You don't have to be an Einstein to figure this out...

.. but I so happens that he did anyway.

“As the first way out there was religion, which is implanted into every child by way of the traditional education-machine. Thus I came — though the child of entirely irreligious (Jewish) parents — to a deep religiousness, which, however, reached an abrupt end at the age of twelve. Through the reading of popular scientific books I soon reached the conviction that much in the stories of the Bible could not be true. The consequence was a positively fanatic orgy of freethinking coupled with the impression that youth is intentionally being deceived by the state through lies; it was a crushing impression. Mistrust of every kind of authority grew out of this experience, a skeptical attitude toward the convictions that were alive in any specific social environment-an attitude that has never again left me, even though, later on, it has been tempered by a better insight into the causal connections. It is quite clear to me that the religious paradise of youth, which was thus lost, was a first attempt to free myself from the chains of the ‘merely personal,’ from an existence dominated by wishes, hopes, and primitive feelings. Out yonder there was this huge world, which exists independently of us human beings and which stands before us like a great, eternal riddle, at least partially accessible to our inspection and thinking. The contemplation of this world beckoned as a liberation, and I soon noticed that many a man whom I had learned to esteem and to admire had found inner freedom and security in its pursuit. The mental grasp of this extra-personal world within the frame of our capabilities presented itself to my mind, half consciously, half unconsciously, as a supreme goal. Similarly motivated men of the present and of the past, as well as the insights they had achieved, were the friends who could not be lost. The road to this paradise was not as comfortable and alluring as the road to the religious paradise; but it has shown itself reliable, and I have never regretted having chosen it.”

- Albert Einstein

Saint George Carlin slays the media dragons

Click the play button below. I disabled annoying autostart.

UFO Believers vs. Religious Believers

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Young people and religion

A recent Pew poll states:

Historically, the percentage of Americans who said they had no religious affiliation (pollsters refer to this group as the "nones") has been very small -- hovering between 5 percent and 10 percent. However ... the percentage of "nones" has now skyrocketed to between 30 percent and 40 percent among younger Americans. (via ABC news)

I certainly know what it is to be young and religious. I was raised as a Catholic and was quite faithful until my mid-30s, when I locked onto Christian Science. But it took until my mid-60s to see what more and more young people today are seeing, according to the above poll.

It is only now after having been away from the absurdity of religion the past four years that I am gaining a sense of what I lost. For over 30 years I fancied myself - and tried hard to be - a spiritual healer, a thinker, a defender of the faith, a biblical scholar, a visionary, and at times even a savior of a church. Though along the way I met a few interesting and lovable co-religionists, in the end I just couldn't abide the hypocrisy, the dullness, the meanness and the arrogance of those who were supposed to be my leaders and examples. Also, unknowingly, I was slowly (at first) losing my ability to swallow some of the absurd beliefs and traditions of both conventional and unconventional religion.

Yes, this took a long, long time to devolve. Shortly after I left the fold, I resumed being the person I was when I was took the leap of faith and set off on a spiritual career. That's why these days I often say I'm immature for my age.

It took a few years, but I gradually reestablished my interest in music. Today I play in a brash blues dance band and work part time at a cool computer store. I can't help wonder where I would be by now if I had stayed on a musical path, developed my skills as a writer and composer, poet, essayist, etc. I'll never know. What I'm grateful for is that during that lost period I somehow managed to keep those embers glowing - though on a back burner.

So I'm somewhat resentful - ya think? - that I wasted my youthful years - truly wasted them since I never really fulfilled even the religious/spiritual expectations. I don't want to admit it, but I am getting to be an old man and while I rejoice in my present activities I know that I will never ever achieve my potential since I am 30+ years behind where I would be if I’d continued to develop along my natural, non-religious lines.

That's why I occasionally speak out against religion - especially for young people. I know what a comfort it can be to adhere to what seems certain, authoritative, and beneficent. When things get crazy in your life the orderliness and fixedness of religious belief seems like safety. But it isn't. It's a huge waste of your time. Get to your true potential - explore it, hone your skills, learn from your mistakes. Yes, if you're going to make mistakes - and you certainly will - let them be in the right direction. Don't let them be like mine, thousands of mistakes within a single Big Mistake.

Your life is yours to develop, not some supernatural being's, not some evangelical community's, not some spiritual leader's or some sacred book's. Religion has been invented to give you the assurance you crave but can never achieve. The ultimate facts are that we live and then we die. In between, we develop our talents and abilities - and have some fun. Work on those and don't waste your time on fantasies of salvation or eternal happiness.

How to ruin a Good Book:over-praise it!

After 35 years of reading and reading about the Bible, this formula worked for me. Even so, it's amazing how long people can stay deluded.

http://unreasonablefaith.com/2009/05/04/keep-praising-the-bible-it-breeds-freethinkers/