The only evidence Abrahamic religion has is testimony—a pesky little confirmation of hormones goaded by hope and imagination, rewarded with a backslapping “good job” by merely believing—then assimilating.
Absence of evidence is evidence of absence. The results of Christianity isn’t one that can be measured. It is personal conviction that struggles to put into words what the believer himself thinks is crazy, but once you believe your own “personal” story, it open up a serious can of worms. The obligatory nature of spectral evidence (testimony) now should give validity to all perceived paranormal activity. It makes it habitual, but makes it even more crazy. Humans will believe anything. See, you really can’t understand my own personal experiences with god, but you are expected to believe my own personal experience from god (unless that experience is Muslim, Hindu, or other) That’s where Satan lurks.
Testimony is a system of believing the quirks of human neurology are divinely inspired. Fact, is not only the simple answer, but also more interesting. Our galaxy of electrical neurons occasionally mis-perceive, shut-down, cleanse, reboot, reroute, imagine and dream. The grand-mal seizure, the head injury, the near-death experience, trauma, crisis, divorce, loss of a loved one, etc, all put pressure on the neurons, which is gods way of introducing jesus to unbelievers. Wouldn’t having open dialog about our neural quirks without invoking the supernatural be a good exercise in tremendous growth to answer the questions how and why.
The second, second-hand way to god is through lying. Carefully rewording any story to inspire conviction in others causes another backfire in the confusion of our own neuroniverse. Why haven’t I had a visitation? Does god not love me? Am I not chosen? Am I doing something wrong? Am I a sinner? “I am not even worthy to latchet his shoes”. So, eventually through peer pressure we wind up praying for what we want. The neurological implications of praying for what you want to believe is a near guarantee you will get the belief you want. Prayer, deep consolation, meditation, group prayer (ugh, everybody hold hands) is at first a very uncomfortable feeling. Trust that instinct. But as you see around you, the smiles, the hugs, the tears, the joy of the dervish, compels you to want more, even though it’s a sickening display of self inadequacy and recurring shipwreck.
The third second hand is the tic, tic, tic, of your life passing you by living a system created by someone else, fine tuned by someone else, for someone else. As every institution grows it becomes more flawed, more corrupt, and religion has led this way. Breaking down it naturally gets more outlandish as they try to hang on. Religion is way over due for an undo.
Dopamine—one of several inner connections to god…that is real evidence.
Neural quirks are supernatural to most people.
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I hear you manufacture your own? As it should be.
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I got quirks, I got quarks, I got quick-drying cement. I’m like a scientific Mafia don, I got people who know everything so I don’t have to know nothing.
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Well that makes it seem like you’re winning… set the bar low enough and you’ll be a good Christian yet.
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Thanks, but I’ll pass. I like who I am, no need to change. lol.
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Excellent post Jim.
“Why haven’t I had a visitation? Does god not love me? Am I not chosen? Am I doing something wrong? Am I a sinner?”
All these things are used as fuel for religion. If you feel this way about yourself, you just might be willing to try just about anything to not feel that way. If religion can convince you that you are a wretched sinner, then in your mind you’ll be fighting an unjust battle to try to find peace. Of course, religion offers you that peace, but in words only. They first convince you that something is wrong or missing from your life and then promise you that they have the answers to fix it and fill that hole.
Look at all the people who “church-hop” from one building to the next to try and find the peace they’ve been searching for and the comfort that was promised. The book hasn’t changed, but the explanations and interpretations of it are constantly changing. As humans, we tend to seek out what makes us comfortable. We often think there must be the perfect church out there for us. I used to think that when I was a Christian. I was told all sorts of sweet lies to entice me to stay in a church. Our minds are very malleable and are easily manipulated when we are feeling low. Religion preys on the weak and it’s disgusting. The sweet words turn bitter pretty quick.
“Humans will believe anything. ”
Aint that the truth.
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Thanks Ben. Yes! And finding the right church is pretty much proof you already know what to do, or how would you know it’s the right one?
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Umm, all these neural feelings you are stirring in my brain, hypothalamus, and thumping throbbing chest… has me a bit…
…aroused! 😮 What’s happening to me? How’d you do… THAT? I… I can’t stop this feeling anymore! ((((((((( ❤ ))))))))))
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I didn’t start this…You have a long and storied past. You erected this on your own
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Does… does that mean… 😳❓
…this is TRUE LOVE!? I… I wanna know… I gotta take a little time, a little time to think things over… ❓❓
I better read between the lines, in case I need it when I’m older… ❓❓❓
Can it… can it be!? I’ve got nowhere left to hide, it looks like love has finally found me!!! ❤
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The name you give to someone you know who is religious?
Dope – a- mine.
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Somehow I’d like to change that to dopa-mime-ing.
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God is a Chemist.
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God is a hormone. Preachers are chemists.
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Wow, I’m lovin’ all up in here in this Lab-O-Love!!!
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Cha-CHING! We have a winner!
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And neurotransmitters 😂
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“Dear god, if you can’t (or won’t) change this miserable quagmire you dumped on me, at least help me to feel better about it.”
While this is true, it is such a scandal how religious folk capitalize on the misery or circumstance of others to promote their myth. Like the hospital rep who called me because I checked ‘none’ for religious pref. She was upset when I asked that she (the hospital) ‘keep those people away from me’ when I am vulnerable (in pain and on drugs) after surgery.
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Now on a very serious note Jim — not to trivialize in the least your excellent points and post here! — study after study after study of social psychology as well as familial and individual psych, we humans, we Homo sapiens are absolutely Herd-mammals and we are (too?) often very influenced by the crowd, we’re naturally gregarious animals because of learned 140,000 – 200,000 years of Strength in Numbers for the best survival. Rarely does a human want to feel ostracized from the group/community! So we concede our self-empowerment for the Herd/Mob… an ancient instinct built-in for survival.
This precondition is therefore primed for that Placebo-effect, ESPECIALLY within a Theater of Performance, with light-shows and special-effects and jamming music… as I talked about in my Dec. 2016 blog-post Mind and Matter and its bibliography page. 😉
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Link it here again if you like. True true, everything you said.
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Oh, well gracias Sir! 🙂
Mind and Matter … and
Bibliography to Mind and Matter
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I love this article so much. Makes a lot of sense
Over here, I am the crazy one for asking questions
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