Posted inReligions

1000 musical fans of Foo Fighters display religion-like devotion

I'm not a religious person. But I respond to emotional displays of devotion that have a sort of religious quality to them. Such as this wonderful video of a thousand musicians and singers assembling in an Italian field to play the Foo Fighters "Learn to Fly" -- with the goal of getting the band to put on a concert in Cesena, Italy.   I was moved by the video. And I'm not even a fan of the Foo Fighters.  We humans are social animals. We enjoy getting together with other people and doing stuff. We also enjoy watching masses of…
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Posted inReality Religions

Imagined orders — like religions — depend on shaky myths

Today I hit a sweet spot in my reading of Yuval Noah Harari's book, "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind." Harari is a historian who has a knack for explaining the past and present in some wonderfully fresh ways. In his Building Pyramids chapter Harari describes the Code of Hammurabi, circa 1776 BC, and the United States Declaration of Independence, which was created in 1776 AD. Each claimed to be founded on sacred principles. So how do we know which is right? Or more right? Harari says: The two texts present us with an obvious dilemma. Both the Code of…
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Posted inReligions Science

Belief in design of the natural world runs deep in human brain

Here's another bit of scientific evidence showing that false religious belief comes easy, while true secular rationalism requires effort to attain. The title of the piece, "Even atheists intuitively believe in a creator, study finds" is a bit overblown. It's more, as you can read below, that humans have an innate bias toward finding design in the natural world, even when something like a tree obviously wasn't intentionally designed. This helps explain why the vast majority of people on Earth subscribe to religious beliefs. Psychologically, it's the easy way to go. What's difficult is to carefully assess the evidence of…
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Posted inReligions

Godly superstitions are what are dangerous, not disbelief in divinity

Here's three recent news items that fit together in my churchless mind. The first is a letter to the editor in my local newspaper, the Salem (Oregon) Statesman Journal. I have no idea why the paper publishes this crap. I doubt they would regularly fill up space on the editorial pages with letters praising Zeus and warning that failing to believe in the Greek Pantheon of gods will lead to this nation's cultural downfall, so why publish this religious gibberish? When the Ten Commandments were introduced to the world in about 1475 B.C., they were presented to a primitive theocratic society. …
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Posted inBooks Religions Science

Knowledge must be based on facts

Recently I wrote about "Five criteria for a 'God Theory' that religions fail." One of philosopher L.R. Hamelin's criteria related to private knowledge. If her theory can be tested only by private revelation, not by observations available to everyone, she unjustifiably claims private knowledge. Someone left a comment on this post, wondering why private knowledge wasn't justifiable. This was my reply: Here's how I see the issue of "private revelation" and "private knowledge." Can knowledge be private? Only if we define knowledge in a way that makes it virtually (or completely) synonymous with subjective experience. But then it isn't really knowledge…
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Posted inReligions Science Universe

Given size of the universe, is creation really all about us?

Religious belief involves lots of absurdities. For me, one of the biggest ones is the assumption that humans are the Big Deal of the universe.  Whether it be Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, or some other major religion, theologies differ about how people are special in the eye of God, Brahman, or whatever, but they agree that members of a recently evolved species on Earth, Homo sapiens, occupy a central place in the cosmic scheme of things. This is really difficult for me to accept for various reasons. One is our modern understanding of the size of the universe. Consider... (1) Light…
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Posted inReligions

Religious belief and factual belief — different creatures

After more than ten years of blogging away at this here Church of the Churchless, I've ceased being surprised at how strongly religious believers hold onto their beliefs.  Partly because I understand the attraction of faith-based believing, since I was into this myself for thirty-five years. It feels good to consider that you are part of a special group that's especially beloved by God, and are privy to cosmic secrets unknown to others. And partly because I've seen so many examples of religious believers discounting good arguments, solid facts, and other reasonable evidence that should, one would think, cause them…
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Posted inGod Religions Science

A question about “God’s creation” for religious believers

I have a question for religious people: most religions believe that God or some other divine being created the universe. Which, naturally, includes Earth. I read a lot of science books. I'm not expert in the details of cosmology and evolution, but I'm familiar with the broad outlines of these fields. I know how much solid evidence supports certain basic facts. Such as... The universe started off in a big bang some 13.8 billion years ago. Stars and galaxies eventually came into being, along with our sun and the solar system.  Chance, in the form of countless unpredictable chaotic deterministic…
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Posted inMorality Religions

Religious ridiculousness: men refusing to sit next to women on planes

Rather than the so-called Religious Freedom Restoration Act, legislatures in the United States should get busy passing Freedom from Religion bills. After all, to me (and many others) religiosity is a relationship between an individual and his/her imagined divinity. It's a matter of personal belief, which I have no problem with. Believe whatever you want, so long as you don't interfere with the right of other people to believe as they want.  Unfortunately, all too often religion becomes a matter of outward action, rather than inner belief. And not private actions, but public ones that affect other people. Case in…
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Posted inReligions Science

Religion is just one of many stories humans have imagined

Often religious people will say, "Science is just another sort of religion." This is wrong. Science is science. Religion is religion.  Yet that saying also is right in a way. Neither science nor religion exists in the same fashion as stars, rocks, water, and flowers do.  Those things existed before modern humans, Homo sapiens, came along. They also exist now. And if we humans disappear from Earth, almost certainly all of those things will remain. As Yuval Noah Harari, a historian, says in his fascinating book, "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind," certain entities exist only in the minds of…
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Posted inReligions Science

