Posted by secular solo man on May 27, 1999 at 02:20:15:
I am marvelled at the ability of yourselves and many others to accept things at face value. Clearly people like yourselves are addicted to belief, infected by belief, diseased with belief. Perhaps some humans have genetic endowment for beleif. To make matters worse, the more proposterous the belief, the more remote from reality, the more passionately , pathologically it will be enbraced. You both are not referring to truth when you speak about the bible. Hope is the operative word. One of you states that you have nothing to loose if the bible is not the truth indicating immediately your unadmitted dought.Many folk down on their luck in various ways in everyday life will turn to the bible and interpret what they like from it in order to receive some psychological comfort.This is not the supposed revealed truth but self deception.In judging the veracity of the bible,we immediately cofront the fact that it abounds with incredible stories and primitive superstitions. These elements alone disqualify it as worthy of beleif. The central fact of life is, sadly , death. Despite the protestations of faith, you can see in their fear of it that few people are particularly comforted by the faith they profess. Far from wandering hand in hand towards the grim reaper , smiling joyously at the prospect of joining god and his angels, the majority of beleivers do anything and everything to delay the fateful day. These beleifs are so insecurely held that those who profess them go in for killing those who have a different emphasis in their worship. People beleive in ghosts and fairies, in pale skin, in the devine right ofcorporations ,that trading with tyrannical regimes aids democracy. There are even some poor fools who believe economic rationalism is rational. Fanatiicism, zealotry , fundamentalism . This has been a century of catastrophic belief. Of ismsand ologies that have torn the place apart and led to the slaughter of....... how many? A hundred million ? More? So much so that we shouldn't go into the next century proclaiming beliefs, but saying ,"this I disbelieve." Three cheers for doubting thomas. He was the most sensible man at the last supper and there should be more of them. " "BEYOND REASONBLE DOUGHT" - THAT'S A BETTER BASIS FOR A DECISION THAN THE INSATIABLE FOR CONVICTION, CERTAINTY, DOGMATISM.