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 Religion / Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 6:56pm On May 22, 2021 |
After maintaining this thread for more than 6 years, I am deciding to let go of it. I have several other interests that are taking me more and more away from using my Nairaland account. I have enjoyed every bit of it. As I believe from the first day, humans can be happy in our day and time without the need to stuff their lives with myths and superstitions. The evidence is all around us. I am grateful for the impact of this thread especially to the many who have sent me DMs discussing how their journey towards breaking the shackles of religion, especially the ones practiced in Nigeria, started from here. I hope I have provided enough materials on this thread for future generations to see what a scam religion is. I may be reached via email on leecodeman@gmail.com I take my bow. 20 Likes 9 Shares |
| Religion / Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 1:22pm On Apr 12, 2021 |
News: Prophet Odumeje vows never to forgive comedienne Ada Jesus after her family brought her to his church to beg for forgiveness over her ailment - - - LOL. This happens when you take charlatans seriously. 2 Likes |
| Religion / Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 1:42pm On Apr 11, 2021 |
Sometimes when I watch Odumeje's theatrical madness, I find it funny and I laugh so hard that I forget there are people who genuinely take him serious. It takes an extraordinary depth of moral depravity for anyone to idolize that dangerous clown or believe in him, but sadly, many Nigerians have already sunk that deep. His activities may appear like comic show but he is having real life impact on many people. The case between him and one 'Ada Jesus' is a very pathetic story. That one charlatan's spoken words can magically determine your fate has got to be the most dangerously stupid thing people believe, and it is what has chained the minds of many religious people. It only goes to prove the paralysing effect of fear; the biggest weapon of religion and superstitions. Instead of focusing on how to raise money for world class medical care, the lady is busy moving from one shrine to one prayer house to 'lift' an imaginary curse placed on her by Odumeje and others. Worse than the actual sickness she is suffering from, is the fear that has effectively crippled her psychologically. There is an indescribable freedom that comes with damning superstitions and knowing that no spiritual being has control over your life. Only you are responsible for your destiny. 12 Likes 2 Shares |
| Religion / Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 8:07am On Mar 23, 2021 |
Ezegwu Okike I shared a picture of Echaricha (a beautiful masquerade) on my WhatsApp status and a female friend jocularly asked if I was behind one of them. “Shut up, they climb out from ant holes,” I replied. . “ Anuofia,” she mocked me. “There were masquerades, now extinct, which fell down from the sky,” I further pursued my fantastic theory. “You must be drunk,” she concluded. “But you believe that Elijah flew into the sky in a chariot of fire?” I asked. She went mute. . “You also believe that a snake interviewed a naked woman in a garden?” . Thunder-roll of laughter. . Needless to add, every religion is founded on a tissue of implausible, witless lies. Perhaps, we should mind Tertullian’s assertion that faith is at its greatest when its teachings are least amenable to reason. But frankly, believing that Elijah travelled to heaven in a chariot of fire requires greater credulity. The difference now lies in the narrator. We would be really undiscerning if we don’t see how religion is now the strongest-surviving tool of white supremacy. In advancing a different limb of this argument, Malcolm X was almost faultless in 1964; “The whole church structure in this country is white nationalism, you go inside a white church – that's what they are preaching, white nationalism. They got Jesus white, Mary white, God white, everybody white – that's white nationalism.” . The sole reason I am not allowed to believe that Echaricha is not human is because my black-skinned ancestors said so. But my catholic brothers are within their right to entertain institutional absurdity when they tell you that the body of St. Anthony of Padua—plus manifold other saints in similar mysterious preservation – had been undecomposed for centuries, and to parrot other pious swindles and egregious irrationalities. Wait, there is more: Jonah was shipped into another country by a fish, long beards and all. 6 Likes 2 Shares |
| Religion / Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 12:50pm On Mar 01, 2021 |
