The Credibility Of Religious Dogma

To debate religious dogma is akin to debating whether fairies exist at the bottom of the garden or not.
Debate would lend both a legitimacy that neither deserves or warrants. Both being full of myths and fables and could never withstand the test of credibility or sanity.

You only need to look around you for proof of God’s existence I hear you say? Well! I am sorry to have to
dissolution you, but everything in existence was made by the pink, blue spotted unicorn God that I worship. My challenge to you is to prove that your fictitious supernatural God made everything and my pink, blue spotted unicorn God did not.

Oh yes! One more thing. Do not attempt to use the bible to verify your claims as that would be a circular
argument. Just like saying ‘The bible is true, because the bible tells me it is true’. See what I mean? The bible is here say and would never withstand a test of credibility, or stand up in a court of law.

Merely claiming a thing is true, does not actually make it true. No matter how long people have been saying
it.

One last thing. I have heard (true or not a cannot say) that they have now printed a new edition of the bible that only has blank pages. This is to be called the non-fictional bible.

Trevor E. Cowan

THE SPRING EQUINOX

The Spring Equinox.

 

From http://www.answers.com

 

A. The point at which the ecliptic intersects the celestial equator, the sun having a northerly motion.

B. The moment at which the sun passes through the vernal equinox, about March 21, marking the beginning of spring in the
Northern Hemisphere.

The Spring Equinox is know as: Alban Eilir, Eostre, Eostre, Feast Of Annunciation
Of The So Called Virgin Mary, Festival Of Trees, Lady Day, NawRuz, No
Ruz, Ostara, Ostra, Spring Rites And The Vernal Equinox.

Although various groups such as religious, pagan and a few others would like
to lay claim to this time as being their own, and upsets some if
other groups lay claim to it as well, negates the fact that the
Vernal Equinox was occurring long before mankind existed, and I dare
say will be occurring long after mankind has vanished.

The rituals connected with the Vernal Equinox are just that. Rituals made
up by man. Some transposed from another date due to expediency by
groups such as the Roman Catholic church to try to smother other
groups such as Pagan groups that were more popular at that time.
While it did work for a time, modern day people are starting to see
through this ruse and Paganism is resurging.

Have you ever thought what an egg had to do with the Christian Easter? The
egg is a Pagan symbol for fertility, and the Easter Bunny (originally
a Hare) is a sacred animal to the Pagans.

The only thing we know for certain that it is the Spring (Vernal Equinox)
is the Spring Equinox, no matter what name we give it or what rituals
we hang on it, and will always remain so. The Day and Night will be
of equal periods of time.

Trevor E. Cowan

Brainwashing

Young children not having had any
chance to develop an effect defence against brainwashing fall easy victims
to the 100% shameless brainwashing techniques employed by religions.
Especially when that religion is presented as being an absolutely and
infallibly correct concise set of philosophies and doctrines. They
would think if mother and father believed in it, then it must be
right. Not realizing of course that mother and father had be
indoctrinated themselves when they were young, largely with the help
of the church and their parents. And so it goes…

Trevor E. Cowan

God/Goddess/Universal controlling force

Am I claiming that there is no God/Goddess/Universal controlling force or anything else that governs the universe? No! What I am saying is that I have not seen any evidence to support there being a God/Goddess/Universal controlling force. Either has anybody else, or the debate on whether there is a God or not would come to an abrupt end with their claim having been proven. The onus is on the church and believers to prove that their God/Goddess/Force exists, as it is illogical and impossible to prove that something does not exist. After all, they are the ones making the claim.
What I am saying is that if such a force did exist, it would not be the type of God/Goddess/Force depicted by man made religions. Man made religions are built on unsubstantiated rhetoric that has it’s roots based in myths and hearsay, and is designed to control the masses through fear, guilt and shame, with a vague promise of salvation, provided that you obey the religious dogma implicitly.
I can understand why beliefs in religion last so long. It would take a great deal of courage to admit that you have been taken in by religion for years. Who would want to admit to themselves that they had been that gullible? It would also be difficult to stand alone, particularly if your family and friends were still believers. You would have the whole lot attempting to brainwash you into coming back to the fold again. This is one reason why religion has remained with us for so long. Because it cannot stand up to honest scrutiny, so discourages scrutiny of any kind.

Trevor E. Cowan

Intelligent Design?????

I am not unintelligent enough to believe in intelligent design.

Trevor E. Cowan

Does God Exist?

Harry: ‘God exists.’
Janet: ‘What proof do you have?’
Harry: ‘None. But you cannot prove that he does not exist, therefore he does exist.’

