The Sodom and Gomorrah Show

My Views on Religion

I've never thought of myself as a religious person, nor of my family as a religious family. Sure, my parents believed in God, but they didn't impose their beliefs onto their children. Although they were both baptized, the only time we went to a church was when there was a picnic, rummage sale, or some other community event. They avoided religious services altogether, and they never expected us to attend them either. My parents had a good reason for not taking us to church. They didn't want us to be brainwashed by religion. While their progressive open-mindedness is certainly admirable, in the end, it caused them to raise a family of atheists and agnostics who were brainwashed by many things, just not by religion. From the time we are born, we are bombarded by messages from the world around us, messages that encourage and reinforce many long-held, out-dated beliefs related to things like gender roles, race, materialism, egotism, conformity, and of course religion. These messages influence how we view the world and what kind of person we grow up to become. Sometimes, these messages come from inherent assumptions in the games children play. For instance, the children's game "Cowboys and Indians" has been played by countless millions of children for decades. Generation after generation of little boys have chased each other around backyards, hidden from one another in frontyards, and killed each other in side yards as they ran around and had a good time. The inherent assumption in this game that indians are the bad guys encourages racism, while the pretend deaths teach young boys that killing is not only ok but fun and exciting (McGrath, 2001). Sometimes, these messages come from the toys children play with. Little boys are encouraged to play with G.I. Joe dolls, while little girls are encouraged to play with Barbie dolls. The inherent assumptions associated with both of these dolls reinforces conformity to ridiculous gender roles. If you don't believe me, imagine giving a Barbie Doll to a young boy as a gift. Until recently, these dolls had only been white, which planted in our minds at a very early age that white meant heroism and beauty. Furthermore, popular board games like Monopoly and Life teach children it is fun to bankrupt their friends, encouraging them to believe that egotism, greed, and materialism are inherently good. But these childhood playtime activities pale in comparison to the most damaging influence of all, religion. The brainwashing from religion is delivered at the hands of church leaders who are naturally trusted by the people of a community. These leaders have no tolerance for those who dare to question their teachings, requiring their followers to believe anything they are told in the name of Jesus Christ. Their insistence on being right and their intolerance of anything but blind faith program their followers to adopt false beliefs, which are passed onto their children, that promote hate and divide people into imagined groups, causing an "us versus them" mentality that does nobody any good and silently breeds discord between members of a society who might otherwise get along splendidly.

My Experience with Religion

I'm grateful that my parents had the foresight to spare me from the negativity that almost inevitably comes with a life lived close to religion, but as a teenager, I became interested in answering the important questions in life, like whether God really exists. I was about thirteen years old when I began to ponder this question, and at the time, I could have gone either way on it. I didn't believe in God, but I also didn't not believe in God. I just wasn't sure. I was so curious about His existence that I started going to Sunday School at the local Baptist church with my next door neighbor. It was an interesting experience, not really a negative experience overall but definitely not a positive one, although it not being positive probably had more to do with my approach than about the experience itself. The only reason I was there was to figure out if there is a really a God, and I wasn't too terribly interested in anything else they wanted to teach me. I approached every discussion from the point of view of answering my God question. I didn't really care about all of the other stuff and gave it very little of my attention. I thought this was good approach until I went to a party held by one of the Sunday School teachers.

As the guests entered the party, a slip of paper with the name of a biblical figure was taped to their back. This was a game. As everyone mixed and mingled, the other guests gave them hints about the name taped to their back with the expectation that every guest would eventually be able to figure out who their biblical figure was. I had been attending Sunday School for several months at that point and should have been familiar with at least the most prominent biblical figures. I will always remember who my biblical figure was because guest after guest after guest gave me hint after hint after hint, but I was clueless. At first, it didn't bother me that I wasn't able to guess who my biblical figure was. After all, I knew when the name was taped to my back that I wouldn't be able to figure it out, but as hint after hint after hint failed to elicit the name of my biblical figure from me, I became more and more and more embarrassed. As the party wore on and fewer and fewer guests had names taped to their backs, I made a decisive decision. I cheated. I went to the bathroom, took off my shirt, and looked at the name. Archangel Gabriel. I still hate that guy. As I left the party, I made a vow to myself to never go to another church related event again...ever. As it turned out, that was much easier than I expected it to be.