THE CHRISTIAN DARE "I dare you to get on your knees and beg Jesus to save you." I've lost count of how many times people have urged me to get down on my knees. We know people can have profound emotional experiences if they first implicitly ASSUME a god is real. In Christian cultures, it works when people assume Jesus is real. In Hindu cultures, it works when people assume Shiva, Vishnu or another god is real. And because it works for just about any god, we know it is self-induced. Well, I have a challenge for believers. It doesn't require you to fall to your knees or to assume anything magical or extraordinary. It just requires you to use your reason. I dare you to open yourself to the possibility that you may be wrong. Ask yourself, what if the god you believe in was invented more than 100 generations ago by people who thought the Earth was flat? Once you start with that possibility, is the Bible easier to understand? Does the awful Iron Age morality you find in the Old Testament now make sense? Would that be a simple explanation for all the magic and superstition you find in that book? Does that explain the dismally wrong cosmology found in the Bible such as the idea that stars are small lights that could fall to Earth? If you will accept my dare, you may be able to break the chains that keep parts of your mind trapped in the Iron Age. Try it. I dare you. 6 Likes |
| Religion / Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 5:24am On Feb 03, 2021 |
Imagine fxxcking a man's wife, impregnating her and then sending your messenger to threaten this man to not even consider putting off the marriage. Some Mafia boss level shit right? Haha. This is the God Christians worship. It amazes me how people do not think while brainwashed. 4 Likes 1 Share |
| Religion / Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 8:27am On Jan 29, 2021 |
The Idea That Is God. "Does God exist? That depends on which God you have in mind. The cosmic mystery or the worldly lawgiver? Sometimes when people talk about God, they talk about a grand and awesome enigma, about which we know absolutely nothing. We invoke this mysterious God to explain the deepest riddles of the cosmos. Why is there something rather than nothing? What shaped the fundamental laws of physics? What is consciousness, and where does it come from? We do not know the answers to these questions, and we give our ignorance the grand name of God. The most fundamental characteristic of this mysterious God is that we cannot say anything concrete about Him. This is the God of the philosophers; the God we talk about when we sit around a campfire late at night, and wonder what life is all about. On other occasions people see God as a stern and worldly lawgiver, about whom we know only too much. We know exactly what He thinks about fashion, food, sex and politics, and we invoke this Angry Man in the Sky to justify a million regulations, decrees and conflicts. He gets upset when women wear short-sleeved shirts, when two men have sex with one another, or when teenagers masturbate. Some people say He does not like us to ever drink alcohol, whereas according to others He positively demands that we drink wine every Friday night or every Sunday morning. Entire libraries have been written to explain in the minutest details exactly what He wants and what He dislikes. The most fundamental characteristic of this worldly lawgiver is that we can say extremely concrete things about Him. This is the God of the crusaders and jihadists, of the inquisitors, the misogynists and the homophobes. This is the God we talk about when we stand around a burning pyre, hurling stones and abuses at the heretics being grilled there. When the faithful are asked whether God really exists, they often begin by talking about the enigmatic mysteries of the universe and the limits of human understanding. ‘Science cannot explain the Big Bang,’ they exclaim, ‘so that must be God’s doing.’ Yet like a magician fooling an audience by imperceptibly replacing one card with another, the faithful quickly replace the cosmic mystery with the worldly lawgiver. After giving the name of ‘God’ to the unknown secrets of the cosmos, they then use this to somehow condemn bikinis and divorces. ‘We do not understand the Big Bang – therefore you must cover your hair in public and vote against gay marriage.’ Not only is there no logical connection between the two, but they are in fact contradictory. The deeper the mysteries of the universe, the less likely it is that whatever is responsible for them gives a damn about female dress codes or human sexual behavior. The missing link between the cosmic mystery and the worldly lawgiver is usually provided through some holy book. The book is full of the most trifling regulations, but is nevertheless attributed to the cosmic mystery. The creator of space and time supposedly composed it, but He bothered to enlighten us mainly about some arcane temple rituals and food taboos. In truth, we haven’t got any evidence whatsoever that the Bible or the Quran or the Book of Mormon or the Vedas or any other holy book was composed by the force that determined that energy equals mass multiplied by the speed of light squared, and that protons are 1,837 times more massive than electrons. To the best of our scientific knowledge, all these sacred texts were written by imaginative Homo sapiens. They are just stories invented by our ancestors in order to legitimise social norms and political structures. I personally never cease to wonder about the mystery of existence. But I have never understood what it has got to do with the niggling laws of Judaism, Christianity or Hinduism. These laws were certainly very helpful in establishing and maintaining the social order for thousands of years. But in that, they are not fundamentally different from the laws