Janet: ‘God is a green spotted five legged pink unicorn.’
Harry: ‘What proof do you have?’
Janet: ‘None. But you cannot prove such a God does not exist, therefore it does exist.’

Janet then smiles sweetly at Harry.

Trevor E. Cowan

The Truth

All my life I have heard that people should always tell the truth, but life’s experience has taught me that the truth can produce devastating results unless it is handled with care.

Trevor E. Cowan

Myth Based Belief Systems

Many people cling to an antiquated myth based belief system in spite of there not being any rational or empirical evidence to support it. The alternative is to admit to themselves that they had been wrong all of these years, and this is not possible for some to accept.

Trevor E. Cowan

The Price Of Owning Yourself

Quote:
The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.

Friedrich Nietzsche
Unquote

The Church Of Rome

From Wikipedia

The term ‘catholic’ is derived from the Greekadjective καθολικός pronounced katholikos, which means “general” or “universal”.
This term appears in both the Nicene Creed and the Apostles Creed, statements of faith adhered to by almost all modern denominations. When the word “catholic” or “universal” is applied to the Church, it is generally intended to indicate that the institution is the uniquely legitimate Christian church intended for all of humanity.
You may want to think about this the next time you use the term ‘Roman catholic church’ I know I will never use this term again. Instead I will refer to it as ‘The church of Rome’. Which I personally feel is more accurate.
Trevor E. Cowan

The Burden Of Proof

If a person claims that something exists then the burden of proof is on that person to supply some evidence to support that claim. Something that others could and should examine before accepting it as being true.

It is not correct to think that something exists until it is proven not to exist. How does one prove that something does not exist?

It is also wrong to think that just because you cannot prove that something exists that it does not exist. Maybe it does not exist in our universe, but how can we be sure that it does not exist in another universe?

Trevor E. Cowan

I Believe That God Does Not Exist

Does that make me an Atheist? No! Atheists claim that there is no God.
I do not claim that there is no god. What I am saying is that I have not found any evidence supporting the existence of God.
Many people say that the Bible tells us there is a God. You cannot use the Bible to verify itself. It would be like saying ‘The Bible is true, the Bible tells me so.’ This would never stand up as proof in a Court of law or anywhere else. It would just be taken as here say which would not be admissible. Prophets have claimed to have spoken to God. Did they have any witnesses to these events? Not to my knowledge. Are we supposed to just take their unsupported word for this? People claim that the Bible was written by God, so it must be true. Oh Yeah! What about the story of Jonah and the Whale? Even the church has scrapped that bit as being an impossibility. So many other biblical claims are just as ridiculous. If God did indeed write the Bible, he sure made a mess of it.
The Bible is very clearly the work of highly imaginative men in a primitive time, full of errors and ambiguous at best. If the Bible was a manual for an automobile, you would discard it as being useless. There is not a shred of scientific evidence that God exists and in this enlightened age a God goes against common sense and logic and credibility.
We do not have any proof that God answers prayers.
Oh! You say. But I prayed to God, and God answered my prayer. Did God answer your prayer? Truly? Or would it have happened that way anyway? What about amputees? Does God answer an amputees prayer to have a missing limb restored? Or is God prejudiced against amputees and not answer their prayers? I figure If God could not only make the world, but the whole universe, bring dead back to life and make man from dust and a woman from a mans rib, then restoring a missing limb should be a fairly simple task. You see! If you pray for something that could go either way, and it just so happened that it went they way that you wanted, then maybe you could think that God answered your pray. But if an amputee prayed to have a limb grow again, it could still conceivable go two ways, but I have never heard of an amputee growing a new limb yet.
I outgrew invisible imaginary friends when I became an adult, but I realize that some people may still need an invisible imaginary friend, and that is fine by me. So long as they do not try to force their invisible imaginary friend on me, or get upset when I do not choose to believe in it/him/her.
I have heard people say to me, prove that God does not exist. I do not have to prove that God does not exist, I am saying that I have not found any evidence that he does exist.
I could say that my God is a blue and gold spotted zebra. Now try and prove that does not exist. It would be an impossibility and stupidity even to try.
Some people try to frighten me by telling me that if I do not believe in God, I will go to Hell when I die.
Well! If people do not believe in my blue and gold spotted zebra God, when they die it will send them to a place where they have to listen to Barry Manilow recordings 24 hours a day seven days a week. That would be worse than Hell.

