The Atheist Book

the atheist book
salvatore pertutti
Éditions Pertutti
Rennes
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© Éditions Pertutti, 2010
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CONTENTS
Foreword p. 5
Introduction p. 12
The Story of Life: Chronology p. 20
I – Evolution p. 22
How Abrahamic Religions Appeared p. 42
II – Primates p. 43
III – Eternal Life? p. 50
IV – Intolerance p. 56
V – Believers p. 74
VI – The Law p. 79
VII – The Child p. 85
VIII – Ignorance p. 88
IX – Paradox p. 98
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X – Religion p. 104
XI – The Hydra p. 110
XII – Changes p. 113
XIII – Science p. 117
Conclusion p. 125
Glossary p. 130
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FOREWORD
My goal is to:
- fight religious intolerance.
- try to get people to realize that religions are nothing but
cults*, that their doctrines* create sexism*,
homophobia*, intolerance and wars, and that they have
simply become useless to mankind.
Of course, I know how enormous this task is because it is
a sensitive issue.
Religious beliefs have been part of our daily lives for a
very long time, and many people think they are necessary
to human beings.
I have no intention to “lecture” anyone.
I am not an anarchist*.
I am a democrat, a non-believer, and I think I have got
some common sense – like so many other humanist
free thinkers.
All I want is to share with you my reflections and
convictions about religions and the damage they are
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responsible for.
Here are now a few explanations that will help you to
read and understand this book:
- you will find the symbol * throughout the text. It means
that particular word is explained in the glossary at the end
of the book.
- when a date is followed by BC, it means Before Christ: it
is the accepted way of saying that something took place
before the year 1 of our calendar – year 1 being the
alleged year of the birth of Jesus Christ*; this calendar is
used in Western countries. The year 1 represents the
entry into “our era” (the christian era); after this starting
point, the dates can sometimes be followed by the letters
AD (Anno Domini).
Now, a few definitions:
- a cult: an organized group of people who share the
same ideas and express them within a religion.
- an atheist: a person whose life is never conditioned by
a religion (no influence on food, sexuality, or moral
references). An atheist denies the existence of gods, the
notion of “afterlife”* (life after death) and all religions.
Atheism is not a cult.
As a common rule, people who reject all kinds of religious
beliefs are called “atheists”.
The words atheist and non-believer have the same
meaning.
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- a believer: a person who applies a religious doctrine,
either fully or partially.
He or she is convinced that life on earth is only a passage
that will continue after death (in heaven or in hell).
He or she believes in the existence of a creator god (or
several) who sees to everyone’s destiny*.
- man: when I talk about “man”, I mean male human
being.
When I want to refer to both men and women, I use the
word “human” or “human being”.
The only exception is for “prehistoric man” which is how
scientists call the first “families of human beings”*.
Here are a few words with a more personal explanation:
- blindness : distraction, confusion.
This term perfectly suits the believers’ state of mind when
speaking about their religion.
They systematically lose the greater part of their capacity
of reflection as soon as religious belief is concerned.
Faith damages people's faculty of reasoning.
- intolerance : when people refuse to accept differences,
attitude of rejection.
To me, this is the word that best suits religions.
Religions want women to be subjugated, homosexuals
and atheists to be punished, contraception to be
banned…
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They also question scientific progress.
These are a few examples of religious intolerance.
Regarding the religions I am referring to:
In this book I will only talk about the three Abrahamic*
religions: judaism*, christianity* and islam*.
The words religions, religious beliefs, faiths, cults or
legends will apply to them only.
When I refer to other religions, I will specifically name
them (ex: mythologies*, prehistoric religions).
I have voluntarily left aside the countless other faiths
since their influence is relatively limited.
I have chosen not to talk about hinduism and buddhism
either.
They are two very important religious faiths (the first
having engendered the second) to which I will dedicate a
whole book, knowing they have cultural and historical
links.
Attempting to explain and contradict all those different
faiths in one book only would have generated too much
confusion.
Why? Because their doctrines are very far from one
another (monotheism* and life after death for Abrahamic
religions, polytheism* and reincarnation for the others).
It is important to know that buddhism is more a form of
spiritual thinking than a religion as we usually understand
it. Doctrine does not hold a major place in it.
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This explains in part why more and more people are
attracted to buddhism: it appeals to those who are eager
for spirituality but who do not want to follow rites that are
too constraining.
However it remains male chauvinistic* (from the Dalai
Lama to the buddhist monks, no women in sight!) and
homophobic: homosexuality is openly condemned in
Tibetan buddhism.
And one should not forget either the obscurantist* aspect
of this faith: scientific progress has no place in it.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
All historical, scientific, cultural and religious facts that
have been used in this book come from encyclopaedias,
magazines and newspapers renowned world-wide.
My main sources are:
- Dictionaries: le Robert 1996\Encarta 1997\ Larousse
2008
- Encyclopaedias: Encarta 1997\ La nature, Editions
Hachette
- Newspapers: le Monde\le Figaro\Libération\la
Republica
- Magazines: Science & Vie\ l'Expansion\ Le Monde
supplements\ le Nouvel Observateur\ le Point.
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In the book, I quote numerous passages taken from the
bible* or the koran* in order to illustrate my reflection. I
have sometimes added some explanations in brackets.
- the bible: new revised standard version on-line:
http://bible.oremus.org
King James version on: http://quod.lib.umich.edu/k/kjv/
- the koran: electronic versions:
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/k/koran/
http://www.yabiladi.com/coran/
The reality of the biblical and koranic facts and characters
is not established. However, to facilitate the reading of the
book, I have chosen not to use the conditional tense
when referring to them.
A FEW NUMBERS:
The main religions in the world count:
- judaism: 20 million believers.
- christianity: 2 billion believers.
- islam: 2 billion believers.
- hinduism: 800 million believers.
- buddhism: 400 million believers.
There are also a lot of other religions.
And we must not forget that there are more than 1
billion of non-believers in the world, with lots of
young people among them:
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- 50% of young French people do not believe in god,
- in Scandinavia, this proportion reaches 70%,
- the number of atheists in the USA has doubled in less
than 10 years,
- apostasy* has rocketed in Latin America, in Italy,
- atheism is also spreading in Arab countries.
Change is definitely underway...
This book is direct and I show no complaisance towards

religions.
I tell the different stages of the evolution of human beings
from prehistoric times to the present day with religions as
a main thread.
But I also consider the extraordinary prospects for
scientific research (the light of knowledge to enlighten the
world...).
In this book, you will find as well my personal reflections
about religious beliefs and all that is related to them.
So enjoy your reading!
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INTRODUCTION
God did NOT create humans... but humans created

god.
I am an atheist because I am convinced that religious

beliefs are nothing but stories, tales invented by men who
are called “prophets”*.
Adam*, Eve*, miracles, winged angels, heaven or hell…
All this does not exist.
Death, suffering, the future are all frightening elements for
most of us.
Religious figures* have used these fears and exploited
them by creating cults such as judaism, christianity and
islam.
So they comfort us and tell us that after we are gone,
another “life” is awaiting us in heaven!
We are told that an almighty god guides the fate* of each
one of us.
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It sounds so much easier… But this is nothing but
legends.
Unfortunately religious figures have thus imposed

intolerant and dangerous rules on the world.
In the bible and the koran it is said that:
--- All the people who have a different faith from
yours, or worse, who are atheists, are your enemies:
THE BIBLE OLD TESTAMENT
Leviticus. Chapter 20.
Penalties for Violations of Holiness.
27. A man or a woman who is a medium or a wizard shall
be put to death; they shall be stoned to death, their blood
is upon them.
Wisdom of Jesus Son of Sirach. Chapter 12.
4. Give to the godly man, and help not a sinner.
6. For the most High hateth sinners, and will repay
vengeance unto the ungodly, and keepeth them against
the mighty day of their punishment.
THE KORAN
Sura 9
5. So when the sacred months have passed away, then
slay (kill) the idolaters wherever you find them,
123. O you who believe! fight those of the unbelievers
who are near to you and let them find in you hardness;
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and know that Allah is with those who guard (against
evil).
--- That a wife must be subjugated to her husband:
THE BIBLE NEW TESTAMENT

First epistle to Timothy. Chapter 2.
Instructions Concerning Prayer.
11. Let a woman learn in silence with full submission.
12. I permit no woman to teach or to have authority over
a man; she is to keep silent.
THE KORAN
Sura 4
34. Men are the maintainers of women because Allah has
made some of them to excel others and because they
spend out of their property; the good women are
therefore obedient, guarding the unseen as Allah has
guarded; and (as to) those on whose part you fear
desertion, admonish (scold) them, and leave them alone
in the sleeping-places and beat them;
Sura 24
31. And say to the believing women that they cast down
their looks and guard their private parts and do not
display their ornaments except what appears thereof, and
let them wear their head-coverings over their bosoms…
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--- That homosexuals deserve to die or are “damned”:
13. If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of
them have committed an abomination; they shall be put
to death; their blood is upon them.
THE KORAN
Sura 7
81. Most surely you come to males in lust besides
females; nay you are an extravagant people.
Sura 29
29. What! do you come to the males and commit robbery
on the highway, and you commit evil deeds in your
assemblies?...
30. He said: My Lord! help me against the mischievous
people.
Sura 27
54. And (We sent) Lut, when he said to his people: What!
do you commit indecency while you see?
55. What! do you indeed approach men lustfully rather
than women? Nay, you are a people who act ignorantly.
58. And We rained on them a rain, and evil was the rain
of those who had been warned.
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--- That jews are traitors who deserve a harsh
punishment:
THE KORAN
Sura 2
61. And abasement and humiliation were brought down
upon them (the children of Israel/the jews), and they
became deserving of Allah's wrath (anger).
Sura 5
64. And the Jews say: The hand of Allah is tied up! Their
hands shall be shackled and they shall be cursed for
what they say.
--- That anyone having sexual intercourse for

pleasure and not to procreate (in other words
“fornication”) must be punished:
THE KORAN
Sura 24
2. (As for) the fornicatress and the fornicator, flog each of
them, (giving) a hundred stripes,
10. If a man commits adultery with the wife of his
neighbour, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall be
put to death.
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First epistle to the Corinthians. Chapter 6.
Glorify God in Body and Spirit.
18. Shun (avoid) fornication! Every sin that a person
commits is outside the body; but the fornicator sins
against the body itself.
Among the victims of religions, you also find

scientists and intellectuals.
Religious figures have always seen them as their
enemies.
Simply because they dared to question creationism*.
Anyone declaring that the earth revolves around itself or
that a human being is an evolving mammal* was assured
to be in serious trouble!!!
This is the reason why, since these (so-called “religious”)
legends were invented, men and women of science have
suffered all kinds of violence and persecution.
And this is still going on today.
For these cults, science must not contradict religions but
on the contrary support the biblical explanations of the
origin of life.
They would like science to be under control just the way it
was in the Middle Ages!!!!
And this movement is not only restricted to theocracies*;
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it is mainly spreading in the USA and is developing in all
Western countries.
Some religious figures would like to impose teaching
creationism on the same level as evolutionism*.
Other groups of people suffer because of those cults.
They are usually all the men and women who do not
believe and do not follow the extravagant tales invented
by a few men.
And not only these stupid rules generate

discriminations*, but they also endanger our own
survival.
Almost all the wars, terrorist attacks and tensions that
occur in the world are directly linked to religious beliefs:
- tensions between India and Pakistan (hindus against
muslims).
- violence in the Near/Middle East (jews against muslims).
- violence in Ireland (protestants against catholics).
- violence in Africa, in Asia (christians against muslims).
- terrorists attacks plotted by fundamentalist muslims.
I do not condemn believers who, in a large majority, are
manipulated by those cults and are often the first victims
of inter-religious violence.
I am opposed to all religions without distinction, as well as
clergies*, because they represent a danger to mankind.
Many people think that religious beliefs are good and
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wise but that they are turned into something bad because
they are wrongly interpreted by human beings. This is not
true!!
Priests, imams and other rabbis do nothing but relay “the
laws” of the books, textually!!!
Fortunately, few people really apply religious doctrines,
otherwise we would be living in a totally crazy world
where utter obscurantism would rule.
It is also important to say that Abrahamic religions have
negatively influenced our behavior towards all other forms
of life.
Since they put humans above everything else on earth,
they have legitimized our lack of respect for nature and
the destructions it implies:
Genesis*. Chapter 1.
26. Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our
image, according to our likeness; and let them have
dominion (dominate) over the fish of the sea, and over
the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the
wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing
that creeps upon the earth.’
In this light, the current “ecological” discourse of the
Vatican appears particularly hypocritical.
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THE STORY OF LIFE: CHRONOLOGY
- 13.5 billion years: creation of the universe after the

“Big Bang”*.
Enormous quantities of matter were projected into the
void and gave birth to the first stars of the universe.
- 5 billion years: birth of the sun, then, around 4.5 billion
years, of the earth.
- between 4 and 3 billion years: on our planet, the first
forms of life appeared. They were microscopic and in
the water.
- 500 million years: a great number of animal and plant
species were formed.
- 350 million years: life left water and spread on earth
and in the air.
- 230 million years: the dinosaurs appeared.
- 200 million years: the mammals appeared
- 65 million years: the dinosaurs disappeared.
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- 55 million years: the primates* appeared.
- 30 million years: more evolved primates appeared: the
apes.
- 8 million years: some apes evolved more quickly than
others, finally giving birth to prehistoric men.
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I - EVOLUTION
The common ancestor to both human beings and apes

