of focusing on the current life and making it as enjoyable as possible for themselves, their friends, and family members, they often endure miserable lives in the hope that they'll be rewarded after they die. An extreme case of this is the case of suicide bombers and religious fighters who embrace violent deaths for the sake of an imaginary paradise.

Many religious people are pressured to give a sizable proportion of their income to the religious establishments they worship with. Poor people are taught that the best way to get rich is not to save their money and invest in education and entrepreneurship, but to "sow" it by giving it to their rich religious leaders who will use it to live flamboyantly, and build religious monuments to attract more cash cows. When this stupid idea of "sowing"doesn't make the poor people rich, they are told that it's because they don't have faith, have sin in their lives, etc.

Many religious people are made to believe that the secret to good health and healing is prayer, having been brainwashed by dishonest sermons and misleading testimonies. When they have health problems, instead of going to good hospitals, they embark on prayer and fasting. When their friends slump due to heart attacks or strokes or seizures, they start praying on them instead of rushing them to good hospitals where they can get competent medical help. People have died of curable diseases like malaria because they didn't accept treatment until it was too late.

Many religious people are tolerant and liberal by nature, but due to certain verses in their holy scriptures, they feel that they must be intolerant of various groups of people that God supposedly doesn't like, such as lesbians and transexuals. They are against abortion, which they think is murder, but also against sex education, which reduces abortion rates dramatically, because they think it may encourage premarital safe sex. As a result their daughters end up getting pregnant outside wedlock, having illegal abortions, and dying despite their opposition to abortion.

Many religious people are women, and it sucks to be them because the scriptures of the major religions are clearly sexist. One scripture claims that women must be quiet and submit to men because man were created first and woman came from man, which is rather suspicious because in real life it's women who give birth to men. Another scripture proudly asserts that woman are deficient in intelligence and piety. There are almost no female prophets, apostles or disciples. The few famous women in major scriptures are famous not for personal exploits but for giving birth to important men, marrying them, or leading them astray (Eve, Jezebel). Religious women can't live up to their full potential.

And don't even get me started on the horrible treatment of "demon-possessed" people (the mentally ill) and "child witches".

Clearly, religious people are suffering. Our parents, siblings, and children. Our friends, crushes, and admirers. Our colleague, bosses, and employees. To save them, we who are atheists must come out of our closets and start speaking out; challenging them and educating them.

Steve Chike Abia

In case you have not heard, the House of Reps has passed for second reading a bill seeking to provide for the establishment of the Ecclesiastical court of appeal (Christian court) in the country.

The nation is burning, literally. Recession, inflation, insecurity...and this what the leaders are obsessed about. Christian and Muslim courts.

What about courts for Sango and Amadioha worshipers??

We seem to be in some kind of "religious insanity competition" where members are in a competition to know which sect is more insane than the other.

RIP Nigeria.

joseph1013:
Apparently, today is the 2nd year anniversary of this thread. Amazing how fast time went. It's been worth it. We grow each day and it's incredible how much progress I have made in my godless life.

hahn:


Congratulations

You dey try

God give you more strength

Do you have your own blog? This here is serious content

joseph1013:


A blog is too much work. I don't have the time to promote it.

joseph1013:
WE NEED TO ASK THESE QUESTIONS

No one is celebrating the collapse of the Church in Uyo, people are simply asking where the God Christians say protects them during accidents is. The God they ask others to turn to or face his wrath; the God they say collapses nightclubs on gay people; the one that saved a Colombian player because he was reading a bible. Where was he when a church filled with bibles collapsed killing scores of people?



How come when a nightclub catches fire it's god's wrath but when a church roof collapses it's the engineer's fault?

These questions need to be asked because once the dust settles it will be business as usual for Christians. They will go on telling us why we need their god's protection, therefore one definitely has to question what they mean by God's protection when it fails.

hahn:


Congratulations

You dey try

God give you more strength

Do you have your own blog? This here is serious content

Why don't people believe in God if there is a substantial amount of evidence to support it like the Bible?

For the same reason people don’t believe in Harry Potter, even though there’s a substantial amount of evidence in seven books and eight movies.

For the same reason people don’t believe in Zeus, Hera, Athena, Aphrodite, etc. even though there’s the Iliad and the Odyssey and numerous other similar sources.

For the same reason people don’t believe in vampires, despite sources from Bram Stoker, Anne Rice, and Jim Butcher.

Peter Adeosun Keyz wrote

I don't usually get annoyed but one thing that typically gets me annoyed nowadays is when people tell me

'Don't worry. God will still use you. You will still end up a man of god. Even Paul did worse and god still used him'.

There are many things insane about that wish. I can discuss them in a 1,376-word post but not necessary. Let me just pick the simplest of them all. It's insane because that's not my own wish for myself. Let's break that down a bit.