Being unsure about God's existence made me an outsider to everyone else at the church, and I never really felt like I fit in there. Everyone I met there seemed to have already answered the God question for themselves, so my almost constant questioning of His existence made me stand out, and not in a good way. My repeated requests for proof of God's existence eventually wore on the patience of the adults teaching Sunday School, and one Sunday after the class ended, one of the teachers pulled me aside and told me that my questions had become "disruptive", and he suggested to me that if I could not find a way to "just believe" then perhaps I should seek my answers elsewhere. I expected my mom to be outraged when I told her what happened. I envisioned another scene like when she tore my elementary school principal a new one, but instead, all I got from her was "I told you not to waste your time going to that church".

That experience left me feeling rejected but confused about the reason why. I was too young to understand how I had come across to the adults teaching Sunday School. Looking back on it now, I understand I should have been more open-minded about their message. Instead of constantly questioning God's existence, it would have been more productive to simply learn what they wanted to teach me. Although, I never answered my question at that church, I did learn one very valuable lesson. A house of God is probably not the best place to go to answer the question of whether God exists.

That was a long time ago, and I've learned a lot about Christianity since then...

The Fictional Nature of the Bible

I don't have a problem with the Bible. I think it's an incredibly well-written, engaging work of fiction. I know a lot of people get upset when the Bible is referred to as fiction, but at a certain point, we all need to face the facts. The Bible is not a historical text. Sure, it refers to some historical events, but its accounts of those events often contradict history. This is not just my opinion. In fact, it's not opinion at all. The fictional nature of the Bible has been well-established by a large body of research spanning across academic fields and is widely supported by archaeologists, historians, and many other modern scholars. Here are a few of the ways we know the Bible is fictional:

Unbelievable. Many events described in the Bible are impossible, which makes the stories containing these events unbelievable. In Genesis 9:20-28, we are told that Noah and his wife took care of two of every species of animal on Earth. That would have been tens of thousands of animals. Not only would that many animals never fit on an ark, but there is simply no way two 500-year-old people could care for them all. This makes the Noah's Ark story completely unbelievable. In Exodus 14:19-31, we are told that Moses parted the Red Sea simply by stretching out his hand. Everybody knows that's not possible. In John 11:25-26, we are told those who believe in Jesus will never die. Oh come on! The list of impossibilities described in the Bible goes on and on, making just about every story in the Bible unbelievable, certainly enough to call into question the believability of the Bible itself.

Evidence. There is no historical evidence supporting the view that Jesus actually existed. A figure as prolific as Jesus Christ, the son of God, would have been documented in multiple historical texts, but there is no mention, no record, no evidence anywhere. There is an odd assortment of relics, including fragments of text written on bits of parchment and chips of wood allegedly salvaged from his crucifix, but none hold up to scientific scrutiny. This is well-known by modern scholars, which is why there is no support within this community for the existence of the son of God. This leads to one undeniable conclusion. Jesus Christ was not a real person. He never existed. And since Jesus Christ, the son of God, never existed, doesn't that imply that God doesn't exist either?

Similarities. The similarities between stories and characters in the Bible and those from earlier mythologies are well-documented, in particular, Babylonian and Sumerian mythologies that existed for centuries before the Bible came along. For example, the story of Noah's Ark is a retelling of the Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the oldest written texts in the world, in which Utnapishtim was warned of a flood soon to be unleashed by wrathful gods and told to build a huge boat to carry himself, his family, and the animals that existed at the time until he found dry land again (Tharoor, 2014). There are so many similarities between the two stories that the Bible's Noah's Ark is almost a direct retelling of Utnapishtim. Also, the story of Jesus Christ is a collection of story parts from dozens of stories that had existed for a very long time before the Bible, making it obvious that Jesus is no more real than Asklepios, Hercules, Dionysus, Osiris, Krishna, and the many other mythical characters these story parts were written about. Many other Biblical accounts also closely resemble ancient myths, including the creation, the fall of man, and the Tower of Babel.

Apocrypha. Fifteen books have been removed from the Bible. Collectively, these stories are referred to as the Apocrypha, and today, it is the cause of discord among the different branches of Christianity. In particular, it is a fundamental issue separating Catholicism, which supports the status of the Apocrphya as Biblical scripture, and Protestantism, which does not (Bromiley, 2009). What is important to me is that these books were removed by ordinary men, and if it was ok for those ordinary men to choose what stories are appropriate for inclusion in the Bible, it must be appropriate for this ordinary man as well.