(which we are very close to) is a primate that was on
earth more than 20 million years ago.
He used to live exactly like the other animals.
His life amounted to 3 simple things:
- eat
- not be eaten
- reproduce
He lived in small groups and moved on his four limbs.
Between 8 and 5 million years BC, he became a
biped*.
This is the time when humans started differentiating
themselves from the other animals.
It was a progressive process which took place over
hundreds of thousands of years.
Many families of prehistoric men cross-bred and
succeeded one another to finally produce modern
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humans.
Several hypotheses try to explain bipedalism.
Thanks to progress in biology*, scientists regularly refine
their research.
It is quite likely that, like in all evolution, several factors
played a part:
-a natural physical disposition
-a significant climate change
- thegeographical separation of a group of apes (our
direct cousins) from another...
As a result, it completely modified the human being’s
physical appearance.
And it especially enabled his brain to develop.
It freed his hands so he used them as tools and he learnt
to use a stone or a stick while running to escape or
attack…
Soon, he used pebbles or flint to cut or joint preys.
First, he just found stones that were naturally cutting, then
he started shaping them to get sharper objects.
He started thinking more and more.
Cooking meat also played an essential part in the
development of his intelligence, because cooked meat is
rich in proteins necessary to brain activity.
All these elements and a few others made the volume of
the brain grow from 500 cm3 for the first prehistoric man
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to an average 1,400 cm3 for modern man.
He continued to differentiate himself from the other
animals because he had a larger brain capacity.
From prey, the human being became hunter.
So as time went by, he became the dominant species.
A new step in his evolution was reached when he
discovered fire and learnt how to use and control it.
All this happened about 400,000 years BC.
As millenniums went by, his head and body changed.
He looked less and less like an ape.
His face and physical appearance became more refined,
and the hair he had over his body was not as thick.
He became more and more intelligent.
Around – 200,000 articulate* language appeared.
At that point, he had established himself on almost the
entire planet.
But humans living around the Mediterranean Sea and in
Chinese Peninsula were going to be the initiators of
mankind’s greatest changes:
- they domesticated the first wild animals (-10,000).
- they grew the first fruit and vegetables (-10,000).
From –100,000, they buried their dead with some of their
belongings.
They imagined an “afterlife”, thus responding to an
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emerging fear: what happens when we die?
Then, they invented the first gods.
The first ancient religions had a great number of
divinities*, one for every life event: the rain, the sun,
fecundity, death…
Humans presented them with offerings – they were often
animal sacrifices.
It is a religious tradition that has remained in modern
beliefs.
Nowadays, the act of killing an animal to offer it to a god
is part of the ritual in Abrahamic religions.
Acceptable Offerings.
21. When anyone offers a sacrifice of well-being to the
Lord, in fulfilment of a vow or as a freewill-offering, from
the herd or from the flock, to be acceptable it must be
perfect; there shall be no blemish in it.
Offerings of well-being.
7. If you present a sheep as your offering, you shall bring
it before the Lord 8. and lay your hand on the head of the
offering. It shall be slaughtered before the tent of
meeting, and Aaron’s sons shall dash (splash) its blood
against all sides of the altar.
They built sanctuaries* for their gods.
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They chose among the men of the tribe those who would
be in charge of enforcing the “divine decisions” (they were
the ancestors of the priests, rabbis or imams).
Humans had just invented the first prehistoric
religions.
At that time, humans were hunters-gatherers who would
ceaselessly move in search of food.
They settled with the arrival of agriculture and breeding (–
10,000 years).
They built villages where shelters were built to last.
The evolution of humans continued.
They knew then how to work different metals: copper,
bronze, iron…
They used clay to make containers.
Art (see “prehistoric art”*) appeared.
Another major turning point was passed when they
invented writing: they were able to write down all they
could only tell before.
In –5,000, humans started creating the first
civilizations*.
The Egyptian*, Greek, Roman or Mesopotamian* ones
are the most well-known.
The Chinese Peninsula also gave birth to a major
civilization but since it is not directly involved in the
advent of Abrahamic religions, I will not talk about it.
Humans were now able to organize their lives completely.
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- huge cities were built.
Alexandria, Athens, Rome… and many others, mainly
around the Mediterranean Sea.
- armies were maintained.
Every ancient civilization possessed a powerful army. It
would ensure the country’s stability and above all the
organization of new conquests.
- laws were written.
Politicians established laws related to every sector of
people’s lives: trade, education, land dividing, tax-
paying…
- entertainment was invented (plays, dance shows,
sports events).
These attractions could draw crowds of several
thousand people. Amphitheatres were built to this
purpose.
The most famous one, the Coliseum* in Rome, could hold
nearly 90,000 people.
- the first philosophers appeared; they were going to
leave deep marks on human thinking.
- humans developed their religious beliefs in a
spectacular way: they built temples, pyramids or all
kinds of gigantic monuments (obelisks, sphinx…) that
were entirely dedicated to the gods.
Clergy held a major place in society.
They were in charge of explaining to the people the role
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and the importance of each divinity in the creation of the
world and in natural events, and their main task was to
explain religious doctrine.
Heaven, hell and baptism** were invented.
Mythologies were born.
(**Heaven, hell and baptism were not invented by
modern religions - judaism, christianity, islam - but by the
religious figures in ancient civilizations).
Each people had their own beliefs.
Their divinities and rituals were different and depended
on whether they were Mesopotamians, Greeks,
Egyptians, Persians or others…
However, mythologies had several common points
that were going to be used as a basis for the
invention of Abrahamic religions:
1 – Creation of the world and human beings by god.
2 – Obligation to obey the divine laws.
3 – Divine judgement after death.
It is important to understand that numerous facts told in
the bible are only ideas that were taken from older
religions (the deluge, the transmission of “divine
commandments” from the top of a mountain, the
resurrection of the messiah... all this can be found in
Mesopotamian and Egyptian texts that were written
centuries before).
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Advent of the single god concept
The idea of a single god slowly grew in the minds of
human beings.
One Pharaoh, Akhenaten, imposed the god of the sun as
the universal god for the duration of his reign. His idea
died with him.
But in the middle of Antiquity, a people of nomads in turn
imagined that there was only one god.
The Hebrews* had just invented monotheism in –
1,300.
Actually, they only reused and completed a legend that
was invented a few centuries before by Abraham*.
This legend took up the three points mentioned earlier (1,

2, 3). Exactly like the mythologies.
But new rules were added:
- there was not a multitude of gods any more but only

one:
Exodus. Chapter 20.
2. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the
land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; 3. you shall
have no other gods before me.
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- it was forbidden to name or represent god in any
way:
Exodus. Chapter 3.
13. But Moses* said to God, ‘If I come to the Israelites
and say to them, “The God of your ancestors has sent
me to you”, and they ask me, “What is his name?” what
shall I say to them?’ 14. God said to Moses, ‘I am who I
am.’ He said further, ‘Thus you shall say to the Israelites,
“I am has sent me to you.” ’ 15. God also said to Moses,
‘Thus you shall say to the Israelites, “The Lord, the God
of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you”: This is my
name for ever,
and this my title for all generations.
Deuteronomy. Chapter 5.
8. You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the
form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the
earth beneath...
- some men were “chosen” by god to announce his

commandments, predict the future and do miracles.
They were called “prophets”:
Book of 2 Kings. Chapter 17.
13. Yet the Lord warned Israel and Judah by every
30
prophet and every seer (clairvoyant), saying, ‘Turn from
your evil ways and keep my commandments and my
statutes, in accordance with all the law that I commanded
your ancestors and that I sent to you by my servants the
prophets.’
- the Hebrews defined themselves as god’s “chosen

people”, the only one deserving his trust. As such,
they inherited a country (roughly the present Israel
and Palestinian territories):
Exodus. Chapter 6.
2. God also spoke to Moses and said to him: ‘I am the
Lord. 3. I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God
Almighty, but by my name “The Lord” I did not make
myself known to them. 4. I also established my covenant
(pact) with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the
land in which they resided as aliens (strangers).
7. I will take you as my people, and I will be your God.
You shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has
freed you from the burdens of the Egyptians. 8. I will
bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob; I will give it to you for a possession. I
am the Lord.” ’
- they established a ritual that unites them with god:

circumcision:
31
Genesis. Chapter 17.
9. God said to Abraham, ‘As for you, you shall keep my
covenant (pact), you and your offspring after you
throughout their generations. 10. This is my covenant,
which you shall keep, between me and you and your
offspring after you: Every male among you shall be
circumcised. 11. You shall circumcise the flesh of your
foreskins (prepuce), and it shall be a sign of the covenant
between me and you.
After having been orally promoted, this legend was

written down and became the old testament.
It is composed of numerous stories that were mixed
together and completed to finally give birth to the book we
know.
The writing of the book lasted 1,000 years.
This is how the first of the three Abrahamic religions was
invented: judaism
But the Hebrews were also the initiators of the second
major monotheistic religion: christianity
It occurred at the beginning of our era.
The person who invented this new religion was a jew
called “Jesus”. He said he was the “son of god” and
proclaimed himself the “messiah”*:
32
Gospel of Matthew. Chapter 1.
The Birth of Jesus the Messiah.
21. (an angel of the Lord speaking to Joseph about Mary)
She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for
he will save his people from their sins.’
Chapter 3.
The Baptism of Jesus.

16. And when Jesus had been baptised, just as he came
up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to
him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove
and alighting (coming down) on him.
17. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, the
Beloved’; with whom I am well pleased.’
This new legend was written down and became the
new testament.
Just like the old testament, it was written by a lot of
different people.
From the very beginning, christianity was supposed to be

the continuation of judaism, but it did not work.
Jesus explained to the jews that god had changed certain
rules:
- divorce was now forbidden (whereas it was
authorized by jews):
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3. Some Pharisees (jews) came to him, and to test him
they asked, ‘Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for
any cause?’ 4. He answered, ‘Have you not read that the
one who made them at the beginning “made them male
and female”, 5. and said, “For this reason a man shall
leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and
the two shall become one flesh”? 6. So they are no
longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined
together, let no one separate.’
7. They said to him, ‘Why then did Moses command us to
give a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her?’ 8. He
said to them, ‘It was because you were so hard-hearted
that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but at the
beginning it was not so. 9. And I say to you, whoever
divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries
another commits adultery.’
- there were no food or drink taboos* any more (while

the jews still had many of them, like pork, alcohol...):
Gospel of Mark. Chapter 7.
14. Then he called the crowd again and said to them,
‘Listen to me, all of you, and understand: 15. there is
nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but
the things that come out are what defile (dirty).’ 17. When
he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples
34
asked him about the parable. 18. He said to them, ‘Then
do you also fail to understand? Do you not see that
whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile
(dirty), 19. since it enters, not the heart but the stomach,
and goes out into the sewer?’ (Thus he declared all foods
clean.)
- circumcision was not compulsory anymore but

replaced by baptism (with water):
Acts of the Apostles. Chapter 10.
42. He commanded us to preach to the people and to
testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the
living and the dead. 43. All the prophets testify about him
that everyone who believes in him receives forgivenessof
sins through his name.’
44. While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell
upon all who heard the word. 45. The circumcised
believers who had come with Peter were astounded that
the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on
the Gentiles (heathens), 46. for they heard them
speaking in tongues and extolling (praising) God. Then
Peter said, 47.‘Can anyone withhold (refuse) the water
for baptizing these people who have received the Holy
Spirit just as we have?’ 48. So he ordered them to be
baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they invited
him to stay for several days.
35
- but the biggest change came from the fact that
this religion was no more intended for Hebrews only
but for all mankind:
Epistle to the Romans. Chapter 1.
Prayer of Thanksgiving.
14. I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both
to the wise and to the foolish
15. hence my eagerness to proclaim the gospel to you
also who are in Rome.
Acts of the Apostles. Chapter 28.
Paul preaches in Rome.
28. Let it be known to you then that this salvation of God
has been sent to the Gentiles (heathens); they will listen.
This is why the bible (the book of the christian religion) is

composed of the old testament and the new testament.
The jews did not accept all these changes.
To them, it was, from the beginning, a new religion.
The area where Jesus lived was Palestine; at that time, it
was under control of the Roman armies.
At first, these armies gave christians a hard time and
persecuted them.
Then around the year 400, Romans adopted christianity
and it replaced their mythology.
36
The followers of this new faith spread their ideas
throughout the world.
They did so thanks to monks* who travelled everywhere
and converted numerous groups of people, which allowed
christianity to develop very quickly.
Contrary to judaism which remained a united religion,
christians, after the division of the Roman Empire, split
into two main groups:
- the catholics: the peoples that lived in the western part
(Italy, France, Spain, Germany…) chose the religious
figures who were in Rome (the pope, among others)
as spiritual leaders.
- the orthodox: those who lived in the eastern part
(Balkans, Turkey, Greece…) followed the religious
figures from Constantinople* (the patriarch*, among
others).
1,000 years later, another group was created:
- the protestants
Protestantism was the result of a protest, and this is
where its name comes from.
Some German priests and noblemen rebelled against the
corruption and enrichment of a part of the catholic
religious figures.
They parted from the church of Rome to follow their own
faith.
Thus judaism was born, so was christianity, and in
the year 600, the third Abrahamic religion was
37
invented: islam.
It started with a man, Muhammad*, who proclaimed
himself a “prophet” and who was at the origin of the koran
(the religious book embodying the muslim doctrine).
This book was written by Muhammad’s close relations
several decades after his death.
At that time, in 600, the Arabs were polytheistic and
idolatrous (they worshipped statues, the desert…).
Muhammad established the idea of a single god.
He decreed that islam was the primary (the most
important) and universal (intended for everyone) religion.
He established the jihad* because he lived in Medina*
(Saudi Arabia) surrounded by many jewish, christian and
polytheistic tribes.
He waged wars against them in the name of god and was
able to quickly impose his new religion:
THE KORAN
Sura 4
Obligation of Holy war
71. O you who believe! take your precaution, then go
forth in detachments or go forth in a body.
74. and whoever fights in the way of Allah, then be he
slain (killed) or be he victorious, We shall grant him a
mighty (enormous) reward.
Sura 2
Call to arms against the Meccans.
38
191. And kill them wherever you find them…
193. And fight with them until there is no persecution, and
religion should be only for Allah (everyone must become
a muslim)
Actually, Muhammad did not deny the bible or all the
prophets, all he wanted was to impose the koran as the
ultimate sacred book, and impose himself as the last
prophet.
THE KORAN
Sura 2
The Cow
87. And most certainly We gave Musa (Moses) the Book
(the torah*) and We sent apostles after him one after
another; and We gave Isa (Jesus), the son of Marium
(Mary), clear arguments and strengthened him with the
holy spirit,
Sura 3
The Family of Imran.
67. Ibrahim (Abraham) was not a Jew nor a Christian but
he was (an) upright (man), a Muslim...
Sura 33
The Clans
40. Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but
he is the Apostle of Allah and the Last of the prophets;
and Allah is cognizant (informed) of all things.
39
The muslim faith is a blend of elements from judaism
(circumcision, rejection of pork in food…) and ancestral
Arab beliefs like the pilgrimage to Mecca* which is very
important for muslims. This Arab tradition is much older
than the beginning of islam.
Muhammad adopted it when he invented this new religion
– actually, he had no choice because the shopkeepers in
Mecca did not want such a profitable religious obligation
to disappear...
As a political and religious figure, clever and competent,
from preaches to wars, Muhammad constituted an Arab
state whose power quickly spread.
After his death, the caliphs* went on spreading his ideas.
So islam developed from India to Spain through North
Africa.
Wherever the Arab armies were triumphant.
After Muhammad's death, muslims were soon to split in

