Religion is a Lie!
And Now That We Have Your Attention…
Recently, on a trip to Denver, CO, we ran into a young man and woman, probably in their early twenties, who were handing out literature on the sidewalk. Both wore black t-shirts which read, plainly, “Religion is a lie.”
Naturally, we stopped to hear what they had to say. The young man handed us a card, which said the following:
Religion, by it’s very nature, is so ambiguous. What does it mean? Every major religion claims exclusivity (i.e. they are the only way). So which one will save you? Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Mormonism or Christianity? And if Christianity, which denomination? Baptist, Catholic, Christian Scientist, 7th Day Adventist, Lutheran, Protestant, Presbyterian, Evangelical, Methodist and the like? Which one ultimately answers the question of an afterlife and why? Do we need man or church to reach God? Can other beliefs, like secular humanism, consumerism, or environmentalism be considered religions? Is religion about the eternal and a deity or is it about finding purpose and meaning in something. Does truth reside in us or outside of us? And if we can simply cherry pick pieces of each, everyone believing what’s right for them, then what’s the point?
Does this sound like something we could have written here at Skeptical Monkey? Perhaps—but if you check out religionisalie.com (and we invite you to do so) you’ll see the above paragraph, soon followed by, “With all our backgrounds and religious upbringings, we’ve only found [what we're looking for] in the person of Jesus Christ and we want a relationship with him.”
It didn’t take long for these young people to mention the necessity of a “relationship” with Jesus Christ. We asked if THAT was a religion. “Oh, no,” the young man said. “It’s a relationship.”
You Say Potato…
The idea is not a new one. Ray Comfort has stated on his blog
…man messes up everything to which he puts his hand–especially religion, that I hate religion, and I explained that the difference between being a Christian and being “religious” is something called “works righteousness.” Religious people think that they can earn (or bribe) their way to Heaven by doing things–fasting, praying, facing Mecca, doing good works, etc., when eternal life is a free gift of God. It can’t be earned. I said that I would rather be called ‘stumpy’ than ‘religious.’ Religion has caused untold wars and misery throughout history, it’s the opium of the masses, and I don’t run around in a white robe sprinkling water on people.”
The folks at Notreligion.com have built a whole website around the relationship-over-religion phenomenon:
“…if you’ve never had a real encounter with the compassionate, powerful, loving Creator of the universe, what’s to lose except hope, purpose and knowing what happens after this life? This will be the most important relationship you ever start.
Still, we say it’s a religion
Merriam-Webster defines religion (emphasis mine) as:
- a: the state of a religious ‹a nun in her 20th year of religion› b (1): the service and worship of God or the supernatural (2): commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance
- 2: a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices
- archaic : scrupulous conformity : conscientiousness
- : a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith
When Christians rail against religion, we suspect it is the “personal set or institutionalized system of…practices” that bothers them. We couldn’t agree more. To get tied up in the rules and details of a religion, to the extent that you miss the bigger picture, is of course not advised by the good folks at Skeptical Monkey. But what about the “service and worship of God” part of this? Or the “system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith”? Don’t those constitute religion? And aren’t those big building blocks of the Christian belief system?
But Let’s Play Along For a Just a Minute…
Assuming you can have a relationship with someone who can’t be seen or heard, how would you ever know but that person wants of you? The “Religion is a Lie” folks had the answer—forgo all the corruptions of man, and turn to the bible.
Fair enough. But if a “relationship” with Jesus demands that you believe everything in the bible, even to the point that you toss out modern-day scientific discoveries in favor of the six-day creation story (we don’t actually know for sure if the “Religion is a Lie” folks are creationists, but for the sake of argument I’ll make the assumption) isn’t that religious dogma in and of itself?
Conclusion
In the end, we agreed with the two young people when they told us that religion tends to muddle and confuse things. We then politely excused ourselves from the conversation.
We just believe in one less religion than they do.
You should follow us on twitter.
