The Way it Was

I, Having been indoctrinated and guided carefully into belief and faith most of my life, and having studies most lengthy and focused in one particular area of religion I have come to the point where the things I believe, even though preposterous, I believe are true. They will stand the test of time and scrutiny, for my knowledge of these beliefs is vast and as solid as the very foundation of reason and right. I cannot be swayed in my faith, for god has shown me through revelation and feelings and the persuasion of his servants the truth, and now it is my obligation to share that truth with you. To push and persuade you to believe as I believe because I am right! My singular disciplinary approach has not given me the “well rounded” preposterous man made knowledge base to blend experience of the world and science causing a man made “common sense”, but my knowledge is directly linked to god through his prophets by his holy word. How can you doubt the truth when it is the most useful thing in the world to maintain order and peace? Through fantastic miracle, god has used regular men to convey his word in a most uncanny and unlikely fashion. He has used deplorable sinners, forgery, and money grubbing lying preachers to pass his truths and to preserve his words for all the world. Who could do this but a god? Who could circumvent the physical world and the learning of men in such a way as to bind their very tongues with his absolute truth and authority and perfection? My presuppositional truth will dare to challenge your very existence with an ambiguous, morally elastic, fraudulent piece of imperfect, infallible literature that causes the entire world to endless conjecture and debate. You will believe this “one” all perfect god has revealed himself, not to all his subjects, but to only those few that believe in him without any proof of existence. Neither spiritual nor physical evidence is needed. You will believe based on my word and the confusion the words create. You will believe in spite of doubt because of fear and persuasion of the most loving kind. This is the blindness of faith in gods. This is where a person stays without careful scrutiny of the facts and an ounce of self awareness. This is the prison of fear to peek outside the lens if faith and see the world is not as they said, and the courage to see inside the faith is not what they said either. This is the nonsense of being raised in faith. Professing wisdom they remain fools.

It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” -Aristotle

You have the right to defend the belief that you are right, but in the end belief is not truth. Why is appearing to be right and self validation more important than truth?” You have nothing to offer to the discussion when all you have is belief. Jim

Author: jimoeba

Alternatives to big box religions and dogmas

91 thoughts on “The Way it Was”

  1. Excellent post, but the religious will never be able to grasp your point. It is beyond their capabilities. Their desire to feel special and self righteous overrides any thought of reason and logic

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    1. I could have written all day long and said less to make it more interesting. Lol. Something has to click to make you think and for me it was just a little word from 1 person. Eyes are opening but it’s slow

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    1. We actually have a lot of “beliefs” that are proven. Not everything yet but in time. Something to ponder when you’ve had 2000 years and still nothing there huh?

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        1. Ya know that little white speck on chicken shit? That little white speck is chicken shit too. When you claim infallible authority you better have all your ducks in a row or your chickens will come home to roost.

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            1. Well today you haven’t said infallible specifically, but the entire religion relies on this one set of prophetic writings. That a big mess of guess to sort through. Not including the books restricted that show more of the blab only more damming.

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        1. It is one of the features of drive-by commenters:
          Leave a single, stupid comment and then bugger off.
          If yon Funny One returns You will very likely be summarily informed that atheism is a religion before long.

          Liked by 2 people

    2. I saw a dog sprout wings and fly today. Read that this happens sometimes..and not one of you can prove it didn’t happen.

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      1. Oh, you’re one of those, “dogs with wings” followers, eh. Well THAT is a stupid belief to follow. A much better one is mine wherein we believe cats to sprout wings and are willing to dress as kittens on Halloween to support said belief. Now THAT makes purrr-fect sense!

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    3. When I saw the flying dog a second time, I went to the ER. And turns out I had a brain growth that was hurting my reasoning and logic ability and once they performed surgery, I was fine and saw no more flying dogs. Seems there never was a flying dog, but just my malfunctioning brain.

