When Halloween rolls around, you hear Christians criticize it vehemently. Some go as far as to dub it "Satan's birthday". For those us who grew up in the church, we attended the church alternative to Halloween, "Holy Ween".
However, Halloween isn't the only holiday that is criticized for pagan origins. So is Christmas. Certain Christian sects and Nation Of Islam criticize Christmas for its pagan origins. Well I must concede. It is true. Everything that is associated with Christmas, Christmas trees, Christmas lights, Santa Claus, presents, Christmas wreaths, Christmas stockings are pagan originated.
Now before you start trashing your Christmas accessories, consider another pagan holiday-birthdays. That's right. Birthdays are of pagan origin. Do you want to stop celebrating your birthday? I sure as hell don't want to stop celebrating my birthdays.
This article from Restored Church of God criticizes celebrating birthdays because of its pagan origins
http://rcg.org/articles/abcc.html
I don't know about you all, but I will not stop celebrating my birthday, Christmas or Halloween. If this should indicate any damn thing, it's that we owe a lot to pagans. Pagans brought a lot of things that we enjoy. What did Christianity bring? A fable, a religion that praised masochism, subordination of women, a history of enslavement, genocide, and killing freethinkers, homosexuals, Jews (sometimes), independent women, etc. All this in the midst of the philanthropic Christians who tried to improve our world.
So for those of you who want to go all out and celebrate these holidays (ethically, legally, and fiscally responsibly), I say let's do it. Let's celebrate them with no compunctions whatsoever. Let's live and be happy. When most people die with regret, they don't regret not being holy enough, or righteous enough, or obedient enough to their religious dogma, they regret not having the courage to live a life true to them. So let's live our true lives.
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
An Abrahamic Religious Parents' Worries
When many parents hear that their child is happier and find more peace of mind after discarding a childhood religion, it may be hard to take, but the parent marvels that their child is happier. Unfortunately, that's not the case when the parent is of the Abrahamic religions and strongly adhere to the dogma. The latter parent's concern is whether or not their child will do Yahweh's will one day. If one is looking for a reason to say that the Abrahamic religions are pro slavery, one needs to look no further than this.
The Abrahamic religious parent is more concerned with their child doing someone else's will as opposed to being happy. It does not matter if the child wants to do it. All that matters is that the child is obedient and submissive. Last time I checked, slavery is the condition in which one person is owned as property by another and is under the owner's control, especially in involuntary servitude.
Let me paint you a scenario to illustrate my point. A pimp with money, power, and political connections approaches you to try to persuade you to enlist your 15-year-old straight-A, happy
daughter to be his hooker. He has enough money to bribe you, and enough power and connections to cost you your job, your reputation, and even your life. Would you give over your daughter to this man? Most parents would say no, and do whatever it takes to protect their child from this monster. However with Yahweh, for the religious parents, there is no refusal. It is total compliance.
When I was a believer, I remember atheism being demonized, and for the time I bought into it. I remember in private school, non Christians were demonized, however it was atheism that received the worst denigration. I remember that Madalyn Murray-Ohair was the poster child of atheism.
Once I left Christianity and Nation Of Islam, and threw out the idea of Yahweh, I understood why. Atheism poses a threat because it liberates people from blind submission. It causes people to become uncontrollable. In atheism, there is more potential to progress the world in the right direction. In atheism, people get to make their own choices and choose their own purposes. It is quite antithetical with the Abrahamic religions whose main rule is, "Do what you're told, regardless of what's right and wrong,"
For those who think that I am just blowing smoke up your asses, consider the story of Abraham. Yahweh told Abraham to sacrifice his son. Even though Yahweh was just testing Abraham's obedience, and even sent an angel to stop Abraham, one cannot ignore that the experience scarred Isaac, like it would any child. For his obedience, regardless of the cost, Yahweh blessed Abraham with many descendants. Most parents would, and should, be appalled at the idea of killing their child, and thank heavens our society frowns upon that.
Back to my topic, I find it hypocritical that people of the Abrahamic religions desire freedom, and when someone finds freedom outside of religion, the religious people tell nonbeliever, "You must/need to/ought to/should/will submit." I am dealing with this with my mother, who is a Nation Of Islam member. When I asked, "Why must I submit?", the response was because Allah (same monster of the desert as Yahweh, just different name) had power over my life.
Sorry, but might does not make right with me. Even if Allah was to show himself to me, he may get my acknowledgement, but he would not get my respect. I don't respect people or things that use their power to torture people or extort people for favors. If you cannot earn someone's respect without harming anyone or anything, then you don't deserve respect. I'm not one of Ms. Honey's students, and I don't submit to the Agatha Trunchbull theory of "I'm big; you're little. I'm smart; you're dumb. I'm right; you're wrong, and there is nothing you can do about it."
The Abrahamic religious parent is more concerned with their child doing someone else's will as opposed to being happy. It does not matter if the child wants to do it. All that matters is that the child is obedient and submissive. Last time I checked, slavery is the condition in which one person is owned as property by another and is under the owner's control, especially in involuntary servitude.
