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| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 6:03am On Jul 24, 2018 |
Omooba224: LOL. Anytime I get this kind of message, most of them via PM, I can only remember what Isaac Newton said, "If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants." It is in Ecclesiastes that it's written, "...there is no new thing under the sun." My thoughts and questions here are not new, they have been thought and asked across the generations by thinkers, philosophers and everyday people. It is just sad that more people are only beginning to think and ask them in our continent. We will be free, and hopefully development will start. Perhaps this is why I have not given up this thread. May Odin give you knowledge on your path, May Thor grant you strength and courage on your way, And may Loki give you laughter as you go  13 Likes 2 Shares |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by Omooba224: 6:29am On Jul 24, 2018 |
joseph1013:Lemme use Thomas Paine's book name AGE OF REASON. Just to use it as the age we are now, we are now making use of our logical reasoning. Would you mind explaining the concepts of Witchcraft and Sorcery? People have been using hearsays like "see this one so you don't know that there are witches and wizards, if they visit you once, you will understand that there is AYE", but personally I don't believe in such things again.. I only believe what I see and sense with my senses, I don't buy things at face value again.. Thanks as you explain... 1 Like |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 6:30am On Jul 24, 2018 |
WHY SAY "GOD BLESS YOU"? Why do religious people say, "God bless you?" Do they think that God rushes to give some people happy and successful lives whilst neglecting others or even arranging for their lives to be miserable? Does God have sleepless nights wondering who to help and who to ignore? Does he wake up relieved when he hears mortals guiding him with his relentless decision-making? Does he automatically, help anyone who has been awarded a "God bless you" or does it depend upon who utters the words? Are there some people whose requests he will jump to comply with and others he will snub and turn his back on? Or is it a voting system? Perhaps one "God Bless" will elicit nothing but 30 in one day will grab his attention and cause him to act? Is a written "God bless" you worth more than an oral blessing? Or less? And how long does a "God bless" last? Does it give you a few hours divine help or days, or years or for the rest of your life? Or is it an empty expression that invokes no celestial advantage at all--the religious equivalent of "Have a nice day"? Yes, I suppose that's all it is--it's "Have a nice day" for people who are not embarrassed to admit they are adults who still have an invisible friend. 5 Likes |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 7:38am On Jul 26, 2018 |
Omooba224: I was looking to answer this comprehensively yesterday, and upon writing a long epistle about it, my system crashed (witches at work, right? ).But I will answer the question another way, and try to pen down my previous thoughts some other time. A lot of people ask me, if witchcraft, sorcery and the supernatural isn't real, why then do people believe in it? Are you saying you are wiser than my grandma of 90 who scoffs at those who think there are no witches? Children of nowadays have been so blinded with technology that they have no idea of the evil activities of darkness. Well, what I say is that it has never been a good excuse to believe in a phenonmenon based on the number of people that believe in it. I mean, if alien abductions aren't real, why do people believe they've been abducted? If astrology isn't real, why do people believe the position of celestial bodies affects their lives? If electromagnetic hypersensitivity isn't real, why do some people believe they are dying when exposed to electromagnetism? If homeopathy is literally just water droplets, why do people believe it has strong medicinal effects on them? If there are many mutually exclusive religions in the world, why do people from each one believe they've had experiences which exactly confirm their own religion and disprove the others? If truth exists, why is anybody wrong at all? The answer to all these questions (and witchcraft, sorcery and demons) is that the human mind is pretty sloppy and unreliable. We're not the pillars of clear and rational thought that we like to imagine we are. We have to apply a tremendous amount of effort to consistently identity what is true and what is not, and we can't really expect a worldview to be sensible if we haven't done that. Sure, it might somehow feel right even without putting in much critical effort, but that same feeling is shared by plenty of others who hold different views. What can be done to resolve these contradictory beliefs and identify those which are true (or most likely to be true)? How can one apply more critical thinking to questions about the nature of the world? My recommendation would be to adopt and apply a worldview based on scientific skepticism. 2 Likes |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by Omooba224: 1:57am On Jul 27, 2018 |
joseph1013:Your system crashing was caused by Benin witches and wizards. Lol! Hope you have repaired it? I love your approach towards the subject matter it shows that you are being sincere. That's why skeptics are the most sincere humans. They don't claim to know everything and lie about things they don't understand. Once again thanks for your recommendation.. 1 Like |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 7:10am On Jul 27, 2018 |