two main branches:
- the shiites*:
Ali – Muhammad's son in law – became the third caliph.
With his supporters (the shiites) he advocated a very
rigorous practice of islam.
They wanted to impose the rule that all caliphs should be
Muhammad's direct descendants.
They considered the koran as the only sacred book.
40
- the sunnis*:
They were in favour of applying the muslim doctrine less
strictly.
They said that a caliph should be chosen for his skills, not
for his family origins.
To them, the hadiths (books relating Muhammad's life)
were very important.
All the hadiths form the sunna, this is where the word
sunni comes from.
Their disagreement soon turned to confrontation, then to
war.
This is how we can summarize the way humans invented,

over a 2,000-year span, the three monotheistic religions.
These religions have always generated wars, massacres
and all kinds of persecutions.
I have no intention of judging religions on their past
damaging effects.
My goal is to get most of you to understand that the future
of mankind should unfold without them.
41
How Abrahamic religions appeared:
– 100,000: human beings started burying their dead with

some of their belongings. They had just invented the
“afterlife”, ant it was followed by the invention of the first
gods.
- from –100,000 to –5,000: birth of the first prehistoric
beliefs. They first developed around the funeral rites to,
little by little, spread to all aspects of the humans’ lives.
The doctrine was conveyed orally. A sort of clergy was
put in place.
– 5,000: advent of the mythologies.
The religious laws were written down and became
numerous and important.
The clergy developed and became very powerful.
- from –2,000 to the year 600 AD: the Abrahamic
religions appeared.
Religious beliefs were invented by the primary

intelligence of human beings.
42
II - PRIMATES
You have to understand that when I talk about evolution,

it is at the scale of time, not at the scale of a human
being’s life which is very short:
The earth has existed for 4.5 billion years.
The first prehistoric men appeared less than 8 million
years ago.
By way of comparison, if the earth was 24 hours old,
humans would be no more than a few minutes old.
I know that many of you think it is impossible that we are
descended from a primate.
Your brain will not allow you to accept that our ancestor
was an animal….
BUT think about this:
- if we do not wash for 10 days, we smell like an animal.
- women breast-feed their babies like any other female
mammal.
- we reproduce like they do, we eat like they do.
43
We are not different from animals, we are different
animals.
Our major characteristic is the size of our brain.
It is much bigger and has better connections*: this is
where our intelligence comes from.
This process was very slow.
It took several million years for us to change from wild
animals to what we are now.
Each of our physical and intellectual changes took
hundreds of thousands of years.
You may find the figures enormous but at the scale of the
evolution of life, they are nothing but specks of dust.
People often tell me: “a hen is a hen, in a thousand years
from now, it will still look the same!”
Yes, that is right. But what in ten or a hundred thousand
years?
And in a million or ten million years, what will it be like?
Do not forget that a million years is one thousand times
one thousand years… One thousand times one thousand
years!
And evolution doesn’t stop.
For instance, the average height of young individuals is
increasing steadily.
It means that, like all the other living species, we evolve.
We are mammals just like a horse, a dolphin or a gorilla!
44
Our ancestors were not Adam and Eve but primates.
There are usually two explanations for the creation of the
universe and all forms of life:
A scientific one:
- evolutionism: the universe is several billion years old;
all the species evolve if and when they are adapted to
their environment, if not, they disappear… The theory
of evolution was for the first time (officially) proposed
by Darwin* in 1859.
The other one is religious:
- creationism: a god is supposed to have created the
universe, all the species and the human being, all this
in a few days (the “genesis”):
Genesis. Chapter 1.
Six Days of Creation
1. In the beginning God created the heavens and the
earth.
2. the earth was a formless void (emptiness) and
darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from
God swept over the face of the waters.
3. Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light.
4. And God saw that the light was good; and God
separated the light from the darkness.
5. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called
Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the
45
first day.
11. Then God said, ‘Let the earth put forth vegetation:
plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth
that bear fruit with the seed in it.’ And it was so.
13. And there was evening and there was morning, the
third day.
24. And God said, ‘Let the earth bring forth living
creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and
wild animals of the earth of every kind.’ And it was so.
27. So God created humankind in his image, in the image
of God he created him; male and female he created
them.
Chapter 2.
2. And on the seventh day God finished the work that he
had done...
7. then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the
ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life;
and the man became a living being.
21. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the
man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and
closed up its place with flesh.
22. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man
he made into a woman and brought her to the man.
So now, it is up to you to judge which explanation
looks more unbelievable or on the contrary more
logical…
46
This religious story of the creation of the world in a few
days is only a legend among many others.
A few religious figures realized how absurd hard-line
creationism was.
So they invented a new hypothesis about the origin of life:
intelligent design.
This hypothesis does not deny the reality of the evolution
of living species (among them humans) but claims that
this evolution is due to and controlled by god!!!
The followers of this movement try to conciliate
creationism and evolutionism in order to make it appear
like a scientific theory.
There is no divinity in the origin and evolution of life.
But physics, chemistry* and factors linked to the
environment (ideal temperature, water…)
The first living beings appeared on earth 4 or 3 billion
years ago.
This microscopic form of life started in the water and then
spread everywhere.
It is the evolution of those beings that created all the
species which populated and still populate our planet.
This slow transformation lasted hundreds of millions of
years and still continues today because it is a never
ending movement.
The human being simply belongs to this natural
process that consists in the necessity for a living
47
species to be adapted to its environment in order to
live and evolve.
Scientists know:
- how long the earth has existed (4.5 billion years),
- when the first forms of microscopic life appeared (4 to 3
billion years),
- how long the Dinosaur Era lasted (from 220 million to 65
million years BC),
- how prehistoric men evolved to become what we are,
and many other things…
Thanks to numerous fossils (fragments or prints of extinct
plants and animals that are found in the earth), scientists
have in great part understood how the different species
evolved, from the origin of the earth to the present day.
Of course, science does not explain everything yet!
- the chemical and environmental events that led to the
advent of life remain uncertain.
- do we know for sure that we are alone in such a vast
universe?
- the earth, before becoming a planet, was a
concentration of dust; the sun was a gaseous mass, and
the other stars were either one or the other.
- so where do this dust, this gas – all that “stuff” that was
part of the creation of our planet and the whole universe –
come from?
48
These are a few of the great scientific questions that
will find an answer in the future.
For science is taking gigantic steps forward, and
discoveries in all areas are constant.
Do you really think that the fact of not knowing yet where
life comes from forces you to believe in improbable tales
of “divine creation”? Of miracles? Of winged angels? Of
controlled evolution?
These are only legends that bring nothing but ignorance
and intolerance.
49
III – ETERNAL LIFE?
Do you know why we invented religions?

Human beings invented religious beliefs when they
started fearing death.
The way the first prehistoric men acted was dictated by
instinct.
They thought that when one of them disappeared, it was
part of the cycle of life; they reacted just like any other
animal.
Everything changed when their intelligence developed:
- it made them realize that life was precarious.
- the natural feeling of attachment they had for their
relatives evolved in what we could call “love”.
From then on, the death of a loved one or the fact of
contemplating their own became unbearable.
So to find some consolation and reassurance, they
invented a life after death (the “afterlife”).
Then as time went by, the gods were invented.
50
Religion entered the lives of human beings.
Since that time, we have always asked ourselves many
questions to which we want answers:
- what is the goal of life?
- what happens after death?
- is god responsible for what happens on earth?
And of course, religious figures brought false responses,
simplistic but so comforting!
- the goal of life?To serve god or else fear his anger.
- what is there after death? A marvellous place where
everyone is sweet, where water and food are plentiful...
but only for those who served god during their lives! The
others will go to hell…
- does god influence the events taking place on
earth? Of course, everything happening on earth is the
result of his will, and if you suffer in your life, it is an
ordeal wanted by god! It doesn’t matter, heaven is
awaiting you…
So it is primarily the hope of a new and better life in the
afterlife that made and still makes billions of people
believe in the existence of god.
All this is nothing but legends, tales and fantasies...
1) We are eternal
Yes, we are... but it is not our spirit that is eternal, but our
body, and more precisely, what it is made of: the atoms*.
51
In reality, we are a combination of various atoms
(hydrogen, oxygen, carbon and nitrogen), with a few
spoonfuls of mineral salts and some pinches of iron,
chromium, copper and other metals.
But all those particles of matter we are made of and
which also constitute all the existing elements in the
universe (inanimate or animate matter)* were present
long before the solar system was born.
They all come from elements* dating back to the Big
Bang!
This matter is eternal.
When a living being, an object, a star “dies”, it does not
really disappear...
The atoms it was made of scatter across the universe,
attract one another, group together, combine to finally
give birth to other stars, gas, minerals, animals, plants...
Human beings are simply part of this natural process.
So death is only the end of an “atomic combination”*
that disintegrates* to make up other ones.
2) The soul*
This word has been commonly used for millenniums, yet
it remains a mystery.
Where does this word come from?
What is a soul?
What is it made of?
52
Where can it be found?
This word comes from Latin anima which gave “animate”,
“animation”, “animal”...
The soul is said to be the conscience, the spirit, the
source of life... Eternal, that can be reincarnated...
It could be found in “heaven” or in ”hell”; it could appear in
the form of a ghost and other strange creatures; it could
travel from one body, one object to another (after it has
disappeared)...
There are different “spiritual versions” of the concept of
soul.
For animists*, every form of life and object has one.
In Abrahamic religions, only human beings have got a
soul because they are considered “superior beings”.
This is how billions of believers think they have a “soul”
which leaves their body when they die.
It is a comforting idea:
“It’s alright if my body disappears, but at least my
feelings, my personality, my experiences, my conscience
are eternal...”
Yet, our intelligence, our imagination, our feelings are
all born inside our brain.
The overall mechanism of the brain is indeed very
complex, but it is first and foremost a mass of nerves that
needs to be supplied with blood to function (just like the
other organs in our body).
53
When we die, there is no more blood “feeding” the brain.
So it stops functioning… It will disintegrate, just like the
rest of our body, and the atoms it was made of will scatter
across the universe.
The only traces of our lives that remain after we die are
the memories we leave to the people we know.
Actually, we store in our memory lots of information about
the dead: their physical aspect, the sound of their voice,
their personal smell, various anecdotes…
When we think of a dead person, we sometimes have the
impression we feel his or her presence, but it is simply
because our brain relays to our conscience the
information we have “kept in store”.
Who has not heard about some people who believe they
communicate with a lost relative or who think they see
him or her everywhere?
It is nothing but an illusion created by their own memory.
Wondering about death is not something reserved for
believers; it is normal for most of us to be concerned,
even frightened by this perspective...
Human beings have needed the idea of an afterlife for
100,000 years.
And even if we evolve, this fear of nothingness will remain
in most people.
So, if it disturbs or frightens you, try to imagine your own
version of what happens after death, leaving aside
religious doctrines of course.
54
The road leading to atheism may, for some people,
require to proceed step by step.
Lots of people do not follow any religion but they cannot
resign themselves to the idea that death means the end
of all (they can be called deists* or agnostics*).
They believe in a “supernatural force” (one or several
gods), in a possible reincarnation… but reject religious
doctrines.
They are half-way between faith and atheism.
55
IV – INTOLERANCE
Are religions of any use to the present and future of

mankind?
I think they are not.
We do not need these legends any more.
They are harmful.
For example, they give legal and moral justification to a
lot of intolerance and lies:
1) Woman
Men have “dominated” women since prehistoric times.
It simply comes from the fact that we are mammals.
In this animal category (to which we belong), the “male” is
physically stronger than the “female”.
What did the different faiths do with it?
They declared that it was god himself who wanted women
to be subjugated to men.
56
So religions established laws saying how women were
supposed to live and behave.
As a result, women’s condition has been depending on
those cults for millenniums and is improving much too
slowly.
Religions are largely responsible for the difficult – if not
miserable – condition of a majority of women in the world.
Almost all the women living in countries where religion
plays a significant role live painful lives: they are beaten,
subjugated, have been regarded as a sub-human species
for thousands of years.
I particularly think of Africa where women do so much
with so little. This continent will emerge from chaos
thanks to them.
Of course, in Western societies women’s condition cannot
be compared to that prevailing in theocracies, and this is
in large part due to the decline of religion. Yet some false
ideas are still conveyed in democracies*: that women are
not as capable or intelligent as men for example…
Women’s battle is far from being over.
- No, woman was not born from a man’s side:

Genesis. Chapter 2
How man and woman were created;
18. Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that the man
57
should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.’
21. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the
man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and
closed up its place with flesh. 22. And the rib that the
Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman
and brought her to the man. 23. Then the man said, ‘This
at last is borne of my bones and flesh of my flesh;
- No, a woman must not be subjugated to anyone.

