Angel wings

One day my son asked me, “Why do angels have wings?” I thought, “What a profound question!” It is so simple and yet so logical. All my life - all those years in Sunday school - and I never asked myself that question. If angels are spiritual beings, what need have they for wings? They don’t need to fight the laws of gravity. They don’t need to use air resistance to move about. It is absolute proof that the whole concept of angels was invented by humans who couldn't imagine anything flying without wings. I suppose that years of believing whatever the preacher said, whatever the Sunday school teacher said, whatever my parents said, was true, had dulled my logic and crippled my ability to see something so simple for myself. It took a small boy to show me that simple truth.

Santa Clause

What do people pray for when they pray. Have you ever really listened to what people pray for? It’s either a Santa Clause wish list, a desire for empowerment, or a wish to change the natural laws of the universe for their own purposes. I’ve heard women pray to Jesus in a tone and with verbiage that sounds as if Jesus is their secret lover.

America not founded on religion

The government of the United Sates is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion.
-John Adams
These words were part of a treaty with Tripoli which was ratified by the Senate and supported by the 2nd president of the United States, President John Adams. The words were not actually written by Adams, however. They were written by his predecessor, President George Washington.

When people tell me that America was founded on Christianity, I always like to remind them that our country was founded on slavery and women not being able to vote. And when I ask if they would also like to return to those days, they fall silent.

Christianity in a nutshell

Here is the Christian story in a nutshell:
God created people and gave us the ability to choose right or wrong. We chose wrong (sin) so God then gave us the Old Testament laws. However these were too strict and we couldn’t keep those either, so God tells us that sacrificing animals will fix that and we can be forgiven of our sins. After years of sacrificing animals God says he has decided to let his son become a human and be killed by us so we won’t have to sacrifice animals anymore. Jesus will be the final sacrifice. However there’s is still a hitch. We have to actually believe that Jesus was the son of god in order to get this eternal happiness in heaven. If we don’t, we will be punished horribly for eternity.
Does that make sense to you? It doesn’t to me. It sounds like something humans made up over the years as they went along.

Someone once said to a Christian, “Tell me why you don’t believe in Zeus and I’ll tell you why I don’t believe in God.” Today’s religious believers scoff at ancient mythology as silly and unbelievable, but many of the stories in Bible are just as ridiculous; often sounding like something you would see in a cartoon.
A donkey that spoke human language.
Magicians throw down sticks that turn into snakes, so Moses throws down his staff and it too becomes a snake, eats the other snakes, and then turns back onto a staff.
A man wrestles with an angel (and wins).
Angels come down to Earth, have sex with some women and start a race of giants.
A young woman was made pregnant by a god.
Noah put two of EVERY creature on the earth in a boat.
Children teased a prophet, so a big bear came along and killed them.
Lot’s wife looked back at Sodom as they walked away so God turned her into salt.
Moses parted the Red Sea, then Elijah parted the Jordan River, and then Elisha also parted the Jordan River.
Etc., etc., etc.
So what’s the difference between today’s religions and ancient mythology? Nothing. It’s all just cartoon nonsense.

The Christian’s New Testament says, “By their fruits ye shall know them.” If that is true then one need only look at those times throughout history when religion has been given power within the government so we can investigate the true “fruits” of religion. Christianity gave us the dark ages, the inquisition, the crusades, witch burnings, and religious wars. The Muslim religion gave us some of the most underdeveloped, cruel, and repressive nations of the world. If not for religion our world would be eons ahead of where we are today intellectually, scientifically, psychologically, and economically. After thousands of years of religion, we should begin shedding this needless burden.

Isn’t it nice to be able to handle life without needing the emotional comfort zone that churches bring? So many people can’t handle life without believing that some big authority figure is in charge of everything. They have a need to think someone bigger than themselves is taking care of things. It helps them find comfort in the death of a loved one so they can believe that person has gone on to a better place. It helps them get through the tough times we have in life if they can believe there is some higher purpose. That religious emotional comfort zone may seem helpful to people, but is it really good to believe in something helpful even if it isn’t true? I have found more strength than I could ever imagine in simple truth – without all the superstitious religious nonsense. I’ve seen life from the religious side growing up in a southern Baptist family, but have found I enjoy life so much more now without religion.