Why I Hate This Video

Many of my Facebook friends have expressed praise for this video.  It is going completely viral:

It's crap. He doesn't have an understanding of religion.  He does participate in religion, which is by definition, "The belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, esp. a personal God or gods."  His self-asserted belief in the bible and in Jesus and God indicates only that he is RELIGIOUS.  What he is actually trying to separate himself from is organized religion, more-so the stigma that comes with it—more specifically, the stigma that comes with being Christian.  He does a terrible job describing any reasons for his choice or differences between his beliefs and those of "religion". 

He expresses the same needless guilt that is such a necessary yet unfortunate side effect of religion, feeling guilty for getting "faded" (despite admitting that Jesus was “a drunkard and a glutton”) and liking pornography... feeling guilty for being human.  No one should have to live their life in guilt.  No one should have to live their life in fear at the conjecture of heavenly rewards or consequences. 

According to one Christian commenter on that video, if you watch too much porn, you will go crazy and start raping people.  Good to know!  Clearly, that is not a widespread belief among Christians, but it is an example of the mindset that people can too easily fall into.

His belief in the bible, but not “religion”, does not excuse him from belief in evils. According to the new testament, Jesus condones slavery^1., lied repeatedly (asserts on at least 9 occasions that prayers will be fulfilled, not simply taken into consideration^2.; asserts that Armageddon will occur during his disciples’ lifetimes at least 7 times^3.); teaches intolerance and violence in explaining that those whom do not follow Jesus/God will be destroyed^4.; teaches intolerance by instructing Christians to shun and not associate with non-Christians, additionally telling them not to philosophize^5. and also teaches discrimination against any other “wicked” religion^6..  These words in this video might be pretty, but there is no convincing me that belief in the words of the Christian bible is good for anything other than giving yourself a sense of comfort in your false supremacy.

If this man was truly against religion, he would not BE a Christian.  He claims that religion is the work of man, while Jesus is the work of God, yet Jesus is clearly a product of the bible, which was created by man, and there is much evidence that the Jesus mythology was borrowed and patched together from other pre-existing mythologies (e.g., Horus, the Egyptian god).  Though some choose to believe that Jesus really lived (whether they also believe in the bible as an accurate representation of him is another issue), it is most likely that he did not. 

Additionally, though I am vehemently opposed to organized religion, I take offense on behalf of the peaceful religions out there.  In saying that religion is not desirable, giving the example of starting wars and not feeding the poor, I believe that he is referring to some of the major religions, and somewhat erroneously, including the one he currently belongs to, while indiscriminately grouping in hundreds of others that he knows absolutely nothing about.  He does seem to be good at knowing absolutely nothing about something—I’ll give him that.

He could have just said that he loves religion but dislikes the things that people do in the name of religion, the power that is abused, that it is used as a pretext for wars, the manipulation of people to do things in the name of their god(s), the money that is not distributed adequately to better society (note that he was incorrect about the church not feeding the poor – Christian organizations are very involved in feeding the poor), or the ability of those with poor character to profess religious values without reflecting any positive attributes (republicans?).  He claims that religion judges single mothers poorly, but it’s Jesus that states that you must never divorce, and you can never marry a woman who has been divorced, the same Jesus and the same bible that he says that he believes in instead of “religion”.  You cannot have the bible without religion—without the written words and work of religious people.  Additionally, according to the bible Jesus did not approve of people using the church for greed and to exploit others, but he did not come to get rid or religion, or even churches.  Does “on this rock I will build my church” sound familiar to anyone?  The video’s sola fide mentality is not consistent with any of the teachings of Christianity (the bible), or even this guy’s own beliefs, from what can be determined from that video.

While this kind of fluff, empty words, and generalizations without meaning is not unique, I felt the need to give a more substantial comment on it than the rest of my enthusiastic friends.


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1. Ephesians 6:5 - Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ;
   
   Luke 12:47-48 - And that servant, who knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.
   
   1 Timothy 6:1-2 - Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honor, that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed. And they that have believing masters, let them not despise them, because they are brethren; but rather do them service, because they are believers and beloved, partakers of the benefit. These things teach and exhort.
   
   
2. Matthew 21:21-22 - And Jesus answered and said to them, "Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, `Be taken up and cast into the sea,' it will happen. "And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."
   
   Matthew 7:7-8 - Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
   
   Matthew 18:19-20 - Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.
   
   Mark 11:24-25 - Amen, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it shall be done for him. Therefore I tell you, all that you ask for in prayer, believe that you will receive it and it shall be yours.
   
   Luke 11:9-13 - And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
   
   John 14:13-14 - And whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it.
   
   John 15:7 - If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you.
   
   John 15:16 - It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.
   
   John 16:23-24 - On that day you will not question me about anything. Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you. Until now you have not asked anything in my name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.
   
   Summary obtained from evilbible.com.
   
   
3. Reference the summary at evilbible.com.
   
   
4. Mark 6:11 - And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when you depart from there, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for that city.
   
   Jude 5 - I will therefore put you in remembrance, though you once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.
   
   
5. 2 John 1:10 - If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:
   
   Romans 16:17 - Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them who cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you have learned; and avoid them.
   
   Colossians 2:8 - Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
   
   
6. 1 John 2:22 - Who is a liar but he that denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denies the Father and the Son.
   