Let me paint you a scenario to illustrate my point. A pimp with money, power, and political connections approaches you to try to persuade you to enlist your 15-year-old straight-A, happy
daughter to be his hooker. He has enough money to bribe you, and enough power and connections to cost you your job, your reputation, and even your life. Would you give over your daughter to this man? Most parents would say no, and do whatever it takes to protect their child from this monster. However with Yahweh, for the religious parents, there is no refusal. It is total compliance.
When I was a believer, I remember atheism being demonized, and for the time I bought into it. I remember in private school, non Christians were demonized, however it was atheism that received the worst denigration. I remember that Madalyn Murray-Ohair was the poster child of atheism.
Once I left Christianity and Nation Of Islam, and threw out the idea of Yahweh, I understood why. Atheism poses a threat because it liberates people from blind submission. It causes people to become uncontrollable. In atheism, there is more potential to progress the world in the right direction. In atheism, people get to make their own choices and choose their own purposes. It is quite antithetical with the Abrahamic religions whose main rule is, "Do what you're told, regardless of what's right and wrong,"
For those who think that I am just blowing smoke up your asses, consider the story of Abraham. Yahweh told Abraham to sacrifice his son. Even though Yahweh was just testing Abraham's obedience, and even sent an angel to stop Abraham, one cannot ignore that the experience scarred Isaac, like it would any child. For his obedience, regardless of the cost, Yahweh blessed Abraham with many descendants. Most parents would, and should, be appalled at the idea of killing their child, and thank heavens our society frowns upon that.
Back to my topic, I find it hypocritical that people of the Abrahamic religions desire freedom, and when someone finds freedom outside of religion, the religious people tell nonbeliever, "You must/need to/ought to/should/will submit." I am dealing with this with my mother, who is a Nation Of Islam member. When I asked, "Why must I submit?", the response was because Allah (same monster of the desert as Yahweh, just different name) had power over my life.
Sorry, but might does not make right with me. Even if Allah was to show himself to me, he may get my acknowledgement, but he would not get my respect. I don't respect people or things that use their power to torture people or extort people for favors. If you cannot earn someone's respect without harming anyone or anything, then you don't deserve respect. I'm not one of Ms. Honey's students, and I don't submit to the Agatha Trunchbull theory of "I'm big; you're little. I'm smart; you're dumb. I'm right; you're wrong, and there is nothing you can do about it."
Saturday, August 1, 2015
The Abrahamic God: Loving?
Yesterday my mother told me that she was okay that I practiced Buddhism, but she did not want me to dismiss her god, which was the god of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. She said that I needed him because he could protect and affect people's hearts to me. And also because she believes that connecting with him would be connecting to the god part so that I could be able to reach my potential.
I personally find all that to mean nothing. Not just because of my experiences with Christianity and Nation Of Islam, but also because of what I know. I know all too well the lies and deception that Christianity and Nation Islam use to convince people to be more obedient and more submissive; if you love god, you would obey him; full and complete freedom is freedom to be everything god wants you to be; there is peace in submission; happiness comes from submission; there is freedom in submission. I know that both of them are critical of pagans when it is them who should be criticized.
Now about the god of the Bible, I don't want to be ANYTHING like him or ANYWHERE near him. He is jealous, callous, capricious, petty, misogynistic, homophobic, tribalistic, Fascist, genocidal, filicidal, infanticidal, and unjust. He is a narcissist, a sociopath, a totalitarian, and driven by his ego. Read your Bible for what it has to say. And before you think that I am just talking shit about the Bible like an atheist, consider the patriarch of your belief system: Abraham. He is extolled for his act of faith which was when he was willing to stab his own son out of obedience to Yahweh or Allah. Even though Abraham did not successfully stab his son, one cannot deny that the experience more than likely scarred Isaac and possibly destroyed the relationship between Isaac and Abraham. Besides, if the tale had not been written in third person, Abraham would be considered the male caricature of Andrea Yates.
Now back to god, the Bible is riddled with his atrocities. Not just with Abraham. Look at the Tower of Babel story. The people were trying to build a tower that stretched to heaven, possibly so they could see god. And he gave them different languages so they would cease their project.
Look at the story of Moses and when he told Pharaoh, "Let my people go." No doubt after turning the Nile River into blood for a week (which killed the fish and left a horrendous odor), Pharaoh would have had a change of heart and let the Hebrews go. (The Nile River was a source of irrigation and trade for the Egyptians. Blood does not cause crops to grow, and no one is going to go within spitting distance of a river of blood unless they're into vampirism). However god hardened pharaoh's heart so that he would continue to refuse and god could wreak havoc on Egypt from the annoying frogs and lice, to the flies that carry germs, to killing off the Egyptian animals, to giving them boils, to destroying their crops with hail and locust, to taking away their light for 72 hours, and finally the Passover which claimed the firstborn children and animals of the Egyptians.