of secular states and institutions. The third of the biblical Ten Commandments instructs humans never to make wrongful use of the name of God. Many understand this in a childish way, as a prohibition on uttering the explicit name of God (as in the famous Monty Python sketch ‘If you say Jehovah …’). Perhaps the deeper meaning of this commandment is that we should never use the name of God to justify our political interests, our economic ambitions or our personal hatreds. People hate somebody and say, ‘God hates him’; people covet a piece of land and say, ‘God wants it’. The world would be a much better place if we followed the third commandment more devotedly. You want to wage war on your neighbours and steal their land? Leave God out of it, and find yourself some other excuse. When all is said and done, it is a matter of semantics. When I use the word ‘God’, I think of the God of the Islamic State, of the Crusades, of the Inquisition, and of the ‘God hates gays’ banners. When I think of the mystery of existence, I prefer to use other words, so as to avoid confusion. And unlike the God of the Islamic State and the Crusades – who cares a lot about names and above all about His most holy name – the mystery of existence doesn’t care an iota what names we apes give it." ~ Yuval Harari: 21 Lessons for the 21st Century 12 Likes 7 Shares |
| Religion / Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 10:08pm On Jan 08, 2021 |
Ben X Elon Musk, an atheist, just became the richest man in the world. No tithes, no offerings, no breakthrough seeds, just innovation. If you like still drop your January salary as first-fruit seed. 8 Likes |
| Religion / Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 6:27pm On Jan 06, 2021 |
Saw this on Twitter: "Pastors are waiting for COVID-19 to disappear so they can continue healing the sick." So true! Scammers! 5 Likes 1 Share |
| Religion / Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 8:21pm On Dec 27, 2020 |
Bill Gates: We still don't understand why Covid 19 numbers aren't as high in Africa. Stone-age Nigerians living in 21 century: - We serve a living God. - God don shame am. - God dey fight our battle - Who can speak when God has not spoken. The above is the mentality behind Africa's underdevelopment; the unwillingness to think and ask questions; the tendency to always ascribe whatever we don't understand to God. This is classic mental laziness. Bill Gates is asking the questions we ought to be asking ourselves. Anybody who understands how comatose our public health system is would be genuinely surprised by the low covid numbers. If indeed the low numbers isn't due to underreporting (which is still very possible), we can research and find out the factors that contributed to it and possibly maximize those factors to also prevent future pandemics. But we will not do that. We have one easy answer to every good thing that happens to us by chance: "Na God!" Effectively shutting the door of learning something crucial. That is why we are never prepared for anything. Where was your God when Ebola ravaged most of sub Saharan Africa? Where was He when polio was crippling the future of millions of African kids that we literally had to depend on Bill Gates to eradicate it? Covid may not be killing us yet, but tropical diseases like malaria are still killing millions of Africans every year and your God is nowhere to be found yet. Don't forget that. Societies advance when people ask difficult questions, genuinely search for answers and deliberately take charge of their own lives, not by leaving themselves at the mercy of nature and chance. 12 Likes 7 Shares |
| Religion / Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 11:38pm On Dec 19, 2020 |
John Agbaeze One of the weirdest stories in the bible is the story of Esau and Jacob. In this narrative, the writer, who was heavily biased against Esau, expects you to love Jacob and despise Esau. I can remember growing up, we all wanted to be Jacob: the smart, witty one, loved by God. But, on a second look, Jacob was a major villain; jealous, deceptive, a con man and a very dishonest person. Esau on other hand was carefree, kind, and even compassionate, and never deserved all the ill treatments his brother, mother, and even God channeled at him. From the start, Jacob probably grew up in the shadows of his brother who was the much stronger and accomplished one right from time earning him major admiration amongst their small tribe - the resentment and disdain Jacob developed for Esau was terribly evident yet without justification. - Jacob conned his brother of his position as the first born with a plate of porridge. Imagine how profoundly sinister someone has to be to care more about blackmailing your twin brother into relinquishing his position than sharing your meal with him when he was hungry. - And then the famous con he pulled masking as his brother to steal his blessings from their blind poor father. - Let us not discuss how he allegedly ended up conning his father in-law of several of his livestocks with shady arrangements. It seems to me that the story of Esau and Jacob is about a brother's jealousy for his brother whom he recognizes as his superior. It was a series of Jacob's incessant ill treatment, unending sinister ploys