Contradictions. The Bible was written by more than forty authors over a period of 1,500 years. Each author wrote with a different style, from a different perspective, to a different audience, and for a different purpose. Because of this, the Bible is filled with contradictions. In Leviticus 24:17, we are told that killing is bad, but in Exodus 32:27, God commands men to kill their brothers, friends, and neighbors. In Genesis 1:27, we are told that God created humankind in his own image, but in Genesis 2:18,23, we are told that women were created from man, not God. There are more than a thousand inherently contradictory statements in the Bible. I don't know of any other holy text that contains even one contradiction, much less more than a thousand. How can anybody make a serious argument in favor of the Bible as a non-fictional historical text knowing this? They can't!

These and and many other aspects of the Bible lead to one unmistakable conclusion, one undeniable truth, the Bible is a work of fiction. This fact doesn't diminish its value as a religious text. Nor does it make the Bible any less powerful. What it does do, though, is strip the Bible of its authority to regulate the behavior of mankind. It also stakes away from CHristians the supposed moral authority some of them are so found of displaying toward others. So if the Bible isn't a text of moral authority, what is it?

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Biblical Interpretations

Understanding the true nature of the Bible comes down to how you interpret its teachings. There are several methods that can be used to interpret what it has to say. A literal interpretation, which views the Bible as the unerring word of God, is simply not believable. When taken literally, the inaccuracies, inconsistencies, and contradictions are distracting, and they call into question everything the Bible puts forth as absolute, unquestionable truth. In contrast, an allegorical interpretation of the Bible, which views it as a spiritual text comprised of allegories and spiritual meaning, transforms the Bible a spiritual text full of meaning. When taken allegorically, the historical inaccuracies are unimportant, which allows the stories of the Bible to stand on their own, as shining beacons of morality. It was never intended for the Bible to be interpreted literally. Its writers knew they were writing an allegorical text. The only people confused by this are modern-day Christians.

Mythology. Mythology is a form of literature that expresses fundamental truths in a way that ordinary discourse is simply incapable of describing. The stories that myths are made of are often based on historical events, but they do not describe reality. Mythology adds a richness of detail and a concreteness to metaphorical language. Reading Biblical stories as mythology gives us the freedom to understand its underlying meaning without considering whether it is factually true.

Order. Christianity arose as a driving force in society during the Middle Ages. It provided a new model of government and a new moral philosophy of human nature, and it had a powerful influence on the structure of society (Jeffrey, 1957). As its influence on our socieity grew, Christian beliefs became cemented as the fundamental morality of the people. The tribal concept of an eye for an eye was replaced by a just and nonviolent system of laws meant to guide moral behavior. Christianity brought order to the chaos of the Middle Ages. For centuries, its teachings continuously led us to a better society. Its influence on our legal system gradually codified its view of morality, making its historical significance unquestionable, but it has outlived its usefulness to our society as a whole. It is no longer leading us. Instead, it's holding us back, prevent our society from growning. Although it remains a means of great support for Christians and others who may need it, our society has grown beyond what it can teach us.

The Nature of Religious Belief

Considering everything science has taught us, all religious belief is irrational, and considering that irrational refers to a mental state that does not use logic or reason, religious beliefs are unreasonable.

Afterlife. Many events described in the Bible are impossible, which makes the stories containing these events unbelievable. In Genesis 9:20-28, we are told that Noah and his wife took care of two of every species of animal on Earth. That would have been tens of thousands of animals. Not only would that many animals never fit on an ark, but there is simply no way two 500-year-old people could care for them all. This makes the Noah's Ark story completely unbelievable. In Exodus 14:19-31, we are told that Moses parted the Red Sea simply by stretching out his hand. Everybody knows that's not possible. In John 11:25-26, we are told those who believe in Jesus will never die. Oh come on! The list of impossibilities described in the Bible goes on and on, making just about every story in the Bible unbelievable, certainly enough to call into question the believability of the Bible itself.

