Happy with the surge of new found faith? Give it time. This is just the beginning…
Being carefully guided in belief, we learn what “we believe”, but the group effect has some curious side effects. In order to bend your bullets around corners it takes some clever self-interplay as well, guiding your mind carefully into a non-functioning model of thought conviction with no substance—peace through stagnation and empty promises.
The comfort zone of nonproductive faith includes:
- More Handwaving than you anticipated
- Answers without substance become natural
- Built-in redundancy
- Out-thinking your opponent without thinking of your opponent
- Increased desire for sin
- Misplaced gratitude
God is good. Sure, he steadies the hands of the surgeon, but did you know, before surgeons are qualified to operate, they must meet a set of challenging education requirements? These generally include four years of undergraduate study, four years of medical school leading to a Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree, and three to eight years of surgical residency at a hospital.
Not to mention having the guts to do the dirty work—digging around in cadavers and engaging in mastery of human anatomy and physiology.
Don’t thank god, thank those who are willing to explore (in any field) People are pretty awesome and there’s no shame in accepting that. If we are going to make it on this rock, we could certainly use some help. But, you may have to set beliefs on the back-burner and engage as passionately in a skill as you do in mere belief. That same belief that has made a lot of claims, yet here we are, having gone nowhere for 2000 years and already hoping and praying it ends? That is the history of faith. Every generation thinks this is it! It isn’t even close.
I believe in the potential of humanity, but first we must discard the biggest problem that holds us in first gear.
The padlocks on this paper show how some things are just way too important to some people—beliefs are no different. There is a better way.
TheCommonAtheist 
Your initial statement reminds me of the honeymoon phase. I remember it well when I was a part of the Assembly of God in college. Hands up, spirits high, music soft, lights low, all confused with a divine experience because my emotions were being played upon.
And then it backfires when certain students actually read the Bible, like they’re “supposed to,” finding issues and inconsistencies within it. Then there are the inconcistencies with doctrine, and the idea of free will without free will. All of a sudden I stopped being invited to things, wasn’t asked to share or participate in small groups… the nonconformist is phased right on out and that was considered a healthy practice. Oy.
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Any group that will embrace you because of belief, will betray you over unbelief. AOG eh? That’s a pretty hard core group. My niece was in that group. She wasn’t speaking in tongues at 13 and her family thought she was possessed. After a lot of family fighting she finally refused to go anymore. She’s still a Christian, but an “independent” believer, if there is such a thing.
The emotions you speak of is highly calculated into the service now. You can even hire businesses to upgrade your sound, lighting, and timing of these events and many of them guarantee more offerings. Crazy how they play the hormones. It’s all about eliciting an emotional response. Great comment HD. Thanks.
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My first church experience was with an AOG. I remember them annointing me with oil and trying to get me to speak in tongues. I was probably around 20 years old then. There were people jumping up and down in the aisles, an old lady moaning (rather orgasmically) behind me during the sermons and someone would always yell out an “Amen!” or a “Yes Lord!” Once a person loudly proclaimed, “Lord you are welcome here.” That one always made me laugh, someone giving God the thumbs up to join us in church. 🙂
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“There were people jumping up and down in the aisles, an old lady moaning (rather orgasmically) behind me during the sermons and someone would always yell out an “Amen!”
That kind of thing would drive me crazy. I was brought up to believe that being humble was a virtue. One did not unnecessarily call attention to oneself. Public displays like that only made you look ridiculous, shallow and egotistical.
The whole speaking in tongues thing always bothered me too. The babbling like a two year old that I hear in examples of “speaking in tongues” is not only just plain silly, it seems to directly contradict what the bible said. What it actually said about speaking in tongues was that “every man heard them speak in his own language”. It had nothing to do with people babbling, but that the preacher was speaking in his own language and the people listening understood it as being in their own native language.
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That is often the way it is with many religious converts. Doesn’t have to be Christianity. People coming into Paganism, Wiccanism, and Polytheism all experience the same things you write about. When the religion doesn’t deliver what they want, they get upset. It is centered in the self and what the self wants. The self wants the religion to adapt its needs. So, for many people, I think that non-religion is better.
