Religious revelations are religious delusions
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By Science, Reason & Rationality
Article ID: 1221
Have you ever wondered why only a select few get a “revelation” from God, a ghost, an alien or an angel, and the rest of us do not? Why is it these entities choose just a select few out of billions to receive such “revelations”? Why were you not included? Was it because you weren’t at the right place at the right time? Was it because you and the rest of us are not good or special or “holy” enough? What other excuses will you give in order to rationalize an irrational claim?
Now that you are done rationalizing, how do you know who is telling the truth and who isn’t? Do you know who is deluded and who isn’t? Do you know that your current nonhuman Master, whoever that is, is real? Are they real because someone you love and respect said it was, and so you automatically believe? Is this enough for you to make such a judgment?
Do you know for sure if Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, all other religious icons, and the Earthly representatives of such characters are telling you the truth and nothing but the truth? How do you know those Earthly representatives aren’t victims of delusion, or victims of some other master of deception? Or perhaps, you do think they’re deluded, all except one. You think that one is the truth, and so deserves your utmost trust through unquestionable faith. But again, how do you know that your choice of religion is the right one? Is it because someone you love and respect said it was, and so you unquestioningly believe? Is this enough for you to make such a decision?
If your answer is “yes”, then I don’t see you as a very good judge. Anyone with good manipulative skills can easily dupe and take advantage of you.
If you belong to a religion, you’ve probably noticed by now your religion has a gathering place like a synagogue, a church, a mosque, a temple or whatever they are called. These places have a religious book, scripture, or a supernatural “revelation” of some kind. These were written by someone in somewhere at some time, and this is also known as the “Word of God.”
The Jews say that their “Word of God” was given by God to Moses almost face to face; the Christians say that their “Word of God” came by “divine inspiration”; the Muslims say that their “Word of God” was brought by an angel from heaven, and so on. Each of these religions accuses other religions as being false and deluded. The fact of the matter is, all religions that are formed through such so-called “revelations” are false and deluded.
“I contend we are both atheists, I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.” ~ Stephen F. Roberts
So, how do we safeguard ourselves from becoming a victim of religious, supernatural and paranormal delusion? It’s quite simple. It doesn’t matter where a certain claim of “revelation” is coming from. It can be from any Tom, Dick and Harry or from any Moses, Jesus and Muhammad, or from any religious, supernatural or paranormal source. The formula to use is the same for all.
When someone claims a “revelation” has been revealed to them, but not revealed to any other person, then it is a “revelation” limited to that single person. When he tells this to a second person, a second to a third, a third to a fourth, a fourth to a fifth and so on, it’s no longer a “revelation” to any of those persons. It is a “revelation” to the first person only, and second-hand information or hearsay to every other. Therefore, you are not under any obligation to believe it. Such “revelations” are more likely to be delusion or deception. You can read more about this at this link:
Faith versus the Scientific Method
If you still insist on believing in such “revelations”, you’re believing in someone else’s account. All you have is their word and no real evidence. Faith-based and emotion-driven thinking does not make something true, even if you know, love and respect the person making the claim. Delusion and deception can victimize anyone. No one is excluded.
A revelation is proven true when everybody in the world can witness and confirm it, not just a select few who are arguably biased. Such limited “revelation” is more likely to be a delusion. Any excuse rationalizing such a revelation is only makes room for fraud and confusion within our society.
“Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.” ~ Carl Sagan (1934 – 1996)
All religious texts make extraordinary claims. They demand blind faith and obedience without showing a way to confirm the truth of those claims. This is one of the most dangerous ways of living a life. Read more about this at this link:
Religion is a Path to “Hell” on Earth (Second Edition)
“I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do, because I notice it always coincides with their own desires.” ~ Susan B. Anthony
If you read the bible, you know that one of the writings considered most important is the Ten Commandments. Introduced to the world by someone named Moses, we can’t really be sure if this Moses is a real or fictional person. He may have been a pastime story made up to entertain children. As the story goes, Moses claimed that he had received two tablets. Upon this stone God had engraved the Ten Commandments. And no one in that land or in any other land should have believed him.
Would we have believed someone with the same claim if this happened today? No, we’d all think that this guy is completely insane, and that he needs immediate psychiatric help. The only reason people believed Moses back then without question was because of the severe superstitious mentality in the culture. They also lacked proper education, scientific advancements, new discoveries, technology, psychology and other tools. Thus, they all failed to understand that such commandments can be easily produced by any man without having any “supernatural revelation” or “divine intervention”.
Today, in spite of mankind’s progress, these kinds of delusions are still active. Like some mental virus passed on from Moses and the rest, it infects millions of people by making them believe irrationalities, like believing in the existence of gods.
The New Testament of the Christian bible claims that a virgin woman named Mary got pregnant. No sex, no man was involved. Instead, a “ghost” impregnated her. This ghost was supposedly “holy”. This ghost was also supposedly “God”. Mary’s fiancé, Joseph, also confirms this story by saying that an “angel” told him the same thing.
First: even if Joseph and Mary did claim this bizarre story themselves, how can any normal, sane person believe this claim without any evidence whatsoever, other than Mary and Joseph’s word? Second: Joseph and Mary did not even write these claims themselves. This is a story written by someone else who claims that their claim is legitimate. As usual, this is hearsay upon hearsay, and stories inside stories. The creepy part is people actually believe in this today.
In my opinion, even if Joseph and Mary really existed, Mary didn’t get pregnant by a “ghost”. A man got her pregnant. This may have been Joseph. Or perhaps it was some other man, and Joseph covered with a lie to protect Mary’s virtue. They may have created their story together to escape from stoning, torture or some ridiculous form of religiously-dictated punishment. Can you really blame them for telling such a crazy story? If I were in that situation, I’d probably do the same thing. Moreover, they were in living in a crazy society that believed in crazy things. However, it’s also likely that these stories were simply made up for entertainment purposes.
Here’s another fantastic story. The Muslim Quran of Islam was supposedly written in Heaven and brought to Earth by an angel for a man named Muhammad. Millions of people believe in this as well. Need I say more?
Though the following video is mainly addressed to Christians, the point also applies to other religions. The video’s author wishes to show Christians that their belief in God is completely delusional, and how this delusional state of mind is hurting us all as a species. As an example, comparisons are made with the beliefs of the Muslims and Mormons in order to better explain the kind of delusion involved. If you’re a religious believer, you’ll begin to understand what’s really going on in your faith-based belief system. After you watch this video, it’s my hope that you will be able to start healing your delusion. With each healing, we could make our world a better place, together.
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