The common religious belief in a "supreme being" is a psychological and social construction. Religion is made up, an invention given credibility simply because a lot of people agree with it. It is the product of primitive human societies which required a way to explain reality and create social rules.
by Victor Billot
Excerpted from The Otago Daily Times
As a non-expert citizen, my basic claim is this: Religion is nonsense. Often it is dangerous nonsense. The late American writer Kurt Vonnegut observed "say what you will about the sweet miracle of unquestioning faith. I consider the capacity for it terrifying." I agree.
Religious leaders developed in history as a privileged class who still insist they have all the answers and a direct line to the Creator of the Universe.
Yet the list of these individuals is hardly confidence-inspiring; just imagine ending up in heaven and finding your eternal flatmates are the Ayatollah Khomeini, the current Pope, and Bishop Brian Tamaki.
In our society, the "right" God is usually one of the various Christian versions.
However, it doesn't take much to realise that if the same New Zealand pastors, priests and door-knockers happened to have been born in Iran, they would no doubt be devout Muslims, or in Timbuktu, devout followers of the established religion of Timbuktu, whatever that may be. The basic line of most religions is that our religion is completely right and everyone else is completely wrong.
We are blessed and others will be sorted out by God. How do they know? It says in their preferred collection of fables from the dim past. No evidence is required and there is always the fall-back position of "faith".
If I was to proclaim my faith in Zeus and Apollo, most people today would rightly regard me as a lunatic. Yet absolutely nothing separates faith in Zeus and Apollo from faith in Christianity or Islam in any respect but current popularity. ... Read the full article here.