₦airaland Forum

Oluwaseytiano:
Extracts from an article
THERE’S far too much strife in the world
today. Terrorism plagues the Middle East,
terror raids increase at home, the royal
commission into disturbing sexual abuse is
ongoing and debate rages about wearing the
burqa in public.
And what is the basis of many of these
problems? Religion. Specifically, the fact that
almost all religious movements think they are
(a) always correct, and (b) struggle to coexist
peacefully with rival faiths. Given that these
issues don’t appear to be going away, perhaps
it’s time we gave atheism a try.
Atheism has much going for it that religion
does not. For a start, it does not presume a
supernatural being whose existence can never
be proved. Most of the time when someone
says they believe something to be true,
objective verification is required.
If I laid claim to the title of “Fastest man on
Earth”, for example, the Guinness World
Records wouldn’t simply replace Usain Bolt’s
name with mine in the 100m sprint category.
I’d have to turn up at an athletics track and
test my speed (what there is of it these days)
against the stopwatch. And Mr Bolt would
remain the champion until someone genuinely
faster than him appeared.
So why is religion treated so differently? Why
do we pay special attention to various groups
of priests and people who claim to know both
life’s higher truths and the identity of the One
True God? Why do religions receive tax breaks
not available to others? And irrespective of
how silly a religion’s belief systems are, why
do we need special anti-discrimination laws to
penalise those who refuse to respect such
nonsense?
Much of what appears in holy books like the
Bible, the Torah and the Koran is thousands
of years old. These texts are a mixture of
history, rules for living when law was generally
capricious and primitive beliefs from an age
when science was dimly grasped. I don’t know about you, but I have no desire to
exist as people did when Jesus was born.
There was no modern medicine back then.
Sanitation was poor, people lived short lives,
women routinely died in childbirth and stars
were thought to be pinpricks in the sky
through which God’s holy light shone. It
makes little sense for 21st-century societies to
respect belief systems concocted under such
circumstances. Yet to this day people still
fight each other and demand special
recognition for their own set of religious
principles.
Not that long ago, accepted wisdom held that
the Earth was flat. We now know this to be
untrue, and anyone who states otherwise is
treated as a fool. But if flat-earthism was
treated like religion, we’d still be teaching it in
school.
Another problem religions have is that most
disagree with each other. Christians say that
Jesus was God’s main prophet, while Muslims
bestow that honour on Mohammed.
Meanwhile, Jews argue the true Messiah is yet
to appear.
Atheism isn’t a belief system in itself. All it
says is that those who proclaim the existence
of a god or gods should provide some proof to
back up their claim. In the absence of such
proof, and combined with so many competing
religious ideas, it’s prudent to assume there is
no god and get on with life.
A world run by atheists wouldn’t necessarily
be free from conflict, because aside from
religion there are plenty of reasons people
fight: land, water, food and differing political
ideologies have all been responsible for wars
in the past.
Religious conflicts are particularly difficult,
however, because they’re almost impossible to
solve. The lack of evidence to prove one
system over another means that followers of
one religion rarely admit to others they might
be wrong. Instead, spiritual differences fester
unresolved for hundreds of years.
Because we live in a democracy, religion
neither should nor could be banned. But to
avoid trouble we must reduce the elevated
status it presently occupies in civil society.
First, unless they are undertaking valuable
charitable works, religions should be stripped
of the various tax breaks they enjoy. This
means, among other things, that churches
should pay land tax to state governments —
just as do most other property owners.
Second, there should not be any official
religion in a country like Australia, whose
inhabitants believe in many different things.
Because our head of state, Queen Elizabeth II,
also leads the Church of England, we’ll soon
need to perform some constitutional tinkering.
Third, no politician or witness in court should
swear on a holy book to either do a good job
or tell the truth. If someone’s word is suspect,
then no grasping of an ancient tome will
increase their trustworthiness. If people must
swear on something, then they should do so
to the Commonwealth of Australia. This is an
entity that, after all, means a great deal to
millions of people who possess very different
spiritual beliefs.
Finally, stop placing the opinions of religious
leaders above those of (presumably) lesser
beings. Just because someone has advanced
through a male-dominated hierarchy via
interpretation of the scriptures, they shouldn’t
have a public platform from which to lecture
others.
Religion should be treated as a private affair
people are free to join or leave as they please.
It should not be regarded as a font of wisdom
and should be subject to the same analysis
and criticisms as other beliefs. Atheists don’t
know the secrets of the universe. But they
accept that research and science are better
ways of discovering such matters than
obscure texts in very old books.
Before you dismiss me as small-minded, the
moment a Christian, Muslim or Jew presents
me with proof of God, I’ll convert to religion.
Until then I’ll remain a sceptical nonbeliever.

ValentineMary:
I find it quite amusing that u generally regard theist as unreasonable and foolish. If ur 5 year old daughter told u she believes power puff girls are real, she is insane but if a 50 year old man believes in flying chariots, he is only keeping his religious legacy.

If a man kills because God told him so, you would say it is not possible but when Abraham does it, he is just a man of faith.

If Amadioha destroy a little hamlet because they offended him (if Amadioha is real), he is an evil God. But when Yahweh does it in the time of Noah, he had his reasons.

We can go on and on to analyze the flaws of religion. And does who try to question the flaws are irrational but does who believe it without any reason to are the rational persons. You really have a weird way of defining things bro.

vooks:
[size=1pt][/size]
NOBODY can stand unpunctuated post, not even yourself...totally atrocious to our sensibilities

Oluwaseytiano:
how clever, diverting attention from the message. Anyways, sorry for disrespecting ur sensibilities

Oluwaseytiano:
how clever, diverting attention from the message. Anyways, sorry for disrespecting ur sensibilities

asalimpo:
You really have no argument.
Powerpuff girls is kid entertainment, flying chariots is from Christian scriptures. An authoritative, the authoritative source.