What do they mean by god will use me? Well, I will be another Enoch Adeboye who blocks the express several days a month by reason of the crowd he gathers. That's all there is to their definition of 'being a man of god being used by god'. Well, I'm an adult and I have wishes for my life. I'm totally convinced that I can do better things with my life.

I want to invent something. I want to do a ground-breaking research in my discipline. I want to be the one that will discover non-mutilating (aka nonsurgical) cure for jaw tumours or perfect curative treatment guidelines for stage 4 (A-C) cancer. Something like that. I consider it a waste of family resources (my dad and mum toiled over me) and society's resources and even personal effort to move from a primary school pupil to a consultant oral and maxillofacial surgeon and now end up being a personality that just gathers a crowd on the express. Any attempt to even imagine my life ending up as such a monumental waste gives me debilitating shudders!

Today, years and centuries after they died, we remember the Wright brothers for air travel, Karl Benz for the petrol-powered car, Graham Bell for the telephone, Michael Faraday for electricity, Albert Einstein for theoretical physics, Alessandro Volta for the battery and power packs, etc. In my discipline, there are hundreds of names of innovative people too but don't let me bore you with names.

However regardless of your race, religion, or social class, your feelings about these great inventors are the same. For instance, mention Thomas Edison in Saudi Arabia, Cuba, Canada, Sierra Leone, India, or Australia and the reaction is unanimously positive. They actually solved humanity's problems. Picture 40 years after Pastor Adeboye for instance. Not even all Nigerian Christians will agree on what he did, talk less of Muslims, Guru Mahraji people, or Amadioha worshippers. Even thousands of years thereafter, Jesus and Mohammed haven't successfully garnered the same feelings across the whole humanity. I don't want to be a sectional leader. I want to be remembered equally by the whole human race for solving a problem.

So next time, just say something like

'Peter, I believe in you. You will win a Nobel prize in the Physiology and Medicine category.'
Or
'You will take your profession to the next level globally'
Or
'You will discover a tangible solution to a tangible problem facing the human race'
Etc, etc

That sounds more like it. 'What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world...?' Well, I'll consider myself highly profited if I save the whole world from a problem. I don't need more.

If you really love me, show me by wishing me that my wishes for my life will come to pass. Don't force your wishes or your god's wishes on me. That's not love. That's harassment and coercion.

And one more thing. That I smile when you say it doesn't mean I'm not extremely irritated. I just fake the smile for the sake of peace.a

joseph1013:
GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE

Christians and Muslims agree that the Jews are God's chosen people. Crucially, God revealed himself to the Jews and to no one else. If the Jews had not diligently carried out God's wishes, Christians and Muslims would not have learned about God and would still be pagans today.

So why don't Christians accept what Jews say about Jesus and why don't Muslims accept what Jews say about Muhammad?

sheyviruz:
merry christmas to you boss joseph1013 and all nairalanders . wishing u a prosperous and peaceful 2017 in jesus or allah or my name

Amen Thanks bro.

sheyviruz:
oga joseph1013 what is ur view about mark zuckerberg sudden renouncement of athiesm?

Olajide Abiola

Whether you're single, married or divorced, be happy. Happiness is not defined by relationship status, it is a personal decision. There are happy singles, married and divorced people as there are equally unhappy ones. Happiness is a personal responsibility. I was a happy bachelor and I remain a happy married man. No! Marriage did not make me happy, it only multiplied it because my spouse brought her own happiness too.

Whether you own a car, bike or you have none, be happy. There are many jet owners who are unhappy. In fact, statistics has shown higher rates of depression amongst the haves. I mean, it is a miserable existence when one's happiness is anchored on such material things. Oh yes, material things, money being the fountainhead provide comfort and conveniences but many are unhappily comfortable. Use money and material things for what they are: means and resources. No more, no less.

Now, be wary of many prophetic declarations that puts you under pressure to acquire this or that to signify that you are 'blessed', leading you into unnecessary depression. You will buy a car and own a house when you need to and have the means. Not having one doesn't mean you aren't blessed. If owning cars and houses were the yardstick of measuring being blessed, just imagine how blessed so many Nigerians are. If we had good transportation and mortgage systems in the country, most of the things we display as tokens of blessings would have been made nonsense of.

Religion has taught many to feel cursed when they go through normal life challenges in varied forms, and to feel blessed only when there is money in their pockets. If people you know buy cars or build houses, genuinely be happy for them. Rejoice with them with sincerity but STOP using it to measure your life.

There is no specific year designated for you to buy a car, own a house or become financially rich. These things happen largely by what you do with a sense of good timing. So, don't let any prayer or prophecy put unnecessary pressure on you. Many challenges you will face are meant to strengthen, enrich and bless you. Stop running away from them or binding and casting them. Though many of them too can be as a result of stupidity, folly, pride, greed or procrastination.

You will be fine, but first, be happy.