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  2. “You have nothing to offer to the discussion when all you have is belief. Jim” Could not agree more. This is why I’m Muslim. Right in the Koran it states, “This book is not to be doubted.” That’s not just a belief, brother! That’s WORDS, physical WORDS, written on a page that literally TELL you all you are reading in the Koran is real. How easier can it be? Ya’ don’t need belief ta read! Ya’ just do it. Hopefully I’ve greatly added to the discussion here. I mean, these words MUST be correct. Who’d write down a bunch of stuff in a holy book, then except people to believe it, if it weren’t true. That wouldn’t be nice. Not nice at all.

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        1. Well the Ku-ran klan is vehement about its ultimate truth and finality of its profit Muhammad. They say so. I believe. (Jim prostrating for morning prayer)

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  3. Great post Jim. I assume that everything you wrote is true because you say it’s true, right? Oh wait, that’s something else I read that made that claim. 🙂 I think that any belief system based on 100% hearsay (ancient hearsay no less) is highly suspect. Took me a long time to realize that but that’s life I suppose. The whole ” if God said it, I believe it” mentality is disturbing. How do you know God said it? Because someone else said that he did? Wow, that’s some rock-solid evidence there. We better all bow down because a book told us to and God is watching us. Judging us. Condemning us….you know what? Just read the book. It’s all in there.

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    1. Yes, and now I look back and can’t believe how convincing I could be speaking gibberish. If I had spent equal time in reality I could’ve been a real asset to something great. But alas…

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            1. I stopped eating “forbidden” foods as talked about in the Bible for about 3 years when I was trying to be an extra good Christian. God said they were bad so I cut them out of diet for good. Pigs? They’re unclean so no thank you! Then I had bacon again. Mmmmmmman, forbidden fruit tastes so sweet. Salty and greasy, yet so sweet. 🙂

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            2. Hey that other post I was commenting on…he is withholding and editing my comments. Only allowing the easiest ones to deal. I won’t be back over there

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  4. Jim,

    A very good role-reversal. 😉 Which in itself is always useful to gain advanced understanding beyond our own viewpoint.

    Have you ever watched Lisa Ling’s documentary where she goes undercover into North Korea as a medical assistant for an ophthamologist? Ling is an exceptional investigative journalist.

    She personally interviewed several N. Koreans in the capitol city — where only the most fervent Kim Jong-un believers can live — and they absolutely believe that everything they have and their “prosperous” future is owed to Jong-un; he is the world’s best leader ever! Their successful eye-surgeries by this ophthaologist were because of Jong-un. In their minds, hearts, and emotionally charged tearing-up words, Kim Jong-un is literally their Savior/Messiah! Yet, none of these people have ever been outside of N. Korea, because NO ONE is allowed to see or know anything outside of N. Korea.

    Sound familiar? 😨

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      1. Are you referring to hyper-faithed-followers or N. Koreans who have never been outside of their country nor read, listened, or watched anything that wasn’t approved by Jong-un? 😉

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  5. @John Branyan

    Right.
    All I’ve said today is we all have beliefs that cannot be proven. Do you agree?

    Offhand I can’t think of any. So in a nutshell I would probably say no, I don’t agree. What I don’t know I simply say I don’t know.
    However … on second thoughts. I believe chocolate taste better than vanilla, and Jack Daniels tastes better than milk.
    I would not know how one would go about proving this, though?

    Perhaps you should give a more relevant example?

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  6. @John Branyan

    I take it you’re not going to answer my question.
    That’s cool.

    Can you give an example of a particular atheist belief to better illustrate your point?

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    1. Here’s one that’s VERY true: “Atheist believe that eating christian infants and poisoning christian well water is not only OK, it’s tasty, fun, and relaxing.” I’ve lived my life by this belief, and not only have I never gone hungry, I’ve never run out of fun and exciting ways to spend my leisure time. $Amen$

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  7. Ahh, the drive by Brunion. He seems pretty attached to you Jim. Maybe you will get something for Valentines day. 😉

    Funny the accusation that atheists believe in things that can’t be proven, when most of us use the very tool of proven truths to base our reality on. Rather than old musty outdated magic books without a shred of evidence to prove anything in them. Except that super convincingly strong evidence, as you mentioned in your post, “somebody said so and I believe it because they believe it. Because if they believe it must be true, then I surely must believe it too, because…well because”

    It makes so much sense when you think about it…right? 😉

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    1. Yep. I do believe part of the sinister plot is confusion. Spend years in conjecture going nowhere and keeping divisions in place arguing something that is fake.