Killing in which dispensation and under what context?
You are deliberately mixing different contexts together to make a false point.
A police man shooting a thief, and a brother killing a stranger ,
are they the same ? Is the policeman now a murderer?
Should the court acquit the brother because the police kill men too?

You failed to mention that God gave man time to repent but man refused. You don't see that.
You don't see God making a way for sinful man to escape judgement by getting into the ark b4 it was too late or to repent and turn from his evil ways.
You don't see that man in Noah's time, Sodom and gomorrah , canaan reaped God's judgement?

Get your arguments aligned and well-balanced before firing.

KingEbukasBlog:
Your work was Copied and pasted

vooks:
Try and punctuate your work. Spaces, paragraphs and so forth. That's how you communicate.
Alternatively, invest in a decent smart device

Oluwaseytiano:
I never claimed it was mine. Read the first line

Oluwaseytiano:
Sorry, am not rich enough to afford it. Maybe I'll pray to Yahweh and hope he provides one b4 morning

KingEbukasBlog:
Oh ... you needed someone else to do the thinking for you ?

Oluwaseytiano:
Sorry, am not rich enough to afford it. Maybe I'll pray to Yahweh and hope he provides one b4 morning

vooks:
Then don't blame us for ignoring you.
Again this is how your post looks on my 9.7' iPad Air. Imagine how much worse it looks on smaller screens!
I know you are obtuse but this is commonly sense. Take it or leave it

asalimpo:
You really have no argument.
Powerpuff girls is kid entertainment, flying chariots is from Christian scriptures,the Bible.The authoritative source.

Killing in which dispensation and under what context?
You are deliberately mixing different contexts together to make a false point.
A police man shooting a thief, and a brother killing a stranger ,
are they the same ? Is the policeman now a murderer?
Should the court acquit the brother because the police kill men too?

You failed to mention that God gave man time to repent but man refused. You don't see that.
You don't see God making a way for sinful man to escape judgement by getting into the ark b4 it was too late or to repent and turn from his evil ways.
You don't see that man in Noah's time, Sodom and gomorrah , canaan reaped God's judgement?

Get your arguments aligned and well-balanced before firing.

I agree power puff girls is a cartoon character but Elijah flying chariot is a myth and should be treated as such. Unless u want to say it is a fact, then u would provide proof.

As for ur 2nd paragraph, you obviously can't analyse things properly. Read through post over and over again before u comment.

And can u tell me how Noah communicated with the Brazilians or Aztec of the flood? Or did God just punish these innocent people because of their distance from Noah considering the fact that nobody knew about the "new world" until the 15th century. Oh! I know, God has his reasons

KingEbukasBlog:
Well vooks believes in God and has one -

Oluwaseytiano:
oh sorry lex luthor, the all rich and powerful

Oluwaseytiano:
at least I don't believe in fairy tales. I may be a slowpoke BT am not under the illusion of being a less being

vooks:
The book is free of charge. Break from spamming, Grab a copy, go through it, and then come back and spam some more

Oluwaseytiano:
And I believe in a different God and also have an alienware

ValentineMary:
I agree power puff girls is a cartoon character but Elijah flying chariot is a myth and should be treated as such. Unless u want to say it is a fact, then u would provide proof.

As for ur 2nd paragraph, you obviously can't analyse things properly. Read through post over and over again before u comment.

And can u tell me how Noah communicated with the Brazilians or Aztec of the flood? Or did God just punish these innocent people because of their distance from Noah considering the fact that nobody knew about the "new world" until the 15th century. Oh! I know, God has his reasons

Oluwaseytiano:
ait boss. keep living in wonderland

KingEbukasBlog:
To pray to God is to admit that you have derailed and need Him to put you on the right track

KingEbukasBlog:
But vooks can provide a proof of his device and the ownership ... can you ?

vooks:
Right on my money, Negroes would rather Nairabet than reading a simple 145 book

ValentineMary:
I have no words for u, to go logical with you is like speaking Igbo to a guy from the Inca tribe

vooks:
You know all these tired recycled arguments have been thoroughly threshed several times decades before your grandparents courted under some shrub?

Grab the book, do the 145 pages, and then come back and bloviating some more

ValentineMary:
Pls keep moving if u can't counter the argument and stop emphasizing on ur silly book, I have read better christian books.

vooks:
Here is the book once again;
http://www.fairladyz32.com/downloads/christian/books/Ravi%20Zacharias/Ravi%20Zacharias%20-The%20End%20of%20Reason.pdf

No idea why the most militant atheists and wannabe thinkers are avoiding it like plague. They are mighty scared being wrong. Insecure pricks

ValentineMary:
I agree power puff girls is a cartoon character but Elijah flying chariot is a myth and should be treated as such. Unless u want to say it is a fact, then u would provide proof.

As for ur 2nd paragraph, you obviously can't analyse things properly. Read through post over and over again before u comment.

And can u tell me how Noah communicated with the Brazilians or Aztec of the flood? Or did God just punish these innocent people because of their distance from Noah considering the fact that nobody knew about the "new world" until the 15th century. Oh! I know, God has his reasons

Oluwaseytiano:
Av read so many books that even the famed library of Alexander would put me on its shelf

Oluwaseytiano:
I don't need to prove anything to you.