[ExI] Atheists and agnostics know more about religion than believers

[Darren Greer]

Spike wrote:

> *What is the best refutation of religion you have ever
> seen, heard or read?

Ben wrote:

> Easy.  The bible did it for me when I was a teenager.

The four synoptic gospels are a dead give-away. Right away Mathew tries to
address arguments that must have been circulating at the time that Christ's
body was eaten by dogs, which would explain the mysterious resurrection. The
fact that he even tried to address it is antithetical to the concept of
faith that is so central to the religion, and one of the best indications
that the so-called disciples were filled with a crippling doubt from the
very beginning. The fact that the disciples were so convinced is one of the
methods used to convince converts that the resurrection, without which the
religion is little more than a vague philosophy, is literally true.

Another is that Judas is hardly mentioned in Mathew's gospel, and is only
gradually demonized over the course of the four texts. Mark devotes 6 verses
to him. By the time John gets to him he is awarded 18 and is practically
sporting horns. Historians have surmised that the Christians needed to
distant themselves from the Jews after the uprising against Rome and the
siege of Israel in 'year 66 in order to ensure their own survival. They used
their scared texts to do so. And gave anti-Semites yet another justification
and outlet for their hatred.  The Third Reich often staged passion plays
that even Hitler attended where Judas was portrayed as disgustingly
sycophantic and deceitful and an object of ridicule and contempt.

Just thinking about it boils my blood, though the early Christians were just
likely protecting themselves. Though as usual, at the expense of others.

Darren





On Wed, Sep 29, 2010 at 5:34 AM, Ben Zaiboc <bbenzai at yahoo.com> wrote:

> "spike" <spike66 at att.net> asked:
>
> > *What is the best refutation of religion you have ever
> > seen, heard or read?
>
> Easy.  The bible did it for me when I was a teenager.  I remember reading a
> great big old traditional brass-bound family bible, and becoming more and
> more incredulous at how inconsistent, vicious and silly it was, and
> eventually came to the conclusion that it was total bollocks.
>
> Makes sense that the church has opposed literacy and general education so
> much throughout the ages, and strongly discourages children from asking
> sensible questions.  The most powerful argument against them is their own
> holy book, read by anyone with an education, and/or an intellect that hasn't
> been bludgeoned into meek obedience.
>
> I suspect the same is true of the koran and Islam, although I've read much
> less of that, and don't have Islam as a cultural background.  The odd thing
> to me is that muslims are encouraged to not just read, but memorise large
> chunks of it, yet this doesn't seem to inoculate them against the nonsense.
>  Although there is definitely an attitude of "read it, but don't think about
> it".
>
> Ben Zaiboc
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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