XPost: alt.agnosticism, talk.atheism, alt.atheism   
   XPost: alt.philosophy   
   From: prohumanist@gr8mail.com   
      
   - - -   
      
   Probably, the first instinctive reaction to   
   that would be that it depends on what   
   one is being asked to believe in.   
      
   Certainly, very few believe in Zeus these   
   days.   
      
   The Hindu panoply of Gods, probably   
   there are hundreds of millions of believers   
   in India, but small numbers in the rest of   
   the world.   
      
   The God called Allah, really big in many   
   areas of the Middle East, in Indonesia, and   
   in assorted other areas of the world visited   
   by Islamic proselytizers.   
      
   The God called God, along with his son called   
   Christ Jesus, varying degrees of belief and a   
   wide assortment of religions in many areas of   
   the world.   
      
   So, needless to say, a lot of people believe   
   in believing in a particular version (or versions)   
   of a particular Super Being, but much less so   
   or not at all when it comes to believing in ver-   
   sions apart from their own or when it comes to   
   believing in a Super Being or Super Beings only   
   -if- it/they were to evidence itself/themselves in   
   an indisputable manner, in the natural world, in   
   the present day, freed from second-hand story-   
   telling which goes by the name 'hearsay', or which   
   is best characterized as 'myth'.   
      
   - - -   
      
   In essence, everything believed in by religious   
   folks is 'hearsay', and myth, passed down tales   
   from a very superstitious age of ignorance in   
   which inventing Gods and God tales was quite   
   a creative enterprise for many.   
      
   - - -   
      
   Conclusion   
      
   Any God worth following would not depend on   
   handed-down storytelling -and- would not de-   
   pend on claims and promises easily concocted   
   by humans, but instead, would be evident, real,   
   as substantial as is this computer I'm entering   
   this post on.   
      
   Anyone got any Gods like that to offer?   
      
   Until anyone does, religious stories and seduc-   
   tive promises (and threats) are empty of sub-   
   stance, loaded with unsubstantiated claims, and   
   unbelievable.   
      
   Calls to have faith, only made because bounte-   
   ous evidence exists that religious tales are   
   simply make believe.   
      
   In human imagination, however, calls to have   
   faith are very powerful due to religious seduc-   
   tions (the primary one being a pleasant immor-   
   tality), and its buddy, religious threats.   
      
   Of note, religions can encourage actions which   
   can be beneficial to humankind in some ways,   
   but unfortunately, they can also encourage   
   actions which can be harmful to humankind in   
   many ways, so harmful that the benefit and the   
   promises aren't worth it.   
      
   Let's stop with the claims and the promises (and   
   threats), and instead, let's only follow a God that   
   can lead without human intervention.   
      
   Until that day or night or event, I remain ...   
      
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   ¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤   
      
   ~~~   
   Pro-Humanist FREELOVER   
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   Freethinking Realist Exploring   
   Expressive Liberty, Openness,   
   Verity, Enlightenment, & Rationality   
   ~~~   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)