and wickedness towards his brother. There was never a recorded event in the story where Esau treated Jacob wrongly or shared any form of ill-wish towards him. Yet, at the end of it all, even when Esau had the power to exert his revenge, decimate Jacob's camp, Esau chose instead to forgive his brother. To cap the disturbing trail of unfairness towards Esau, God apparently declared “Is not Esau Jacob’s brother? Yet I have loved Jacob but Esau I have hated. I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert.” Here is one story where the actions of the villains are broadly shown yet somehow convinces you to admire and root for him. When you think about this now, the sheer absurdity of the whole set up makes you rather worried of some of the foundational lessons Christian children are taught. There is nothing remotely admirable about Jacob, and he is a horrible example to formulate a moral lesson on. 12 Likes 4 Shares |
| Religion / Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 2:29pm On Dec 15, 2020 |
On December 15, 2014, I made my first post on this thread. Today makes it the 6th year anniversary of that post. What a journey it's been. Not a single regret leaving religion. Below is my first post... ________________ Hi friends, I don't even know if I can follow through with this and continue infinitely like I would love to do. I don't know. I only have a feeling that writing best captures what I have to say. This page will be my questions and thoughts page. I am not naive enough to expect that most who come to this page will abandon the faith they hold dear, but I do hope to convince my readers that many of us who walk away have not done so out of a rebellious, juvenile whim, but rather out of a careful weighing of the reasons for and against our former faith. Our decision, far from being "sad," as many of my friends and family perceive it, represents a move from unquestioning acceptance of tradition to a spirit of openness and adventure that pursues the evidence wherever it leads. We left in pursuit of truth. A little about me: I grew up in a devoted Christian family, loving the Lord. I was devoted and zealous. I was the 'dream' child. And because I was equally brilliant, parents pointed me as an example to their kids. Of course as I grew up, I had questions. One of the earliest I remember was asking how Cain had a wife if there were only three people on earth (Abel having died). The answer my mum gave to that and many of the innocent questions of mine at a tender age was that I should make sure I get to heaven so I can ask God myself. It didn't prove sufficient but what was a child to do otherwise? I was a part of my school christian groups. I also remember being picked by the Children Church's teachers to preach to the entire Church congregation on Children's Sunday. It was awesome. When I got to one of the foremost Federal Universities, I could not be more devoted. I was now into theological texts and got more than five translations of the Bible. I was a walking bible. Of course, there were no bible apps at that time. I consumed alot of religious materials, and read books by so many Christian authors. I also got into reading Islamic texts, mainly so I could know what I was talking about when I encountered Muslim apologists, and oh I was very successful with them. With time, I was made a Pastor of one of the most vibrant fellowships on Campus. We did not only study the Greek and Hebrew renditions, we knew at heart copious parts of scriptures and could reel them out in our sleep. We were respected on Campus, not the least by the Christian community. We would argue scriptures and rattle men with our knowledge of the redemptive work of Christ and the concept of the New Creation. As an Engineering student, I spent 3 of my 5 years being a Pastor of this fellowship. It was after my NYSC that I came across certain comments in books that made me look twice and search further to see if what I had believed and devoted my time to were indeed true. I have been on this journey for a while now and I can say that I have come to a stage where I can sufficiently say that I am longer a Christian or a religionist. I do not conclusively deny the existence of God, but I can totally say that nobody has given me a convincing evidence for the existence of the Abrahamic God. Some have told me that I am angry with God. That cannot be true, for you cannot get angry with something you are convinced does not exist in the context that I mentioned earlier. Some have said I believed wrongly, to these folks I say they know not what they sayeth. I invite Christian readers, as well as other God-believers to consider the possibility that my apostasy is a result not of divine or diabolical deception but of a simple weighing of the evidence ... It might be that I am wrong. It might be that I have not sought God sufficiently or studied the Bible thoroughly enough or listened carefully enough to the many Christians who have admonished me ... Maybe. But the knowledge that billions of seekers have lived and died, calling out to God for some definitive revelation without ever receiving it, or receiving revelation that conflicts with the revelation others have found, contributes to my suspicion that there is no personal God who reveals