10 Reasons for Man to Leave Religion Behind

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By Mike Floorwalker | 23 March 2013
Listverse

Its been reported recently that atheism is on the rise worldwide, while religiosity is declining. The
relationship between the religious and non-religious has always been a tricky one; while many from each
group eventually find themselves forced to admit that there is much to learn from the other, atheists sti ll
generally have a tough time accepting the role that religion plays in societyand are of the opinion that
humanity would be better off leaving it behind, for a number of reasons. Here are ten of them.
10. Messiah Story
Reason: The Messiah Story Has Been Around For Thousands Of Years

It should be noted that the idea of a divine savior of the human race is practically as old as the human
race itself, and has resurfaced continually, echoing throughout our culture for thousands of years. That it
continues to be a theme of popular works today is no surprise, but there exists a bitter debate over
whether many or most of the major elements of the story of Jesus Christ were co-opted from other
sourcessome that originated hundreds or even thousands of years before Jesus.
The general assertion by the skeptical is that all of these elementsthe virgin birth, significance of the
solstices, the miracles, disciples, baptism, crucifixion, resurrectionalong with many even more specific
elements like Heaven and Hell, the soul, holy communion and others, were all seen before in multiple
ancient pagan religions. Many Christians contend that these similarities are a distortion, or the result of
ancient records being taken out of context or simply being inaccurate; atheists similarly will point out
that practically all ancient records are of questionable accuracy to some degree, including those non-
Christian references to the historicity of Jesus.
Modern scholars can only agree on two things about Jesus: that he was baptized, and that he was
crucified on the order of Pontius Pilate. All of the other details are disputed by some group of scholars or
another, and an examination of the ancient pagan religions predating Jesusthose surrounding Horus,
Mithra, Dionysus, Krishna and many othersyields an astounding number of similarities that cannot be
explained away as coincidence. These stories seem to be a part of ancient Mediterranean culture, which
leads us to the fact that . . .
9. Mythology
Reason: Mythology Used To Be Religion

When we think of the Greek, Roman, Norse and other mythologies that we studied in school, most of us
probably consider them to have the same level of actual historical significance, or value to our modern
culture, as The Lord Of The Rings. That is not to say that they have little or no valuethese mythologies
were an important part of the development of human intellect and understanding of the world, of which
we had very little at the time of their inception.
From an atheist point of view, it can be argued that we still had very little understanding of the the way
our world works two thousand years ago, and that the application of different aspects of pagan myth to
the Christian gospels makes sensemany ancient mythologies borrowed from each other, as we know
from our study of the very similar Roman and Greek mythologies and all of their various analogues (Zeus
and Jupiter, Venus and Aphrodite, etc.) of the same deity archetypes. These ancient mythologies werent
myths to the people who created themthey were religion, their way of explaining the world and its
mechanics. Mount Olympus was simply the highest mountain in Greece, and to the ancient Greeks it was
their version of Heaven, and Zeus their version of God.
This holds true for all ancient and pagan belief systems, which also illustrates the point that Christianity
did not bring religion, the concept of salvation, or even monotheism to the worldthese things had been
in place for centuries. Christianity, Islam and other such belief systems (and there are
many similarities there as well) can be seen simply as the myths that have somehow survived to this day.
8. Modern Values
Reason: The Bible Doesnt Line Up With Modern Values

The Bible is, obviously, an extremely old text with dozens of interpretations throughout the centuries.
The term Christian itself is a rather a blanket term for a dizzying array of belief systems, very few of
whom are in complete agreement as to how the Bible should be interpretedor even in what context
specific passages should be taken.
Atheists do have trouble reconciling that the Word Of God, infallible as it should be, would be so open to
such wildly varying interpretationsbut what they have more trouble with are the passages in the Bible
that clearly have absolutely no bearing on any sane, modern system of beliefs and morals. Most are aware
of the passages that provide for the keeping of slaves, the wanton murder of homosexuals and adulterers,
the selling of children and other such things which have no place in civilized society, let alone in texts that
are considered to be holy.
Yes, these things were common 2,000 years ago, but thats the pointthat these do not appear to be the
suggestions and guidance of an all-knowing and loving God, but rather of mennot prophets, just men,
who were very much of their time. An omnipotent God would have demonstrated an understanding of
basic human rights long before we humans got around to realizing, for instance, that slavery is wrong.
This limited understanding of historical context works backwards as well as you will see in this next item:
7. Historical Text
Reason: The Bible Doesnt Work As A Historical Text