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I think people are looking for something to sustain them, when in reality they need to look within. Soul-searching doesn’t mean attachment to a dogma that will never bring the desired results. A big part of the problem with Western philosophy/Christianity, is we start with the premise that we are no good and we need a savior. I disagree. Great comment Neptune. Always appreciate your insight
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There is strength in numbers, or so we are told. For people who want to believe in something, it is easier to be in a group of billions than to be in a group of one, no matter that that group of billions hates billions of people in other groups. Why think for yourself, when you can let others tell you to think what they think.
I would rather think for myself, and be a group of one. Nothing is stronger! There is no need to hate anyone!
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Just look at how far religion has “taken” us as a civilization. Praising their god for one damn problem free day, then sit and ignore the vast potential of humanity by waiting. The bar of religious happiness is very low, especially when you’re supposed to thank god, even in the worst of conditions. The bar is too low when you have to be grateful just for living because you’re unworthy and deserve punishment at all times, but by grace you get to keep breathing.
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If sin is the disease – Atheism is the preventive. Get your Christian-flu shot. 🙄
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Neptune, I think you’re right about it being self centered. A TB was over on Ben’s blog recently with the whole “Jesus and I love you” thing and that was mildly interesting because she wasn’t a hit and run, she stuck around and responded. What struck me about her comments was how entirely self centered they seemed. It was all about her. Everything she said had this “Ooo, look at how wonderful I am because Jesus loves me” and “if you loved Jesus you’d be as wonderful as I am” tone to it that was more than slightly creepy.
I refrained from commenting because I doubted if I could be as gentle with her as some of the people replying were, especially after she said god talks to her through her five year old daughter.
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While I no longer care, I never could figure out why people were not embarrassed by all the shallow, meaningless window dressing that passed for religion and the practice of ‘worship.’ Then there are the ones that don’t even allow a musical instrument in the church. If there is no god, all religion is meaningless. If there is a god, all religion is bull shit. Either way.
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Well that narrows it down pretty fine. Nicely done sir!
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Obviously I agree … but very interesting formatting!
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Oh the varieties available in one minute. Thanks Steve. I take it I spelled it all correctly this time? 🎯
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Sorry, Jim. The “wain” you wanted was “wane,” to reduce or fade. The wain you used is a large heavy wagon, or cart, for carrying large loads or heavy items. But, seeing as religion is a huge and heavy load, wain might not be so wrong after all, but it does not suggest a reduction or disappearance.
Perhaps you meant a waning wain????
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[sic] wain
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Among the world’s more democratic nations, religious affiliation has been in a slow but steady decline for decades. Undoubtedly, secular public education afforded by modern civilization is largely responsible. Sometime in this century, however, civilization faces a catastrophic collapse from climate change, overpopulation, and the resultant destabilizing effects of rising political extremism and increasing societal stresses. If that collapse occurs, and if our species manages to survive somehow, it would be shame to see this positive and hard-fought for trend reversed in an instant… because there is no more fertile ground for religious ignorance than an uneducated mind.
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Is it true that the faster this goes the more rapid the change. I would think so. We may feeel we have plenty of time, but stuff like the fires in the arctic and the melting permafrost, such a massive area completely removed from our minds is a ticking bomb.
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Padlocking toilet paper?
Our (once) little local catholic church got the biggest goddamn Jesus-on-a-log statue today I think I’ve ever seen. You see, faith does reward.
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I’ve seen Jesus carved out of a log (idols made with hands) but not on one. Sounds like a picnic.
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If it falls, there will be carnage.
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You’re on a roll…hahahaha
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Lock n roll!
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i agree. “we think too much, and feel to little”~ C Chaplin
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Oh I did the first year of medical science and the thought of digging around in cadavers to master the knowledge of human anatomy is fine with me, but the hours! and the human misery of the living! That my dear is where I drew the line and went in a different direction. I have a few stories to not tell, they’re all staying in here (taps head) and some of them are funny as…
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Agreed. I was a paramedic downtown homelessville for twenty years. Some of it is funny as hell, but the other is really not. I have had my hands in it all… It really didn’t bother me much at the time. You just move on to the next one and reason it away. It is affecting me now more than then. The memories are like a stew that sat out too long
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