1. I Believe in God
2. I Am A Christian,
Baptized as a Roman Catholic Christian,
and received The Sacraments of
Confession, Holy Communion,
and Confirmation.
We were given a Bible at our
First Holy Communion, and we read and
studied the Old Testament and the
New Testament in church and at school.
In 6th grade, I was a devout altar boy.
I inculcated the American Values
of the Boy Scout Oath, Boy Scout Law,
and Boy Scout Motto, and the values of
military service, Honorably discharged.
The Jesuit High School I attended
formed us to be
"Christian Cultured Gentlemen."
3. I Believe the religions -
all of them, as far as I know,
have beliefs that are mythologies,
stories that were invented by people,
usually different groups of people
over the decades and centuries.
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I do not believe that it is
necessarily harmful to believe
all religious myths,
and I believe that many religions
do good works and stabilize societies,
and people can live good lives
believing incorrect things.
Our distant ancestors lived good lives
believing The Sun goes around Earth.
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Of course, the catholic church
imprisoned Galileo for telling us
the scientific fact that
The Earth goes around The Sun, now
universally understood throughout the world
to be true.
The priest who admitted, late in life,
that his entire life had been a lie,
that he didn't believe any of it.
(From Durant - Voltaire/Rousseau vols.)
A very wise man I know once said to me,
"Nobody knows what happened 2,000 years
ago." Very True!
With fake news,
You don't even know's happening NOW!Scroll Down
I pray for guidance, and the thoughts
that result are that religions are
invented stories.
Here is an example for comparison
A good example of such a story,
for comparison, is the story
in "Huckleberry Finn", by Mark Twain,
of the Duke and the Dauphin.
They were two fugitives and scounrels
who joined Huck and Jim on their raft.
One of them made up the wild story that
he was a displaced Duke from France.
The other, not wanting to be lower
than "the Duke" (and thereby obliged
to serve him), invented a wilder story
that he's the displaced French Dauphin
(heir to be next King of France).
The "duke", was annoyed by that lie,
which made him lower than the "dauphin"
and obliged to serve him. He accepted
the "dauphin" lie anyway so that
his own lie that he was a "duke"
would not be challenged.
You can see this in the religions,
where one religion will accept
the absurd, fantastic mythologies
of another religion so that, in turn,
their own absurd, fantastic mythology
will not be challenged.
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Thomas Paine Discusses Mystery, Miracle, and Prophesy
concluding that they are appropriate for mythological story-telling,
not to true religion
"The true, upright character of truth
is that it rejects the crutch."
(that is, truth does not need a fable
attached to it to make it more true
or believable. Indeed a silly fable
would make the truth seem untrue)
In Chapter XVII, "Age of Reason" Part 1
Thomas Paine displays the common sense
and power of logical thinking for which
he is famous.
He discusses Mystery, Miracle, Prophesy
in 7 pages. I will re-write the chapter
in modern English when I have the time
because, in the 230 years since he
wrote it, the meanings of words
and the expressions used have changed.
I will, here, transcribe the last
paragraph of the chapter, because it
ties in to the imposters of mythology
and of the "Duke" and the "Dauphin".
It's a short paragraph.
Scroll Down"Upon the whole Mystery, Miracle,
and Prophecy, are appendages that
belong to fabulous (meaning false,
unbelievable, fake, fable)
and not to true religion.
They are the means by which so many
Lo heres! and Lo theres!
have been spread about the world,
and religion be made into a trade.
The success of one imposter gave
encouragement to another {Duke/Dauphin}
and the quieting salvo of doing
some good by keeping up a
pious fraud protected them
from remorse {remorse, here, seems to
mean contempt, mockery, or some kind of
negative reaction}.
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PARAPHRASED.
What he's saying (in modern English)
is that Mysteries, Miracles, and
Prophesies are things that belong in
Phineas T. Barnum's Circus Tent
(There's a sucker born every minute).
Lo heres! and Lo theres!