This seems to be a variation of the No True Scotsman fallacy. If you don’t like “religion,” then just define it in such a way that it no longer applies to you! Well, the extent to which this can work depends on whether or not others are willing to accept the new definition. I don’t.
I was asked several times by Christians on my college campus this past year about having a “relationship” with either God or Jesus. I simply don’t understand this. Unless you believe that God/Jesus secretly speaks to you, then it seems to me like a very one-sided relationship. If I told people that I have (present tense) a relationship with a deceased relative, or that I have a relationship with a colony of invisible fairies, I would probably be considered insane. Yet, if I say that it is God, then that is considered perfectly normal.
Wow – really an interesting encounter! Those T-shirts are pretty disingenuous, I’d say, as well as their card, “Don’t trust religions because they all claim to be the one way? Try our way, it *really* works!”
What makes me sad a bit, as a religious person, is that they seem to dismiss the possibility that religion might actually, for many, be about building relationships with the Divine – making their way perhaps less novel than they imagine.
I’m ok with having James think me insane for saying that
I think his comment is great because it touches on really interesting points – one being that when we have a “state” religion (which, let’s face it, we do – it’s “normal” in the US to be Christian – it’s a plus for presidential candidates, while professing to being Wiccan or Buddhist would be considered iffy at best by the masses) the weirdness of what it is that religion is, is lost (on most).
Religion IS subversive, is insane – the way an artist or poet or someone in love is insane. Religion when accepted, when “normal,” or especially when used as a tool of power is potentially a very ugly thing. At the very least, when it becomes a convention, a boring routine, it ceases to live. Perhaps that’s what those Tshirt folks mean when they confess to not having found a relationship with the Divine through religion. Which is ok, but it doesn’t mean that this is true for everyone.
I don’t think “Religion is a lie” is quite accurate. It’s a great tagline, but I believe “Religion is a mistake” would be nearer the truth – or even “Religion is a discredited hypothesis”. As conscious beings, our problem is that we’re clever enough to be aware of cause and effect, but not patient enough to allow things to be “not yet known.” That’s why we short circuit the slow, rational, scientific discovery of the universe by filling in all the not-yet-understood bits with “God did it”. As for a relationship with the Almighty – well, it does help to postulate a benevolent third-party intelligence sometimes, to give us some objectivity with our relentlessly subjective and ultimately selfish outlook on life. But God is a construction of man, not the other way around. He is the X we use in equations – an artificial unknown we use to help us make sense of a frankly bewilderingly arbitrary universe.
The “relationship vs. religion” bit bugs the heck out of me. It’s what I heard all of my life. James is right, it’s really just a semantic game, changing the name of something without changing its substance.
One of those attention-grabbing ads that sucker you in, before the hard sell.
You made some really good points on the definition of religion.
If believing that you have a relationship with an imaginary friend, on the basis of a fiftieth-hand translation of a book written thousands of years ago doesn’t count as “religion”, it’s hard to see what could.
Damn, I was hoping it would say “Religion is a lie” as the title then for the article it would just read “That is all. Thank you.”
I think that the concept of religion is completely laughable. If there were so many spiritual or great things going on back in the day, why don’t we see them anymore. What about dinosaurs! Christianity is funny as hell. The Bible is a good story, kind of reminds me of J.R.R Tolkein. I don’t hate religion I think it’s kind of cute that people believe in Jesus, like my little sister believing in the tooth fairy. When you die, you die…deal with it.