It's Not Just Christianity

Despite what anyone might tell you, there really isn't much that makes one religion different than another. They all have rituals, sacred texts, special days, and holy gathering places. Every religion prescribes how its followers should behave and how to act. Every religion holds itself as the one Truth, rejecting all

The Truth about Satan

Lucifer, Devil, Beelzebub, Father of Lies, Antichrist, Prince of Darkness, God's adversary. These are just a few of the names that are used to refer to the being we know as Satan. He is the enemy of God, the ruler of Hell, and the source of all evil and suffering on Earth, making him the inspiration behind some of humanity's greatest fears. The mere mention of his name makes many people think of a horrible creature with horns, tail, and pitchfork, a repulsive fallen angel, an outcast from Heaven, who would like nothing more than to seduce humankind into a life of desire and sin. But when we actually look at what the Bible says about him, we see that nothing could be further from the truth. Ezekiel 28:12-19 describes Lucifer as the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in every way from the day he was created. He was an anointed cherub, a being of the highest rank and position. So, why is there such a disparity between how he is described in the Bible and how most people think of him in their minds?

The Bible discusses Lucifer's activities up to the moment he was cast from Heaven, but it never provides a detailed description of his appearance. Most of the attributes and characteristics we associate with Satan come not from the Bible but from mainstream literature. This began with Dante Alighieri's poem The Divine Comedy written in 1320. Dante's epic poem is widely considered to be the greatest single work of Italian literature and one of the greatest works of world literature of all time (Lavinia, 2006). Dante describes Satan as a grotesque, winged creature with three faces, and contemporary artistic interpretations of The Divine Comedy featured images of Satan and his demons causing unimaginable human suffering (Editors, 2020). The popularity of this poem and the artistic interpretations that accompanied it caused people everywhere to envision Satan with the attributes we still associate with him today.

It is a commonly held belief that Satan's first Biblical appearance occurs in the book of Genesis as the serpent who convinced Eve, who then convinced Adam, to eat the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden. The Bible does not support this belief. This idea originated in John Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost, published in 1663. Milton's story begins with Lucifer and his fellow fallen angels, now all demons, chained to a lake of fire, the moment after they were cast from Heaven. Satan vows revenge against God and decides to corrupt His beloved new creation, humankind. He does this by disguising himself as a serpent, and well, you know the rest.

The Solution

Frankly, I find it shocking that so many people in the world today base their entire belief system on a text that is obvious to any reasonably minded person to be made up. I find it even more shocking that so many of these religious people think they have the right to impose their false beliefs onto other people. The problem is not religion. The problem is the people in the religion. The Bible doesn't teach hate, the people who tell us what the Bible says teach hate. And that hate permeates our society, causing much of the pain and anguish that happens on our planet. Many people interpret the words of the Bible to back up their beliefs, but what they should do is interpret the words of the Bible so they know what it teaches, then form their beliefs based on that knowledge. Going into any situation with preconceived ideas makes us blind to anything but those ideas. When haters read the Bible, all they can see is hate, doesn't really matter what the Bible's message is supposed to be, all they see is hate anyway. The same thing happens with other texts as well. The twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous outline a spiritual approach to recovery from addiction, yet many people who have used the twelve steps to become sober interpret the words of the Big Book to support their judgmental beliefs, often using their perverse misinterpretation to harshly judge other recovering addicts who are struggling with sobriety, very often exluding them from fellowship and other useful AA activities that are viewed by many as necessary for recovery. The Communist Manifesto describes a utopian society free of the struggles caused by an unfair class structure, a society that abounds with prosperity, yet many people interpret the words of the Communist Manifesto to support their barbaric and violent beliefs. This is why religion is not the problem, the people in the religion are the problem.

But there is hope...

Buddhism

As the story goes, Siddhartha Gautama was born into a wealthy family and had a life free of suffering, but as he grew older, he became increasingly moved by the suffering of others and dedicated his life to the cessation of that suffering. He gave up his wealth for a life of poverty, and after many years of searching for answers, he attained enlightenment while meditating one afternoon. He spent the rest of his life teaching others how to attain the spiritual state of nirvana (enlightenment). Siddhartha Gautama became known as the Buddha, and his teachings became the foundation of Buddhism. There is one thing in particular that makes Buddhism unique among the spiritual disciplines in the world today. The Buddha got it right. The Buddha realized that the universe and all things in it are in a state of constant flux, that underneath what we see with our eyes, everything in the universe is constantly moving. Several centuries later, physicists discovered the smallest unit of all matter is the atom, within which protons, electrons, and neutrons are constantly moving. This makes Buddhism the only spiritual discipline based on a universal truth supported by science.

There is much about Buddhism that I admire, and I believe anyone who studies its simple wisdom with an open mind will also find much to admire about it. Here is a list of a few things I think sets Buddhism apart from other spiritual disciplines.