According to those cults, she was punished by god, and
condemned to obey men for her entire life.
Genesis. Chapter 3
The First Sin and its Punishment.
16. yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he
shall rule over you.’
First epistle to the Corinthians. Chapter 14.
Orderly Worship.
As in all the churches of the saints, 34. women should be
silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to
speak, but should be subordinate, as the law also says.
THE KORAN
Sura 4
58
So all women have the right to do is take care of the
house and bear children?
Don’t you think that men are the ones who invented these
stories in order to rule over women as they please?
Don’t you have noticed that prophets and religious
leaders are always men? That religious ceremonies are
always celebrated by men?
But of course, if you want something done, you are best
to do it yourself, aren’t you?
Yes, man and woman are equal.
It is convenient for some – and in the name of a god – to
confine a woman in a house, to hide her behind a veil, to
prevent her from studying or working.
But it is unfair!
A woman is pointed at because she is supposed to have
committed the “original sin” (according to those cults, a
woman betrayed god and it is because of her that we
have all become mortals):
Genesis. Chapter 3.
59
11. God said, ‘Who told you that you were naked? Have
you eaten from the tree (the apple) of which I
commanded you not to eat?’
12. The man said, ‘The woman whom you gave to be
with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.’
17. And to the man he said, ‘Because you have listened
to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree about
which I commanded you, “You shall not eat of it”, cursed
is the ground because of you; in toil (hard work) you shall
eat of it all the days of your life;
19. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until
you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken;
Are those legends – religions – that come from Antiquity

still going to deprive women of their most basic right for
long:
Freedom?
Freedom to conceive life when they want, to study, to
freely choose their companion, to communicate…
To simply live.
Women are the future of mankind.
They are generally less warlike, less violent, better
organized and more humane than men. They are more
sensitive.
Moreover, they give birth to children, and thus repeat the
cycle of life.
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Women are not as strong physically, it is the only area
where man can still pretend to be superior to a woman.
But physical strength is not something really vital any
more.
Intelligence prevails nowadays, and there is equality in
this area.
Men and women have their own characteristics which
must not divide us but, on the contrary, unite us to face
problems together.
Differences between men and women are
complementary, which participates in the richness and
harmony of our societies.
The two genders are made to get along well, be in charge
and work together…
Don’t you think that it is fairer and more pleasant to live in
a world where human beings share power?
Women must be fully involved in the social and political
life and education of the developing countries, just like in
our Western societies.
Women living in theocracies must be in charge of their
own future.
Then there will be a chance for the situation in all those
countries to improve.
They have to get organized in structures or political
parties in order to fight all the religious rules they are
subjugated to.
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I know it won't be easy because in those countries, men
have absolute power.
But thanks to their unrelenting courage, they will succeed.
In Western countries, equality of the sexes is recognized,
and it is mainly due to religious figures having no
significant political influence any more.
The number of women involved in society is high and still
has to grow.
When you see how present they are in democracies’
higher education, you understand that the future will
unfold with them.
But women are not the only victims of those legends.
An entire people has regularly been ill-treated over the
centuries.
They are blamed, provoke spiteful comments and arouse
suspicion:
2) The Hebrews (or jews)

They founded monotheism.
They are the initiators of all these legends, from Abraham
(a nomad who invented the single god concept and
judaism) to Jesus (a Hebrew who invented christianity)
and finally Muhammad (an Arab who invented islam).
And paradoxically, they are the first victims of these
beliefs.
62
They are despised by christians because according to
biblical texts, the Hebrews are supposed to be
responsible for the death of Jesus:
The Plot to Kill Jesus.

3. Then the chief priests and the elders of the people
gathered in the palace of the high priest, who was called
Caiaphas, 4. and they conspired to arrest Jesus by
stealth and kill him.
Chapter 27. Jesus brought before Pilate.
15. Now at the festival the governor was accustomed to
release a prisoner for the crowd, anyone whom they
wanted. 16. At that time they had a notorious prisoner,
called Jesus Barabbas. 17. So after they had gathered,
Pilate said to them, ‘Whom do you want me to release for
you, Jesus Barabbas or Jesus who is called the
Messiah?’
21. The governor again said to them, ‘Which of the two
do you want me to release for you?’ And they said,
‘Barabbas.’
22. Pilate said to them, ‘Then what should I do with Jesus
who is called the Messiah? All of them said, ‘Let him be
crucified!’
24. So when Pilate saw that he could do nothing, but
rather that a riot was beginning, he took some water and
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washed his hands before the crowd, saying, ‘I am
innocent of this man’s blood see to it yourselves.’ 25.
Then the people as a whole answered, ‘His blood be on
us and on our children!’
These are a few of the religious writings that served
as a pretext for killing so many jews.
Muslims see them as traitors because they do not
acknowledge Muhammad as the last prophet and islam
as the religion that should be above all others.
Moreover they consider that they betrayed Jesus (seen
by Muslims as a prophet and not the son of god).
THE KORAN
Sura 2
61. And abasement and humiliation were brought down
upon them (the jews), and they became deserving of
Allah's wrath (anger); this was so because they
disbelieved in the communications of Allah and killed the
prophets (among them Jesus) unjustly; this was so
because they disobeyed and exceeded the limits.
Sura 5
64. And the Jews say: The hand of Allah is tied up! Their
hands shall be shackled and they shall be cursed for
what they say. Nay (no), both His hands are spread out,
In the koran, there are lots of other passages
dedicated to the so-called “jewish betrayals”, with the
result that a vast majority of the muslim population
hate them.
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But in spite of all this hatred (coming from christians as
well as muslims) the jews have continued their existence
as a people.
All the ordeals they went through fortified them on and on.
The bonds between them got stronger.
They are very supportive to each other.
Judaism is the most intolerant of all religions.
But obscurantism only involves some of them, because
the jews who strictly follow all the religious obligations are
few.
People always focus on the extremes. They do not see all
the scientists, researchers, doctors who bring so much to
mankind, who treat you, or the lawyers who defend and
counsel you.
They do not practice these professions thanks to their
origins but thanks to their skills.
The Palestinian issue makes them appear as torturers but
in this particular conflict, the fault is on both sides. The
legend of judaism is, for a large part, based on the fact
that god supposedly gave a land to the Hebrews:
Palestine (roughly the current Israel/Palestinian
territories):
Exodus. Chapter 6.
Israel's Deliverance Assured.
2. God also spoke to Moses and said to him: ‘I am the
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Lord.
3. I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God
Almighty, but by my name “The Lord” I did not make
myself known to them.
4. I also established my covenant (pact) with them, to
give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they
resided as aliens (strangers).
The desire for this “promised land” added to the
hatred muslims feel for the jews generate terrible
tensions between the two communities.
It is only when they both have given up their religious
doctrines that they will be able to live in peace…
3) The Arabs
The Arabs are also, indirectly, the victims of these
legends.
Today, they are accused of always being in the wrong;
they are seen as fundamentalists, as warriors…
Their countries are poor and disorganized, with a few
exceptions such as the Gulf monarchies.
Did you know that the Arabs built an empire that went
from Spain to India through North Africa and the Near-
East?
This empire lasted for centuries.
During that period of time, they permitted significant
progress to be made in mathematics, astronomy*,
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geography and medicine, among other subjects.
Do you know who Muhammad Al Kharazmi was?
He was an Arab, a geographer and a mathematician.
He invented algebra. His treatise “d'al-djabr” provided
operations for the solution of first- and second-degree
equations and gave the word “algebra”.
Philosophers and scientists like Ibn Al Haytam*, Ibn
Tufayl*, Al Kindi*, Al Farabi*, Averroes* and many others
influenced European sciences and thinking for centuries.
The Arabs translated and commented numerous books
by Greek philosophers dating back to the Antiquity.
These books were translated in Latin and in Hebrew and
contributed to the advent of the Renaissance*.
The manuscripts were introduced in Europe through
Spain (which was under Arab control at that time).
Lots of Arab cities were beautiful, had public lighting, and
the houses had running water.
While at the same period, the big European cities were
dark and dirty (Europe was right in the Middle Ages).
Simply because back then, the role of religions was the
opposite of what it is now.
In Europe, religions were all powerful, sometimes the
clergy had more power than the kings.
They terrorized the intellectuals, philosophers and
scientists – all those who were bold enough to contradict
them.
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Society was under a lead cloak, there was no freedom at
all: either you followed the religious rules, or you were
killed.
At the same time, religion had a lesser role in Arab
society - the doctrine was not applied as rigorously and
left room for philosophers and scientists.
That is why their society was richer and more diverse –
non-muslims* enjoyed some freedom and actively
participated in the cultural enrichment of the Arab world.
But as time went by, the situation reversed.
In Europe, the influence of religion lessened.
On the contrary, with the wars and invasions, with
freedom of thought called into question, the Arabs
returned to the fundamental principles of islam.
It smothered all liberties and diversities.
Society entered a dark age:
- religious laws were strictly enforced.
- tolerance* disappeared.
- intellectuals and scientists became the enemies of the
religious figures.
And what is really tragic is that the Arab world is still in
the same cycle nowadays.
Regarding muslims, I often hear that they must unite and
combine their forces.
Of course: the more intolerant people together, the
stronger they get! This is just pure nonsense…
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It is not muslims who must unite but Arabs.
They already have a representative organization (the
Arab League).
But it is not very useful – or just to show an opposition
between two countries on a particular matter. This
organization can and must do a lot more.
The Arabs represent a great ethnic group*:
They must overcome their disagreements and unite
around what they have in common.
They have lots of assets:
- economic (oil and gas)
- demographic (a young population, eager for
consumption)
- geographical (many sunny countries by the sea or the
ocean)
Today, the words violence, intolerance and ignorance are
often used to qualify them.
This is unfair and due to religion.
They must speak in one voice, strong but just.
They must free themselves from those legends.
Then, women will be able to involve themselves in society
and bring their skills to it. And the Arab countries will
regain their place among the nations that create, invent
and progress.
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This is also true for Iran. This nation is now confronted
to obscurantism, but they also used to be pioneers in
philosophy and science.
Someone like Avicenna*, for instance, reminds us the
considerable role that the Iranian culture and science
played in Europe.
4) Homosexuals
Religious figures see homosexuals as abnormal
beings who must be punished!
This is absurd! These people live just like you and me,
they work, have hobbies, feel joys and pains…
The only thing that differs is the way they love. So what?
There are over 450 identified animal species where some
individuals show homo- or bisexual* tendencies.
It is absolutely normal that a human (being an animal)
may also have this kind of behavior.
As a matter of fact, until Antiquity, it appeared quite
common.
The Greeks and the Romans lived their homo- or
bisexuality in complete peace.
Those who regard these peoples as “primitive” or
“heathen” should read a couple of encyclopaedias and
they would realize that they were great civilizations to
which we owe a lot.
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What did the Abrahamic religions do in the name of
god?
They outlawed homosexuals:
Penalties for Violation of Holiness.
13. If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of
them have committed an abomination; they shall be put
to death; their blood is upon them.
As a result, it engendered homophobia and hate against
people who are just like you and me and whose sexual
life is simply adapted to their wish.
So you will easily understand why the death penalty is
applied to homosexuals in many theocracies, and why
this sexual preference is considered a crime in many
other countries (it is still the case in some American
States today).
And don’t forget that homosexuality was still punished by
law in European democratic countries 20 or 30 years
ago...
I am personally shocked by the way people behave with
homosexuals: insults, mockery, rejection…
The only thing that differentiates them is their sexuality.
So what? Everyone is free to love who he/she wants and
the way he/she wants!
In the name of who or what should anyone decide
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whether someone is “normal” or “abnormal”?
Tolerance, respect for everyone’s choices in life should
be the guiding motives of a human being.
5) Science
Religious figures have always wanted science to be
under their influence.
For centuries, the smallest scientific discovery had to gain
the clergy’s approval otherwise… you were burnt at the
stake.
If someone explained that the earth is round or that
humans are descended from a primate, they would be
horribly punished.
And it is still true today.
How many men and women have been sent to prison or
killed just because they defied a religious power?
Of course, democratic societies have allowed researchers
to work freely, and advances in lots of fields are
spectacular.
However, religious figures will not admit defeat.
Just see how fiercely they are opposed to genetics*
research (which will be tomorrow’s medicine), or, among
other things, the way they try to question evolutionism
and you will understand how vigilant we must remain to
face their obscurantism.
Their doctrines have always “demonized”
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researchers and free thinkers.
So religious beliefs play an active part in the movement of
fear and suspicion that surrounds science and its
discoveries.
No imaginary god will solve mankind’s problems, only
scientific research will.
And we must not forget either that among the victims of
religions, we can find the believers themselves.
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V – BELIEVERS
Fortunately, religions have lost some of their influence,

mainly in the developed countries, and little by little, it is
going to spread to the rest of the world.
There are 1 billion non-believers on earth and this
number is constantly growing.
Yet for the time being believers remain a large majority.
There is not one but several ways of believing.
- First we find those who believe more from habit
than conviction.
They know perfectly well that our ancestors were not
Adam and Eve.
They follow very few religious rules, yet, they are
believers.
This is mainly due to their family upbringing.
From their earliest childhood, they were told again and
again all those stories about god, heaven and hell…
They just repeat what their parents and friends do.
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They tell themselves that religion is like a house, a car or
a family: in order to succeed in life, you have to have
one…
From time to time – when they are in trouble – they rely
on “god” to get some help.
And of course, they take comfort from thinking that after
death, life continues in a wonderful place: heaven.
They do not fully practise their religion and refuse the
violence that faiths generate.
Yet, and even if it is to a lesser degree, this behavior also
contributes to maintaining a climate of intolerance (sexist,
homophobic) and obscurantism (fear of science and
belief that everything relies on fate).
- Then we find those who believe primarily in despair.
Unfortunately they represent a very significant number.
We are talking here about those human beings who live
very tough lives – very often, they are in developing
countries.
Faced with life’s problems, their only hope is to find
“heaven” up above after living “hell” on earth…
But it is only a dream!
You have to understand that there is only one life and
that there is no second chance…
I know it is hard to accept when you fight daily for
survival.
But imprisoning yourself into the cults that religions
represent brings no solution.
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The poor lives of these faithful populations go by without
any improvement.
They are fatalistic and hold god responsible for all the
events happening in their lives.
They keep saying “God wanted it to happen”, “Thank
god”, “If it’s god’s wish”…
I have also noticed that lots of older people suddenly
become very faithful.
They know the end is near and they fear it.
They cling to religion to find some hope.
Old age does not bring wisdom but increases the fear of
nothingness.
- And finally, we find those who are sincerely
convinced by religious doctrines and who apply them
entirely.
They have constituted groups of individuals who are
totally out of the norms of modern society and they
represent a danger for everyone:
- fundamentalist jews
- jehovah’s witnesses
- taliban
and so many others…
You are afraid of all these people? But all they do is
strictly apply religious rules.
Do you really think that Israeli colonists are
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fundamentalists who are ready for anything to
colonize new lands in Palestine?
The book of Joshua. Chapter 13.
The Parts of Canaan Still Unconquered.
1. Now Joshua was old and advanced in years; and the
Lord said to him, ‘You are old and advanced in years,
and very much of the land still remains to be possessed.
2. This is the land that still remains: all the regions of the
Philistines, and all those of the Geshurites 3. (from the
Shihor, which is east of Egypt, northwards to the
boundary of Ekron, it is reckoned as Canaanite; there are
five rulers of the Philistines, those of Gaza, Ashdod,
Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron)
That is why Gaza is so important to the jewish
fundamentalists.
You tell yourself that jehovah’s witnesses are a cult
because they live turned in on themselves and prefer
spending their time with those who share the same
faith rather than with their own relatives?
All they do is follow “the message of Jesus”:
Gospel of Luke. Chapter 8.
The True Kindred of Jesus.
19. Then his (Jesus) mother and his brothers came to
him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd.
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20. And he was told, ‘Your mother and your brothers are
standing outside, wanting to see you.’ 21. But he said to
them, ‘My mother and my brothers are those who hear
the word of God and do it.’
37. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not
worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more
than me is not worthy of me;
You see muslim fundamentalists as murderers?
All they do is fulfil their obligation of holy war (jihad).
THE KORAN
Sura 9
Declaration of war against non-muslims.
Condemnation of judaism and christianity.
29. Fight those who do not believe in Allah, nor in the
latter day, nor do they prohibit what Allah and His Apostle
(Muhammad) have prohibited…
Sura 2
191. And kill them wherever you find them
These are a few of the religious rules that plague the
world…
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VI – THE LAW
I think that religious doctrines are simply incompatible