Religion, everything involving, its about control. The strongest controling religion of course would be christianity. This is proved many ways. To prove this, i will merely state, Christianity was based off the idea’s of ancient stories and a kings rule. Lets think logically, say you are a King, your people are unwilling to obey you, you need control, and you hear about these stories. Stories of, oh yes, a great god one and only, he loves us all, and what might i ask you was the theme of every story? If you read the bible for what it is (Fiction) and look at the main theme of each story, its a theme of the happy ending. Listen to your mother and father, do what you are told, and life will treat you well. PERFECT! now, You the king, have stories that support your theory AND they bring to attention an idle for people to look towards in bad times, someone who loves each and every one of us the same and promises us a home in death. But wait..as great as all this is..what if you dont do what we tell you to do..than what happens? I mean who would fear a god if there was no negative reaction. Introduce Satan, the bad angel, the fallen angel. If you wish not to listen to god and dont do what he says, than god turns his back towards you cand cast you into the pits of hell where for the rest of eternity you will suffer, physical and mental pains, beyond any imaginable. Lets step back a bit. The bible, that some base their entire life off of, was writtne by writers, religious writers, how dare I make these claims. agreed it was written by holy writers, well…writers who believed these children stories, but it was Edited by a king who was seeking control. Lets take a closer look at the bible, if you read it you see a few common themes that repeat themselves. Woman are nothing compared to men. If you dont listn to god than you will be punished. No one is to question the bible or its teachings. Excellent, we dont question, how dare we wonder, how dare we want to know more. This brings me to another fact that the christian society just overlooks, only a single grain of sand of all the stories was used, there are millions of scripts that were withheld from the bible kept in the Vatican Library, scripts written by mary, by ruth, by many other known woman of the bible, and some other writers who are as of now unknown. Tell me..why would a religion hide this from people, we are all the same faith shouldnt we all know the same things of our faith, why keep secrets? Thats right, the bible contradicts doesnt it. Look at it today, and how the vatican changes scripture to better suit the ideals of today. In the bible it clearly states that homosexuals are evil and vile and will burn in hell, well, that was till recently wasnt it. Now thats completely changed, and all the sheep of the religion just turn a blind eye to the fact this is happening. Mary once the whore, the prostitute, changed due to woman being seen as equals. What is this about, how can you change scripture, writing just to suit whats happening in the days now. Last time i checked i havnt seen any other religion changing around its scripture to please the outloof of society. But enough of that, lets speak of one main factor of control, The Pope. In christianity, when joining, you must accept one thing, and that is that the Pope, the great leader of all, is closer to god than any other man. But doesnt god love us all the same, than why choose one person to be closer to him than everyone else? What makes this man so special, is it because of his funny little hat? Oh..wait..thats right..You are the sheep and God is your shephard…The believers of christianity, SHEEP, need that one leader, THE SHEPHARD…ok..am i the only one who realizes that the religion itself is calling its members mindless followers to a blind cause? It is as if YOU cant worship something and get to heaven without a bunch of other imbecilic people following the same path. Where is the individuality in this, Christianity is nothing but conformity to a meaningless faith that changes any time someone may question it. How can it change so fast and easily, because all the religion is concerned about is control, power, and why is that. since the beggining of the faith what has happened. War, crusades, people being murdered in the name of God. What is religion, a militarial based killing machine, and the power of this machine is based off the number of sheep that follow every word one man speaks to the bitter end. This seems like enough for now…i understand that to many of you i must seem insane, conspiracy theories and such, im just being ignorant right. But i also know that a few people out there, like me, have seen what this religion truly is. If you wish for more of this knowledge than ask, and for everyone that read through, if you have any opinons you would like to tell me ill gladly hear them. Thank you everyone, and farewell.
Though I’m a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which would generally be considered a “religion”, I tend to agree that religion muddles things, usually for their own benefit if possible. The problem arises when the world believes that religion is supposed to be a certain thing–going to church, donating tithes, professing belief, and decrying all who disagree. Most religions are defined by man, thus the infinite confusion as to who is right and who is wrong.
But there is a God. He has established His church on the earth, for His house is a “house of order.” I know I’m going to sound like everyone else when I profess that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only true and living church on the earth, but it is. It is the only one that has been given the power and authority to act in God’s name. He established it when the Savior was on the earth, but that power and authority was lost. But He restored it for our day. If you’re truly serious about finding evidence, I would refer you to this website: “http://www.mormon.org”
But again, this is only for those are truly serious in their quest to find truth. After all, how can you know what is and isn’t true unless you take the time to test it? You have nothing to lose but another possible fallible belief system off your list of skepticism. Either way, you win.
