Schizophrenic Inspiration

Schizophrenia - Any of a group of psychotic disorders usually characterized by withdrawal from reality, illogical patterns of thinking, delusions, and hallucinations, and accompanied in varying degrees by other emotional, behavioral, or intellectual disturbances. Schizophrenia is associated with dopamine imbalances in the brain and defects of the frontal lobe and is caused by genetic, other biological, and psychosocial factors. (The American Heritage® Dictionary)

During the time the Bible was written, when a person hallucinated, it was thought of as being a spiritual experience. Today when a person hallucinates they are thought of as being crazy. However Christians have faith that people during Biblical times had no hallucinations. Society has, for the most part changed how it perceives people that "hear voices" or "have visions". They are viewed as mentally-ill, or under the influence of drugs. Here are a few examples...

Abraham

After these things God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here am I. "He said, "Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Mori'ah, and offer him there as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains of which I shall tell you." - Genesis 22:1-2

So Abraham hears "a voice in his head", which orders him to kill his son. Fortunately for his son, the delusion had a change of heart. Committing murder and then using the "God told me to do it" excuse, is relatively common. In the past, people who had no understanding of mental disorder, thought the creator of the universe was speaking to them. It is clear that Abraham, if he had done this during modern times, would have been arrested for doing what he did and placed into a mental hospital. There are a countless number of cases where a parent kills their child, and says that God told them to. I suppose the Christian moral here is: "if you hear a voice in your head, and this voice tells you to kill people, assume it is God and do it". On to the next biblical headcase...

Moses

Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Mid'ian; and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked, and lo, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, "I will turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt." When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here am I." Then he said, "Do not come near; put off your shoes from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." - Exodus 3:1-5

So this Moses guy was wondering around in the desert and has a burning-bush speak to him. Let me put it this way, which is more likely the case...

A) The all-powerful creator of the Universe took the form of a burning-bush, then talked to some random guy in the desert.

B) A guy that was wondering around in the desert, had a hallucination.

Samuel

The LORD said to Samuel, "How long will you grieve over Saul, seeing I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons." And Samuel said, "How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me." And the LORD said, "Take a heifer with you, and say, 'I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.' And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me him whom I name to you." Samuel did what the LORD commanded, and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, "Do you come peaceably?" And he said, "Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD; consecrate yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice." And he consecrated Jesse and his sons, and invited them to the sacrifice.- 1 Samuel 16:1-5



Moral of the story: Religious people, you must ignore the "voices in your head", and definitely do not carry on a conversation with them. Seek out professional help, you are not a prophet, you are insane.

Isaiah

at that time the LORD had spoken by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, "Go, and loose the sackcloth from your loins and take off your shoes from your feet," and he had done so, walking naked and barefoot-- the LORD said, "As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot for three years as a sign and a portent against Egypt and Ethiopia,- Isaiah 20:2-3

Which is more likely..

A). The all-powerful creator of the Universe told a guy to strip naked for some reason.

          B). Isaiah was insane.

Mental disorder has always been a part of humanity, it goes without saying. The people during that time had no understanding of it. It is understandable why they would believe that a hallucination was "an invisible guy talking to them". But in modern times, with our understanding of this phenomenon, it is difficult for the rational to understand the religious. When it comes to the Bible, all roads lead to ignorance. For what were thought of as prophets in the distant past, are now the psychiatric patients of today.  

The Sabbath: murder does not count as work?

In the Old-Testament it demands that all people be killed that work on the Sabbath (last day of the 7 day week, however most refer to it as being Sunday instead of Saturday). This is a well-known portion of the Old-Testament, while it typically is dismissed by the modern "believers" as being a relic of the past, no longer of use in these days; it is still there, and could potentially resurface (nothing is impossible with fundamentalists). For those that have not seen what I am talking about, here it is...

 You shall keep the sabbath, because it is holy for you; every one who profanes it shall be put to death; whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the LORD; whoever does any work on the sabbath day shall be put to death. - Exodus 31:14-15

But not only is ridiculous rule in the Old-Testament, but they give an example of its application....

 While the people of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the sabbath day. And those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation. They put him in custody, because it had not been made plain what should be done to him. And the LORD said to Moses, "The man shall be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp." And all the congregation brought him outside the camp, and stoned him to death with stones, as the LORD commanded Moses. - Numbers 15:32-36

Regardless of whether this story actually happened, it just shows that the writers were intolerant, as well as barbaric. They were not intelligent enough to realize that this rule violates the rule against killing other people (Ten Commandments). Perhaps the message they are trying to convey is "don't kill other people, unless they disagree with you". Either way, this just puts into perspective the kind of nonsensical garbage the Bible is, as well as why it should not be taken seriously in modern times.

Incest in the Bible (Lot).

Incest in modern society is viewed as being taboo. However it appears multiple times in the Bible. One of those appearances are found in the book of Genesis, and here it is..