   1 John 5:19 - And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in wickedness.
   
   2 John 1:7 - For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.
   
   Hebrews 3:12 - Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
   
   Revelations 2:9, 3:9 - I know your works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but you are rich) and I know the blasphemy of them who say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.
   Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you.

Stop smiling--it's poison.

I will admit that I have been unable to give this blog the attention it deserves.  I have been spending much of my time concerned with other issues affecting our world, such as environmental concerns, animal welfare, politics, LGBT rights, nutrition, sustainable agriculture, the harms of factory farming on our world and our people, and more.  Frankly, although religion and its undesirable effects are still prevalent in this world, those I surround myself with on a day-to-day basis tend not to be enticed by religion.  Thus, it is not always on the forefront of my mind.

I work full time, and for the first time in over a year, I have two coworkers who sit near me.  Both attend church.  One is particularly enthusiastic about his Christianity.  Perhaps this is beneficial for this blog, as in my new coworker’s third week on the job he has inspired my first blog post here in nearly a year.

Our conversation today began free of taboo topics such as politics and religion, though this particular person has a way of ending every conversation with a tie to religion. We were discussing music, and describing a certain band’s primary fan base led to me explaining what a “bro” is (see “flatbillers,” for any of you wondering).  I told him the term most likely originated from how often they referred to each other as “bro.”  His response? “That’s funny, because that term was inspired by the bible.”  I watched him smirk while he contemplated with satisfaction that thanks to the bible, men consider their friends to be their brothers.

I understand that the bible has plenty of passages about brotherly love, but the tendency to love and treat your friends as if they were members of your family (brothers) is in human nature.  Religion mimics human nature perhaps more than it inspires it, neither of which is always a good thing.  I told him with a shrug, “Yeah, well, religion inspires many things in our society.”  By my tone, I think he could tell that love and acceptance were not on the top of my list, so he admitted that it inspired both good and bad things before we cut that conversation off.

When I consider how many things the bible inspires:  intolerance, bigotry, violence, misogyny, as well as human behaviors which most, but not all, of western civilization is able to distinguish as outdated behavior that has no place in today’s society, such as the decision to bypass medical treatment in favor of prayer, condoned murder, genocide, human sacrifice, slavery, child abuse, and rape, I don’t smile about how the bible must be responsible for young men endearing themselves to each other with a friendly term.  I don’t see how anyone can think about things that the bible portrays and have a smile on his face.  Any good that can come from the bible can also come directly from human nature.  Our civilization has evolved beyond the need to kill and enslave each other on a day-to-day basis, yet those who want to justify immoral actions such as beating, killing, or simply discriminating against a homosexual, a woman, or someone of a differing religion need only to turn the pages of this outdated text to find justification, even encouragement for their actions. Religion has been responsible for an unimaginable amount of killing and horrors in our world, and it is still playing an active role to this day. 

To sit and smile about the messages in the bible is to encourage a countless number of evils. Good people can and will be good without the assistance of religion. Good people need to realize that morality and good ethical decisions can be established and shared without the aid of a violent, hate-filled book. Choosing to acknowledge only those values which you determine to be appropriate does not remove the negative values from the religious text. In fact, it only shows that you are independently capable of making ethical decisions and choices. The bible is a useful document for studying the values of an ancient time. However, it is not good for our society to actively continue to spread these poisonous ideals.

Introduction

I am dating myself here, but back in 1997, I had a Geocities page. Remember Geocities? Anyhow, on one section of that page, I had a brief summary of my thoughts on religion. Mostly, that summary was a justification for why I did not believe in god and why I believed that society did (initially and on an ongoing basis). It was written when I was 18 years old. However, my thoughts on religion have since evolved. While I still wholeheartedly believe much of what I wrote in that summary, my further studies and experiences no longer allow me to ignore how harmful religion is to society and to each individual believer.

I cannot possibly fit all of my thoughts and every topic that I want to discuss about religion in one blog post. I could write hundreds of individual blog posts on this subject, and I probably will. Therefore, I am starting a blog dedicated to religion rather than throwing intermittent posts about religion into my main blog.

Some, but not all, of the topics that I plan to discuss, in no particular order, are:

• Religion’s violent past.
• Religion’s violent preachings.
• Religion as a justification for prejudice and bigotry.
• Religion’s reflection of the views and laws of the people it was created by, thus being applicable at the time of inception but useless, irrelevant, and/or harmful to modern society.
• My default perception of someone who is religious.
• The harm in teaching religion to children.
• Why religion sticks.
• Why it is not better to live as if there is a god when one is unsure.
• The integrity of any of the teachings when even believers pick and choose which to adhere to.
• Morality without religion.
• Religion and sexual repression.
• My own religious past and background.

Stay tuned. I lead a busy life with a career, family, friends, pets, volunteer work, and other interests and responsibilities, but I do intend to make time to update this blog. Because of religion’s ongoing harm, I cannot stay silent to its atrocities.

They say that in order for a blogger to maintain sanity, he or she must ignore all blog comments. I may have to institute that philosophy at some point, but for now, I welcome any and all feedback, including suggestions for topics you would like me to discuss.

Love and enlightenment,

White Nebula