Hah, what a bunch of mambo-jambo! People need to get real!
Religion says:
, Christianity says:
I think that’s about as different as you can get.
I don’t know any other “faith system” that does NOT require one to work for God’s favor besides Christianity. To put it another way, a man is drowning in the ocean – religion is in a boat next him shouting “Try harder!” where Christianity shows Jesus diving in and swimming said person back to the shore.
If you want to know the truth, just ask, simply and sincerely ask God to show you the truth. Jesus said seek and you will find. Matthew 7:7
I agree with spiritual speaking, but the focus seems to go from religion in general to only Christianity. Yes, the people in the article are religious by definition, but they seem to feel good about looking clever.
On the article, it would most likely upset any religious person, but once explained a Christian would nod in agreement and (maybe) even apologize before continuing on their way. So, in short, it really is just a different way of being religious.
I do admit, there are some that are really out there and I can’t keep a straight face when someone mentions them. Scientology being based from the ideas of a science-fiction writer, and mormonism being based on the fantasies of a child, and Pastafarianism (though, even the “founder” knows that one is just for fun).
So Christianity is correct because Christianity is a faith-based religion rather than a works-based religion, and Christian doctrine teaches that the only correct religion is one based on faith rather than works.
No, nothing circular about that at all!
I’m sorry, Rochelle, but you’re absolutely wrong. There’s nobody on the other end of the prayer phone.
Interesting article. Were did you got all the information from? Did you type it yourself or you copy it from elsewhere?
Hey Justin,
The info above came from religionisalie.com. We were given cards with that info when we met members of the group in person, but all of what they handed out is also available on their website. I have not been to their site in over a year, so I’m not sure if any part of their message has changed.
So you know my religious background, I am baptized, had communion and confirmed. Was I forced to be Baptized? Nope. Was I forced to make Communion, in a way, but yet to young to realize. Was I forced to be confirmed OH BOY! Yes! I come from a Stereotypical Italian based family structure/Catholic/Presbyterian/Lutheran Background, basically the same beliefs just a little skewed over many years/yeah the reformation! That’s another conversation.
My opinion, if you want to believe that everything unexplained is an act of a “Super Being”, I will respect you, I will in no way try to change your mind, basically don’t want to argue. Sorry that has been my experience.
But if you believe in the now and expect a livable future. Then religion is not the answer.
If all human beings on this planet started to believe that anything and everything was given to us by the love of a “Super Being”, then why go to work everyday, why not just walk around and speak scripture all day. God, “Super Being” or whomever at that date is popular will provide, doesn’t the Bible, Torah and Koran say this or am I mistaken? Is not a huge deal given about (using the bible here) Jesus in the desert going against the devil and how he survived and oh yeah the fish story.
Maybe I am off base here, but back then is no different then today.
We just have allot more neat toys!
Yes maybe Jesus or whomever made a huge impact on society today that’s a fact (truly respect him for that, good for him!). But so did Buddha, Mohamed, Moses, John the Baptist, Martin Luther, a legion of Saints, Kings, Prophets and Martyred ones. The list is so long, it is like reading a roll call at a Bergen County, New Jersey High School when all home rooms have been discontinued and attendance will be counted in the gym.
Sorry, I just don’t get it. I want to understand but it is so hard to believe when there is no tangible evidence that this “super being” will provide.
Example: When I am walking down the street in NYC around 178th and up, is it that this “Super Being” forgot all the homeless and hungry. Or is it that they are all sinners. This completely unbelievable. To explain; the people who blow themselves up because of religion killing hundreds of innocent people somehow are better then the 40 year old guy who is sitting at the corner on 178th and Amsterdam NYC begging for dimes and pennies.. who lost his job and living because his it was taken from him due to the economy and no one is hiring. Don’t give the McDonalds theory, they don’t hire 40 year old guys without a home. Better to pay an 18 year old on drugs with a home then the guy with the long beard because he can’t afford a razor.