with the great humanistic* values that are defended by all
the free and democratic countries.
- equality of the sexes
- tolerance toward all minorities or groups of
individuals.
Thanks to our political system, we establish laws that
guarantee freedom for everyone and punish those who
demonstrate sexism, homophobia, racism…
But religions convey all those intolerant notions without
being disturbed.
It has to be one thing or the other:
- either religions are above democratic laws and then they
can keep on spreading their intolerant ideas,
- or they must follow the rules that are in force, and in this
case, the books where their doctrines are expressed (the
bible and the koran) cannot be distributed as they are any
more.
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I expect from the courts an answer to this simple
question.
Example: the law forbids and punishes all calls to
murdering any group of individuals (at least in
democratic countries):

Penalties for Violation of Holiness.
10. If a man commits adultery with the wife of his
neighbour, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall be
put to death.
THE KORAN
Sura 33
The Clans
Against the unbelievers and the jews.
61. Cursed: wherever they are found they shall be seized
and murdered, a (horrible) murdering.
I sincerely think that publishing such writings is
simply illegal.
You have to understand that religions were invented
several thousand years ago.
The ideas they convey are totally outdated and
dangerous.
Don’t you think it is ridiculous for humans to hate and kill
each other just because they follow rules that are absurd
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and were written by a few men a very long time ago?
Here are a few examples:
In the koran, it is written that jews must be fought
against. But Muhammad probably wrote it because at
that time, he lived near jewish tribes and fighting them
was vital for islam to spread and new territories to be
conquered.
Muslims do not pay attention to the historical context, and
the result is a terrible hatred between muslims and jews.
About the Hebrews, their religious book (the old
testament promised them a land).
At the time of Moses, the Hebrews were nomads and
such a promise made them quickly convert to this new
faith.
Look at the result today: some Israelis are ready for
anything to occupy and defend alone a land they believe
were promised to them.
Numbers. Chapter 33.
Directions for the Conquest of Canaan.
50. In the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, the
Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 51. Speak to the Israelites,
and say to them: When you cross over the Jordan into
the land of Canaan, 52. you shall drive out all the
inhabitants of the land from before you, destroy all their
figured stones, destroy all their cast images, and
demolish all their high places.
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53. You shall take possession of the land and settle in it,
for I have given you the land to possess.
55. But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land
from before you, then those whom you let remain shall be
as barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides; they shall
trouble you in the land where you are settling. 56. And I
will do to you as I thought to do to them.
All imaginable treaties can be signed in the Near East, as
long as muslims follow their religion that labels the jews
as enemies, and that the jews see Palestine as a “land
given by god”, there will only be destruction and hatred
between them.
Another example: in the bible, we are told that a
woman must give birth in pain and that she must be
subjugated to her husband:
Genesis. Chapter 3.
11. He said, ‘Who told you that you were naked? Have
you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to
eat?’ 12. The man said, ‘The woman whom you gave to
be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.’ ...
16. To the woman he said, ‘I will greatly increase your
pangs in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth
children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and
he shall rule over you.’
Consequently, in many countries, women live in
miserable conditions.
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We can say that a majority of them live in subjection, and
enjoy no freedom at all.
It is a shame.
The way societies evolve today results in more and
more people from different origins and cultures living
side by side. Exchanges, contacts and unions are more
and more frequent.
Religions represent an obstacle to this kind of mixing
because they are based on intolerance and isolation from
the other communities.
According to religions, you must not marry or make
friends with someone who does not belong to your faith,
or who has no religious faith at all.
Deuteronomy. Chapter 7.
A Chosen People. (about non-jewish nations)
3. Do not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to
their sons or taking their daughters for your sons,
THE KORAN
Sura 2
221. And do not marry the idolatresses (the non-muslim
women) until they believe, and certainly a believing maid
is better than an idolatress woman, even though she
should please you; and do not give (believing women) in
marriage to idolaters until they believe…
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So religious beliefs must be seen as remnants from
Antiquity, archaic and useless, and must be left aside
in order to address the real problems of mankind:
- freedom for all women,
- fight against all kinds of intolerance,
- protection of the environment,
- sharing the wealth,
And so many more…
It is particularly important that atheism should develop
everywhere.
It is essential that non-believing become the rule.
So that finally religions do not have any ascendancy left
over our societies.
But it is still a long way off because lots of false ideas still
prevail:
- religious beliefs bring moral standards; without them, the
world would be a mess!
- you cannot live without religious beliefs!
It is true that our modern societies were influenced by the
(very moralistic) judeo-christian current, but also by the
very free Greek and Roman thinking.
Arts, philosophy, drama, science, politics, pleasure… All
this was brought to us by ancient civilizations.
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VII – THE CHILD
In theocracies, all the child-care services and nursery

schools are under religious control.
Religious figures know perfectly well that an early
teaching of the religious doctrines will turn children into
“good believers”.
5-year-old children in a theocracy can neither read nor
write (just like in any other country) but they have already
been taught that god decides for everything, that they are
not allowed to eat or drink this or that, that women must
be subjugated…
It is nothing but conditioning, brain-washing.
In those countries, usually only men can play a role in
social, professional and political life – the result of
religious supremacy…
They organize the education of the children while
disadvantaging little girls even more.
So in those countries, even though almost all girls get
primary education, they are hardly given access to
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secondary schools (from 11 or 12 years old) and even no
access at all after 14 or 15 years old.
Why?
Simply because religious figures – with the approval of
men – agree to their knowing how to read and write but
oppose their becoming cultivated and learning an
occupation involving responsibilities.
To them, a good woman is a submissive woman.
Things must change.
Let children grow up without ever mentioning religion.
You will see that when they have become grown-ups, the
proportion of believers will have dramatically been
reduced.
For example:
- take 100 little children. Never talk about religion or
atheism before they are 10 years old.
Then you tell them the two hypotheses on the origin of
the world: the religious hypothesis and the scientific one.
If people did this, almost all of the 100 children would be
non-believers!
I know how significant the weight of tradition is, and that
things will only change little by little, but for your children,
for a more tolerant world and for the equality of the sexes,
stop believing in those legends that only rely on fear and
lies to exist.
Women must represent an opposing force to men.
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Men control schools and nurseries and teach what they
want.
But thanks to the emotional bond that women share with
their children, they can fight obscurantism.
Who could do it better than a mother?
They must explain to their children that men and women
are equal.
They must convince themselves that all those unfair rules
were not written by god but by men in their sole interest.
A child is like a blank page, and with each
brushstroke, the picture is taking shape.
Your knowledge and your care draw in part the outline of
his or her future personality.
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VIII - IGNORANCE
There are lots of false ideas circulating around religions.
- 1st false idea: religions brought morals.

Believers are convinced that before the advent of a single
god – that is to say the advent of the Abrahamic religions
– human beings had neither faiths nor laws.
This is not true!

Ancient civilizations could function thanks to the political
laws that had been established by those who were in
power (kings, Pharaohs, emperors…), but also thanks to
the very strong religious beliefs that prevailed.
Mythologies played a very important role in the society.
Human beings did not wait for Moses, Jesus or
Muhammad to invent their legends to sentence a
murderer or follow a moral code.
At the time of the Egyptians, the Greeks or the Romans,
mothers loved their children just like today.
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People mourned their dead as we do today.
At that time, some people were generous, others were
“real bastards” – just like today.
It is true that slavery was widespread at the time of
Antiquity.
Poor men, women, and even children lived miserable
lives.
But a slave’s life was as terrible among jews, christians
and muslims.
Slavery was massively used in some European countries
with the clergy’s “blessing”.
Millions of Africans were the victims of such “traffic” under
the pretence they constituted a “sub-human species”.
And this inhuman practice still continues today in some
countries (among them lots of theocracies).
The religious books (the koran and the bible) do not
ban slavery, it is actually quite the opposite.
They are filled with advice on how you are supposed to
act with slaves and what you must do to differentiate
them from free human beings:
Exodus. Chapter 21.
The Law Concerning Slaves.
6... and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl
(punch); and he shall serve him for life.
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Ecclesiasticus. Chapter 33.
25. Fodder and a stick and burdens for a donkey; bread
and discipline and work for a slave.
26. Set your slave to work, and you will find rest;...
27. Yoke and thong will bow the neck, and for a wicked
slave there are racks and tortures.
29. Set him to work, as is fitting for him, and if he does
not obey, make his fetters heavy.
First epistle to Timothy. Chapter 6.
1. Let all who are under the yoke of slavery regard their
masters as worthy of all honour, so that the name of God
and the teaching may not be blasphemed.
THE KORAN
Sura 24
The Light
33. and give them of the wealth of Allah which He has
given you; and do not compel your slave girls to
prostitution, when they desire to keep chaste*…
Some argue that faith brings kindness.
Human beings did not become good or bad in one day
and depending on whether they believed or not.
Yes of course, there are very good people among
believers... And others who are very bad!
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And it is exactly the same thing for non-believers.
Do you think that kindness or wickedness depends on
whether someone believes in god or not?
No, they are only behaviors dictated by instinct.
We are capable of the best as well as the worst, it is in
our nature.
A human being can save a life or be a murderer.
- 2nd false idea: the prophets themselves wrote the

so-called “holy books”.
Just try to tell a believer that Moses did not write the
torah, Jesus the bible and Muhammad the koran, well, he
or she will think you are a liar.
While it is the simple truth.
They were probably the initiators of these religious books
but the books themselves were written by other people.
The torah, the bible and the koran were written
decades after Moses, Jesus or Muhammad died.
Lots of muslims think that Muhammad was poor and
illiterate and that only god’s hand could write the koran!
This is wrong!
Muhammad was born in a family of merchants, and he
was married to a rich widow called Khadija (she was his
first wife, he had many others).
It is said that the koran was dictated to Muhammad by
god?
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This book was actually written dozens of years after his
death.
The jews think that the old testament was written by a few
prophets!
It is a mistake, hundreds of people participated in the
writing of the story.
A lot of catholics do not believe that the bible is judeo-
christian and that Jesus is a jew.
Yet, it is the simple truth. And Jesus did not want to invent
a new religion, he only wanted to give a continuation to
judaism.
The Law and the Prophets.
17. ‘Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or
the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfil.
The jews did not adhere to this idea and it gave birth to
christianity.
- 3rd false idea: a country’s government is better if it

is run by religious figures.
Some people think that it is better to live in countries
where religious doctrines serve as government programs!
This is just ridiculous.
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Thanks to their humanism, human beings were able to
create modern, rich and tolerant societies:
Democracies.
They are secular* societies where religions do not play
such an important role any more.
We are now able to institute laws that improve society.
These rules, established by our elected representatives,
may not be perfect but they aim at making our society
better and more humane:
- ban on slavery,
- fight against all kinds of intolerance,
- equality of the sexes,
- access to social and health care for everyone,
- child protection,
- right to abortion,
- right to divorce,
- easy access to contraception,
And we could fill a whole page with them…
Democracies also allow all religions to be represented.
Freedom of opinion is a fundamental right for everyone.
Everyone is free to believe what they want and say what
they think, provided that they remain within the
boundaries of the law (racism, religious
fundamentalism…)
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Of course, this political and social system
(democracy) is far from perfect but it is still the best
one we have for now.
Those who are not convinced it is should live for a few
months in a dictatorship* or a theocracy and they would
see the difference…
In those countries, they will discover: lack of freedom,
living conditions similar to the Middle Ages’, poverty,
absolute intolerance towards women in particular…
Some believers will take the Gulf monarchies as
examples (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait…) because the people
there are supposed to live in comfort and wealth – but
who really lives that way?
Only a part of the population does (those who were born
there) while most foreigners are just exploited.
Some are reduced to slavery.
Even among the most fortunate, you have to be a man
because even though women enjoy beautiful jewellery
and houses, they have no right at all: they cannot vote,
they cannot drive a car, they cannot decide for
themselves. They live in a golden jail.
The religious restrictions imposed on the other faiths are
very strict in theocracies – in Saudi Arabia for instance,
jews and christians are not allowed to practice their
religion. And in the Vatican, only the catholic religion is
accepted
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- 4th false idea : religions bring wisdom.
Actually, it’s quite the opposite! Faiths engender stupidity.
Just listen to the pope advising not to use condoms, while
AIDS is causing terrible devastation.
It is an aberration since it is the only existing means to
protect oneself from this disease.
And this is only because his religious doctrine bans
contraception, under the pretext it encourages
fornication…
They offer another solution: abstinence*… It is ridiculous.
Human beings need to live their sexuality freely.
Forbidding or ruling the way they practice sex is against
nature.
The Vatican has it easy to want to moralize the believers’
sexual life... They forget that 10% of their own priests go
in for an abject kind of sexuality: paedophilia*.
Now listen to their antiquated comments on abortion.
Don’t you think anyone should be free to decide how
many children they want?
What is more criminal? Kill a few week-old embryo? Or
raise up a child in poverty?
It is important that faced with such serious decisions,
everyone should be able to choose freely.
No religion must impose you to do this and not do that!
It is the same thing with divorce.
Everyone should be free to divorce when they want.
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Do you know why it is difficult, if not impossible to divorce
in some countries?
Simply because religions set the rules of marriage.
Why should you keep on living with someone you do not
love anymore?
- for the children’s well-being?
- for fear of changing habits?
- for fear of solitude?
Divorce is an improvement for all those who cannot bear
their couple life any more.
Ask yourself questions like:
- what can I do to make my life more pleasant?
- what could we do to help the poor?
- how can we help millions of women get away from their
miserable lives?
- what should we do to save the planet?
These are true matters of reflection and they have
nothing to do with what some believers ask themselves:
- did god create man in his image?
- is Jesus more important than Moses?
- is Muhammad the last prophet?
- are there more women than men in hell?
I also hear some believers threatening the non-believers:
- the time of the last judgement will come!
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- you will go to hell!
Obscurantism and fear are the grounds on which religions
have always grown in order to impress, terrorize and
manipulate the populations.
Never forget either that blasphemy* is severely punished
in many countries.
Some believers tell me "It is impossible that so many
cathedrals, churches and mosques were built only
because of legends!"
And didn’t the Greeks, Romans and Egyptians also build
temples, pyramids and spectacular monuments for their
religions? Even though the materials and building
techniques were then very limited.
They were driven by an immense faith too.
Their religious belief was so strong that they built gigantic
monuments to the glory of their gods.
If you had told a Greek, a Roman or an Egyptian that their
religion was going to disappear because of the advent of
new faiths, and that one day, there would even be over
one million atheists, he/she would have called you a
lunatic!
So if I tell you today that one day believers will only
constitute a minority, don't think I am a lunatic…
The day will come when churches, synagogues and
mosques become museums.
Just like pyramids and temples from the Antiquity, they
will be historical remains.
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IX - PARADOX
“Religion is loving your neighbour...” Are you sure?