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    2. “Funny the accusation that atheists believe in things that can’t be proven, when most of us use the very tool of proven truths to base our reality on.”

      Which proven tools are those?
      Can you name one?

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      1. Even John Zande has requested someone, anyone refute his thesis in “On the problem of Good “. You see, we welcome someone to prove us wrong. That’s how we eventually come to the truth. Here is the scientific method. If you can read past looking at the pictures, you can see where you look for verifiable truth. So in your case, I could just pick one. Prayer. Find demonstrable evidence and then have others verify it. Very simple. Here’s the link. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_method

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        1. “Here is the scientific method. If you can read past looking at the pictures, you can see where you look for verifiable truth.”

          We cannot prove the scientific method.
          We cannot prove that our reasoning is trustworthy.
          We must assume both of those things in order to do science.

          So that’s 2 things that we believe without proof.
          Can you think of any more?

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        1. Ok.
          I’ll believe everything written in an encyclopedia.
          And I won’t trust anything that doesn’t.

          Thanks for reminding me why I quit following this blog.

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          1. John I have always valued constructive input. You have done that a couple of times but mostly just bad sarcasm as written above, and questions that you know are either irrelevant or skewed to give you the answers you want. Here we are looking for reality and truth wherever it may be. I lay out my experiences and how Ive seen the non reliable functions of religion. You are welcome to lay out your opinions and insights. The un ending non answers is what has bothered everyone. You are always welcome here but no one is going to play that way with you and some of your history with them.

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            1. Got it!
              I was responding to a comment that showed up on my reader. That was my mistake. I didn’t check to see where the comment originated.
              I won’t bother you guys again.

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          2. That would be a great place to start!

            After that try understanding what a scientific consensus is. While it can be incorrect at times, it is at least self correcting, giving us a better understanding of the how and why things are as they are.

            You won’t get that level of honesty and integrity from a magic book.

            (did he really quit the blog?)

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            1. He said he was and I haven’t seen him. I haven’t looked through my followers list. He gave me some pouty comments and left. Whatevs..

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            2. He was first to comment on Mel’s today. I’m not going there. Mine today is more interesting than his spew anyway. Boycotting today

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            3. Oh. And thanks. Yes. But too much snow.! Check out my small piece this morning. I hope you are well -as well

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            4. I just have to throw this out there. I know all of us spell just fine, and if autocorrong ruins your comment with a misspell, I. Do. Not. Care. Hey did you see (t)hat (g)uy (f)rom Yyesterday? Lol

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  8. “Here is the scientific method. If you can read past looking at the pictures, you can see where you look for verifiable truth.”

    We cannot prove the scientific method.
    We cannot prove that our reasoning is trustworthy.
    We must assume both of those things in order to do science.

    So that’s 2 things that we believe without proof.
    Can you think of any more?

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    1. The Christian plea:

      We cannot prove God exists.
      We cannot prove that faith is trustworthy.
      We must assume both of those things in order to be a Christian.

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      1. The Thinker’s plea:

        We cannot prove many things that we believe.
        We cannot avoid employing faith.
        We must assume both of those things in order to do Science.

        Everybody believes things that can’t be proven.

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        1. I’ll go along with your first two statements, but the third one should read:
          We must assume both of those things in order to live life.

          I believe in science and the answers it provides, whereas I’m still waiting for answers related to your “God.”

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          1. We can’t prove science. We accept it by faith.
            That’s one of the many things we believe that we can’t prove.

            I’ve not mentioned “my God” in this conversation.

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            1. We can’t prove science. We accept it by faith.

              “Science” is not a “belief.” It is a discipline (e.g., a system of rules of conduct or method of practice) and involves research, study, testing …
              Science presents facts and information based on what results from the aforementioned research, study, and testing. There is no “faith” involved because what has been speculated or supposed or theorized has been proven.

              Again … “science” is not a “belief,” thus it is not accepted by “faith.”

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            2. You said, “I believe in science and the answers it provides”
              This is a perfectly rational statement.