Just answer me these few questions and maybe, just maybe I will start to listen and might start to believe. But so far, not on my list of things to do in the day.
Mind you I do know Churches, Synagogue and Mosks due provide shelter, I Commend them for this, Awesome and they should do it according to their beliefs!! But why should they when the “Super Being” they are all praying too should be doing all the heavy lifting for the forgotten ones. Maybe this is a little too blatant for this blog post, but I truly want to understand. Not in a spiritual way, but in a factual way. That’s all.
So people have a bad taste of religion in their mouths which seems to be the motivation behind these two young people saying that it is about “relationship” and not “religion”. Unfortunately “religion” has become a dirty word in our society because of the abuses seen by those outside the church realm. You have priests molesting kids and so called ministers scamming people out of money, it’s no wonder that people have a hard time with the organized church in itself.
This all begs the question, what is out there? I mean, those who are atheist claim that nature is what has come along and created and sustained this life that we now live. It still does not answer the “Why” question that is out there. I guess some would argue that it doesn’t matter what is out there, or why we are here. Even if evolution is our process of being, how and when did “religion” get caught up in the mix? If we are purely natural beings and created members of evolution, who came up with the God discussion long ago. How did that even enter the pre-historic beast’s mentalities? Why is it still so tied to us as humans?
For me this is the start. I can look at the evidence presented with naturalism and come to a place where I’m not ready to throw religion out the window. From an atheistic point of view you’re asking me to buy into a system of belief without a meaning or purpose to myself and the world around me. I don’t buy that. God has been an important figure throughout the history of man and our answer isn’t because “we didn’t know what we know now”. That doesn’t settle it for me.
At the end of the day I find more comfort in feeling better about Atheist being right and me being wrong. What does that mean? I have confidence in what I believe, but if I die and I’m wrong, big deal. On the other hand, the atheist has a lot to lose when they find out in the end, that Jesus guy; He did have the answers to our “Whys”.
Interesting subject and comments. Succinctly, here’s my view in reply:
- what gets muddled up in this conversation is the academic concern about defining religion mixed up with the practical aspect of religion in the form of commune and mostly individual relationship with the supreme unknown conventionally called God
- some people can’t see Jesus/God other than the guy in charge that has obligations towards humanity in exchange for being good- pretty much a Santa Clause. So they get upset with God when he does not keep his part of the bargain and take their toys elsewhere.
- some others want proof in order to believe- Hello! this is a matter of common sense: proof needs observation/measurement through the means of senses- no need for faith here. Descartes says “I believe because is absurd”= one only can believe what is beyond logic and reason. All the rest falls within the sphere of observation.
- there’s also a distinction between the traditional God of the culture I belong to and my personal God to which I’m praying. The former is part of a social system while the latter is my personal hope and consolation. The former needs things done for him while the latter does not need a thing- it only offers solace and comfort when you need it. One may be suppressive while the other is the liberator.
- faith is about life not about death and afterlife. Belief is a tool that sustains you in time of need when body and mind fail to serve you any longer. Drugs and alcohol have side effects the main one being dependency and death. They are stuff to procure and get into the body; they bind you rather than offering freedom. Faith comes from within and offer liberation of fears and dissatisfactions. Both methods may be lies but whereas one is destructive, the other is setting your life on track, gives a system of values to live through and provides order in chaos. Choose your fairy tale!
- a full belly and all the comforts of the western society will not lead towards finding God
- science is making progress but, again, it will never be able to explain the universe which is infinite. There’s always room for faith/religion to complement it. Belief in God is acknowledgement of one’s limitations in knowing the world through senses and the power of reason.
