Regarding Religion

By : Duke Focalor
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“Religion is the opium of the people”

Karl Marx
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Preface

This work is written for educative purposes only. The readers will

find a mix of my own personal opinions, and fact. However, no

facts in the book will be misrepresented. This is the tale of

religion, and it’s patterns, myths, and lessons. This book is not

meant to offend any individuals, but rather to make people more

open minded to different beliefs, or essentially, a lack of. Religion

has been the scapegoat of leaders for thousands of years. Religion

is the reason people are willing to kill, or be killed. If people did

not cling to their religion, virtually all world conflicts could be

solved. Why do we kill for something that is supposed to be about

peace? This book unveils the religious plagiarism of the Christian

ways. Many people have asked me: “If you’re Agnostic, why do

you care so much about religion?” My answer is simple: I want to

help show other people how downright ridicules humans have a

tendency to be, and to help lead the world one step closer to a
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peaceful society. I write this book with the intention to show

people just how ignorant they can be to their own religion. My

goal is to abolish religion, and with it major world conflicts.

People who cling tightly to their faith also believe in the spread of

peace. Many of them do not realize the contradictions in their

ways. I, however, realize it fully. Religion has been a cause for

discrimination and hate among humans for far too long, and I feel

like I must do my part in helping rid the world of it’s greatest

enemy, religion.

“I cannot prove anything, I can only disprove”.

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Section one : Christianity

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Chapter 1

Jesus
If Jesus had been killed twenty years ago, Catholic school children would be
wearing little electric chairs around their necks instead of crosses.
-Lenny Bruce

Jesus. Son of God, sent for our sins. Let me give you a short

background of the life of Jesus before we begin. :

Born of the Virgin Mary, Jesus is the Messiah of the Jews.

According to Eusebius (the first Christian historian), Jesus was

born in a cave. In fact, the same cave that he was later buried in.

Other fables of Christianity state it was a manger, located in

Bethlehem. Three wise men see a new star, and go to worship their

new king. A nearby shepherd is startled when an angel appears

before him, and informs him of the birth of our king. A king

nearby fears his birth, and sends his men to kill all the male babies

in the area. Joseph, Jesus’ father learns of this, and they flee. They
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raise Jesus, and little or nothing is known of his upbringing. After

a while, he appears again as an adult. He rides through towns on

Donkeys, heals the blind, and even brings the dead back to life. He

is then tried for blasphemy, and is crucified. After three days he is

resurrected, and lives on. It is important to remember that he “died

on the cross for three days, then rose once again”.

This is the story of Jesus as fast as I could summarize it. Jesus,

however, is not original. He is the product of many champions of

Greek and Roman Mythology. All modern religions have stemmed

off of Greek mythology.

For example, Dionysus, the Greek god of Wine, was born of a

virgin. Not only that, but he was born on the 25th of December.

According to myth, Dionysus also used wine to symbolize his

blood to his followers, and bread as his flesh. Jesus was able to

“turn water into wine”. I believe this was a personal attack on

Dionysus by the fabricator of Jesus, for while Dionysus had

created wine he had never been fabled to do something as bold as

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turning water into wine.

Like Jesus, Dionysus had once been killed. Zeus took Dionysus’

heart, and with it, resurrected him, upon which Dionysus ascended

into heaven. And before his death Dionysus had a “Last Supper”

with his 12 apostles. Dionysus was wrongfully killed, stating, “You

know not what you are doing”. This is a very close account of the

final words of Jesus. Keep in mind that all of these Gods, Heroes,

and myth have existed before Jesus.

Jesus is also modeled off of Hercules, the hero of the gods, and

the god of heroes. Both were presented with a mortal enemy,

whose names even have a strong concordance (Jesus-Herod ,

Hercules-Hera). The proof of Jesus versus Hercules is also in

close proximity. The works of the life of Jesus are based off of

telltale, or rumors. The same is noted for Homers works on

Hercules. Hercules and Jesus were both born of a mortal mother,

and a deity father.

Upon the birth of Jesus, three shepherds visited him. Mithra, a

Persian god-man(god who takes a mortal form) was also honored

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with the presence of three shepherds at his birth. Mithra later lead

a life of public miracles, healing people, and raising the dead.

Does that sound familiar? When Jesus was born, three magi who

brought gold, frankincense, and Myrrh also visited him. These are

three materials that are precise when it comes to pagan rites and

rituals.