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CHESS AND RELIGION When you defeat someone at chess, your opponent will invariably offer their hand and congratulate you. Often, more skilled players, will ponder their defeat and try to learn from it. When you checkmate a religious person in an argument they will rarely offer their hand. More often, they will instantly change the subject and forget the discussion ever happened. If pressed, they are likely to deny you have won, despite the evidence of their missing king. Religious people could learn a lot from chess players. 12 Likes 3 Shares |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by funshyboi(m): 4:57pm On Jul 29, 2018 |
joseph1013: joseph1013: THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CHESS AND RELIGION When you defeat someone at chess, your opponent will invariably offer their hand and congratulate you. Often, more skilled players, will ponder their defeat and try to learn from it. When you checkmate a religious person in an argument they will rarely offer their hand. More often, they will instantly change the subject and forget the discussion ever happened. If pressed, they are likely to deny you have won, despite the evidence of their missing king. Religious people could learn a lot from chess players. joseph1013: kudos to you skeptic, I read your analysis all through and I can confidently say I am on the same page with you. but one thing that keeps bothering me is the idea of witchcraft. saying they don't exist will be understated for me. the confusion now is won't it be pointless we assume there is no God and presume the witches and wizards exists. I mean I can say I am seeing their manifestations around me....At least blood money, rituals et.al are all around. Am confused on that aspect. thanks as I await your views 1 Like |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by CAPSLOCKED: 10:41am On Jul 30, 2018 |
funshyboi: https://www.nairaland.com/4631082/money-ritual-nigeria-evidence-it YOU CAN GO THROUGH THAT THREAD IN YOUR FREE TIME. 3 Likes |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 8:05pm On Jul 31, 2018 |
WHY GOD HAS TO STAY HIDDEN Christians often say God stays hidden because he wants us to choose to believe in him--if God made himself known he would take away our choice, and our free will. This means we have to believe in him on faith (without evidence). I have a big problem with this. All the things I believe, I believe because there are good reasons to accept they are true (and even then, I'm rarely or never certain). God's strategy guarantees that only children, the indoctrinated, the gullible, the fearful, the logically challenged and the emotionally needy will believe in him. There is a much better strategy than this. God should make himself known to EVERYONE in an incontrovertible way so no one will have any doubt he exists. That leaves us free to decide whether to worship, love and give our lives to him, or just think he is a di.ck. This strategy would eliminate deadly squabbling between humans over who has the real god and would leave just two groups--those who worship him and those who don't. After all, deciding how to respond to God is the important decision--searching for an undetectable being that can never be found is a fool's errand. Of course, there is a good reason why my strategy is never used--a god would have to exist for it to work. Being hidden is the only available strategy for invented gods. 4 Likes 2 Shares |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 9:22pm On Aug 01, 2018 |
THE EVOLUTION OF GOD Over 5,000 years or so, humans have refined and reinvented their gods from heavenly bodies and inanimate objects, through animals and half-human-half-animal monstrosities to capricious, fractious families and finally to an immaterial being who had no beginning and will have no end and lives outside of the universe. At the same time, gods increased their powers in successive stages from the ability to cause rain, crop failure or other relatively mundane acts to a god that is everywhere at the same time, infinitely powerful and who knows everything past, present and future. Despite this breath-taking rate of evolution, the latest super-god still frowns on masturbation and same sex marriage, still does nothing to help starving children, still allows sundry natural disasters to kill us by the thousands with alarming regularity and still chooses to be undetectable. This god has powers so immense that humans cannot fathom or imagine them and he is adored and worshiped by over half the people on the planet. But he is still a di.ck 3 Likes 1 Share |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 8:17pm On Aug 02, 2018 |
WHO DO BELIEVERS REALLY HAVE FAITH IN? If you believe in God on faith, I have a question for you. Did you learn of God's existence from God or from a human? If you learnt from a human, you don't have faith in God, you have faith that a fallible human was telling you the truth. Was (s)he? 4 Likes |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 7:20pm On Aug 03, 2018 |