              Now you’re back-tracking because you want to avoid the icky reality of “faith”. You can’t.
              You have to accept the scientific method by faith because you cannot prove science. You can’t prove logic. You can’t prove rationality.
              This isn’t a radical idea, Nan. This is elementary stuff.
              We simply don’t have empirical evidence for everything we believe to be true.

              The point remains that EVERYONE believes things that can’t be proven.
              EVERYONE employs faith.

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            3. There is a lot of science that is provable. Every single time you get the same outcome. Let’s take the effects of gravity on mass. dropped a rock off the bridge near our home. Falling is calculated 9.8 m/s squared. So in two seconds it falls 39.2 meters. 9.8m the first second and 19.6 the second and then doubles again and at 4.72 seconds to travel 325 feet straight down with wind resistance calculated it reaches a top speed of 85.18 MPH to a dead stop in 0.0 seconds. Forgive me if I’m off a tad as I am driving and typing this in my phone. But I can do this every time. I can go to a thousand provable scenarios and do the same thing. Now you tell me how prayer is verified? Or revelation? You pick

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            4. Son, John, friend, it’s your turn to show us the evidence on how prayer and revelation works.

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            5. I agree that everyone employs faith. It just depends on what they’re putting their faith IN! You happen to have faith a god exists. I happen to have faith that I’ll live to see tomorrow. I do NOT have faith that some supernatural entity exists and has some kind of ethereal control of my life.

              And, as usual, you missed the point entirely so let me say it again … Science is NOT a “belief.” The fact that a person says they “believe” in science is simply a turn of phrase. In fact, it means they accept the answers/proof that Science provides. To try and make it anything else is just a futile effort on your (and Mel’s) part to convince others that Christianity is somehow the one and only “true” answer to life.

              It isn’t.

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            6. Nan it’s much too simple for him to comprehend. Test a freefalling object. It is the same every time. Water boils at 212f at sea level. Every time. Caloric energy, fire, paper burns at 451, most of what we know is how we make all the COOL stuff we have now. All applied science. There are some advanced theory we are still working out. But most of it is cross checked and verified by many. A guy in Sweden can make an alloy based on the plans he reads from a designer in the US. . Now john, verify prayer and revelation to us.

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            7. We were having a long drawn out discussion based on your intricate selection of an impertinent question with a branyanized decisive angle on a topic that has already been settled a thousand times. Yes. Conversation

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            8. I am not upset john. Facts may sound harsh to you but I’m happy as a clam at high tide.

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            9. As usual, instead of admitting that we agree on the point, you’ve accused me of “missing the point”. I have said NOTHING about Christianity. I’ve made no claims about “God”.

              Neither did I suggest that Science is “a belief”. You have erected a strawman and knocked him flat. Congrats!

              We agree that everyone employs faith. That’s probably as far as we’ll be able to go for now.

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            10. That we both employ faith is probably a bit tricky since at least most of my faith is placed in something that has been verified. As one of many small points I’ll make to show you what I mean. I don’t make crack sealant, but I know some scientists who do, and I see their products of science every day while driving. As far as creation/evolution goes, we have some things to learn but the mindset will change as we get new evidence. Not so much with theological versions. They still stick to the Bible even when there is no evidence whatsoever.

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    2. What? Did you fall out of the dumbass tree and hit every branch on the way down?

      The scientific method need not be proven. It just is.

      Our reasoning, scientifically, is not based upon one persons reasoning, but many, usually experts in their fields of study. And any time any new claim is made based upon observable, repeatable, testing, someone else does the testing to determine any error. Science can’t be 100% sure every time, but it is damn well close enough to suit me.

      I TRUST science. Belief is for indoctrinated fools without the ability to reason through what science tells us.

      Interesting you avoid mentioning your god just to be able to say you never brought it up. But we can all see you dancing around the jeebus bush.

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        1. Hey Jim! /waves

          Ive been real busy, blogging has taken a back seat for a bit. Someone found out I was a custom home finish guy and been blabbing, and I get a job here and there. Should finish up next week.

          Then I’ll be my usual ornery self again…

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