Gods. The Buddha is the founder of Buddhism. He is not a god. With no supreme god to revere, Buddhists focus on achieving enlightenment, a state of inner peace and wisdom. This is an inherently self-reflective process that keeps them focused on their own personal growth. There is no judgment of others. This is true of the religion as well as the people in the religion.

Enlightenment. Buddhist scripture encourages Buddhists to avoid the two extremes of self-indulgence and self-denial, and to use morality, meditation, and wisdom as the path to enlightenment.

Change. A fundamental belief of Buddhism is that nothing is permanent and that change is always possible. This derives from Buddha's realization that the all things in the universe are in a state of constant flux.

Meditation. Buddhists meditate because they believe it helps them awaken truth. The objective of meditation is to slow the thoughts until they come one at a time. This calms the mind, clearing it of the clutter of a constant stream of thoughts.

Karma. Buddhists cannot achieve enlightenment until they end the cycle of rebirth, which is determined by one's karma. Karma, good and bad, is driven by deliberate actions done with intention through body, speech, or mind that lead to future consequences. It is only when the soul is free of bad karma that the cycle of rebirth ends.

Dharma. Buddha's teachings are known as dharma, which holds wisdom, kindness, patience, generosity, and compassion as the most important virtues. Buddhists live by five moral precepts, which prohibit the killing any living being, stealing, sexual misconduct, telling falsehoods, and abusing drugs or alcohol.

Truths. These propositions are the most important teachings of Buddhism, as they provide a conceptual framework for understanding Buddhist thought. Simply put, the Four Noble truths posit that (1) life involves suffering, (2) desire is the cause of this suffering (the desire to have is referred to as craving, and the desire not to have is referred to as aversion), (3) there is a path away from this suffering, and (4) that path is comprised of right understanding, thought, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness and concentration.

Buddhism guides its followers along a spiritual path through life, running alongside their happiness, making life worth living. Buddhists adopt an attitude of tolerance and acceptance of everything and everyone. Christianity is capable of the same thing, but many Christians just don't have it in them. They're too busy judging everyone except the one they should be judging, themselves.

Courage

Regardless of the violence and cynicism we see on the television, read about in the news, or experience in our lives, there is an argument to be made for basic human goodness. In a difficult and uncertain time, it takes a person of great courage to give us hope, to break through the negativity and provide us with a positive way forward. For Buddhists and for myself, that person is His Holiness the Dalai Lama. In my opinion, belief in the Dalai Lama has created more good in the world than belief in God.

What the Bible Says about Lucifer

From the time he was created, Lucifer was God's favorite angel, the anointed cherub (Ezekiel 28:12-19). But he began to admire himself more than he admired God, and desiring to put himself in God's place, he told lies and falsehoods to the other angels until a third of them were on his side, against God (Ezekiel 28:17). He led his followers into a rebellion against God, and they were all cast from Heaven as fallen angels, even before the creation of humankind (Ezekiel 28:14-18, Revelation 12:7-9). God planned to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Satan's way leads only to death and destruction, and He gave Satan dominion over Earth (John 5:19). Satan still wanted to be greater than God, and he wanted to bring everyone and everything on Earth under his control (John 5:19). He whispers lies into every ear, just like he did in Heaven, trying to sow pride and doubt to tempt all of humankind into a life of sin.

Works Cited

Bromiley, Geoffrey William, ed. (2009). "Apocrypha". The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (2 ed.). Grand Rapids, Michigan: W.B. Eerdmans.

Editors of History.com. (2020, Feb 21). The Devil. https://www.history.com/topics/ folklore/history-of-the-devil

Klein, Christopher. (2019). The Bible Says Jesus Was Real. What Other Proof Exists? Retrieved from https://www.history.com/news/was-jesus-real-historical-evidence

Lavinia, P. (2006). The Divine Comedy. In Encyclopedia Americana. (Volume 30, p. 605). Danbury, Connecticut: Scholastic Library Publishing.

Mabry, Eric (2017). Being and Becoming in the Historical Life of Jesus Christ. Heythrop Journal. 58, (1), 17-37.

McGrath, Ann M. (2001). Playing Colonial: Cowboys and Indians in North America. Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History, 2(1). doi:http://doi.org/10.1353/cch.2001.0010

Tharoor, Ishaan. (2014). BeforeNoah: Myths of the Flood Are Far Older Than the Bible. Retrieved from https://time.com/44631/noah-christians-flood-aronofsky/

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