Why_We_Do_Not_Need_Religion_to_Survive

You Do Not Need Religion To Survive Intro: I have a question that I am going to ask the audience that will really shock and grab their attention. (I don't want to tell you because I want you to be equally surprised!) I will then go into explaining why I feel we do not need religion to survive or to live everyday life by. -If you believe that the world is going to come to an end - and perhaps any day now - does it not drain one's motivation to improve life on earth while we're here' Touch on the ten commandments; The first four are about just worshiping God, and, basically, a jealous god. And he doesn't want you to have any other gods. The only two that are really laws are: don't steal and don't kill. Why is this the wisest group of ten that doesn't include child abuse; it doesn't include don't torture; it doesn't include a lot of things, rape, that, I think, if I were making a list today, we would probably include. Do we really need God to decide to not kill someone' The answer is no. Our society is so radically different today, is there really that much that we cling to from the bronze age in these days' Religion is like the lottery, you can't get saved if you don't play. We must question the story logic of having an all-knowing all-powerful god, who creates faulty humans and then blames them for his own mistakes. In conclusion: I don't claim to be atheist or part of any other group. I am my own person. I am a good person and live my life right because that's how I want to live my life. Anything difficult or challenging that has come into my path; I personally dealt with and overcame, that also goes for everyone else. Not some outside force or power aiding me along. The irony of religion is that because of its power to divert man to destructive courses, the world could actually come to an end. The plain fact is, religion must die for mankind to live. The hour is getting very late to be able to indulge in having in key decisions made by religious people. George Bush prayed a lot about Iraq, but he didn't learn a lot about it. Faith means making a virtue out of not thinking. It's nothing to brag about. And those who preach faith, and enable and elevate it are intellectual slaveholders, keeping mankind in a bondage to fantasy and nonsense that has spawned and justified so much lunacy and destruction. Religion is dangerous because it allows human beings who don't have all the answers to think that they do. Most people would think it's wonderful when someone says, "I'm willing, Lord! I'll do whatever you want me to do!" Except that since there are no gods actually talking to us, that void is filled in by people with their own corruptions and limitations and agendas. And anyone who tells you they know, they just know what happens when you die, I promise you, you don't. How can I be so sure' Because I don't know, and you do not possess mental powers that I do not. The only appropriate attitude for us to have about the big questions is not the arrogant certitude that is the hallmark of religion, but doubt. Doubt is humble, and that's what we need to be, considering that human history is just a litany of getting stuff dead wrong. This is why rational people, anti-religionists, must end their timidity and come out of the closet and assert themselves. And those who consider themselves only moderately religious really need to look in the mirror and realize that the solace and comfort that religion brings you actually comes at a terrible price. If you belonged to a political party or a social club that was tied to as much bigotry, misogyny, homophobia, violence, and sheer ignorance as religion is, you'd resign in protest. To do otherwise is to be an enabler, a mafia wife, for the true devils of extremism that draw their legitimacy from the billions of their fellow travelers. If the world does come to an end here, or wherever, or if it limps into the future, decimated by the effects of religion-inspired nuclear terrorism, let's remember what the real problem was; that we learned how to precipitate mass death before we got past the neurological disorder of wishing for it. That's it. Grow up or die.