Hurting children in the name of religion — unacceptable

I dislike faith-based religious belief for lots of reasons. A big one is that innocent people often are hurt by irrational, science-denying dogmas. Like, the crazy notion that vaccines somehow are ungodly. Or even that all sorts of medical care are.  Driving around yesterday, I was channel-surfing on satellite radio and came across an interview with pediatrician Paul Offit on Radio Times. He's written a book called "Bad Faith: When Religious Belief Undermines Modern Medicine."  What he said pushed the child-protecting buttons in me. I'm OK with people endangering their own health (physical and mental) in the name of religion.…
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Posted inReligions

Leaving religion can be like dogs facing imaginary doors

Recently I came across a couple of videos that reminded me of (1) how hard and scary it can be to leave religious beliefs behind, and (2) how easy and joyful it can be. There is nothing preventing you from walking through the empty door of freedom from dogma, blind faith, and moralistic confinement. You just need to take a step or two. Be confident that the only thing holding you back is a false belief that something is. Then, rejoice in your newfound freedom. See how these videos strike you..    
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Posted inMorality Religions

Religious people have no right to discriminate against gays

Oh, man. As if I needed another reason to hate religious bigotry. But there it was, couldn't be ignored... a New York Times story that got my moral blood boiling: "Anticipating Nationwide Right to Same-Sex Marriage, States Weigh Religious Exemption Bills." So what do these religious jerks want to be exempted from? Treating homosexual people with the same dignity and respect due everybody else.  As it looks increasingly likely that the Supreme Court will establish a nationwide right to same-sex marriage later this year, state legislatures across the country are taking up bills that would make it easier for businesses and individuals to opt…
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Posted inReligions

No U.S. President should attend prayer breakfasts

A few weeks ago I said that I agreed with Obama's statement at a prayer breakfast regarding wrongs being committed by adherents of all religious faiths. But a Salon article argues for a broader conclusion: no President should be attending prayer breakfasts, since this supports the ridiculousness of religion.  Check out "Faith-fueled forces of hatred: Obama's religion speech was troubling -- but not for the reasons the right alleges." What, some might ask, could be wrong with prayer? By common definition, prayer entails someone sitting for a quiet moment and beseeching his or her Lord for intervention in matters of…
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Posted inReligions Science

Oregon should eliminate non-medical reasons for not vaccinating

People who irrationally fear vaccines shouldn't be allowed to opt out of vaccination laws for either philosophical or religious reasons. After all, a lot of scientific research shows that vaccines are safe and effective. Sure, there are some risks. But there are risks in everything, including wearing seat belts. Once in a while you hear of someone dying after being trapped in a burning car by his or her seatbelt. Seat belts save many more lives, though. Same is true about vaccines. There are occasional mostly minor side effects, yet clearly the benefits both to the individual and to society…
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Posted inReligions Science

Dissolve life’s imaginary problems. Don’t try to solve them.

The best way to resolve a problem is to realize that it doesn't really exist. Poof! Gone. Problem isn't solved; it is dissolved.  More and more, I'm concluding that this is a big drawback with religions. They want us to believe in problems that aren't evident to a non-believer. Like: (1) How does one come to know God? (If God doesn't exist, this isn't a problem)(2) How can our sins be forgiven? (If sins are imaginary, this isn't a problem)(3) How can we be sure of going to heaven after we die? (If there is no heaven, or life after…
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Posted inChristianity/Jesus Religions

Obama is right: religious believers of all faiths commit wrongs

Yesterday President Obama spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast. Here's some of what he said -- the part that deeply irritated dogmatic Christians in this country. Now, over the last few months, we’ve seen a number of challenges -- certainly over the last six years.  But part of what I want to touch on today is the degree to which we've seen professions of faith used both as an instrument of great good, but also twisted and misused in the name of evil.  ...We see sectarian war in Syria, the murder of Muslims and Christians in Nigeria, religious war in…
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Posted inReality Religions

Humanism is way better than religion. Yet mystery remains.

On the whole, I'm pleased to call myself a humanist. As noted in this post about a humanist book, someone called me this during my sophomore year in college --  before I even knew what humanism was. This is one of the points made in an interesting You Tube video a regular Church of the Churchless visitor told me about today: "Christian man says humanists are debauched. Andrew Copson explains what Humanism is really all about."    If you're like me, you'll find the preachy Christian guy who speaks at the start of the video to be irritating. But here's…
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Posted inReligions Science

Everybody accepts the reality of inner experiences. But not of religion.

"Don't you believe in love?" Whenever I see a comment like this on one of my blog posts from a religious believer, I'm dumbfounded. it's a ridiculous thing to say. For one thing, I don't believe in love. I experience love. There's a big difference between believing and experiencing. Likewise, I don't believe in consciousness; I experience consciousness. Nor do I believe in life; I experience being alive.  Same is true for everybody. Atheists. Agnostics. Religious people. Scientists. Musicians. Farmers. Young. Old. Men. Women. Everybody.  The only way any one of us knows anything about reality is through experiencing. It's…
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Posted inReality Religions Science

Religion is a failed paradigm deserving of ridicule

Even after more than ten years of blogging on this here Church of the Churchless, I continue to be surprised by how often visitors to this site believe that religious belief shouldn't be subject to ridicule. Um, didn't they notice the word "churchless" in the blog name? Or the tag line, Preaching the gospel of spiritual independence? Today a comment interchange on a recent post pointed to this inability of true believers to recognize that their worldview lacks a solid foundation. Here's what "x," a religious skeptic, said: I don't preach anything...I just comment on preachiness...like yours. You think you're…
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