All religion is irrational

[daddytodd]

Back in the mid  to late '90's, Ron and I used to spend quite a lot of time in Boise. I grew up in Boise, and my parents still have a recreational property in the mountains north of town, in the old mining town of Placerville, which is about halfway between Idaho City and Horseshoe Bend on an old dirt road. I love the place, it's beautiful. So, we used to drive up there a couple times a year for vacations. Not so much any more; I'm less willing to make 7-hour car rides than I was in my 30s.

Anyway, we did a lot of stuff with BOI, the Bears of Idaho. The group has since declined and, apparently, ceased to exist, but we used to have a lot of fun with Mikey and Bobo and the rest of them.

One of the signature summer activities in Boise is tubing the Boise River. Drive up to Barber Park, a few miles outside town, rent inner tubes for a few dollars and lazily float for a couple hours, drinking beer and goofing with buddies. Climb out at Ann Morrison park, then go barbecue in someone's backyard. BOI used to do it every August.

On one of these long float trips, I got into a discussion with one of the BOI members about religion. He was a former Catholic monk, who had left the monastery after he discovered Bears online. He was riffing on the silliness of Mormon beliefs. I laughed along, but when he finished, I looked at him and said, "Catholics pray over a cookie. They believe it then LITERALLY transforms into the flesh of a man who has been dead for 2000 years. Then they eat it."

My point? ALL religion is irrational. The silliness of many religions is masked by their familiarity. But it's all ludicrously idiotic, if you get right down to it.

Comments

[faghatesgods.livejournal.com]

I was too harsh to you the other day. I apologize.

I wish I had better control over my knee jerk reactions sometimes.

[daddytodd.livejournal.com]

I read what you posted this morning, I thought it was really good.

I appreciate the apology. HUGS!

[bearinslc.livejournal.com]

Christianity

"Christianity…the belief that some cosmic Jewish zombie will grant you immortality, if you ‘symbolically’ eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can rid an evil imbedded in mans soul because some rib woman was tricked into eating a magic apple by a talking snake."

I agree, no matter what spin you put on it, religion is all about myth and fantasy.

[daddytodd.livejournal.com]

That's why I shelve my Book of Mormon (yes, I still have one) with the fantasy.

Have I ever mentioned that I have hobbits living in a hole in my backyard? That's my belief... RESPECT IT!!!!!

[taobear.livejournal.com]

Seen "Religulous" yet?

[daddytodd.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, I thought it was wonderful.

[sig-info.livejournal.com]

It's not even a particularly tasty cookie.

[mathan.livejournal.com]

Not even gluten free for those who can't have gluten!

[daddytodd.livejournal.com]

All Mormons get in their "sacrament" is a pinch of Wonder Bread ripped apart by a 16-year-old boy, and a tiny cup of water. I'd rather have the cookie!

[wordsmithslc.livejournal.com]

I agree, although I would add that many religions are not just irrational, but actually anti-rational. In other words, many sects do not just ask their members to believe irrational things; they actively discourage their members from thinking rationally and asking intelligent questions. As a Southern Baptist once told me (without a trace of irony), "Our church wants us to have a closed mind."

[daddytodd.livejournal.com]

Don't they ALL do that? Isn't the difference in how subtly (or not-so-subtly) they inculcate anti-rationality?

[wordsmithslc.livejournal.com]

In my experience Unitarians and Buddhists are usually open to rational discussion and questioning, but they are the exception rather than the rule.

[clintswan.livejournal.com]

srsly

[garebear.livejournal.com]

Hallelujah!

Oh wait... does this mean that you don't believe that Noah and his family built an ark the size of a football field that actually floated, and that he got pairs of animals from every continent and got them back all in the right place? Does this mean Jonah wasn't swallowed by a whale, or that the tower of babble didn't happen? Or that Lot's wife wasn't turned into a pillar of salt... because I'm having a hankering for something salty right now.

Or that John Smith didn't find golden tablets and translated them with stones in a hat?

Where's your faith? How can you live without believing in God? Without a heaven or hell?

Without that kind of faith you can't discard science or build a healthy foundation of hate.

And you'll never populate the earth with Mormon children.

And screw religious wars and genocide. Just what kind of American are you?

You realize that rabid church people are the lord's flock. Sheep. The dumbest animal on the planet.

With people like you, I have no chance of world domination.