TAKE THE BIBLE... Take the Bible as your geography book... and you'll miss 99% of the world. Take the Bible as your history book... and you'll be bottom of the class. Take the Bible as your biology book ...and you'll get no marks at all. Take the Bible as your cosmology book ...and you'll know less than nothing. Take the Bible as your medical book ...and you'll be sued for malpractice. Take the Bible as your military ethics book ...and you'll be sentenced for war crimes. Take the Bible as your childcare book ...and your children will be taken away. Take the Bible as your law book ...and you'll end up in jail. Take the Bible as your human rights book ...and you'll be tried at The Hague. So, yes take the Bible, take it as far away as possible. And leave it there. 8 Likes 2 Shares |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by funshyboi(m): 11:32am On Aug 05, 2018 |
CAPSLOCKED: thanks, I did. but my issue is the thread don't seems conclusive to me. some keep saying it exists with tangible evidences around them, while some says it doesn't without any evidence other than maybe because they haven't seen any. maybe joseph1013 can be helpful in logical analysis |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by KaBabs1: 8:27am On Aug 09, 2018 |
I found this on Twitter earlier today and I thought to share on this page. Its amazing that the doctors who fought so hard to save Patricia's dad's life aren't even worthy of her shout out. 2 Likes
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| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 6:08am On Aug 15, 2018 |
funshyboi: The long and short of it is that there is no concrete evidence that witchcraft exists. Same goes for money rituals. Ask yourself, what has popularized witchcraft and glamorized money rituals in our society, and you will find out that it's Nollywood movies. That says a lot. People do not know how something occurs, and using confirmation bias attribute these occurences to the supernatural. I have often said, "That you do not know how something occurs does not mean it has a supernatural explanation." As usual, I am open to evidence. If we can get a witchcraft/money ritual operation in the full glare of the public in a control environment, who am I to argue against solid proof? 1 Like |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 6:10am On Aug 15, 2018 |
IT'S ALL IN THE TIMING It's such a pity Jesus was born so long ago. If he had been born in the 21st century, there would be no doubt about the truth of his claims. A gynecologist could verify his mother was a virgin, an astronomer could track the star in the East, TV crews could interview the wise men, scientists could verify his miracles, a team of doctors could sign his death certificate and verify his resurrection, and his ascension would be captured on video by hundreds of smartphones. Jesus could have worn a GoPro Headcam to the crucifixion, last supper and all his other big events, streaming everything live to the Internet. I suppose that's why he appeared when he did. In those days, all you needed was a good story-teller and a gullible audience, and there were plenty of them about. 14 Likes 1 Share |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 8:03am On Aug 16, 2018 |
WHEN THE PARTY'S OVER You're at a party. Enjoying the music, chatting with friends, eating and drinking. Life is good. But from time-to-time your mind may drift. How will you get home? Are the children safe with the new baby sitter? Have you got enough food at home for tomorrow? How will you cope with the project that starts on Monday? So far as we know only humans can do this--divorce themselves from the immediate and contemplate the future. This talent has enabled us to create great things: beautiful art, wonderful buildings, fantastically complex machines and much more. But it has also allowed us all to understand the party will end, and wonder what will come afterwards. The earliest indication that humans were thinking about this comes from chattels placed in graves around 100,000 years ago. From 4,600 years ago, the Egyptians created massive pyramids to keep their kings and queens preserved for their future life. The idea of reincarnation (the spirit continuing after death in a new human, animal or insect body) probably originated in the Indus River Valley at least 4,000 years ago. Reincarnation is a part of Hinduism and several other religions. There is evidence that afterlife beliefs were many, varied and widespread. More recently, Judaism included an afterlife from 3,000 or so years ago and Christianity enhanced and extended the idea from 2,000 years ago. Given the early roots of afterlife beliefs, their variety and our inability, even with sophisticated modern instruments, to show that any part of us survives death, these beliefs look like forlorn hopes rather than knowledge. Hopes that arose because we evolved the ability to envisage the disagreeable fact that we all have to leave the party. Even today, the majority of people on Earth believe in some form of afterlife, despite the complete lack of evidence that it is true. As is often the case, Christopher Hitchens said it best. A few weeks before he died on 15 December 2011 he said, "It will happen to all of us, that at some point you'll be tapped on the shoulder and told, not just that the party is over, but slightly worse: the party's going on but you have to leave." .... PS As far as I can discover, Hitchens last words were not recorded but he did not convert on his death bed. Indeed among his last written words was this perfect gem, "If I convert it’s because it’s better that a believer dies than an atheist does." Loved that man. 2 Likes 1 Share |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by Nobody: 12:24pm On Aug 16, 2018 |