himself to anyone. One of my primary reasons for having this page is self-serving: I do not relish knowing that others consider me to be on the road to eternal damnation if I don't repent, and I want to do what I can to change their perception of those of us who do not share their faith. Yet is this self-serving endeavour reckless? If I believed it would worsen the lives of all those who follow my thoughts and questions, then yes, it would be reckless. But I am convinced that life can actually improve for those who come to understand that our earthly existence is not simply a stage, a cosmic morality play, a precursor to an eternity to come. This life is the real (and only) deal. Enjoy... And hey, if you look at my Nairaland history, I do love Football a lot and I'm an investment buff. I'm interested in Politics too and most of all, I love adventure. I love to travel and see new places. I'm also an eclectic reader. Who says unbelievers have a boring life? tongue 9 Likes 2 Shares |
| Religion / Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 12:58pm On Dec 14, 2020 |
No one who has communed with the ineffable creator could ever doubt his existence. So why are there apostates? 3 Likes |
| Religion / Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 11:30am On Dec 07, 2020 |
The phrase ‘fake pastor’ is tautological. The word ‘pastor’ will do. 9 Likes 4 Shares |
| Religion / Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 11:31am On Dec 02, 2020 |
EXPECT TO BELIEVE LIES... There are many things we could wish for but, if you have only one wish, you need to make it really work for you. My wish would be that people would care, really care, whether or not the things they believe are true. Our behaviour is driven by our beliefs yet the great majority of people in the world are more concerned to believe things that make them happy than to believe things that are true. Believing you could spend eternity in Heaven may make you happy but it may also change how you behave in life. It may encourage you to think of your life as an unimportant prologue to the real thing—worse still it may make you think other people's live are unimportant too... If you believe things that make you happy, expect to believe lies. And expect to make bad decisions, and expect to be less than you could be. 5 Likes 3 Shares |
| Religion / Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 9:38am On Nov 30, 2020 |
Can anyone defend this gaga quote? "Christianity is not the discovery of a truth but a path that leads to truth." 2 Likes |
| Religion / Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 2:20pm On Nov 18, 2020 |
If getting people to think rationally was easy, the job would be done by now. But it's not, and now is not the time to give up. 6 Likes 1 Share |
| Religion / Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 2:47pm On Nov 11, 2020 |
YAHWEH, THE DIY GOD It was quite a stroke of luck for the Jews. Out of all the peoples in the world, the 12 small tribes of Israel were the chosen people—they were personally chosen by God, who had created the entire universe some 13.8 billion years earlier. As if that was not enough, God promised them the lands of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites AND, to conquer these lands, he gave them permission to slaughter, rape, take slaves and pillage. Incredibly lucky that God was so understanding. God gave the Israelites laws to live by and they were lucky AGAIN! He turned a blind eye to the cruel habits of these Iron-Age herdsmen and allowed them to continue holding slaves, selling their daughters, stoning brides for not bleeding on their wedding night and even killing their children if they were unruly. God really wanted his chosen people to be happy. To top it all, God had remained totally hidden for billions of years until he revealed himself around 3,500 years ago. No-one knew anything about him before that moment (people already had plenty of other gods to worship). And who were the ONLY people on the planet he chose to reveal himself to? The Israelites! It all worked out so well. It couldn't have been any better if the Israelites had made the whole thing up. 6 Likes 2 Shares |
| Religion / Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 1:55pm On Nov 08, 2020 |
Ifiokabasi Naomi When Rahama Sadau received backlash from #ArewaTwitter and Kannywood suspended her, the last thing I expected her to do was apologise. I think that action made me indifferent. I mean, was there a need to talk about the oppressive culture against women in the North and how something as mudane as just showing your back in a dress can send everyone frothing in the mouth and policing your choice of clothing if the women there see nothing wrong with it? It would have been a case of drinking panadol for another's headache. But just yesterday, Ms. Sadau was invited by the police. Not for stealing. Not for fraud. Not for killing her lover. Not for molesting a child. She was called in for... You guessed right! Showing her back in a dress and bringing shame and reproach to Islam. The United Arab Emirates, just yesterday made a major overhaul on its laws including those that concern women. Stiffer punishments would be meted out to those who abuse, harass, molest, rape or even kill