The power of suggestion

I recently attended a christian funerary service for close relative of mine. At this point in my life, I attend church for one of three reasons; weddings, funerals and services that have to do with my God-son (I've explained to the parents that I would not help raise him to be a good christian, but to be a good person).

Near the beginning of the service, I told my wife that I would go on auto-pilot and see how much of church ceremony I could remember/perform since I stopped attending regular services some 20 years ago. I was shocked to realize how well I had been conditioned; Hymn after hymn, song after song, prayer after prayer, even the obscure little utterances during the ceremony had been burned into my memory over the course of my childhood and adolescence.

I came to appreciate the power of suggestion associated with the church. If you take a child and repeat a ceremony week after week, it will be absorbed. This is how religion works. Hook 'em while they're young and the rest is done. It becomes habit and tradition. Critical thought will lead many to free themselves of the shackles of tradition but many do not question the status quo and keep passing their beliefs on to their children without even thinking about it.

Quotable Quotes

Whenever I stumble across quotes that I like, I add them to my ongoing compilation. Every now and then I will bust one out when the appropriate conversation presents itself. The rest of the time, these gems just sit in word documents collecting dust, so to speak. So I thought I would share some of the shorter, more "quotable" ones. Enjoy!


Nothing is easier than self-deceit. For what each man wishes, that he also believes to be true. ~Demosthenes


Knowledge is an unending adventure at the edge of uncertainty. ~Jacob Bronowski

Believe those who are seeking the truth; doubt those who find it. ~Andre Gide

"Creationism is not a scientific alternative to natural selection any more than the stork theory is an alternative to sexual reproduction." — Hayes, 1996.

"Religion is a magic device for turning unanswerable questions into unquestionable answers." — Art Gecko.

"The invisible and the non-existent look very much alike." — Delos B. McKown

"It is wrong, always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence." — William Kingdon Clifford, The Ethics of Belief (1877).

"I contend that 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.

"Every prayer reduces itself to this: 'Great God, grant that twice two be not four'." — Ivan Turgenev (1818-1883).

"To think that the ruler of the universe will run to my assistance and bend the laws of nature for me is the height of arrogance." — Dan Barker, Losing Faith in Faith.

"When I was young I used to pray for a bike. Then I realized that God doesn't work that way, so I stole a bike and prayed for forgiveness." — Emo Philips.

"You can cite a hundred references to show that the biblical God is a bloodthirsty tyrant, but if they can dig up two or three verses that say 'God is love', they will claim that *you* are taking things out of context !" — Dan Barker, "Losing Faith in Faith".

"The Bible has noble poetry in it... and some good morals and a wealth of obscenity, and upwards of a thousand lies." — Mark Twain

"The very concept of sin comes from the bible. Christianity offers to solve a problem of its own making! Would you be thankful to a person who cut you with a knife in order to sell you a bandage ?" — Dan Barker, "Losing Faith in Faith".

"Citing the Bible as evidence for anything is like saying that the sun is in fact a chariot of fire that races across the sky because we read about it in Greek mythology." — Stephen Ban.

My Atheist Afterlife...

What happens when you die? As a Christian, I always believed that a person goes one of 2 places when they die. I was convinced that all my sins were forgiven, and I would spend eternity in heaven, with all of my Christian friends and family, and I would watch over the loved ones I left behind. I wasn't concerned with being a GREAT person. I figured I just had to do my best to live a life that was pleasing to God, and ask him to forgive me when I made a boo-boo. It was kind of like grade 11 all over again. I didn't care about getting good grades...I just had to pass. In my mind, grade 11 didn't count, because it was my grade 12 and OAC marks that would make the difference in my University choices. I could worry about that later...right now I just needed 50%. I could ditch class, miss assignments, have a good time, and then make up for it later. I thought I had all the time in the world to worry about being great. I wonder how much different it would have been if I had thought that every moment counted? How much learning and experience did I miss out on while I was out frolicking around the mall and smoking cigarettes with friends (yeah, I was cool like that).

Life is kind of like that. As a Christian, I could have fun now, repent later, and it was heaven that really counted...I had plenty of time before I had to worry about that. Who cares if I died young? I was going to live forever in the afterlife. I went to sleep at night, "knowing" that even if my life were to be full of seemingly unbearable hardships, and terrible mistakes...it would all be worth it when I reached those pearly gates.

Am I the only one who thinks that this paints such a sad picture of life? Have we become desensitized to "carpe diem" and "live life to it's fullest"? How can you really live a full life, all-the-while believing that this is really just the shitty forward to a great novel? Personally, I don't read the forwards...I'd much rather just read the book. But I often find myself wondering if I'm missing something by skipping over words that the author clearly thought should be included with his story. Christians often seem like they'd rather fast forward through life, to get to the "good stuff". How much learning and experience are THEY missing out on?!

When I became an atheist, I thought I had to let go of all notions of immortality. There is no heaven, and no hell. Nothing happens when you die. But I believe in immortality. I believe that memories can last forever, if they are worth remembering. Life is my process of creating my own legacy. What I do NOW is what counts. This is my time to be something great. My legacy is my afterlife.

NABlog wants YOU!

Currently, at Naked Atheists, we have 2 writers. Myself, and my husband, Rob. We try to update the blog and share our thoughts as often as we can. The downside to having 2 writers who live in the same house, is that when one is busy, it usually means the other is also busy, which results in quite a lull in posts. I'm currently looking for new team members. Not only would I like more frequency in posts, but also some new opinions, and a more diverse group of freethinkers. More thoughts means more thinking...and I heart thinking! If you think you have some thoughts worth sharing, PLEASE feel free to send me an email at sarahbertrand@live.com. If you don't have the time to dedicate to being a regular blogger...THAT'S OK TOO! We'd love to hear your deconversion story, or just a one-time article that you might want to share. I look forward to hearing from you!

We're on the list!

Naked Atheists has been added to The Atheist Blogroll. You can see the blogroll in my sidebar. The Atheist blogroll is a community building service provided free of charge to Atheist bloggers from around the world. If you would like to join, visit Mojoey at Deep Thoughts for more information.

Imagine.

I thought this was beautifully done...Love it!

Handsome Men's Club

This has absolutely nothing to do with religion or atheism....but this is my damn blog...and I will post whatever I bloody well please! MUAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Enjoy.

AC Grayling Rocks!

I came across this video on one of the blogs I am currently subscribed to. I love the way AC Grayling addresses some of the major issues facing our societies today. I loved the "what if?" discussions about what impact our changing priorities could have on the way we live, and the way our countries are governed, etc. Hope you enjoy this as much as I did. Be sure to watch both parts of the video.