PastorAIO:This is excellent. |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 6:02am On Aug 17, 2018 |
THANK YOU, BUT NO THANK YOU If there is eternal life and you sign up for it, you've signed a contract with no termination clause. No matter what happens to you, there is no way out. You can't change your mind. You will be trapped and there's no way to escape, ever. And this contract has no specifics--just vague promises. Will you have to work? Could your employer's business fail so you have to be let go? Could you find yourself unemployed and, if so, will there be unemployment benefits? Could you become redundant? If you see how technology has changed our planet in 100 years, imagine what could happen in a thousand or a billion years. If you were not able to get a good education on Earth, could you wind up cleaning toilets, disposing of rubbish or picking fruit? If not, who will do these jobs? If you don't have to work; if all goods and services will be produced by some kind of heavenly magic, how will you spend the hours, years, decades, millennia, and thousands of millennia? What will you do for entertainment and to grow intellectually and emotionally? Will you have the same life partner in heaven that you had on Earth? What if you go to heaven and your partner does not? Will God assign you a partner or will you have to compete for one? Since women tend to be more devout than men, will there be a shortage of men and lots of lonely women? What if you died at an old age when you had become infirm and incontinent? Will you be restored to good health and your age reduced? What about your children? Will they also be made younger to maintain the age difference? Does this mean babies will have to be unborn because their parents have been reduced to six yours of age? Will you grow old? Will you be able to have children and, if you can, will they grow up and become old or will they stay babies for ever? Will you just get older and older but never die? I could go on all day, thinking of questions about heaven but the bottom line is, even if you believe heaven exists, you DO NOT KNOW the answers to thousands of questions like these. Yet you are willing to enter a contract for an unknown future with no termination clause. For me, the very idea of a life that can never end is horrific and I don't want it. Even if I knew all the specifics, I would say, "Thank you, but no thank you." 5 Likes 1 Share |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 7:46am On Aug 20, 2018 |
IT'S A MIRACLE! When something you can't explain happens, you have two choices: 1. Accept you don't understand how it happened, or 2. Believe it was a miracle. You should only conclude it was a miracle if you have a way to be SURE science will never, ever be able to find a natural explanation. Since you cannot be sure of this, you can accept that a miracle is a possible explanation but you should never BELIEVE a miracle actually occurred. (Maybe it would be a miracle, if religious people could grasp this simple logic and stop claiming miracles have occurred!) |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by hopefulLandlord: 7:54am On Aug 20, 2018 |
joseph1013: This is not how the Christian god of the holy Bible was actually portrayed I always ask Christians who say this to give just one person from the bible who believed Yahweh existed only based on faith. till today no Christian has come close to giving a name The bible god gave evidence he existed. whether they want to follow him or not is where faith is now required. His existence was a forgone conclusion Christians of today who realise there are doubters and know there's no such evidence again now turn around and claim Christian god is doing it so atheists can have freewill. This is nonsense because it means they're admitting Abraham who Yahweh spoke to directly had his freewill taken away from him. Peter who had his net torn due to too many fishes after instructions from Jesus also had his freewill taken away. Paul who Yahweh spoke to directly had his freewill taken away, Thomas who touched Jesus hands had his freewill taken away. the people of Israel who witnessed all these Jesus miracles had their freewill taken away. Infact every single believer in Yahweh in the holy Bible had their freewill taken away. I think its high time Christians that trout this nonsense admit their god is not the same as the god of the holy Bible 4 Likes 1 Share |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 12:17pm On Aug 23, 2018 |
IS EVERYTHING IN THE BIBLE TRUE? A very large number of Christians believe everything in the Bible is literally true. If you are one who believes this, I just wondered how you arrived at that conclusion? Did someone tell you it's all true and you just believed them or did you research every sentence to verify it against independent evidence? Or did you use some other method? Please tell us how you reached this conclusion. A very large number of Christians do not believe the Bible is 100% literally true. They believe some of it is literally true but accept that the book includes stories that have become confused and embellished, myths, allegories, poetry and parables. If you are one who believes this, I wonder how you decide what is true and what falls into those other categories? Please tell us how you decided this. Thank you. To be fair, since I asked you, I should answer this question for myself. I start off being sceptical and not believing any of it. I change my mind on individual passages when I find independently validated evidence that they are true. That's my way of trying to ensure I don't believe things that might not be true. Just common sense really. |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 6:20am On Aug 27, 2018 |