Thomas Paine argues in previous pages
that P.T Barnum circus "miracles",
"Lo here! See a man swallowed into
the belly of a big fish for 3 days,
now vomited up to walk and dance
and sing amongst us!" are unnecessary
to a system of a true religion,
but rather ought to be considered
as symptoms of the religion being
fable, or a dreamed up fairytale.
"The true, upright character of truth
is that it rejects the crutch."
(that is, truth does not need a fable
attached to it to make it more true
or believable. Indeed a silly fable
would make the truth seem untrue)
Thomas Paine having brought about
your Freedom from British oppression
by sparking The American Revolution,
he has earned the respect that we hear
some more of his COMMON SENSEScroll Down"Suppose", says Thomas Paine,
"I were to say that when I sat down
to write this book, a hand presented
itself in the air, took up the pen
and wrote every word that is herein
written; would any body believe me?
Certainly they would not.
Would they believe me a whit the more
if the thing had been a fact?
Certainly they would not.
A real miracle were it to happen,
would be subject to the same fate
as the falsehood. That is,
it would not be believed. So miracles
would serve no purpose for The Almighty
"The likelihood is that they are lies,
and THAT is very easily decided -
Is it more probable that nature should
go out of her course,
or that a man should tell a lie?
We have never seen in our time
nature go out of her course;
but we have good reason to believe
that millions of lies have been told
in the same time;
it is, therefore, at least millions to one,
that the reporter of a miracle tells a lie."Scroll Down
THE FIRST THEOREM OF DAVID SCULLY CONCERNING GOD AND RELIGION
Whereas, God and Religion are bundled when sold, rather than sold separately.
Whereas, People of Common Sense immediately or eventually realize that, when sold Religion, they were sold a bill of goods,
a mere receipt on a piece of paper, nothing real of value.
Whereas, People of Common Sense, so discovering, do discard of the absurd Religious fable forthwith.
Whereas, God being packaged with Religion, God is often mistakenly discarded with Religion.
Therefore, People of Common Sense must keep God in their lives and beliefs,
and recognize that religions are man-made institutions for profit and control
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"The Age of Reason
CHAPTER IV
Of The Bases of Christianity
Chapter IV contains seven paragraphs, in less than two pages.
Here, I will try summarize it.
Scroll DownThe Christian mythologists, calling themselves the Christian Church,
have erected their fable, WHICH FOR ABSURDITY AND EXTRAVAGANCE IS NOT EXCEEDED
BY ANYTHING THAT IS TO BE FOUND IN THE MYTHOLOGY OF THE ANCIENTS.
The ancient (Roman) mythologists tell us that the race of Giants made war against Jupiter (a Roman god - from Zeus in Greek mythology).
One Giant threw a hundred rocks against Jupiter at one throw, but Jupiter defeated him with thunder,
and Jupiter confined him under Mount Etna (an active volcano on the east coast of Sicily).
The myth continues that every time the Giant turns himself, Mount Etna belches fire.
Thomas Paine says that it is easy to see the connection to the Christian mythology.
The Christian mythology is that Satan made war against the Almighty, who defeated him,
and confined Satan, not under a mountain, but in a pit.
Thomas Paine points out that it is easy to see that
the first fable of Jupiter and Giants suggested the idea of the Christian fable,
for the fable of Jupiter and the Giants was told many hundred years before that of Satan.
To this point the ancient and the Christian mythologists differ very little from each other.
But the Christian mythologists have contrived to carry the matter much farther.
The Christians add Jewish mythology to the story, joining the story of Jesus Christ with the fable originating from Mount Etna.
Scroll DownThe Christian mythologists, having confined Satan in a pit (in their story),
were obliged to free him IN ORDER TO WRITE THE NEXT EPISODE (SAME TIME, SAME PLACE, SAME CHANNEL).
Satan is introduced into the garden of Eden, in the shape of a snake, and chats with Eve.
Eve (in this episode of the story) is not surprised to hear a snake talk
and the result of their tete-a-tete is that he persuades her to eat an apple,
and the eating of that apple damns all mankind.