In Mark, chapter 5, Jesus released a demon from a man, and

embodied it into 2,000 pigs, which then ran off a cliff, and

drowned. Eleusis, the home of the Goddess Demeter, is home also

to a similar story. 2,000 followers were bathed in the sea (sound

like Baptism?) and each given a young pig. This drove the evil

spirits out the humans and into the pigs, which were then killed.

Jesus preformed many miracles, and an extremely prominent one

is when Jesus enabled Simon Peter to catch 153 fish. 153 you say?

Why, isn’t that the number believed sacred by Pythagoras, a Greek

mathematician, scientist and…pagan? He started his own

movement called Pythagoreanism, which held the number 153 in

sacred reverence.
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Have you ever seen “The Passion of the Christ”? It’s an

intensely gory movie depicting the life of Christ. The first ten

minutes of the movie show no violence. After that, there are only

8 minutes of the whole film that are without gore. Christians

WANT to see the savior beaten. It gives them the feeling that this

man really truly suffered for them.

This brings me to my next point. Let’s say, hypothetically,

that Jesus DID exist. He is the Son of God, and knows there is a

heaven. The human conflict of questions wondering, “Is there

really a God/heaven?” were never present in his mind, he knew all

along. So why is him suffering construed as a deed for us? He

was going home. He was going back to the greatest place ever,

and leaving all of those who were imperfect. He basically decided

we were hopeless, and went back to heaven.

To say that Jesus was based off of Greek Gods may not do

him justice. There are multiple different theories on the origin of

Jesus. Who is to say that he was based off a Greek God?

Anyways, I thought it would only be fair to explore other

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conjectures on the coming of this Religious monument. The other

theory we will explore is a correlation between Jesus and

Astronomy.

Before we start drawing similarities between any two objects,

I have to give you the story of our sun. Refer back to the story of

Jesus after this, and you will be shocked. Anyways, here is the

story of our sun, center of our Universe:

Our sun goes through a “Zodiac circuit” in exactly one year. The

Zodiac is divided into 12 different houses, which represent the

twelve sections of a 365.25 daylong year. They (and a brief

description) are as listed in order:

Capricorn (Known as the Goat. Starts December 22nd, which is the

Winter Solstice, or the shortest day of the year. Slowly, the Sun

rises more and more north during this part of the Zodiac. This is

actually considered the annual birth of the sun, seeing as it rises

from its southernmost position in this time period. This selection

of the Zodiac ends on January 19th)

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Aquarius (Known as the Water beaver. This portion starts January

20th, and lasts until February 18th. This is generally the time of

rain. All things associated with this piece of the Zodiac deal with

water)

Pisces (Known as the two fish. Starts February 19th, ends March

20th. This Zodiac is usually associated with fishing. The water of

the last section makes fish plentiful, and this is the optimal time for

fishermen. The fishermen are highly in demand during this time,

since it is still too early to be acquiring food from agricultural

means.)

Aries (Known as the Ram, sometimes referred to as “The lamb”. It

Starts March 21st, and ends April 19th. You may notice that the date

it starts on, March 21st is the date of the Vernal Equinox, which is

when the sun rises exactly in the East, as opposed to simply “in the

vicinity of the East”. This is the time when lambs are born.
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Taurus (Known as the bull. Starts April 20th, and ends on May 20th.

Between Taurus and Gemini, the sun will pass across the Milky

Way, generally between May 21st and June 4th)

Gemini (Known as the twins. Starts May 21st, and ends on June

20th. The twins bear the name of Castor and Pollux, named of the

two brightest stars in Gemini.)

Cancer (Known as the crab. Starts June 21st, and ends on July 22nd.

Its first day is the longest day of the year, also known as the

Summer Solstice. After the 21st, the sun descends south, and days

become shorter.)

Leo (Known as the Lion. Starts July 23rd, and ends on August 22nd.

These are the days of the most brutal heat, and are thought to be

the “strongest” days.

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Virgo (Known as the Eternal Virgin of the Harvest. Starts August

23rd, and ends on September 22nd. Virgo is the come of Harvest

time, and widely recognized by ancient cultures.

Libra (Known as the Scales of Justice. Starts September 23rd, and

ends on October 23rd. Scale is meant in the sense of measurement

of weight. In this time of agriculture, this was one of the most

important houses of Zodiac, as it is when farmers sold their crop.

August 23rd, the day it starts on, marks the Autumnal Equinox,

which is the beginning of Autumn. Day and night are equal

lengths, and ancient civilizations saw this as Good and Evil being

equal.