-truth is revealed to those ready to receive it. You can ask for it but your expectations to receive it are vain if not prepared to become the receptacle, i.e. you can’t be a couch potato pushing buttons on the remote expecting to receive answers. By the way- what exactly is the truth Rochelle seeks? Truth about what? There’s no such a thing but truths about certain subjects of interest. The whim of satisfying curiosities is not fulfilled by faith/religion, i.e. don’t expect to have the lottery winning numbers revealed to you in exchange of 100 days of fasting! The truth is revealed to those dedicated to a way of life and not to those who want to achieve worldly benefits from using the knowledge. Faith has nothing to do with human speculations meant to satisfy greed for stuff…
Oh shutup all you people that believe in God. Believe in Science. Case closed. A guy gets murdered on the street with a gun, its just the same as an ant being stepped on by a human. Just different species, one case is more tragic than the other, however this is only human emotion coming in to play. And as for the previous comment by ‘D’ : you said this:
‘science is making progress but, again, it will never be able to explain the universe which is infinite’.
NEVER is a pretty strong word you have there, you obviously dont have the same thought process as an engineer or scientist. We are only limited by the extinction date of the human race. If we ever become extinct. Think about this D: what has Science achieved in the past 200 years? Ok, now think about Isaac Newton and his explanation of gravity. 200 years prior to this, some moron said that it would NEVER be explained. You are that nieve moron. Do you honestly believe that scientific discoveries will just reach some plateau and remain stagnant? Oh please. Time to face the facts. Your airy-fairy comment nearly made me spew. Go back to school and actually study something of importance. I’m an electrical power engineer. and yes im smart. you make no sense. I have a solution to save humanity (or at least come quite close): all you religious freaks drop the Bible, Koran etc – and pick up a f%*#ing science book. take all the resources from the Church and give them to scientists. Large Hadron Collider comes to mind. Remove all religious politicians from office. Replace with Engineers and Scientists, pretty much all the people that politicians turn to, to solve their problems. Turn every church into a Science discovery centre for children. Get them excited about science. not some old man claiming to be the creator of the universe. I’ve said my piece. And in case of anyone’s rebuttal? f&*k off. you dont know what youre talking about
Do you accept guest posts? I like the layout how you wrote Skeptical Monkey – A Blog For Skeptics, I’m in this topic for ages and I would adore to write two or three material right here should you agree with me.
Thank god I’m an atheist.
Organized religion is the root of all evil, if you believe otherwise you’re wrong.
Lets get some facts staright -
For the purpose of this comment – assume that the word God is not associated with Jesus a religion, or organized group commonly known as a religion.
1. Christianity is a complete plagiarism of the story of Horas written 3000BC
2. Christianity proselytizes that a man named Jesus is God
These two issues alone define why religion is absurd and antiquated. When defending religion, many Christians will simply quote Jesus from the bible. Jesus says…
I suppose they don’t realize that there are no less than 138 religions that exist or existed prior to Christianity that first reported claims of resurection, virgin births, great flood, and miracles.
In short – All religions, including the second most fashionable one of the day (christianity) are nothing less than an antiquated form of government. I do not find discourse with people of religion, but rather I pity them. I pity them for their lack of education about history which has allowed them to enslave themselves through ignorance and fear.
A simply astronomy lesson would open the eyes of many. Religions began as allegory taught to children to educate them to astronomy for the purpose of agriculture and social harmony.
It amazes me that in the year 2011, a large portion of human beings are more ignorant than a child who lived 3000 years ago.
What particularly irks me about religion is is promotion of the abdication of the concept of personal responsibility. Many years ago (and possibly still today), truck drivers in Turkey would paint “God’s will” on their front bumpers. Meaning that if they ran you over, it wasn’t their fault, it was God’s will.
It’s like that everywhere. If something bad happens, then “God must have a plan that we just can’t see”. If you pray real hard before a dangerous surgery and come through OK, then the credit goes to God, not the surgeon. This type of thinking completely robs life of any real meaning. Why ever bother trying to do anything if it’s all up to God in the end?