I USED TO BE AN ATHEIST... Sometimes, when I argue against more religion I hear some Christians claim that they used to be an atheist. They say it is nothing new to them and that I will come back to my senses pretty soon. When I hear that, I always ask them why they were an atheist and invariably discover that they were not really atheists at all—they were lazy Christians. Instead of praying/going to church they preferred drinking/sex/drugs/masturbation/gambling or other self indulgent pursuits. Then I ask why they changed their minds and they always give me an emotional reason—they had an experience of some kind and discovered Jesus. What I never hear is "I found the ontological/cosmological/teleological argument..." [or whatever]. Well, in my opinion, if you were an atheist for no logical reason, you were a bad atheist and if you are now a Christian for no logical reason, you are a bad Christian. If logic takes you to atheism, you will almost certainly remain an atheist because no matter how much your life changes, logic will stubbornly stay the same. The beauty of logic is that it does not depend upon how you happen to feel today. 9 Likes 2 Shares |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 9:13am On Aug 28, 2018 |
If you can put aside what people have drummed into you, how can you POSSIBLY believe there is an invisible man who lives outside the universe and knows what you think and watches you (and everyone else) 24 hours a day, when there is not a shred of evidence that this is true? 2 Likes |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 6:13am On Aug 29, 2018 |
ATHEISM 101 There is nothing complicated in atheism. Everyone knows that men invent gods and invent even more religions. So, if you have been raised to believe in your family's god and religion, you have a choice: You can just believe it, enjoy it, fit in with everyone and not care whether it is actually true. Or you can decide you would prefer to believe only things you can be reasonably sure are true. If you want to believe things that are true, how can you decide what is true? Well, there are some methods that we know do not work. For example, the fact that your family firmly believe in a god does not mean it is real. The fact that millions or billions of people believe in a god does not mean it is real. The fact that the president of your country or your favourite scientist believes in a god does not mean it is real. There is another, slightly more complicated, set of arguments. We call these god-of-the-gaps arguments. The fact there are things we don't yet understand is never a reason to believe a god exists. Why not? Because we may understand these things in the future, just as we eventually explained how the sun "moves" and what causes thunder, earthquakes, diseases and so on. Finally, the fact you enjoy worshipping your god or even sense him talking to you and this makes you feel great does not mean your god is real. Why not? Because believers in all gods and all religions experience the same feelings and they can even be recreated in a laboratory, so we know the brain causes these feelings--not a god. How then can you figure out if your god is real? The same way you figure out if anything else is true--you must find convincing evidence. What evidence is relevant depends upon your God and how he is said to manifest in the world. For example, if your god answers a proportion of prayers, you can test to see if a proportion (greater than chance) are answered. This is the scientific approach. (FYI the Christian god does not answer prayers better than chance.) So you can look for evidence for your particular god. I hope you do and let us know if you find any. If you can't find any evidence (and experience tells me you will not), you can go to the next stage and see if it is possible to falsify your god, that is, see if you can find evidence that shows your god does NOT exist. For example, if your god created all life forms in two days, you can find evidence that life has existed and changed over almost 4 billion years. Therefore there is no god that created all life in two days. You have shown your god does not exist. I hope this helps you to understand how atheists think. We rely on evidence and reason and we reject all the old arguments that have long ago been shown to be unreliable. When we do this we can find no trace of gods--we only find humans inventing gods and humans passing their beliefs onto their children. 7 Likes 1 Share |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by Omooba224: 11:29am On Aug 30, 2018 |
joseph1013:I suppose applying Critical Thinking Technique will also help them.. It will go a long way in formatting all the semolina dumped into their heads... 1 Like |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 5:57am On Aug 31, 2018 |