Scorpio (Known as the Scorpion. Starts October 24th, and ends

November 11th. Ancient people believed that the scorpion had

stung the sun, and this resulted in the days becoming shorter, and

evil once again winning the war.

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Sagittarius (Known as the Hunter. Starts November 22nd, and ends

on December 21st. He is depicted as a man on horseback, holding

a bow or spear. This is also the hunting season.

The first similarity you may have drawn is during Capricorn.

Jesus was missing from Bethlehem in this time period, which

means “house of bread”. Jesus is not in Bethlehem though; he is in

the city of Capricorn. This is illustrated in Matthew Chapter two,

and Luke Chapter two.

The second conjecture you may have noticed is Aquarius. If

you are familiar with The Holy Bible then you know that this is the

time period when Jesus visited John the Baptist. At this time he is

baptized, much like the earth is baptized with rainwater during this

house of the zodiac.

Thirdly, is the Pisces. If you remember, the symbol for

Pisces is the two fish. Think back to the Bible, and you will find

strong concordances between the two fish, and Simon and Andrew.

Simon and Andrew are two brother fishermen who Jesus

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encounters on his ministry of miracles. During the Zodiac Pisces

Catholics, Episcopalians, and Mohammedans celebrate Lent, a

time when they eat no meat save Fish. During this time period,

many of them live on fish. You will find evidence of this

comparison in Matthew 4:18-22, Mark 1:16.

A fourth theorem you could hypothesize is the connection

between Jesus and Aries. During this series of days, Jesus

becomes the Lamb of God. Aries is the Ram, also known as the

Lamb. This connection should be obvious.

Near Taurus, as we said sun passes through the Milky Way,

which looked like a “lake in the sky” to primitive cultures. During

this time in the Bible Jesus crosses the lake by walking on water.

This is supported in Mat 8:8, Mark 4:35, Luke 8:22, and John

6:16-25.

Another interesting connection is that as the sun passes

through Gemini (the twins, Castor and Pollux), Jesus heals two

men that were possessed with demons. To prove this, I suggest

Mat. 8:28-34.
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Time to move on to Leo. At this time in the Bible, Jesus is

depicted as shining greatly on the top of a mountain. At this time

in our sky, the Sun shines greatly from its highest point in the sky.

Simply look in the Bible, under Mat. 17:1-13, Mark 9:2-13, or

Luke 9:28-36 to find out the truth in this statement.

The connection drawn with Virgo is not as simple as all the

others. In the Bible, Jesus is valiantly entering Jerusalem on his

ministries at this time. The sun also enters Virgo (Eternal Virgin of

the Harvest) at this time. Jesus finds that the general population is

light hearted at this time, for it is the harvest. This can be found in

Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:28-44, and John 12:12-19.

Do not forget Libra, the scale of Justice. This is compared to

the Jesus throwing tables over at a temple, calling it a “den of

robbers”. Jesus is upset that people are selling and buying, so he

upsets the crowd. Men of law then greet him, and scales have

represented law for thousands of years. This is found in Matthew

21:12-17.

Next is Scorpio, which is plainly the scorpion. If you

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remember, this is when evil begins to take over good. This is also

the point in the bible where Judas betrays Jesus. Many argue that

Judas is a personification of the scorpion. Another interesting

theory on Scorpio is that this is the time when Jesus Curses the Fig

tree. What happens is he is hungry, but the tree bears no fruit.

This angers Jesus, so he destroys the fruit tree (Matthew 21:18-19).

The bible says that it withers, but many also point at that the fact

that trees naturally wither this time of year.

The last Zodiac is Sagittarius. In the Bible, Jesus is bound,

and taken before Pontius Pilate, the governor. Pontius translates to

“of the sea”, such as the sea of stars that make up our sky. Pilate

becomes “armed with a spear” much like Sagittarius, the hunter.

Many people believe Pilate is a personification of Sagittarius.

There are many other similarities to be drawn. There are

twelve Zodiac Houses, and Jesus has 12 disciples. The ministry of

Jesus lasted one year, like the time period in which the sun

completes it’s cycle. Jesus is said to be born in the same cave he

died in, which would make his life a cycle similar to the revolution
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the Earth makes around the Sun.

And perhaps the most convincing argument is that Jesus is born

on December 25th, three days after the Winter Solstice. Ancient

civilizations believed the sun died on Winter Solstice, since it is it’s

lowest position in the sky. After three days though, the sun raises

1/10 of a degree, and is “resurrected” to the primitive cultures.