women in the name of honor killing. In the 21st century, isn't it absolutely disgraceful that the police, rather than shun and if need be, take action against religious fanatics who would want to incite violence against women or any other group because of something like dressing, wearing a dress that shows one's back would instead choose to use its devices and resources to further oppress her for her choices and right to exoression? In a secular country that has in the last few days said it is concerned with protecting the human rights of its citizens. SMH. Yet, another country, a religious one at that, is moving in the opposite direction. A direction that fits the times. A direction the world commends. A direction that signifies growth. Please can you people tell Northern Nigeria that the people they are so emulating, the people that should be carrying this sharia thing on their heads have left them oh. They are moving with the times and trends. Anyone that doesn't want to move will be left behind. You people should please, beg them for me so that Nigeria can move too naaaaaawwwwwww. Even if it is small inch like this. 7 Likes 1 Share |
| Religion / Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 7:12pm On Nov 02, 2020 |
Of Religions, sentience and egos. BY NWOBODO FORTUNE When religious people say that Science proves Religion right and people that don't believe are "fools", what exactly do they mean? Because from where I stand, it seems like quite the opposite. A central flaw of religion is a desire to put man (and the earth) at the center of everything because we're the only beings that have the sentience to do so. The earth must have been created for us. We must have some great, big purpose in this world. The earth must have been the center of the world with everything revolving around it (this religion based belief was popular until the early 1600s). This "special person, special purpose" belief is why the majority of religions have young earth creation dates. Man is the reference point and religions cannot conceive of a world in which animals existed for hundreds of millions of years before we did. Or a world in which until recently, we were no more special than these animals, just evolving humans at the middle of the food chain. Thus, most religions aren't even made from the moment when man split from the ancestral apes or the moment when he first became sentient enough to make wooden tools. They're from the moment when he became sentient enough to think in abstract terms, in fact, in such abstract terms that he could imagine things that didn't exist and convince himself that they did because it was the only way this world could have been created. That period was just about half to one dozen millenia ago compared to the 200 millenia that our species, homo sapiens has existed or the approximately 6.5 million years since we split from the ancestral apes. And most of their thoughts are bull... The exact bull by which most religions are proven false. All of science does not agree with a young earth. The only thing that agrees with a young earth is our ego and our wanton desire to place ourselves at the center of narratives simply because we have the consciousness and the overbearing ego to do so. From the petrol in our cars that represent the remains of dinosaurs that existed 66-230 million years old and the remains of myriad other species of extinct animals to the rocks that we can accurately date with Potassium Argon dating systems to 3 or even 4+ billion years ago to the earliest light from stars that we calculate to have left the star 13.4 billion years ago, showing us that the star is at least that old, we've consistently found that so much existed before us, so much exists with us and so much will exist after we have gone extinct. We're just lucky enough to have the consciousness of self / intelligence to enjoy the now. I have always maintained that the more specific a religion is, the easier it is to be dismantled. Because while they can twist and turn, changing the goal posts on a number of these vague ideals they churn out, the truth remains that most of their beliefs are created by men who thought themselves special enough to be the mouth pieces of the gods whilst making quips that were only true in their time, mainly as a result of widespread ignorance in ancient times. If you hold their more specific quotes, thoughts and attempts at science up to scrutiny, they crumble into fine dust. No religion is special. They're all made up attempts to answer the questions, How did all of this come to be? Why are we here? etc. That is why there are so many of them. (There were over 100,000 known religions before the conquest and colonialism of much of the world by superior armies spreading Christianity and Islam (for political means) reduced that number to the conservative 4,000 it is today.) Unlike Mathematics or Physics which would be replicated almost perfectly if all of it were lost, religion is such a diffuse product of the imagination that if all the 4000 religions suddenly left our imaginations now, in time people would invent entirely new ones that would have only one thing in common with the old ones. A reliance on faith and absolutely no rooting in fact. Have a nice day. 8 Likes 2 Shares |