 Now Lot went up out of Zo'ar, and dwelt in the hills with his two daughters, for he was afraid to dwell in Zo'ar; so he dwelt in a cave with his two daughters. And the first-born said to the younger, "Our father is old, and there is not a man on earth to come in to us after the manner of all the earth. Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve offspring through our father." So they made their father drink wine that night; and the first-born went in, and lay with her father; he did not know when she lay down or when she arose. And on the next day, the first-born said to the younger, "Behold, I lay last night with my father; let us make him drink wine tonight also; then you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve offspring through our father." So they made their father drink wine that night also; and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose. Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father. - Genesis 19:30-36

Lot got drunk and had intercourse with his daughters because there were no other men around. Now the Bible is thought to be a book of morality and inspiration (that is what Christians claim). Then why is this even found within the Bible? What is the moral lesson? "have sex with your father if no other men are around"? Not only this, but Lot was portrayed in the Bible as being a good person. Which is shown by this Bible quote...

and delivered righteous Lot, sore distressed by the lascivious life of the wicked (for that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed `his' righteous soul from day to day with `their' lawless deeds): - 2 Peter 2:7-8

Lot is viewed as being a "righteous man", so I suppose men that get intoxicated and have intercourse with their daughters are viewed as being "righteous" (by biblical standards). While this part of the Bible is not all that well known, I am willing to bet that a few backwards people have justified incest, under the assumption that having sex with family members is okay, just so long as there is no one else around (incest in some Amish communities might be used as example).

 To put this into perspective, let me give a modern hypothetical example. Let's say a father and his two daughters went on a week-long hike into woods. As they started to turn back on this long journey, the compass which they were using fell on the ground, and was stepped on by the father, causing it to break. This left them unable to figure out the proper direction, and they became completely lost. They managed to gather some food, and piece together a shelter to protect them from the elements. After a few weeks pass, one of the daughters notice that the father had a full bottle of whiskey in his backpack. The daughter that found this went to her sister and said "there are no other men here but our father, let's get him drunk and have sex with him". So they did it, and both, unknowingly at the time, became pregnant. A few days later a search team found the father and his daughters, they were rescued and made it all over the news. The father was looked at by the media as being heroic. For using good survival skills and getting his daughters through all those weeks in the wilderness. After a few weeks pass, it was found out that the daughters became pregnant by their father. How do you think the media should react to this?..

A) Still view him as heroic
B) Destroy the image of him being a hero and focus on the disgusting act of incest.

I would go with 'B', however some bible-thumpers may be more inclined to go with 'A'. What do you think?

Self-Centered Charity

"Religion is a great source of charity"

This is brought up quite often, they may say it in the form of "I am doing God's work" etc. I think it is true that religion motivates some people to do more charity work then they ordinarily would, there is one reason for this, which has little to do with helping others; it is self-centered in nature. It seems to be that it is not because they care about other people's well-being, but because they are looking to secure a place in eternal paradise. Some people believe if they donate a few items and/or do a bit of charity work, they will be rewarded for it in the afterlife.

You may be thinking that I am far off here, or that people don't just do charity work to suck-up to a god. Then why use religion as a reason for doing a charitable act?

Let me give an example to make this better understood. Let's say that this guy exits a McDonald's restaurant with a cheeseburger. You approach him and ask: "what were the reasons for you buying the cheeseburger?" Which is he more likely to say...

A) "I was hungry"
B) "to serve God" etc.

He would have sounded ridiculous for saying any reason that had to do with religion. But what if there was a religion called 'Burgeranity'; this particular fake religion teaches that if you eat a hamburger everyday, you will get an eternity in paradise after death. If you go up to one of these "Burgerians", after they leave a McDonald's and pose the question: "what were the reasons for you getting the cheeseburger?" they will naturally say it was for religious reasons. The "religious reason" is eternal paradise.

While everyone needs food, the "Burgarians" ate burgers more often then they ordinarily would have. This is because they thought it would help them get into paradise after death. Christianity, for example, teaches people that doing charity work increases their likelihood of getting into heaven (the parallels should be obvious). Most people are altruistic to a certain degree; however would the people that claim to do charity work for religious reasons, do the same amount if they didn't stand to benefit? Probably not, plus they wouldn't claim their reasons as being religious, it would be irrelevant (remember the cheeseburger-guy example).

When a person does charity for religious reasons, they might as well say "I am helping these people out, not because I actually care about them, but so I can spend an eternity in paradise". At least that would be more honest.

The Gullible God

Christians seem confident that Heaven awaits them after death. Let's say for the sake of argument that paradise in the clouds exists and people go there after they die (assuming they did the right things). Why would Christians assume they would be allowed to enter? For a Christian to assume this, is to assume an "all-knowing" god with telepathy is gullible. The god would have to be gullible otherwise very few Christians would be getting into heaven, if any.