A theory that closely ties with the last one is the connection

drawn between the Egyptian sun god Horus and Jesus. Both born

to virgins in a cave on December 25th. Horus was born to Isis and

Osiris, Jesus to Joseph and Mary. Both preformed identical feats,

such as healing the blind, performing exorcism, and both were

cognates for the sun.

So why Jesus? Why do we idolize Jesus, rather than Mithra,

Dionysus, Hercules, or Horus? The reasoning is within the

empires of Rome and Greece themselves. The national religions

were what we now know as Greek Mythology. As the Empire of

Greece fell, so did its religion. Christianity has survived due to its

ability to become manifested into governments. But that topic is

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for a different chapter.

Chapter 2

God and Satan

“Who kills more, God or Satan? God is totaled at 2,270,365 in the Holy Bible,
not counting The Great Flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, the many plagues, famines,
or fiery serpents due to a kill count not being given. Satan is totaled at 10.”
-Unknown

Do you know the story of the coming of Satan? Well, I’ll sum

it up for you. Lucifer was an archangel of God, and perhaps his

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most powerful angel. One day though, Lucifer gathered some

other angels to lead a revolt against God. God punished Lucifer

and his angels to Hell, where they were in charge of the

underworld. The fallen angels then became Demons, and Lucifer

became Satan.

Now allow me to share with you the coming about of Hades.

Hades, a brother of Zeus, grew a deep passion for the dead. He

was the dabbler in the dark arts, and as such he claimed his stake

as the Underworld, the place where the souls of the dead go.

Before he had left, Hades was perhaps the most powerful God next

to Zeus.

In both stories, God/Zeus coincide with Satan/Hades. They

do not hate them, but merely use them as a tool to rule the

underworlds. You will find more unnerving parallels between the

two beliefs as we continue to explore into this chapter.

The Elysian Fields were a part of the Greek underworld where

the brave and courageous went to after death. It is much like

Christian heaven. It is a place of perfection, where all good souls

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can live together peacefully. Homer (a famous writer of Greek

mythology) depicted the Elysian Fields as a Utopia. If you ponder

the parallels between Christian heaven, and the Elysian Fields you

will find it disturbingly similar.

On the other hand, we have the River Phlegethon (or as it

translates, “Lake of fire”). This is the eternal resting place of those

who commit atrocities against mankind, such as murder or rape.

Those tossed into Phlegethon are boiled alive in their own blood

for all of eternity. The severity of this has given it the name of

“The seventh circle of hell”.

Hell in the Christian Bible is described as a “lake of fire”,

where sinners and non-believers are thrown into. They will remain

there for all eternity, for they have committed a crime so great that

their punishment should be infinite. Once again, any thought of

this comparison will force you to the inevitable.

We have all seen pictures of the devil. A Man with the legs

of a goat, and horns upon his head. An image of extreme ugliness,

in which our minds correlate with evil. Once again, the Greeks
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beat the Christians to the punch line. Pan, the son of Hermes (in

the Pantheon of Greek gods) is portrayed as a Goat-man, having

horns and a pair of goat legs. This makes him ugly beyond

compare, and all he falls in love with rejects him. This makes Pan

one of the most Lustful Gods, a sin often regarded as Satan’s

downfall.

Somewhere in the human mind we connect ugly with evil, and

beauty with good. It is for this reason the image of Satan was a

replica of the most atrocious looking Greek God. While Pan was

a just god, many Greeks did not follow him, due to his appearance.

The image of God is also built from a Greek deity. Zeus, of

course, was the candidate elected to be the still life used by

Christians, as they painted their own God. No other mythical

character was as powerful as Zeus, and all feared him. He was a

symbol of strength, and often times his lightning bolt his a sign of

greatness. It is for this reason early Christians interpreted their

God as a man of white hair, with defined features. Many of their

physical features are the same, but modern Christianity has come
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to take an approach of mystery when it comes to the physical

appearance of their deity.

Chapter 3

Adam and Eve

“If god is a man, how come Adam and Eve both have bellybuttons in all the
pictures?”
-Anton. 7

I’m sure most of us have heard the tale of Adam and Eve, but I

will relay it for those of us who do not. God created Adam, and

placed him in the Garden of Eden. He instructed Adam to eat

anything he wanted, except to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of

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Good and Evil. He was told that if he ate from it, he would surely

die. Then the Lord created all the beasts to be the helpers of man.