| Religion / Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 7:11pm On Nov 02, 2020 |
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| Religion / Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 6:03pm On Oct 24, 2020 |
According to a 2019 report from the CIA, 98.1% of Nigerians are religious, one of the highest in the world. As I watch the looting, extortion and robbery going on around the country, I'm left in torrents of sadness. How can a people who consider themselves pious, know the mind of God and generally tell us how to live our lives cause such great pains to others? What is the purpose of religion if those who claim to have a God who watches their every move behave like wild beasts and commit such acts of evil? I'm distraught at these losses. 14 Likes 6 Shares |
| Religion / Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 6:24pm On Oct 22, 2020 |
It is interesting how his highness, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, the powerful Oba of Lagos' palace was invaded yesterday by thugs and his staff of authority seized and paraded on the streets like an ordinary stick. The man couldn't even disappear and had to be rescued from the angry mob by soldiers. What happened to the jazz our traditional rulers have? 13 Likes |
| Religion / Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 5:09pm On Oct 21, 2020 |
Nigeria is history's greatest evidence that prayers don't change a country. 18 Likes 8 Shares |
| Religion / Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 12:11pm On Oct 21, 2020 |
If I see one more "pray for Nigeria" post, I'll lose my sh.it. Pray for what? The ones we've been praying since nko? 8 Likes 1 Share |
| Religion / Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 4:02pm On Oct 06, 2020 |
Les Luka So Ijeoma Chinonyerem made an interesting post about the supernatural, detailing a story of a woman who, it appears, “unintentionally killed her boyfriend” with charms and whatnot. The full story is on her page so go there for the gist. I've been wanting to make a post on this and this seems like an opportune time to do so. Whenever people find out about my irreligious leanings, the first question they ask is; “so you don't believe in jazz?” (which is funny, given the god they serve is supposedly more powerful but they never hesitate to use a ‘lesser power’ to validate the existence of their god, but I digress). “No, I don't. Any wahala?” Oftentimes, they'll regal you with stories that have no explanation and could only be as a result of the unseen. Not that their stories are made up but I'll explain why I don't believe in the supernatural. 1. The imperfections of cognition — selection bias. For all the adulation and praise the human mind garners, it is not impervious to failures of accurately describing the human experience. One of this failures is the Selection Bias. The selection bias is a quirk of human behaviour that predisposes us to accepting information that aligns with our preconceived notions and dismissing information that invalidates our opinions. Everyone has a selection bias to a certain degree. No human is immune to this. You will accept information that confirms what you already know and you will discard those that do not align with your beliefs. For instance, an antifeminist will readily accept and ape the rhetoric of ‘indecent dressing leads to rape’ while ignoring the fact that conservative nations (with ‘decent dressing’) have far more incidence of rape than liberal countries (with ‘promiscuous dressing’). Or what about the Buharist who refuses to factor in the overwhelming socioeconomic failures of the Buhari administration but agrees with the miniscule, two-bit crumbs of ‘progress’. In the same vein, superstition is the mainstay of this selection bias, and religion as a whole. If I made a prediction few days back that Manchester United with lose 6-1 and Liverpool would lose 7-2 concurrently what would happen to my reputation? Let's back up a bit; say I also predicted an 8-2 loss against Barcelona before the match what would you think of me? I'd be heralded as a seer. People will slide into my DM to run their betslips by me, I'd be asked what charm I'm using, or the intellectuals amongst us would ask what statistical models I'm using. But here's the catch, I make THOUSANDS of predictions. 99% of which turn out to be wrong, off-tangent most often. But the need to believe I have the powers of premonition predisposes people to SELECT the instances in which my prediction was spot on and dismiss the overwhelming chunk of it that was wrong. It doesn't matter how unlikely my correct score predictions were, the fact that it is not consistent already eliminates it's viability. We have been fooled by randomness. We see two or more unlikely events happen (usually within the same time frame) and automatically assume there's a pattern, neverminding the fact that these events wouldn't even register if they were far apart. Because of our need to understand our world, we force-fit randomness, select the information we want and toss the ones we don't like. 2. Imperfection in our cognition — mass delusions. People say; “well, I saw it with my eyes, Chinedu saw it too, so did Kemi” Emmm.. that you all witnessed a “supernatural phenomenon” does