Second Book of Samuel. Chapter 22.
38. I pursued my enemies and I destroyed them, and did
not turn back until they were consumed (annihilated).
39. I consumed them; I struck them down, so that they
did not rise; they fell under my feet.
40. For you girded me with strength for the battle; you
made my assailants sink under me.
41. You made my enemies turn their backs to me, those
who hated me, and I destroyed them.
42. They looked, but there was no one to save them; they
cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them.
43. I beat them fine like the dust of the earth, I crushed
them and stamped them down like the mire (mud) of the
streets.
44. You delivered me from strife (battles) with the
peoples; you kept me as the head of the nations; people
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whom I had not known served them.
45. Foreigners came cringing (crawling) to me; as soon
as they heard of me, they obeyed me.
The gospel according to Matthew. Chapter 10.
Jesus says:
34. ‘Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the
earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword
35. For I have come to set a man against his father, and
a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law
against her mother-in-law.
THE KORAN
Sura 9
111. Surely Allah has bought of the believers their
persons and their property for this, that they shall have
the garden (heaven); they fight in Allah's way, so they
slay (kill) and are slain (killed); a promise which is binding
on Him in the Taurat (torah) and the Injeel (bible) and the
Quran; and who is more faithful to his covenant (pact)
than Allah? Rejoice therefore in the pledge which you
have made; and that is the mighty achievement.
“Religion is loving your neighbour”... but only if he or
she believes the way I do, prays the way I do, thinks
the way I do!
We are also told that faiths provide moral standards; what
I think is that they bring confusion.
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Some texts are full of common sense and others
completely intolerant and sectarian.
Here are a few examples:

Exodus. Chapter 20.
The Ten Commandments.13. You shall not murder. 15.
You shall not steal.
And a few chapters further…

Numbers. Chapter 31.
7. They did battle against Midian (a town in Palestine), as
the Lord had commanded Moses, and killed every male.
9. The Israelites took the women of Midian and their little
ones captive; and they took all their cattle, their flocks,
and all their goods as booty (stolen goods).
17. (Moses talks to the Hebrews) Now therefore, kill
every male among the little ones, and kill every woman
who has known a man by sleeping with him. 18. But all
the young girls who have not known a man by sleeping
with him, keep alive for yourselves.
Or else
Love for Enemies.
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27. ‘But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do
good to those who hate you, 2.8 bless those who curse
you, pray for those who abuse you. 29. If anyone strikes
you on the cheek, offer the other also;
And in the same book, we also find:
Blessings and Woes.
24. ‘But woe (suffering) to you who are rich, ...
25. ‘Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry.
26. ‘Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn
and weep.
Regarding the koran:
THE KORAN
Sura 4
128. And if a woman fears ill usage or desertion on the
part of her husband, there is no blame on them, if they
effect a reconciliation between them, and reconciliation is
better.
And now the opposite:
THE KORAN
Sura 4
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These are only a few examples but they perfectly
demonstrate the ambiguity of religious doctrines.
As a result:
- some believers think that murder is forbidden while
others think it is justified in some cases!
- some believers say that men and women are equal
while others consider that men dominate!
It is as if democratic laws prohibited one thing and its
opposite at the same time, which would give something
like:
- the speed limit in town is 50 km per hour… except for
those who are in a hurry!
- it is strictly forbidden to beat your wife… except if you
consider she deserves it!
- it is prohibited to make noise at night… except for those
who like partying!
But the greatest paradox we find in religions is that
they try by all means to erase our “animal” nature.
Therefore, fighting fornication or homosexuality is an
obsession for religious figures.
They know quite well that these behaviors come from our
animal origin.
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But the faiths stubbornly want to preserve the superiority
of the male (man) on the female (woman).
While it is in fact the most primary of our animal instincts.
Isn’t is paradoxical???
That is the reason why religious books (and their
contradictions) must be looked upon as very old pieces of
work.
As such they belong to the past.
Religions will only represent an episode, a parenthesis in
the long history of mankind.
They are nothing but the reflection of our ancestral fears.
They will disappear one day.
In probably less than a hundred years, faiths will be
considered a historical “curiosity”.
Recalling them will make a lot of people smile…
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X – RELIGION
1) Evolution of religious beliefs

Religious beliefs have changed along with human
evolution.
The Homo sapiens’ beliefs became the mythologies and
then the modern religions (Abrahamic or others).
When the prehistoric tribes changed and became the
peoples of Antiquity, their notables (the most important
people in the tribe) changed functions.
The chief of the tribe became the king, the Pharaoh or the
emperor.
The hunters became the soldiers and the sorcerers
became the religious priests.
Since that time, politicians have been establishing laws
under the control of religious figures who see to their
conformity with the “divine moral code”.
This has been going on for thousands of years.
However, some leaders have, over the centuries,
opposed the power of the clergy, which enabled some
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scientists and other visionaries to express all their talents.
Then the Renaissance came.
It was a period when religious obscurantism lost some of
its influence in favor of a greater freedom of thinking and
creation.
This movement of freedom accelerated with the Industrial
Revolution* (from 1800) and prefigured the advent of
secular societies.
2) Abrahamic.
Lots of wars and massacres were perpetrated in the
name of religions.
Yet, we cannot deny that they played a significant role in
the evolution of the human being and that they are a part
of our heritage.
Judaism:
- It helped a simple tribe of nomads (the Hebrews) to
become a settled population who developed a rich
civilization.
- Practising their religious doctrine allowed them to
continue their existence as a people for millenniums
despite the loss of their land (until the state of Israel was
constituted in 1948).
- Being convinced that they are “god’s chosen people”
conditioned them in a way that they became particularly
efficient in many fields (science, trade, finance, law, art…)
- This conviction (added to the persecutions they have
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endured for millenniums) has resulted in a strong feeling
of solidarity among them and it increases their chances of
success even more.
Christianity:
- It contributed to the civilization of many barbaric tribes
that surged through Europe.
- During the first years of its development, it gave a little
more tolerant and less warlike vision of religion
Islam:
- At the beginning it brought progress for women’s
condition. Women lived miserable lives in total deprivation
at the time when the koran was written (around the year
650). Muhammad established numerous laws that gave
women fundamental rights, particularly in the family
sphere. At that time, it was quite a significant
improvement.
- It allowed the creation of a large empire along with an
Arab identity that was at the source of lots of scientific
discoveries and advances in fields as various as
mathematics, astronomy and geography.
- It facilitated the translation of many books written by
Greek philosophers. These books were introduced in
Europe through Spain and contributed to the advent of
the Renaissance.
Abrahamic religions also made charity to the poor an
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obligation, and established a holiday…
And of course these faiths provide the hope for a new life
after death – and it remains essential for many people.
But these faiths primarily convey messages of
intolerance, hate and stupidity that generate
obscurantism, which is in opposition to our
democratic ideal.
They engender tensions throughout the world and could
easily endanger mankind as a whole.
When I talk about the damage done by religions today, I
am mainly thinking of islam. We are forced to observe
that islam is the faith that prevails in theocracies today.
But since it has only existed since the year 1400, it is
equivalent to what christianity was in the Middle Ages!
I am not against islam, I am simply against religions.
If I had written this book 200 years earlier, things would
have been worse.
At that time, almost all the countries that are democratic
today were in the grip of the christian religion, and the
number of theocracies in the world was very high.
Christianity did as much damage as islam.
Because of the Inquisition* countless people were
tortured, convicted and burnt over the centuries. And
even though this repressive nightmare fortunately came
to an end, we are forced to admit that christianity is still
very much around in Western societies.
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They continue to try to impose their intolerant and
sectarian ideas in plenty of areas. They still strongly
influence the policies of some countries.
Therefore we must remain vigilant, not yield an inch
to those cults, and continue the fight against their
absurd doctrines.
My reflection would not be complete if I did not talk about
judaism.
It is probably the most intolerant of all Abrahamic religions
(if all the “laws” contained in the old testament are
followed).
There is only one country in the world where this faith is
predominant. But since it is a democracy (I am of course
talking about Israel), the damaging effects of religion are
relatively limited.
The political parties that are influenced by religion
(thankfully, they represent only a minority) would like the
doctrine of the torah to be applied in its entirety – it would
represent a 500-year-step backward for the society.
Israelis do not suffer too much from the fanaticism
associated with this particular faith.
A majority of the population lives in a modern and free
society, and their everyday concerns are their own well-
being and their family’s (just like in all Western societies).
Of course, there is a terrible problem between jews and
muslims (see Chapter IV-Intolerance).
On this issue, here are some passages from the bible that
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show why Jerusalem is so important for the jews:
Psalm137.
5. If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither!
6. Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth, if I do not
remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my
highest joy.
7. Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites the day of
Jerusalem’s fall, how they said, ‘Tear it down! Tear it
down! Down to its foundations!
Psalm 147.
2. The Lord builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcast
of Israel.
This town is also sacred in the eyes of the Arabs.
The Mosque of Omar* (the Dome of the Rock) is the third
holy place in islam (after Mecca and Medina).
This is why Jerusalem is at the heart of the Israelo-
Arab conflict.
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XI – THE HYDRA
I usually compare religions to a hydra.

A hydra is a legendary animal that was found in the
ancient mythologies. It was a snake with nine heads that
would grow back as soon as they were cut off.
It is also used when referring to a persistent evil that
keeps coming back even when we think it has been
eradicated.
It is perfectly adapted to religions.
And this is why struggling against those cults is so
difficult.
To do so, we must follow two main lines:
- Repression:
- The fight against religious fundamentalism must
continue with military actions in foreign countries and
police interventions on national territories.
- The terrorist networks must still be infiltrated and their
financing interrupted.
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- The most radical preaching places must be put under
control.
- The all-concealing veil must be banned.
- Prevention:
- These cults must lose their sacred auras and selling the
bible and the koran as they are must be forbidden. These
books convey ideas that are conflicting with democratic
values (equality, tolerance, freedom…).
- Through the media (press, television, radio) and the
Internet, we must fight religious obscurantism with
specific programes and sites that will demonstrate how
useless these cults are.
- The school programs (including those intended for very
little children) must insist even more on the natural
evolution of the living species, and they must describe
more precisely the damage religions have done from their
origins to the present day.
- We must help all those who, in theocracies, rise against
these cults. Their number is steadily growing.
Democratic countries must be the precursors of this
movement for the following reasons:
- All the peoples in the world have to be able to use the
humanistic ideas democracies defend (sex equality,
tolerance…) as guidelines.
- Only in democratic countries can we enjoy the freedom
to criticize such institutions as religions, therefore we
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must show the example to all.
This is how people all over the world will finally be able to
change their outlook on religions
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XII - CHANGES
While for millions of years, the evolution of the first

