At one point we are all atheists.

When confronted by religious men and women regarding my beliefs, I am always frustrated by the fact that they cannot accept that at one point they too were atheists. Every child is born an atheist. We are not born with an inherent sense of "God". Children do not become affiliated with religion until such an age when their parents or other influential adults can begin to force their beliefs upon them. Those who are evangelical Christians shouting their beliefs on the television screen could have just as easily become Jewish or Mormon if that is what their parent's chose to impress upon them. That being said, I do not understand why religious people cannot accept the fact that everyone's personal beliefs are just as valid as their own. That is my rant for the day!

Westboro Baptist Church - Another Example of How Religion Kills

Another example of how organized religion kills.  How does one become so deranged by their beliefs?  The only part of this video that I did not feel physically sick while watching was when he referred to Sarah Palin as a "Mouthy Witch".  However, it loses it's effect when it is coming out of the mouth of someone who is so obviously mentally insane.  I would hope videos like this would open the minds of other people harboring thoughts of hate....it never hurts to wish.

Tis the Season for Mithra

Christians would love for us to believe that the holidays are a time to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.  What they don't want you to know is that their precious holiday was actually just hijacked from Mithra.  Below is an article I would like to share.

Jesus as a Reincarnation of Mithra

The Vatican was built upon the grounds previously devoted to the worship of Mithra (600 B.C.). The Orthodox Christian hierarchy is nearly identical to the Mithraic version. Virtually all of the elements of Orthodox Christian rituals, from miter, wafer, water baptism, alter, and doxology, were adopted from the Mithra and earlier pagan mystery religions. The religion of Mithra preceded Christianity by roughly six hundred years. Mithraic worship at one time covered a large portion of the ancient world. It flourished as late as the second century. The Messianic idea originated in ancient Persia and this is where the Jewish and Christian concepts of a Savior came from. Mithra, as the sun god of ancient Persia, had the following karmic similarities with Jesus:

Identical Life Experiences

(1) Mithra was born on December 25th as an offspring of the Sun. Next to the gods Ormuzd and Ahrimanes, Mithra held the highest rank among the gods of ancient Persia. He was represented as a beautiful youth and a Mediator. Reverend J. W. Lake states: "Mithras is spiritual light contending with spiritual darkness, and through his labors the kingdom of darkness shall be lit with heaven's own light; the Eternal will receive all things back into his favor, the world will be redeemed to God. The impure are to be purified, and the evil made good, through the mediation of Mithras, the reconciler of Ormuzd and Ahriman. Mithras is the Good, his name is Love. In relation to the Eternal he is the source of grace, in relation to man he is the life-giver and mediator" (Plato, Philo, and Paul, p. 15).   (2) He was considered a great traveling teacher and masters. He had twelve companions as Jesus had twelve disciples. Mithras also performed miracles.   (3) Mithra was called "the good shepherd, "the way, the truth and the light, redeemer, savior, Messiah." He was identified with both the lion and the lamb.   (4) The International Encyclopedia states: "Mithras seems to have owed his prominence to the belief that he was the source of life, and could also redeem the souls of the dead into the better world ... The ceremonies included a sort of baptism to remove sins, anointing, and a sacred meal of bread and water, while a consecrated wine, believed to possess wonderful power, played a prominent part."   (5) Chambers Encyclopedia says: "The most important of his many festivals was his birthday, celebrated on the 25th of December, the day subsequently fixed -- against all evidence -- as the birthday of Christ. The worship of Mithras early found its way into Rome, and the mysteries of Mithras, which fell in the spring equinox, were famous even among the many Roman festivals. The ceremonies observed in the initiation to these mysteries -- symbolical of the struggle between Ahriman and Ormuzd (the Good and the Evil) -- were of the most extraordinary and to a certain degree even dangerous character. Baptism and the partaking of a mystical liquid, consisting of flour and water, to be drunk with the utterance of sacred formulas, were among the inauguration acts."   (6) Prof. Franz Cumont, of the University of Ghent, writes as follows concerning the religion of Mithra and the religion of Christ: "The sectaries of the Persian god, like the Christians', purified themselves by baptism, received by a species of confirmation the power necessary to combat the spirit of evil; and expected from a Lord's supper salvation of body and soul. Like the latter, they also held Sunday sacred, and celebrated the birth of the Sun on the 25th of December.... They both preached a categorical system of ethics, regarded asceticism as meritorious and counted among their principal virtues abstinence and continence, renunciation and self-control. Their conceptions of the world and of the destiny of man were similar. They both admitted the existence of a Heaven inhabited by beatified ones, situated in the upper regions, and of a Hell, peopled by demons, situated in the bowels of the Earth. They both placed a flood at the beginning of history; they both assigned as the source of their condition, a primitive revelation; they both, finally, believed in the immortality of the soul, in a last judgment, and in a resurrection of the dead, consequent upon a final conflagration of the universe" (The Mysteries of Mithras, pp. 190, 191).   (7) Reverend Charles Biggs stated: "The disciples of Mithra formed an organized church, with a developed hierarchy. They possessed the ideas of Mediation, Atonement, and a Savior, who is human and yet divine, and not only the idea, but a doctrine of the future life. They had a Eucharist, and a Baptism, and other curious analogies might be pointed out between their system and the church of Christ (The Christian Platonists, p. 240).   (8) In the catacombs at Rome was preserved a relic of the old Mithraic worship. It was a picture of the infant Mithra seated in the lap of his virgin mother, while on their knees before him were Persian Magi adoring him and offering gifts.   (9) He was buried in a tomb and after three days he rose again. His resurrection was celebrated every year.   (10) McClintock and Strong wrote: "In modern times Christian writers have been induced to look favorably upon the assertion that some of our ecclesiastical usages (e.g., the institution of the Christmas festival) originated in the cultus of Mithraism. Some writers who refuse to accept the Christian religion as of supernatural origin, have even gone so far as to institute a close comparison with the founder of Christianity; and Dupuis and others, going even beyond this, have not hesitated to pronounce the Gospel simply a branch of Mithraism" (Art. "Mithra").   (11) Mithra had his principal festival on what was later to become Easter, at which time he was resurrected. His sacred day was Sunday, "the Lord's Day." The Mithra religion had a Eucharist or "Lord's Supper."   (12) The Christian Father Manes, founder of the heretical sect known as Manicheans, believed that Christ and Mithra were one. His teaching, according to Mosheim, was as follows: "Christ is that glorious intelligence which the Persians called Mithras ... His residence is in the sun" (Ecclesiastical History, 3rd century, Part 2, ch. 5).