Trevor E. Cowan

Yultide Has Arrived Again

Yule is the Winter Solstice celebration of the Pagans. The word ‘Pagan’ simple means farmer, or a person connected to the land. A Heathen is simply means a ‘Heath Dweller’. Is seems ridiculous that the Christian church has managed over the years to manipulate these two terms to mean something that is evil or bad. What is more ridiculous is that many so called enlightened Christians still believe this propaganda that was spread by the early church. It does not say much for their intelligence.
The Winter Solstice is one of the eight solar holidays, or sabbats. Yule is celebrated on the Winter Solstice in the Northern hemisphere, circa December 21, and in the Southern hemisphere, and in circa June 21. Although for some strange reason the Southern hemisphere tends to celebrate it at the same time as people in the Northern hemisphere do. Mostly likely because many people migrated from the Northern hemisphere to the Southern hemisphere, and were reluctant to change their ways.
A few of the Yule celebrations consisted of burning the Yule log, eating ham, hanging holly and mistletoe
The Christian idea to celebrate Christmas on December 25 originated in the fourth century when Emperor Constantine and the Roman catholic church wanted to eclipse the festivities of the rival Pagan religion that they seen as a threat. Modern day Christians at long last have realized that the December celebrations is a Pagan festival and has nothing to do with the birth of their so called Jesus and have started rebelling against it. In the USA The tree is no longer called a Christmas tree, but a ‘Holiday Tree’ instead. As the Christian church falls more and more into decay, Christians are leaving the church in vast numbers. They now realize that Christianity is just mythology, taught as theology and touted as gospel (an unquestionable truth). Just like the biblical story of Jonah and the Whale, many find the belief system does not hold one shred of credibility.

Trevor E. Cowan

Kevin Rudd. The New Australian Labor Party Leader.

On December 4 2006 Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard defeated Kim Beazley and Jenny Macklin in a Caucus ballot in Canberra. Let us hope that this at last will put an end to the infighting and backbiting within the Labor Party so they can get on with the job of running for Government. I feel that if the Labor Party does not unify and support the new leader it might as well fold up. How many more chances do they expect the Australian public to give them?

Much has been made in the media about Kevin Rudd and his ‘Christian Ethics.’
Hmmmmmmmm. Christian ethics? Is this implying that ‘Christian Ethics’ are superior or any better than any other sort of ethics? I am not a Christian, in fact I do not believe an any religion at all, and I am incensed that it would be inferred that anyones ‘values’ are in any way superior to mine merely on religious grounds. As far as I am concerned, religion has no place in politics. You only need to look at countries that have tried to mix religion and politics to see how they have fared.

One bit of advice I would like to give Kevin Rudd is to remember that if he ever hopes to lead the Australian Labor Party to victory and become Prime Minister of Australia would not to push such a divisive strategy as religion (with the multicultural peoples that we have in Australia) and concentrate on politics and running the country.

Trevor E. Cowan

USA POLICIES ALSO UNACCEPTABLE

America is so busy and so used to being able to ‘Push’ other countries around that I feel that people in power like George Bush, Condoleezza Rice and a few others have really lost sight of what is really going on in the world today. I also feel that they could bring about the downfall of the last Super Power.

The USA says that countries like Iran, North Korea, Iraq wanting nuclear arms is not acceptable.

A few facts here:

The USA having nuclear arms is NOT acceptable to many other countries, and let’s not forget that the USA is the only country to use them.

It is NOT acceptable that the rest of the world has signed the Kyoto Protocol against Global Warming, which expires in 2012. But countries like the USA and Australia, which while having signed have no intention to ratify because it will effect their economy.

Am I to understand that the economies of other countries do not matter, just so long as the economies of the USA and Australia are in good shape? But then again. George Bush would only have to tell John Howard to jump, and John Howard would come back with a ‘How High George?’

The USA will soon have to realize that it’s days of being able to push other countries around are quickly drawing to a close, because other countries are growing tired of supporting the USA in it’s unrealistic demands on other countries.

Remember the old saying? It is not the size of the dog that counts, but it is the size of the fight in the dog? Many of these other countries that the USA is trying to push around are desperate and do not have much to lose. The USA failed in it’s attempts to push North Korea around once before. It also failed in it’s attempt to push North Vietnam around. So how is it going to succeed in pushing Iraq, Iran, and North Korea around at the same time? While keeping it’s eye on the South American countries of course. Other countries out there have now realized that the USA has extended itself

When I was living in New Zealand, the Coal Miners Union had a motto, and it went like this ‘United we stand, divided we fall.’ I now think you are seeing this used against the USA by the countries that it has bullied for so many years.

The English people have woken up at long last and have realized that they were drawn into the Iraq war on a load of fanciful lies. (bull-shit is the Australian term for it), and now want out. I just hope that our Australian Government do not take much longer in waking up. Maybe it will take another incident like the Vietnam War when our young people realized that the war was an unjust war, so they just refused to go.

 Trevor E. Cowan