families of prehistoric men was very slow, that of Homo
sapiens* was particularly quick.
Researchers think that this process of transformation,
fuelled by our capacities for reflection and analysis, has
been reaccelerating for a few years.
These changes in behavior are first conducted by a few
precursors, and they are joined by the immense majority
later on.
It is obvious when we consider the radical changes some
of our habits have undergone.
For example, let us take hygiene and lifestyle:
- physical appearance becomes more and more
important.
- we want to live in good health and as old as possible.
As a result, we have developed balanced diets, sports
practice, the use of beauty products and cosmetic surgery
– and for both men and women.
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It represents a great change in mentality compared to a
(recent) period when alcohol, cigarettes, rich food (with
fat and sugar) and physical inactivity were signs of
wealth.
Governments conduct prevention and repression
campaigns against drinking, smoking and obesity,
because they are aware that public opinion is ready for a
change on bad habits.
Why wouldn’t something that works for hygiene and
lifestyle work for faiths?
In countries where social and political life is totally
separated from religion, a part of the population (mostly
young people) is losing interest for these cults.
It means that they lose the need to believe and that
atheism is expanding in our societies.
Moreover, our leaders know for a fact that religions
generate intolerance.
So let me ask the question:
Why wouldn’t public services help intensify this
phenomenon?
Why not start by making people aware of the fact that
these cults convey sectarian messages?
A first step would be for instance to place on religious
books that are on sale (the torah, the bible, the koran…) a
warning label like “caution! this book contains sexist and
homophobic passages.”
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We must dare to make religions lose their sacred
auras (at school, in the media…) and denounce their
doctrines that are so full of hatred.
We mistakenly think that society is responsible for our
needs, our desires... It is not that simple. Society also
addresses our expectations.
We shape the world around us as much as the world
around us shapes us.
The Internet has rapidly become a fantastic tool for work
and communication not because a few technicians
decided it but because the human being feels the need to
communicate and work faster, more easily and with the
entire world!
Some decision makers will anticipate fashions and
desires, make a phenomenon last or intensify it.
However, they cannot do without people's free will.
It is important to realize that mankind has reached a
decisive stage in its evolution.
We are at the dawn of huge changes:
- oil is becoming scarce and new sources of energy will
replace it. The consequences for users and producers ill
be enormous.
- advances in biology (genetics and neuroscience*,
among others) will allow our appearance and character*
to be modified. Life expectancy will dramatically increase.
- artificial intelligence* will develop spectacularly: what
role will it play?
115
- hundreds of millions of people will see their buying
power grow and will become full-fledged consumers
(India, China, Brazil…). Moreover the world population is
expected to reach 9 billion people soon. What will the
consequences be for the environment and the economy?
- wealth sharing, global warming, ecology, weapons of
mass destruction…
The issues are numerous and worrying.
And you sincerely think that human beings should add
religious questions to all these problems? That their lives
should be influenced by laws coming from another age?
Those who think that more faith will save humanity are
deeply mistaken..
Unfortunately, it is only when religions start
endangering the survival of mankind that people will
realize how dangerous they are.
Try to imagine for instance what a world where several
theocracies would possess the atomic bomb would be
like… Isn't it terrifying?
Yet, I am deeply convinced that mankind is heading for a
long and great future.
Science will bring us numerous solutions.
But before, we must make sure that religions decline.
They must stop influencing our societies in order to free
mentalities and allow the entire human potential (men and
women) to be totally expressed and used for a better and
plural world.
116
XIII – SCIENCE
In many fields, scientific (energy research*, chemistry,

astronomy) and technical discoveries are more and more
numerous.
But research in a particular field will lead to massive
changes in our lives: biology.
It will make it possible to alter the body and mind of
human beings – in particular thanks to the research on
genes* and cells* (including the neurons*).
1) The Body
Science will have done such a great leap forward that it
will be possible to treat or replace any organ, limb or part
of the human body.
This kind of research opens up future prospects for the
cure of all diseases (serious and less serious) and
handicaps.
You are dubious?
117
If you read any scientific magazine, you will realize that it
is already part of our everyday lives.
This kind of research could also open the way for
something fantastic humans have always dreamed of:
immortality (- almost...).
Advances in this field promise to be spectacular – the
mechanisms of ageing are already known.
As a result, it will probably be possible to extend human
life much more than what we can imagine today.
First, life expectancy will dramatically increase, and
maybe one day, mankind will be able to toy with the
dream of eternal life.
Religions that use humans' fear of death to indoctrinate
as much as they can will particularly suffer then!
2) The Mind
Two elements determine our personality:
- what is acquired from experience: everything we learn
during our lives, thanks to education, upbringing and
while adapting to our environment.
- what is innate: our natural characteristics transmitted
from generation to generation.
Today, to correct their harmful behaviors
(aggressiveness, racism, individualism...), human beings
can only act on what they have learned.
Of course, upbringing, education, social environment are
118
essential and must always be promoted, improved.
These factors can help us to partially reduce our faults.
But this is not enough.
If we want to stop being a danger for the planet, for
all forms of life and for ourselves, we must go further
and also work on what is innate.
We have recently discovered that the way we act is partly
linked to certain genes.
Genetics and neuroscience (among other things) will
allow us to change the harmful features of our character.
For example, we could imagine altering our
individualistic* nature to become beings for whom sharing
is something normal or to reduce, or even suppress our
violent instincts.
This society will theoretically be possible in the future. But
is it conceivable, desirable or inevitable (as I think)? A
vast debate in the offing...
Advances in biology will also revolutionize agriculture,
making it possible to create new varieties of fruit and
vegetables that will require very little water, will be more
nourishing and will need fewer pesticides.
The world agricultural production will be considerably
improved... Fortunately! Keep in mind that because of a
runaway demographic growth and the fact that our
societies are globally becoming wealthier, our
consumption of food products is going to increase
significantly.
119
The fields of application of all these scientific advances
are numerous.
All this is getting you worried, of course...
... and you are right!
The risks are as enormous as what science can do:
- isn’t a genetically modified plant dangerous in the long
term?
- how are we going to deal with our retirement pensions if
life expectancy increases?
- how can we feed the world population if it grows
dramatically?
- will all this progress only serve the powerful and the
wealthy? Or will it be accessible to everyone?
- what if sectarian leaders used genetic modifications in
order to destroy certain minorities or develop armies of
supermen? Hitler and some cults have already shown the
potential dangers of such research. Once the mechanism
is engaged, can’t the situation become uncontrollable?
In my opinion, a solution would be that scientific work like
this be done by democratic, pragmatic, cultured and
atheistic representatives of both genders.
Why? Because man is globally a threat to mankind. His
behavior dictated by instinct makes him aggressive and
warlike.
Consequently, over the centuries, along the wars and all
the conflicts (he himself prompted…) he invented more
and more destructive weapons.
120
Today, these weapons are putting mankind as a whole in
danger.
Moreover, by his animal nature, he tends to dominate
women with the consequences it involves: male
predominance in lots of areas, violence and injustice
toward women…
The role of woman will be essential.
Because if man is the only one to decide what the future
behavioral* modifications will be, the risk is high that
those modifications will be used only to reinforce the
current situation. It is hard to imagine that men will
willingly choose to lose their instinctive supremacy!
Of course, this also applies to women.
They must not be the only actresses of such a fantastic
change either.
The risk of wrongdoings would also be high.
The – justified – resentment that will have built up after
thousands of years of submission could turn into fierce
revenge.
So this “evolution” would ideally require an association of
tolerant and visionary human beings to be put in place, so
that neither of the two sexes can dominate the other but
that equality be simply obvious.
For our own survival, we are forced to discover again and
again.
Mastering fire, inventing the wheel or the steam machine
changed dramatically the way humans live.
121
For some it was experienced as a real tragedy.
Since prehistoric times, the human being has been an
amazing innovator and it is still the case today.
We keep on evolving and scientific advances are part of
the process.
The only difference is that things are moving faster.
Our usual references will probably fall apart.
All that organizes our lives will probably be transformed.
Chances are high that our lives will be very different from
what we know today.
Imagine a future where life expectancy would be 150
years (or even more).
A world where human behavior would be based on
understanding, tolerance, sharing…
One can dream of a genetically modified human being
who would be intelligent, peaceful, willing to share, good-
looking, immortal...
Or one can also imagine the worst...
When I talk about genetic manipulations or the advances
in neuroscience, I am not making a wish, I am just stating
a fact.
Today, thousands of scientists are already at work.
Research on organ and limb replacement or bionic*
tissues is making quick progress. They will be used to
cure and/or enhance human beings.
122
Certainly, such research is very difficult.
For instance, the way genes work is a very complex
mechanism.
But to think that all these discoveries and advances will
only be used to modify a couple of plants, treat some rare
diseases or repair an injured or handicapped body is a
mistake.
Therefore the question is not whether it will happen
but when and how.
Looking the other way would only lead to letting some
people decide for all...
Besides, thanks to scientific progress, lots of researchers
work on the origin of life (including the human being).
We know now that we have a significant number of genes
in common with the chimpanzee, our “natural cousin”.
Other discoveries will follow...
We are only at the beginning of a new era which will allow
us to understand and explain why and how life appeared
and then developed.
The tremendous questions raised by quantum
physics* must also be taken into account. Quantum
physics gives atoms/matter unsuspected powers... The
notions of life, time, universe... are shaken, called into
question by this theory which is only in its early days.
And we cannot not mention robotics* which will
deeply change humans' lives.
123
Shortly we will have to deal with an artificial intelligence
that will quickly develop and be more and more
advanced. Chances are high that robots will become
unavoidable actors of future societies.
I think Homo-sapiens is condemned and will
disappear. Will he give way to another living species (as
some think) or give birth to a new family of human beings,
the “genus being”* as I imagine?
In any case, a revolution of society is on its way...
It is important to be aware of this while keeping trust in
science.
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CONCLUSION
Do you seek refuge in religious beliefs because the

world and all its problems frighten you? Because the
future is full of uncertainties?
No imaginary god will help you find answers.
Only human beings themselves will find the solutions to
the challenges they are faced with.
Do you think that religions only can guarantee a
moral code?
It is wrong, humans are fully able to establish laws that
are equitable so that everyone can live peacefully.
Do you think that without religions love would not
exist?
This beautiful feeling that unites and thrills us does not
belong to any cult.
Besides, “loving” is in the nature of every living being.
The idea of living without religious beliefs frightens
you?
125
Do you believe they are indispensable to human
beings?
Do you tell yourself that they are part of our
education?
These are only preconceived ideas that you were taught
when you were a child.
Death frightens you?

It is completely normal. Just tell yourself that the atoms
you are made of are eternal...
Believing is a need that was created by our “primary
intelligence” during prehistory.
We keep on evolving and we start losing this “spiritual
necessity”.
I know quite well that it is impossible to erase several
thousand years of religious beliefs with a snap of the
fingers.
It will require some time and concrete actions to get rid of
those cults one day.
However there is an encouraging sign:
The number of atheists is rising steadily among the young
in democratic countries.
This phenomenon (the fact that many young people are
non-believers) is not as visible in theocracies or in
developing countries because children are daily subjected
to religious indoctrination. Nevertheless atheism is also
growing in those countries.
126
We must keep in mind that over the centuries Europe has
become the “cradle” of humanism.
Therefore, Europe must be in the front line to fight
religious intolerance and obscurantism. Europe has to
show the way to the entire mankind.
Human beings change depending on the environment
they are in.
They adapt when the situation requires them to, which
allowed them to survive and develop.
The tensions and wars generated by religions will grow in
number, unfortunately, and it will end up in immense
chaos.
Chances are high that we will massively reject those cults
that endanger mankind as a whole.
We have already entered such logic of terror:
- India and Pakistan hate each other so much that a
nuclear war may break out one day.
- the Near East crisis between Palestinians and Israelis
generate hatred and tensions throughout the world.
- Iran may well become in a few years a nuclear military
power ruled by lunatics who will hate all those who do not
share their religious beliefs.
- religious terrorism has become so powerful that it
influences the policies of many countries.
- those fundamentalist groups also destabilize the world
economy.
127
We must remain vigilant in our Western societies as
well: religious figures continue to make their intolerant
voices heard on subjects like contraception, sexuality or
scientific progress.
Some protestant religious figures try to impose
“creationism” as a science.
They want it to be taught in schools and try to infiltrate the
scientific world.
This movement has mainly remained limited to the USA
so far but the international scientific community is worried
and calls for everyone’s vigilance toward those
manipulators.
In the neighbourhoods where muslim immigrants
concentrate, there is a revival of islam:
- more and more women are veiled and submissive.
- arranged or forced marriages are more and more
frequent.
- the different communities do not mix any more.
- mosques are full of young believers.
When you are confronted to such regression, you can
threaten all those religious figures, fight them or
negotiate, it will only delay the outbreak of a potential
catastrophe (some predict a clash of civilizations).
Of course, the fight must continue, but what we must

especially do is prevention, and make those faiths lose
their sacred auras, by:
128
- openly criticizing religious doctrines (at school, in the
media…).
- helping all those who are the victims of these cults.
- rehabilitating science in the eyes of the majority.
- fighting religions using the law.
We must explain to everyone that religions are nothing
but legends invented by a few men.
The future of human beings lies in tolerance and
respect for all.
What religions would like us to do is just the opposite.
For everyone’s well-being and to prepare the future
properly, mankind must stop believing.
So these were the ideas I wanted to share with you.

They will probably not please everyone but it doesn’t
matter...
I am deeply convinced that the future will be atheistic,
under feminine influence and that it will progress with the
flow of scientific advances.
129
GLOSSARY
Abraham: according to the bible, 2000 BC. Man of

nomad origin who created monotheism. The jews,
christians and muslims regard him as one of the first
prophets. He is said to be the ancestor of the jewish and
arab peoples by his sons Isaac and Ismael.
Abrahamic: qualifies religions coming from Abraham

(judaism, christianity, islam). Their doctrines are very
close to one another; they are based on the existence of
one god only, who created all living beings and who
decides for all events (destiny or fate), life on earth being
only a passage because another life is awaiting the dead:
in heaven for the good, in hell for the bad.
A few differences are found, regarding the food taboos for
instance, and more generally in the rituals: prayers,
baptisms, religious celebrations, weddings...
Abstinence: to voluntarily refrain from having sexual

relations.
Adam and Eve: the first man and woman who appeared
on earth according to the Abrahamic religions.
130
Afterlife: for believers, a wonderful place where we go
after we die.
Agnostic: person who thinks that the existence of god or

another divinity is neither certain nor impossible. Neither
a believer nor an atheist.
Al Farabi: 870-950/Damascus. Muslim philosopher. His

study of the Greek philosophers influenced the jewish and
European philosophy.
Al Kindi: 800-870/Baghdad. He translated in Arabic

numerous texts from the Greek philosophy and did his
best to reconcile philosophy and religion.
Anarchist: person who refuses all rules and all kinds of

authority.
Animism (animist): belief that things, animals, plants

have got a soul just like human beings.
Apostasy: the state of having publicly abandoned one’s

religion.
Articulate language: means of communication based on
131
words and not screams (like animals).
Artificial Intelligence (AI): ability, for a machine (a

robot), to analyse data, solve a problem, have an
autonomous reasoning, and maybe in the future, to have
feelings.
Astronomy: scientific study of the sun, moon, stars,

planets…
Atom: elementary component of matter (animate or

inanimate).
Atomic combination: inanimate (a thing) or animate (a

living being) object.
Averroes: Arab doctor and philosopher (1126 – 1198).