not make it true. There is a phenomenon in psychology called mass hallucinations — as the name implies, it simply means when a group of people witness an anomaly at the same time, usually within the same vicinity. The history books are replete with stories of a mass of people witnessing a UFO, Virgin Mary, Jesus or an apparition. For instance, there was a time in Brazil, thousands of people ‘witnessed’ an apparition of Virgin Mary in the clouds (it turned out to be clouds of lightening). As psychologists explain, mass hallucinations often start with one person seeing an unfamiliar object or activity. He or she then points this out to another person, who looks for this pattern (consciously or unconsciously), sees it, and points it out to the next person and boom! An entire mass of people are supposedly seeing something supernatural. In terms of local magicians and ‘prophets’, they first prime the unsuspecting audience with cues; accentuation of key words, subliminal gestures and the rest. Then they often employ a hallucinogen — could be a plant, a powder, whatever — to induce psychedelic, out-of-body experiences, altered states of consciousness and then proceed to manipulate the person through suggestions. The victims of this snake-oil plot never suspect they've been played because they don't know they've been played. For good measure, consider the fact that psychiatrists can implant fake memories simply by putting the person in a highly suggestible state (using the aforementioned techniques) and telling them stories which they will remember as vividly as their own memories. This is something that has gone on for centuries but now the scientists have a way an empirical way of understanding these blindspots in the human psyche. When a person is doing feats of magic, stop and ask yourself this question; “Can they do this again but in a different setting?” Like 99% of magic, it is not reproducible in a controlled environment. They said magicians and native doctors cannot reproduce it with scientists controlling for variables and extraneous occurrences. Summary of my extra-long post. 99% of our ‘supernatural experience’ have an explanation, and it is NOT a supernatural being pulling the strings. For the 1% that don't have an explanation, then they SIMPLY DON'T HAVE AN EXPLANATION, so terming it supernatural is fallacious. Shine your eyes fellows. 8 Likes 2 Shares |
| Religion / Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 11:07am On Oct 06, 2020 |
If you're a Christian or Muslim, it doesn't mean you've discovered a profound truth, it means you've joined a club. 7 Likes |
| Religion / Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 11:07am On Oct 06, 2020 |
1 Like |
| Religion / Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 8:54am On Oct 04, 2020 |
Religious people see evidence of divine design in nature but can't see evidence of human design in religions. 7 Likes 2 Shares |
| Religion / Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 12:53pm On Sep 14, 2020 |
Steve Abia So Pastor Chris has predicted the 'rapture' would take place in 3 or 6 years. Hehehehe..... I actually wish that jerry curl pastor is right. Imagine a world without these religious dolts! Paradise! Let Jesus come and carry his people, and then the Muslims would join whoever is coming for them. Those of us left will then negotiate with oga 666. 18 Likes 3 Shares |
| Religion / Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 9:27am On Sep 13, 2020 |
You just gotta laugh at these attacks on Daddy Freeze by these pentecostal pastors. Not that Freeze has sense too since he still calls himself a Christian. I mean he's also cherry picking like the rest of them. But the reasons they're attacking him are ridiculous. The irony of Nigerian Christianity. Jesus was a bastard. We know that his father (whoever he is, whether god or man) was not married to his mother. Jesus had no job. He moved around, preaching and eating in people's houses. He could not afford a means of transportation of his own. He had to borrow a donkey to ride to Jerusalem. He was never married. ........................................................................................................................ There is nothing actually wrong with these, but they are what Nigerian Christians are laughing at and mocking others for; the very qualities embodied in their own alleged 'Lord and personal Savior'. They have all gone to church today to sing and gyrate. Jesus would surely be wondering: who the hell are these people? 16 Likes 1 Share |
| Religion / Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 6:47pm On Sep 12, 2020 |
Victor Daniel So Nigerian Christians that call Buhari a circus monkey at every given opportunity are suddenly concerned about respect for elders and higher authorities? Funny how the only time Nigerians talk about freedom of speech is only when the person being insulted is someone they don't like. If these guys' pastors were the president, they'd support the speech censorship bill because they wouldn't be able to stand anyone talking down on their pastors. The same way you feel about your man of God is the same way a Buharist feels about his president. Deal with it. 7 Likes |
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