Let's say hypothetically the Bible stayed the same along with the Christian religion. But Heaven and Hell switched places. If you believed in God and loved him, along with being a good person during your lifetime, you would join him in Hell after death, to suffer forever. How many Christians would still "love" their god, knowing that they would spend an eternity burning in Hell for doing so? The only thing driving Christians to say that they believe in and love this god is because they think there is a reward for doing so, sort of like sucking-up. Here is an analogy to put what I mean into perspective...

Let's say this guy had an aunt that was a millionaire, she was an awful person and treated everyone like garbage. But he faked being nice to get money out of her; she believed that he was genuine so she left her fortune to him after she died. He tricked her because she was gullible enough to believe in his sincerity. The love towards his aunt was not genuine, if she had no money at all, he would want nothing to do with her. And the same goes for this god, if this god offered nothing, or an eternity in Hell for loving him, no one would love him.

There is zero evidence to even hint of the existence of any god, let alone the Christian god. There is no way that anyone can love something which they can't even know exists (how could you know what you are loving?). Christians love the idea of Heaven, just like the person in my example loves the idea money. The Christians believe their god is gullible.

The Earth: is it round or flat?

One would assume the debate of whether the Earth is flat or round should be as hot as ever. You have your classic match up: Science versus religion. I happen to be a believer in the round Earth theory (just in the same way that I believe in the theory of evolution). But I would like to present the opposing view, which is scripture based. Here are three Bible verses that go against the round Earth theory...

Verse #1

"After this I saw four angels. They were standing at the four corners of the earth. They were holding back the four winds of the earth. This kept the winds from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree." - Rev. 7:1

This first verse describes the Earth as having four corners, but would a round Earth have corners? of course not. Either the Earth has corners, or it is round. This is a classic faith vs reason conflict. On to the next verse...

Verse #2

"Finally, the devil took Jesus to a very high mountain. He showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory." - Matthew 4:8

This verse here is another that should make "people of faith" think twice about whether the Earth is round or not. If the Earth really is round, then how could all of the kingdoms of the world be seen? It would be impossible. Again, this is another clash between faith and reason. On to the last of the three verses I've selected...

Verse #3

"Here are the visions I saw while I was lying on my bed. I looked up and saw a tree standing in the middle of the land. It was very tall. It had grown to be large and strong. Its top touched the sky. It could be seen anywhere on earth." - Daniel 4:10-11

So this guy had a "vision" (a big source of the Bible's content is from people having visions) about a tree that was incredibly tall and it could be seen anywhere on Earth, this would be impossible if the world was round, it would not matter how tall the tree was, it would be impossible to see from the opposite side of the Earth. Someone is wrong here.


I realize that "believers" don't think the Earth is flat. They think it is round based on evidence despite what scripture says. My intention was to put the "creation" versus "evolution" debate into perspective. You can't have your cake and eat it to.

Experiencing a god's presence?

Many religious people claim that they have felt a god's presence. I do not disagree with them, they probably have felt a presence. The only problem is that they are ignorant to how the mind works. I will use four examples to show what I mean, all making the same point. 

Imagine eating an orange

Use your mind's-eye. Imagine what the smell of an orange would be, and the texture of it. Peel the imaginary orange and put a slice of it in your mouth. Notice the saliva that has built up. Your body will react to imaginary stimuli; there is no real orange, but your body reacted in the same way as if there was one. When you feel a presence, it is just that, a feeling. When there is an actual person near you, you feel the presence. If you imagine there is a person near you, the same feeling of a presence can be created.

Faces in clouds and bark

Ever look at the clouds and see faces in them? Or looked at an old tree and seen a face in the bark? There is no question that you do see a face. The question is: is the face really there? (the answer is no) Just because we perceive a face does not mean that it is real. The same goes for claiming to feel a god's presence. The feeling of any presence is an internal thing, regardless of if it was stimulated from an outside source or not. Your mind automatically looks for faces in things. If a person's mind is set up to think that there is an invisible being constantly around them, then it will automatically look for it.
 
Imaginary friends

Children often have imaginary friends. This sort of a thing sometimes scares parents (like religious people scare atheists). Their child can come across as being insane. They will even sometimes defend the existence of their invisible friend. As my previous examples have shown, your own imagination can create the illusion of outside stimuli, when there is none. Many children feel the presence of their imaginary friends. They think that just because they feel a presence, it must have been stimulated from an outside source.


Boogie-Man in the closet.

This scenario happens all the time. An older brother tells his younger sister that there is a boogie-man in the closet. She believes the brother and becomes afraid of this imaginary monster. She even claims to hear noises or even it talking to her during the night. She felt the presence of this "boogie-man". But was the boogie-man really there? Is god really there?

In this example you can see the similarities between the big brother telling the younger sister about the boogie-man, and a parent telling their child about a god.

Feel free to leave a comment below :)