"I am a star which goes with thee and shines out of the depths." - Mithraic saying "I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright morning star." - Jesus, (Rev. 22:16)

The link to the article is
http://www.near-death.com/experiences/origen048.html

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The Most Unbearable Time of the Year

I cannot wait for the holidays to be over.  At this time of year I am reminded of the many years my parents forced to me to attend the Christmas Eve service at our local Christian church during which I would doodle on the program and try to convince them that I believed in Jesus just about as much as I believed in Santa Claus.  This is the most unbearable time of the year for me because of all the holier than thou Christians  to celebrate their gaudy, materialistic holiday.  Their propaganda is blaring over the loudspeakers in every department store, nativity scenes are littering lawns everywhere.  Why do Christians feel that they have to be so forceful in their beliefs?  Why can't they practice a little humility and worship to themselves?  No, the materialistic Christians are not satisfied unless they have the most ridiculous display of faith in the neighborhood.  Bah Humbug!

Turning the Other Cheek

So, even though I am a hardcore atheist, I pride myself on trying to be as open minded as possible.  However, lately I noticed that this is becoming more and more difficult to do.  For example, the past several weeks every time I am stopped at a red light and notice a Jesus fish or other religious paraphernalia on the car in front of me I have this overwhelming urge to slam my foot on the gas and ram them.  I don't know what it is.  Maybe it is all the holiday music and religious symbols making me feel as though religion is being shoved down my throat, but I have had to apply some major self restraint.

Also, when someone mentions or makes reference to their personal religious beliefs in conversation I try to freeze all facial expressions and pretend as though I am indifferent to the conversation.  Lately however, if someone makes reference to Christ or anything relating to Christianity I find myself taking a few steps back away from the person in question as though their ignorance is contagious. I am hoping after the holidays this will pass and I will be able to once again try to accept the beliefs of others no matter how ridiculous I feel they are being.

The Jesus Fish

The following is an excerpt from ReligionFacts.com:

 The fish was an early symbol of Christian faith that endures today on bumper stickers and businesses as a sign of Christian faith.

The fish is thought to have been chosen by the early Christians for several reasons:

• the Greek word for fish (ICHTUS), works nicely as an acrostic for "Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior"
• the fish would not be an obvious Christian symbol to persecutors
• Jesus' ministry is associated with fish: he chose several fishermen to be his disciples and declared he would make them "fishers of men."

It is said that during the persecution of the early church, a Christian meeting someone new would draw a single arc in the sand. If the other person was a Christian, he or she would complete the drawing of a fish with a second arc. If the second person was not a Christian, the ambiguity of the half-symbol would not reveal the first person as a Christian. 

The Annoyed Skeptics take on the Jesus Fish:

I believe wholeheartedly that Christians display the Jesus fish on their cars and other possessions as a display of their self-importance.  Regardless of the origins of the symbol, I feel that your average Christian displays the fish to tell others that they feel they are a better person due to their beliefs.  There is no more materialistic, in your face religion than Christianity.  There are literally Christian gifts stores on every corner.  Everywhere you look someone has a fish on their car.  Why do the Christians feel that they need to shove their beliefs in the rest of our faces?  The more I see propaganda like the Jesus fish, the more of a skeptic I become.