His interpretation of Aristotle's work deeply influenced the
christian and jewish thinking in the Middle Ages. He also
published a medical treatise known in its Latin translation
as “Colliget”.
Avicenna (Ibn Sina): Iranian doctor and philosopher

(980-1037). He was one of the major Oriental scientists.
His “Canon of medicine” and his interpretation of
Aristotle's work had a great influence in Europe until the
132
17th century.
Behavioral: all the reactions of a person; the way he or

she acts.
Bible: book containing the jewish and christian doctrines.

It is composed of:
- the old testament (jewish bible) where are gathered
texts traditionally dated from –1,000 to –200, written by
dozens of people.
- the new testament (the gospels), containing texts (27
books) written between the year 50 and the year 150 by
Jesus's supposed companions.
The christian religions (catholic, protestant, orthodox) use
the entire bible, while judaism uses only the old testament
and particularly the first five chapters (which constitute
the torah).
Big Bang: according to this scientific explanation, the

universe started expanding after an explosion of matter.
Biology: scientific study of the living matter (including

human beings).
Bionic : of the science that combines biology and
133
electronics (hence its name). It makes it possible to
create artificial prostheses controlled by the brain. In the
future, such prostheses will be able to replace any organ
or limb of the body.
Biped (bipedal, bipedalism): walking on two feet.
Bisexual (bisexuality): someone who is sexually

attracted to both men and women.
Blasphemy: act or words that believers consider

offensive to their god.
Caliph: muslim sovereign with political and religious

powers.
Cell: smallest functional unit of a living organism.. All

living beings are made of one or several cells.
Character: what makes a person different from others,

our personality.
Chaste: voluntarily refraining from sexual pleasures.
134
Chauvinistic (male): relating to those who are convinced
that men are superior to women.
Chemistry: scientific study of the structure of substances

(atoms or cells).
Christianity: has existed since the beginning of our era.

The christian doctrine is found in the bible. The man who
founded this religion was Jesus. The followers of this faith
are called christians.
Civilizations: organized nations ruled by a chief, an

army, a faith, laws… Nowadays we live in modern
civilizations.
Clergy: group of people in charge of regulating and

enforcing the faiths (priests, rabbis, imams).
Coliseum: originally called Flavian Amphitheatre, its

construction ended in 80 AD.
Connections: the brain connections are called

“synapses”. It is a zone where a contact is established
between two neurons (see the definition of this word
below in the glossary) or between a neuron and another
cell. It allows the good functioning of the brain through, for
135
instance, information transmission.
Constantinople: this city was founded by the Roman

emperor Constantin in 324/336 on the site of Byzantium
(ancient Greek city). It fell in 1453 in the hands of the
Ottoman Turks and was given the name Istanbul.
Creationism: religious hypothesis pretending that in six

days god created man (Adam), woman (Eve) and all the
animal and plant species living on earth. According to this
hypothesis the species do not evolve. Creationists think
that the earth is at most 10,000 years old!!
Cult: organized group of people who share the same

ideas and express them within a religion.
Darwin (Charles): English naturalist who largely

contributed to the development of the theory of evolution
(see evolutionism). His 1859 work “Origin of Species by
means of Natural Selection” where he explained, among
other things, that we are cousins of apes, came as a
bombshell in a society where it was accepted that we are
the descendants of Adam and Eve.
Deist: person who admits the existence of a god and an

afterlife but who does not acknowledge religious
doctrines.
136
Democracy: political system where all political parties
have the right to be represented. The government is
freely chosen by the people. The democratic countries
are characterized by, among other things, freedom of
speech and the defence of the great humanistic ideas
(gender equality, tolerance…)
Destiny (fate): will of “god” who, according to religious

faiths, irrevocably determines everything that happens.
Dictatorship: political system where power lies in the

hands of one person, one assembly or one party.
Discrimination: treating a person or a group not as fairly

as others.
Disintegrate: when all the parts of a whole fall apart.*
Divinity: divine being (goddess, god).
Doctrine (religious doctrine): all the rules and facts

which constitute a religion (laws to obey, miracles…).
Egyptian: of the Egyptian people. -3500. They lived in

Egypt and were the initiators of a very important
137
civilization that lasted for millenniums. They were brilliant
master builders and warriors and left a significant mark in
the history of mankind.
Elements: protons, neutrons, electrons, photons,

neutrinos… that constitute the atoms.
Energy research: scientific research on the different

existing or potential sources of energy (oil, gas, solar or
nuclear energy…).
Ethnic group: group of people sharing common traits of

civilization, language and culture in particular.
Evolutionism: scientific theory assessing that the earth

is 4.5 billion years old and has been hosting life for 3
billion years. The first forms of life were unicellular
organisms (composed of a single cell) which, after
diverse mutations (evolution), finally produced all the
plants and animals (including human beings). Species
evolve naturally if and when they are adapted to their
environment; otherwise, they disappear.
Family of human beings: our direct ancestors,

Australopithecus, Homo habilis, Homo erectus,
Neanderthal man and many others succeeded one
another, crossbred and finally gave birth to Homo
138
sapiens, the modern human being.
Fate: see destiny.
Gene: basic unit of heredity. Genes are found in cells.

They allow the transmission of specific features from one
generation to the next (predisposition of a group of
individuals for physical endurance, work or violence…).
Genes are for a great part responsible for our mental and
physical characteristics.
Genesis: first chapter of the bible where the “divine”

creation of the world is told. This narrative is accepted by
jews, christians and muslims.
Genetics: scientific study of the genes.
“Genus being”: this is how I call the category of human

beings which, in my opinion, will replace Homo sapiens. I
think they will be physically close to present human
beings, but with radically different behavior, hence the
notion of “new family”.
Hebrew (Hebraic): nomad tribe from Asia that settled in

Palestine and was at the origin of monotheism. The
words “jew” or “Israelite” usually apply to the descendants
139
of the Hebrews.
Homophobia (homophobic): hostility toward

homosexuals.
Homo sapiens: last family of prehistoric men. The

human being is a Homo sapiens.
Humanism (humanist, humanistic): theory, doctrine

which favours humans and their well-being. Opposed to
religious or sectarian constraints.
Ibn Al-Haytham: Bassora/965-1039. Arab scientist,

author of numerous works of mathematics, optics and
astronomy. As an expert on Greek authors, he inspired
the scientists of the Renaissance.
Ibn Tufayl: beginning of the 12th century. Arab

philosopher and scientist. He was a vizier, a doctor and
was interested in astronomy.
Inanimate or animate matter: objects (a chair, a table, a

car...), metals and living beings (animals or plants) are
made of the same elements. It is only the order in which
the atoms are arranged that makes that particular matter
inanimate or animate.
140
Individualist (individualistic): person who thinks and
acts in his/her own interests only, regardless of what
other people do.
Industrial Revolution: the transformation of a manual

labour based economy into one dominated by industry
and mechanization. This was made possible by, among
other things, the invention of the steam-machine. The
Industrial Revolution started in Europe in 1800.
Inquisition: religious jurisdiction in charge of judging the

so-called crimes against the catholic church. Active from
the 13th to the 16th century, it allowed the clergy to
terrorize the non-believers, jews, free thinkers,
homosexuals… who endured the most horrifying tortures.
Islam: has existed since the year 630. Its doctrine is

found in the koran. The founder of this religion was
Muhammad and the believers are the muslims.
Jesus (Christ): a jew who lived in Palestine. He founded

christianity at the beginning of our era. He is regarded by
christians as the main prophet.
Jihad: religious obligation for all muslims. It is a holy war

waged in order to spread or defend islam.
141
Judaism: has existed since –1,000. Its doctrine is found
in the torah. One of the main founders of this religion was
Moses and the believers are the jews.
Koran (koranic): book containing the muslim doctrine. It

was written between the year 632 and the year 650 by
people who were said to be close to Muhammad.
Mammal: vertebrate animal breathing with lungs and

whose females breast-feed the offspring. The human
being is a mammal.
Mecca: Saudi Arabia, Muhammad's hometown. First

sacred site in islam. The pilgrimage to Mecca is an
obligation for all muslims.
Medina: Saudi Arabia. A holy city in islam where

Muhammad is buried.
Mesopotamian: of the Mesopotamian people. -2500.

They lived on the banks of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers
(roughly, what is Iraq now). Mesopotamians were the
initiators of an important civilization which, among other
things, laid the foundations of Abrahamic religions.
Messiah: legendary saviour of mankind sent by “god”.
142
Monk: a man who devotes his life to praying.
Monotheism (monotheist, monotheistic): belief that

there is only one god.
Moses: according to the bible, -1 300. Of Hebraic origin,

he was one of the main founders of judaism and of the
nation of Israel.
Mosque of Omar (Dome of the Rock): in Jerusalem. It

is the oldest monument in islam (7th century).
Muhammad: of Arab origin, he initiated islam. He was

born in Mecca in 570 and died in 632. He is regarded by
muslims as the main prophet.
Mythology: religion of the peoples of Antiquity.
Neuron: specific cell of the brain belonging to the

nervous system.
Neuroscience: scientific study of the brain and nervous

system.
143
Non-muslim: to muslims, they represent the believers
who follow the rules contained in the bible (old or new
testament), that is to say the jews and christians. The
other believers or the non-believers are usually simply
called “atheists”.
Obscurantism (obscurantist): behavior of those

opposed to the spread of education and culture, and to
scientific progress.
Paedophilia: sexual attraction of adults towards children.
Patriarch: name of the religious head in Constantinople

(orthodox church).
Polytheism (polytheistic): belief in more than one god.
Prehistoric art: first pictures, drawings or engravings

from around – 30 000.
Primate: animal (mammal); apes and human beings are

primates.
Prophet: in religions, person who conveys god’s

message, does miracles and predicts the future.
144
Quantum physics: scientific theory coming from physics
that has existed for about one hundred years. It questions
the very nature of atoms, tending to prove that they
communicate with each other, and suggests the
existence of several universes. This theory, barely
comprehensible for many people, is very promising. The
future belongs to it. Trying to sum it up in a couple of lines
would be extremely pretentious. It is often the subject of
articles in scientific magazines, and lots of books explain
it very well. So if you want to know more about it, enjoy
your reading!
Religious figure: person having some authority in a

religious group (priest, imam, rabbi…).
Renaissance: it started in Europe around the 15th

century. This period was characterized by universal
curiosity, the love of literature, of arts and science… In
sharp contrast with religious intolerance. The
Renaissance greatly contributed to the advent of our
modern societies.
Robotics: techniques allowing the design and

manufacturing of automated machines, robots.
Sanctuaries: places dedicated to gods: caves, standing

stones… The first sanctuaries date back to –10,000.
Nowadays, sanctuaries are churches, mosques, temples,
145
synagogues…
Secular society: a country where religious figures are

only in charge of what is related to their faiths (celebration
of the religious feasts, maintenance of the buildings used
for worship…); on the other hand, they play no role in
political life (writing the laws) or in education (they do not
teach in public schools any more).
Sexism: when a gender is considered superior to the

other; in religions, it means the superiority of men over
women.
Shiite: minority branch of islam (around 15%).
Soul: there are several definitions and uses of this word.

Here are a few ones:
- a village of “1,000 souls” (the number of people living
there),
- a sense of ethnic pride among Black people, expressed
in areas such as language, music... (“soul music”).
- the personification of a specific quality: “she is the very
soul of kindness”.
And there is, of course, the notion of “soul” in its spiritual
approach (see Chapter III – Eternal Life).
146
Sunni: branch of islam representing about 85% of
muslims.
Taboo: ban on something for religious reasons.
Theocracy: country where religious figures play a

significant part in political life.
Tolerance: accepting that someone thinks or acts

differently from you.
Torah: sacred book used in judaism, constituted roughly

of the first five chapters of the old testament.
147

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the atheist book

The Story of Life: Chronology p. 20

How Abrahamic Religions Appeared p. 42

III – Eternal Life? p. 50

VII – The Child p. 85

XI – The Hydra p. 110

XII – Changes p. 113

XIII – Science p. 117

This book is direct and I show no complaisance towards

God did NOT create humans... but humans created

I am an atheist because I am convinced that religious

Unfortunately religious figures have thus imposed

--- That a wife must be subjugated to her husband:

THE BIBLE NEW TESTAMENT

--- That anyone having sexual intercourse for

Among the victims of religions, you also find

And not only these stupid rules generate

- 13.5 billion years: creation of the universe after the

The common ancestor to both human beings and apes

This legend took up the three points mentioned earlier (1,

- there was not a multitude of gods any more but only

- some men were “chosen” by god to announce his

- the Hebrews defined themselves as god’s “chosen

- they established a ritual that unites them with god:

After having been orally promoted, this legend was

The Baptism of Jesus.

From the very beginning, christianity was supposed to be

- there were no food or drink taboos* any more (while

- circumcision was not compulsory anymore but

This is why the bible (the book of the christian religion) is

After Muhammad's death, muslims were soon to split in

This is how we can summarize the way humans invented,

– 100,000: human beings started burying their dead with

Religious beliefs were invented by the primary

You have to understand that when I talk about evolution,

Do you know why we invented religions?

Are religions of any use to the present and future of

- No, woman was not born from a man’s side:

- No, a woman must not be subjugated to anyone.

Are those legends – religions – that come from Antiquity

2) The Hebrews (or jews)

Gospel of Matthew. Chapter 26.

The Plot to Kill Jesus.

Fortunately, religions have lost some of their influence,

I think that religious doctrines are simply incompatible

THE BIBLE OLD TESTAMENT

In theocracies, all the child-care services and nursery

There are lots of false ideas circulating around religions.

- 1st false idea: religions brought morals.

This is not true!

- 2nd false idea: the prophets themselves wrote the

- 3rd false idea: a country’s government is better if it

“Religion is loving your neighbour...” Are you sure?

THE BIBLE OLD TESTAMENT

THE BIBLE OLD TESTAMENT

And a few chapters further…

THE BIBLE OLD TESTAMENT

1) Evolution of religious beliefs

I usually compare religions to a hydra.

While for millions of years, the evolution of the first

In many fields, scientific (energy research*, chemistry,

Do you seek refuge in religious beliefs because the

Death frightens you?

Of course, the fight must continue, but what we must