If you believe in the supernatural and on that basis obtain a paying job, as a minister, priest, pastor, whatever, you don’t have to pay income tax. If you establish a group of like believers and buy a piece of land and/or a building for meetings, you don’t have to pay property tax. And if …
Category: religion
Feb 10 2011
God Promised
With such regularity, it really should be the refrain of every national anthem, we hear something along these lines: ‘The land is rightfully ours. God promised it to us.’ Yeah well, God lies. Or at least he changes his mind. Consider this:
Dec 16 2010
God: The Quintessential Deadbeat Dad
He left almost 2,000 years ago. Said he’d be back real soon. Yeah. He never writes. He never calls. He left us these notes though. But half are so cryptic, the rest so contradictory, he must’ve been sloshed at the time. ‘Wait ’till your father gets home.’ That got tired real quick. Child support? It’s …
Jun 29 2010
Why are women more religious than men?
Why are women more religious, in belief and in practice, than men? 1. Religious belief is more of an emotional thing than a cognitive thing. (Consider the fact that merely thinking about religious beliefs is usually sufficient to reveal they’re unwarranted.) And women are raised to be more emotional than cognitive; men are raised to …
Apr 25 2010
Having Kids and Having Religion
Most people associate pronatalism with religionism. Either because of its ‘go forth and multiply’ view, its ‘sanctity of life’ view, or its ‘we have to outnumber them’ view. I agree there’s a relationship, even a causal one. But it’s not that religion ’causes’ pronatalism; rather, some other thing causes both religionism and pronatalism. What is …
Jan 10 2010
I Don’t Have a Conscience
I’ve always been uncomfortable with the term “conscientious objector” – especially as it is used, to identify those entitled for exclusion from military service (whether in body or in wallet) on the basis of moral principles. I object to military service, on that basis, but I don’t have a conscience. Phrases such as “Follow your …
Sep 14 2009
Religion: Superstition and Habit
I find it amazing that so many people still believe in God. I can only conclude that, in most cases, they just haven’t thought about it. Because thinking about religion is the surest way to atheism. (Which is probably why so many religions discourage thought: be like a child–whose intellectual faculties are quite insufficient for …
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