THE SHOW MUST GO ON! THE CORPORATION MUST CONTINUE!
After the writers gave Satan this triumph over the whole creation,
one would have supposed that the CHRISTIAN MYTHOLOGY WRITERS AND PRODUCERS would have sent him back to the pit,
or would have put a mountain upon him to prevent his getting again among the women, and doing more mischief.
But instead of this, the writers leave Satan at large, without even being under supervision.
And the reason for this is that the story writers could not continue with more episodes without him.
Indeed, the producers bribed Satan to stay by offering him an exceedingly generous contract,
promising him ALL the Jews, ALL the Turks, and nine-tenths of the world beside.
The Christian mythology writers, having thus written an insurrection and a battle in heaven,
in which none of the combatants could be either killed or wounded (kind of like cartoon characters, like Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote) -
put Satan into a pit - let him out again - given him a triumph over the whole of creation - damned all mankind by the eating of an apple,
the Christian mythologists bring the two ends of their fable together.
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CHAPTER V
Analyzing The Mythology of the previous chapter
Chapter V contains five paragraphs, in one page.
Here, I will try summarize it.
Putting aside everything that might excite laughter by its absurdity,
or detestation by its profaneness,
and confining ourselves merely to an examination of the parts,
it is impossible to conceive of a story more derogatory to The Almighty,
more inconsistent with His wisdom,
more contradictory to his power,
than the Christian mythology is.
To continue the program into the next episode
the producers were under the necessity of giving to Satan a power equally as great, if not greater, than any they attribute to The Almighty.
They have not only given him the power of liberating himself from the pit, after what they call his fall,
but they have made that power increase afterwards to infinity.
Before his fall, they represent him only as an angel of limited existence, as they represent the rest.
After his fall, he becomes, by their account, omnipresent.
He exists everywhere, and at the same time.
He occupies the whole immensity of space.
Not content with this deificatioon of Satan, the writers represent him as defeating by strategy,
in the shape of an animal of the creation, all the power and wisdom of The Almighty.
They represent him as having compelled The Almighty to either
surrender all of creation to his government and sovereignty or
to come down upoon earth and exhibit himself upon a cross in the shape of a man.
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HAD THE INVENTORS OF THIS STORY TOLD IT THE OPPOSITE WAY, THAT IS,
HAD THEY REPRESENTED THE ALMIGHTY AS COMPELLING SATAN TO EXHIBIT HIMSELF ON A CROSS IN THE SHAPE OF A SNAKE,
AS A PUNISHMENT FOR HIS NEW TRANSGRESSION,
THE STORY WOULD HAVE BEEN LESS ABSURD, LESS CONTRADICTORY.
BUT INSTEAD OF THIS, THE WRITERS MADE THE TRANSGRESSOR TRIUMPH, AND THE ALMIGHTY FALL.
That many good people have believed this strange fable,
and lived very good lives under that belief, I have no doubt (for those who believe in Santa Claus behave well).
In the first place, they were educated to believe it, and they would have believed anything else in the same manner.
CHAPTER VI
True Theology
Chapter VI contains two paragraphs, in one-half page.
Here, I will try summarize it.
Objects for gratitude and admiration present themselves every hour to our eyes.
We see a fair creation prepared to receive us, the instant we are born - a world furnished to our hands, that cost us nothing.
It is not we who light up The Sun, pour down the rain, fill the earth with abundance.
Whether we sleep or wake, the vast machinery of The Universe still goes on.
Are these Blessings nothing to us?
Can our gross feelings be excited by no other subjects than tragedy and suicide?
Or is the gloomy pride of man become so intolerable, that nothing can flatter it but a sacrifice of The Creator?
I know that this bold investigation will alarm many,
but the times (referring to The Age of Enlightenment) and the subject (religious myth) demand it to be done.
The suspicion that the theory of what is called the Christian church is mythology,
is becoming very extensive in all countries;
and it will be a consolation to men struggling and confused under that suspicion,
and wondering what to believe and what to disbelieve,
to see the subject fully investigated.