The above-referenced debate as to whether Jesus was actually a historical person (he almost certainly
was) notwithstanding, there are myriad problems to be found when attempting to reconcile the Bibles
account of ancient history with the known historical record. Again, these are inaccuracies which would
not be expected from an omnipotent being, but would absolutely be expected from a 2,000 year old
author with a limited historical and scientific frame of reference.
Take, for example, the story of Noah and the Great Flood, a significant event that, even if it were not
worldwide but localized to one region, would have made the historical records of many ancient
civilizations. Many Christian scholars believe that it was localized, not a global flood, which explains its
absence from the ancient record. The Bible itself says:
6 The LORD regretted that he had made mankind on the earth, and he felt highly offended. 7 So the LORD said, I will
wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth-everything from mankind to animals, including creatures
that move on the ground and birds of the air, for I regret that I have made them. 11 The earth was ruined in the sight
of God; the earth was filled with violence.
This clearly did not happenbut it was also far from the first Great Flood story of the ancient world,
another mythological element that has echoed across cultures for millennia. And while its easy to argue
for the validity of parables and metaphors as a means to understanding human nature and morality, the
opposite case can also be made; that it has become unnecessary for us as a species. We have developed
into civilized people that understand the concept of morality simply being good for our continued
survival.
6. Conflict
Reason: Religion Is Behind Many Conflicts, Large And Small

If religiosity is the key to the understanding of human nature and our place in the Universe (or wherever
we are), then this is particularly troubling to the skeptic. Yes, Why does God let bad things happen? is a
well-worn and simplistic argument, but the fact of the existence of numerousbloody religious
conflicts throughout historyincluding those between differing sects of Christianitycombined with the
aforementioned Biblical references to the many types of offenders that should be put to death, cannot
simply be waved away. Not only is killing for any reason obviously morally wrong, but theres a direct
conflict with the First Commandment, the Christian doctrine of turning the other cheek, and the simple
truth that religion and politicsthat other great cause of violent conflictshould not be mixed.
The very phrase King James Bible is suspicious to the skeptic, as it implies government involvement in
the interpretation of religious doctrine, and even the founders of the US thought enough of the issue to
include the tenet of separation of church and state within the establishing documents of the nation. But
the ability of faith to transform a political moderate into a radical cannot be overstatedand the ability of
governments to use said faith to their own ends is easy to see, as it continues to this day.
Many in the US think of religious radicals as those of other religionsalien religions with weird beliefs
that make their followers do crazy things, but the truth is that there are radicals of practically every
religious affiliationand that there is no killer more determined than the one who believes with all their
heart that God wants them to kill.
5. Favored
Reason: The Religious Are Not Favored

This raises another question: the religiously devoted are certain of the truth of their religion, but there are
hundreds, thousands of religions all over the world, and they cannot all be rightunless they are really all
just metaphors, different interpretations of a truth that may be beyond our intellectual grasp. So the
question is: if one religion is correct, why is it not the only religion? Why are its followers not favored by
God? Why is there such widespread disagreement?
There simply is no answer, because there is no one religion that is favored in any measurable way; not by
rate of new converts, happiness or comfort of the converted, protection from disease or physical harm,
anything. And the notion of a God that must remain hidden, that cannot interfere with the lives or fates
of his followers, negates the entire concept of prayerwhile also raising questions about why God spoke
to so many people in Biblical times.
Its somewhat of a well-known notion that the devoutly religious, when set upon by severe misfortune,
will simply think of it as Gods will, which well discuss a little more later. But to the skeptic, it follows
that an all-knowing God who loves all of his childrenand is admittedly jealouswould be pleased with
those who know the truth, and likely very displeased with the millions of his children
who erroneously follow false religions. If this is the case, it is in no way apparent, but it is painfully
apparent that
4. Moral Soundness
Reason: The Religious Are Not More Morally Sound Than Others