I think the most damning evidence is the story of Job. Satan makes a bet with god saying that if god was to take away Job's hedge of protection and let Job's life go awry,, Job would curse god to his face. Well, god accepted Satan's bet and allowed Satan to wreck Job's life. This bet cost Job his 10 children, servants, livestock, wealth, and Job's health. Through it all, Job never cursed god, even when his wife suggested it. However, Job began to cry, "Woe is me!" and wonder "What have I done to receive this?" His friends were constantly condemning Job saying that he must have done something wrong. And when god finally breaks his silence, it is not to explain about the bet between him and Satan. It was to berate and belittle Job, and to say in essence, "I am big and mighty and I can do whatever I want, and there is nothing you can say or do about it." And even though god did replace Job's 10 children with 10 more children, they could never replace the original, And ask any parent who lost a child.
These tales truly highlight god's narcissism, egotism, callousness, and bloodthirst. And it does not stop there. Look at some of the laws he gave to the Hebrews in the wilderness: anyone who does not observe the Sabbath Day should be put to death; women on their periods are unclean and should be avoided for a week; those sleep with the same sex should be killed; rebellious children should be killed; anyone who suggests apostasy should be killed; if a woman who is single is raped, her attacker should pay her father and marry her; Hebrews can enslave other people; Hebrews can enslave each other for some time (and there's even a clause where circumstances will allow a slave to remain enslaved forever); Hebrews can rape single women who were of the "heathens".
I don't know about you, but I know for a fact that I am a hell of a more moral than this god, and my life got better when I threw him out of my life.
I personally find all that to mean nothing. Not just because of my experiences with Christianity and Nation Of Islam, but also because of what I know. I know all too well the lies and deception that Christianity and Nation Islam use to convince people to be more obedient and more submissive; if you love god, you would obey him; full and complete freedom is freedom to be everything god wants you to be; there is peace in submission; happiness comes from submission; there is freedom in submission. I know that both of them are critical of pagans when it is them who should be criticized.
Now about the god of the Bible, I don't want to be ANYTHING like him or ANYWHERE near him. He is jealous, callous, capricious, petty, misogynistic, homophobic, tribalistic, Fascist, genocidal, filicidal, infanticidal, and unjust. He is a narcissist, a sociopath, a totalitarian, and driven by his ego. Read your Bible for what it has to say. And before you think that I am just talking shit about the Bible like an atheist, consider the patriarch of your belief system: Abraham. He is extolled for his act of faith which was when he was willing to stab his own son out of obedience to Yahweh or Allah. Even though Abraham did not successfully stab his son, one cannot deny that the experience more than likely scarred Isaac and possibly destroyed the relationship between Isaac and Abraham. Besides, if the tale had not been written in third person, Abraham would be considered the male caricature of Andrea Yates.
Now back to god, the Bible is riddled with his atrocities. Not just with Abraham. Look at the Tower of Babel story. The people were trying to build a tower that stretched to heaven, possibly so they could see god. And he gave them different languages so they would cease their project.
Look at the story of Moses and when he told Pharaoh, "Let my people go." No doubt after turning the Nile River into blood for a week (which killed the fish and left a horrendous odor), Pharaoh would have had a change of heart and let the Hebrews go. (The Nile River was a source of irrigation and trade for the Egyptians. Blood does not cause crops to grow, and no one is going to go within spitting distance of a river of blood unless they're into vampirism). However god hardened pharaoh's heart so that he would continue to refuse and god could wreak havoc on Egypt from the annoying frogs and lice, to the flies that carry germs, to killing off the Egyptian animals, to giving them boils, to destroying their crops with hail and locust, to taking away their light for 72 hours, and finally the Passover which claimed the firstborn children and animals of the Egyptians.
I think the most damning evidence is the story of Job. Satan makes a bet with god saying that if god was to take away Job's hedge of protection and let Job's life go awry,, Job would curse god to his face. Well, god accepted Satan's bet and allowed Satan to wreck Job's life. This bet cost Job his 10 children, servants, livestock, wealth, and Job's health. Through it all, Job never cursed god, even when his wife suggested it. However, Job began to cry, "Woe is me!" and wonder "What have I done to receive this?" His friends were constantly condemning Job saying that he must have done something wrong. And when god finally breaks his silence, it is not to explain about the bet between him and Satan. It was to berate and belittle Job, and to say in essence, "I am big and mighty and I can do whatever I want, and there is nothing you can say or do about it." And even though god did replace Job's 10 children with 10 more children, they could never replace the original, And ask any parent who lost a child.
These tales truly highlight god's narcissism, egotism, callousness, and bloodthirst. And it does not stop there. Look at some of the laws he gave to the Hebrews in the wilderness: anyone who does not observe the Sabbath Day should be put to death; women on their periods are unclean and should be avoided for a week; those sleep with the same sex should be killed; rebellious children should be killed; anyone who suggests apostasy should be killed; if a woman who is single is raped, her attacker should pay her father and marry her; Hebrews can enslave other people; Hebrews can enslave each other for some time (and there's even a clause where circumstances will allow a slave to remain enslaved forever); Hebrews can rape single women who were of the "heathens".
I don't know about you, but I know for a fact that I am a hell of a more moral than this god, and my life got better when I threw him out of my life.
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