I have always found it bizarre that Christians promote the Santa Claus lie. Whenever I found out, it immediately made me wonder what other magical people they’ve been lying to me about, and that might actually be what started my journey to atheism.
this post was submitted on 01 Dec 2023
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It’s psychological pre-warfare so they can train kids to believe it’s ok to be lied to, because there is a “hidden truth” to it.
I think it keeps more kids in religion than helps get out
"You can't believe in that magic guy! He's not real! My magic guy is the real one!"
Send out the science teacher with a sign, “prove it. “
People like Christianity because it's old and popular. If Christianity didn't exist, and someone today made it up, people wouldn't care.
Jesus is Santa for grown-ups.
I think the only reason why people believe in something that defines if they go to hell or not based on their actions is that, regardless of their actions, they always think they are good people.
I've seen awful, awful people call themselves "good people". They are convinced they are going to heaven.
Pedophile priests probably think they are good people who are eventually going to heaven. The people in the Vatican who forgive pedophiles, they also think they are good people.
I honestly hope their God exists so they rot in hell for eternity.
So here we go: are you a good person?
Seems a bit off topic of my comment, but I’ll bite.
I don’t believe in free will. I don’t make choices or decisions, as such. My biology responds to environmental stimulus and cues.
Having said that, objectively I’m not very effective at being a human. I’m in a straight marriage, but bisexual (leaning gay) and only figured that out after a decade. I shout at my kids when I lose my temper. Or I sit in the dark and mope instead of dealing with my problems. Or use recreational cannabis. Although I’m physically healthy, I’m not very social and don’t have or provide a social safety net. But I have a good job that I enjoy.
Am is good person? I don’t think that means anything. But I know there are a handful of people who like being with me and benefit from my actions. So I’m a net benefit to my circle. I think that’s good enough for me.
I wasn't asking you the question hehe, it was more rethorical to prove the point that everyone probably thought "yup, I'm a good person". Thanks for supporting my point though. I don't think you're a bad person, I just think everyone thinks they are good.
Yes, I believe that you’re right on that point. As crazy as it seems.
Thank you for your candor! And no, I don't believe in freewill either.
Ever read Dr. Peter Watt's novel Blindsight? Fiction of course, but written by a very smart biologist. Two of the main questions are, is freewill real? And, what is the use of consciousness?
Both absurd questions on the surface! But are those really dumb questions?
It's a first contact novel, and the captain of the ship sent to investigate is a vampire. Really. Using current human and discovered DNA, we've resurrected extinct hominids from the Pleistocene. Book does a great job examining what an obligate homo sapien carnivore would look and act like, how they might evolve. It also examines near post-human possibilities and what those might look like.
I'll stop now. If I start quoting the cool parts, I'll just end up quoting it all. Worst complaints I've heard are people not relating to the characters. Well, they're not "baseline" humans, they're cutting edge so to speak. We're not meant to understand them completely. And the narrator is unreliable. People have bitched about that, but he pretty much admits it from the first chapter.
Anywho, it's free to read/download from the author's site. If you like that one, the only sequel, Echopraxia is a worthy follow up.
Give the prologue a spin y'all. If that doesn't suck you in, no hurt feelings.
Thank you. I look forward to reading it.
Excerpt From The Science of Storytelling by Will Storr.
Beneath the level of consciousness we’re a riotous democracy of mini-selves which, writes the neuroscientist Professor David Eagleman, are ‘locked in chronic battle’ for dominion. Our behaviour is ‘simply the end result of the battles’. All the while our confabulating narrator ‘works around the clock to stitch together a pattern of logic to our daily lives: what just happened and what was my role in it?’ Fabrication of stories, he adds, ‘is one of the key businesses in which our brain engages. Brains do this with the single minded goal of getting the multifaceted actions of the democracy to make sense.’ …
Our multiplicity is revealed whenever we become emotional. When we’re angry, we’re like a “different person with different values and goals in a different reality than when we feel nostalgic, depressed or excited. As adults, we’re used to such weird shifts in selfhood and learn to experience them as natural and fluid and organised. But for children, the experience of transforming from one person to another, without any sense of personal volition, can be deeply disturbing. It’s as if a wicked witch has cast an evil spell, magicking us from princess to witch.
I just finished reading it. I’m not sure I understood all of it, but I enjoyed it.
Santa was at least based on Saint Nicholas of Myra in the 4th Century. We can't confirm Jesus was based on one person or several.
A lot of what is accepted about Jesus is directly pulled from other mythologies.
Example = 12/25 birthday.
https://www.nairaland.com/4251378/list-gods-born-virgin-25th
HORUS An Ethiopian-Sudanese God, born 25th December, by a Virgin around 3,000 YEARS before Jesus.
BUDDHA A Nepal God, born 25th December, by a Virgin around 563 YEARS before Jesus.
KRISHNA An Indian God, born 25th December, by a Virgin around 900 YEARS before Jesus.
ZARATHUSTRA An Iranian God, born 25th December, by a Virgin around 1,000 YEARS before Jesus.
HERCULES A Greek God, born 25th December, by a Virgin around 800 YEARS before Jesus.
MITHRA A Persian God, born 25th December, by a Virgin- 600 YEARS before Jesus.
DIONYSUS A Greek God, born 25th December, by a Virgin around 500 YEARS before Jesus.
THAMMUZ A Babylonian God, born 25th December, by a Virgin around 400 YEARS before Jesus.
HERMES A Greek God, born 25th December, by a Virgin around 200 YEARS before Jesus.
ADONIS A Phoenician God, born 25th December, by a Virgin around 200 YEARS before Jesus.
Hercules was not born of a virgin. Anyone who knows the myth can tell you that.
Also, the Buddha is not a god and not Nepali and not born of a virgin.
This list is nonsense.
I totally believe Hercules was a virgin birth, every bit as much as Jesus was!
See, ~~Chad~~ ~~Zeus~~ God came to them in their dreams, and “blessed” them with a baby. Who is Joseph or any other man to challenge a woman’s word on divine intervention?
Honestly, I'm more annoyed by the list calling Buddha a Nepali god who was born of a virgin on the 25th of December since not a single word of that beyond "Buddha" is what any Buddhist claims.
Thank you for this list.
People get annoyed when you point out that there is little actual evidence of a Jesus. There was most certainly a real person originally behind it all but that is significantly divorced from the textual evidence.
Who wants to break it to him that Jesus wasn't born in December?
He's clearly not ready for "Jesus wasn't born" but maybe we can get him to accept:
Luke 2:8-12
8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.
9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.
10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.
11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.
12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
Shepherds don't watch over their flocks at night in December. They do that in the Spring when lambs are being born.
Jesus = Lamb of God = Sacrifice
See how that works?
Hmmm... What if Jesus was literally a sheep? 🤔
Praise Sheepus!
WAKE UP SHEEPLE
I wish some guy in a Santa costume would stand next to him with the opposite sign.
Nothing stopping any of us
“Santa and Jesus are equally real, don’t believe the lies”
His version of Santa tortures people forever instead of giving out coal. Otherwise, they are quite similar.
Shoving coal in your stocking is a euphemism for what Santa really does when he is pissed at you.
He got it half right.
So the dude who is supposed to preach "Judge Not" is passing judgement?
shocked Pika