In fact, religious beliefs are decidedly not an indicator of strong moral values, and vice versa. Among
atheists, it is a common misconception that Christians and other religious types are closed-minded,
superstitious and judgmental; among the religious, it is a common misconception that the non-religious
are depraved, morally reprehensible perverts. Thoughtful people of both types understand that such
generalizations fail to hold up in reality, and that morality and religious inclinations (or lack thereof) can
be two very separate things.
Indeed, even those who do not believe in a deity should still be able to agree that the core values of most
religionsrespect for ones fellow human beings, striving to be a good and worthwhile member of society,
an agreement not to steal, cheat or murderare basic human values that it is the responsibility of every
parent on Earth to instill in their children. This does not, however, necessitate the existence of a Creator
who enforces these values upon us; nor does the atheist assertion of a lack of said creator imply that we
do not have a duty to lead moral lives.
Many agnostics and those who dont accept the literal truth of religious texts while still holding up the
value of religion as a moral guide miss this point. Atheists will counter that there can and must be
morality without religion, that we as humans no longer need these parables and metaphors that may have
helped to guide us in our early development, but have outlived their usefulness to (reasonably)
enlightened, thinking beings.
3. Science
Reason: Science Is Starting To Answer All Of The Big Questions

The big questions: how did we get here, where did we come from, where are goinghave been with us for
our entire existence, and we are finally reaching a point in our development where we are beginning to be
able to address and even answer some of them. Not in the way our ancestors did, but with new tools and
information that have only been recently available to us.
The field of physics, and recently quantum mechanics, has revealed things to us about the world we live
in that could not have been known even half a century agothings like the nature of matter and the
structure of cells and proteinswhich was about the time that the double-helix model of DNA was
accurately hypothesized by James D. Watson and Francis Crick, and the code with which we are
programmed became known to us.
And while the religious may argue that these things are aspects of Gods design, the skeptic may counter
that though there may very well be a design, it does not automatically follow that it is the design of a
Creator deity. For what the majority of the devout fail to realize is that
2. Spirituality
Reason: There Can Be Spirituality Absent Religion

Not only is there a strong sense of the spiritual among most of those who are atheist, but many of them
feel that it is the need for spiritual onenessthe longing that is innate to most of us to be a part of a more
significant wholethat is most cruelly exploited by religion. For while the skeptic contends that we were
not all created by a God, that does not mean that we all didnt come from the same place.
Indeed, in purely practical terms, we didfrom the universal singularity before all of time and space,
before our Universe began, the same placeif it can truly be called thatthat everything, living and
non-living, past, present and future, originated in. This is what Carl Sagan understood when he penned
the above quote; that there is no difference between any of us, and manufacturing differences where
there are none serve only to isolate and divide.
This need for oneness, for return to a singularity, is a part of human nature that is so very easily
manipulated, as those who claim to offer it to us are doubtless aware. But there is no one path to it, no
one way; and likewise, no way to absolve ourselves of the one absolute imperative of human existence.
This is perhaps the concept that troubles the non-religious the most, because
1. Responsibility
Reason: Religion Helps Us Avoid Responsibility

If every aspect of our existence is a part of Gods plan; if everything that has ever happened or will ever
happen is Gods will; if we exist only for God, then the need for us to be responsible to and for ourselves is
negated.
Even the most heinous crimes against humanityagainst ourselves, from the murder of a single child to
the Holocaustcan be ascribed to Gods will. But what does that mean for us? In the most practical
terms, it means that we are not responsible for our actions. That if a parent abandons a child, a rich man
becomes richer off the backs of the poor, a corporation causes irreparable damage to the environment, or
a government exterminates thousands of its own innocent citizens, it was all a part of Gods plan. It was
inevitable; it could not have been avoided. There is nothing to learn. We are not responsible.
This, of course, can lead into a much longer discussion about destiny versus free will, but thinking
peopleboth religious and non-religiouscan and must agree that it is the purpose of the human race to
never stop learning, and never stop growing. Its more than a belief system, and it remains relevant
regardless of what you believe or dont believeindeed, whether God exists or not. Its why were here,
and its our responsibility.
Mike Floorwalkers actual name is Jason, and he lives in the Boulder, Colorado area with his wife
Stacey. He enjoys loud rock music, cooking and making lists.