THE ARGUMENT FROM FABRICATION In the last year or so, I've noticed a few theists adopting a new style of argumentation. I call it the argument from fabrication. It is a three-stage process. STAGE 1 The theist makes an extravagant claim. Here are some recent examples: 'There are thousands of pieces of evidence that prove Jesus was real.' 'Scientific evidence is now piling up that the Earth did stop in the sky for a whole day' (as per the Joshua story). 'Science has now proved the universe was created.' 'Flat earth is gaining weight in academia, and is being backed by science and math.' After such world-view changing claims, you naturally ask for sources for the evidence. STAGE 2 The theist refuses to "do your work for you" and insists you find the evidence yourself. So you do some research and draw a blank. Then you report the absence of evidence to the theist. STAGE 3 The theist hurls a barrage of choice insults at you and is never seen again. I suppose we could call this progress--at least they are talking about evidence and think it important in the discussion about their beliefs. Now they just have to stop making it up. 4 Likes |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 12:07pm On Sep 01, 2018 |
Mavis OCHAKPOR wrote: Mode: Domestic Mood: Optimal Location: North Central,Nigeria. Weather: Sunny Earpiece tucked in my ear. Sean Paul&Sasha's 'Still In Love' be booming. A figure was walking towards me. His lips were moving. He was talking to me. Huge Bible in his right hand. My BS detector got the signal already. God botherers!!! And me? I deputize for his Father's alter ego. Did he figure it? I wouldn't know. And to think I had to stop work because I didn't want his ilks to get in the way of my plan - you know those ones who almost sleep at ATM facilities every Saturday to withdraw tithes and offerings to settle spiritual magas na? Those ones.With the crowd they pull at this particular facility in my hood,they can cripple your schedule. Not today tho! I met this one on my way. Turns down volume on my phone. Person: Bless you sister Me: Bros good morning. NEPA finally restored light after 3 days of darkness. My clothes will dry it's a sunny day. Person: Yes. We thank God for his mercies. It's Saturday day. This guy no know say e suppose thank Thor�. Meanwhile na bad market you just jam laidis. Person: Do you know Jesus loves you and he's coming back soon... Me  Cuts in) Do you know Ludacris and Ja Rule never used the word "bitch" in their songs?Person: I didn't get you? Me: Me too! Have a nice day. �� Back to my phone. It was Mariah Carey's "It's Like That" playing. 3 Likes |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 6:52am On Sep 03, 2018 |
YOUR RANDOM GOD This is odd. A lot of religious people take great pains to stress that SOMEONE must be responsible for creating the universe. And then, instead of embarking on a painstaking and exhaustive search for the missing someone, they immediately pluck a random god from ancient history and pretend they've solved the problem. Duhh... PS Even more curious, the random god they chose is USUALLY the very same one their mum believes in. 9 Likes 5 Shares |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 6:32am On Sep 04, 2018 |
MY WORRIES There are plenty of things to worry about in life. For example, I worry that I might wake up in the night and stub my toe as I rush to the loo in the dark. Or that I might find that despite the horrible job the president is doing he still bags a second term or a car would splash mud water on my fine clothes. I might even worry that I would not be able to find a single seller of Sharwarma in Lagos one day. But there's one thing I never, ever worry about. I never worry about coming back to life after I die and being tortured forever in a fiery hell. Nah, with so many things to worry about, let's just worry about things that might actually happen. 3 Likes 1 Share |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 7:11am On Sep 06, 2018 |
THE PRICE OF A BED TO SLEEP IN I spent the best part of last weekend with a friend I made via Nairaland. He is Hausa, well read, logical and very bright. We have been online friends for over three years but he has never interacted with me on this thread.He however claims to have read most of them. His story could be the story of (may be) hundreds of people here--people forced to remain closet atheists by loving Muslim and Christian families for whom believing in God comes before everything else and is the price you must pay to have a roof over your head and a bed to sleep in. When he began to have doubts about God he was isolated. There was no one he could talk to. Everyone around him was so certain of God that he began to seriously wonder if his doubts were early signs of a descent into madness. But then he found Nairaland, the Religion section, and eventually this thread. He began to read my posts and the discussions that followed them. At last he had found sensible, rational people who thought like he did, but he didn't dare reach out to them. As he talked I could see this experience must be something like suffering locked-in syndrome where you are conscious, can hear people around you but cannot talk to them. I wish Muslim and Christian parents were not like this. If my kid announced she had become religious, it would never cross my mind to show her the door or be angry with her. Why do some Muslims and Christians behave so badly? But there is one more thing. Believers often ask me why I spend so much time talking about a god I don't believe in. I have just given you one reason. I bet there are hundreds more. 4 Likes 2 Shares |
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