Adam named all of the animals, but found not suitable helpers. So

God took a rib from Adam, and created Adam a partner. Flesh of

his Flesh, Blood of his Blood, Eve was created. A serpent, the

most cunning of creatures, convinced Eve to eat a fruit from the

Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. She also gave some to

Adam, and they both ate it. Upon eating it, they realized they were

naked. This embarrassed them, so they sewed fig leaves together

to make clothes. God noticed this, and realized they had eaten

from the Tree. God punished the serpent by making it crawl on it’s

belly, and woman by increasing her pain in childbirth. Also, he

said that man is to rule over her. They were then banished from the

Garden of Eden. The full story can be found in Genesis, but the

summary provided is very accurate.

The first problem, and the most easy to identify with the story

is the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. If Adam had been

instructed not to eat from it before he knew the difference between

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Good and Evil, he would not know that disobeying God was Evil.

He knew nothing of morals, and Gods words could not have held

any weight with him at all. Then, after Adam does eat from it, God

gets angry. What can he expect?

The second main problem is that Adam was created as modern

man now is. This means Adam was given a Penis when he came

into existence. Why would God give Adam a Penis, if there were

no females at the time? He had constructed Adam, so he must

have known that Adam would simply get lonely eventually without

a female with the counterpart sexual organs. These are two major

events that were overlooked by the fabricators of Christian

Religion.

The third main flaw I see in this fable is that there was no

death before Adam and Eve ate from The Tree of Knowledge of

Good and Evil. Does this mean that God prevented all other

organisms, such as bacteria, from touching Adam? Many people

will simply argue that bacteria were created as a punishment for

eating for The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. This is

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absurd, as bacteria is a necessity to our entire ecosystem.

Also, the notion of a Feminist Christian Group is absurd. The

Bible itself says in Genesis 3:16 that Woman shall be ruled over by

Man. I do not agree with this, but then again, I am not a Christian.

A true Christian woman would allow her husband to rule over her

constantly.

“So…” people ask me, “If not Adam and Eve, how did man

start?” Well, I cannot answer that for a certain. But unlike

Christianity, I have never claimed the ability to provide a full

explanation. However, I am confident in the ability Science has to

explain it. Science will explain everything, in due time.

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Chapter 4

Noah’s Ark
“The ark is supposed to be twice the size of the Titanic right? If Noah built a
ship with the help of his 3 sons in a week...Then why did it take 15,000 men and
over 2 years to finish the Titanic?”
-David Rohlf

Allow me to make you acquainted with the story of Noah and

the Great Flood. Noah was a righteous man. So were his sons,
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Shem, Ham, and Japheth. All other men of this time were sinners,

and this grieved God. He decided to wipe man and animal from

the planet. One time, when God and Noah were talking, God told

Noah to build an ark of cypress wood, and to make room in it. The

dimensions of the ark were to be 450 feet long, 75 feet high, and

45 feet wide. He was commanded to put a roof on the ark, to keep

water out. Noah is told to take 7 of every clean animal, a male and

it’s mate. Also, two of every unclean animal, a male and its mate.

Lastly, seven of every kind of bird, a male and its mate. When

Noah was 600 years old (no joke) God sent the floodwaters to

earth to purge out the evil. For forty days and forty nights water

ravaged the earth, and the world became flooded. Eventually,

Noah sent out a Raven, and discovered land. From here, all the

animals were released to repopulate the earth.

First, I will start my counterproof with the simple scientific

fact that matter cannot be created, nor destroyed. Since this is

proven true, where did all the water come from, and where did it

go to afterwards? The water needed to completely flood the earth

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is so great that it couldn’t simply “disappear”.

Secondly, the prospect of rounding up every specious of

animal in Jerusalem in unachievable. Where did Noah find the

penguins? The artic regions had not yet been discovered at the

time, so much of this is impossible. Many Christians will argue

that God sent the Animals to Noah. This is supported neither by

science or the Bible. Genesis 6:19 states; “You are to bring on the

ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive

with you”. That clearly states that God had no intention of sending

the animals to Noah.

Thirdly, let’s assume that Noah and his family do round up

every species. Noah is instructed to keep all animals alive for 40

days, and to only have a specific number of them. Flies do not live

for 40 days though, they live for 24 hours. And, if they

reproduced, they would reproduce in numbers that exceeded God’s

instructions. I’ve encountered ignoramuses who claim that God

allowed the animals to live longer during the 40 days. If this were

true, then why would he instruct Noah to keep them alive? If he

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could keep them alive no matter what, there would be no need for

God to tell Noah to be careful about keeping them alive.

In spite of all the factual evidence against it, some people still

believe in this Christian favorite. Many say that Noah’s Ark has

been found, on the top of a mountain in Turkey. Then why, I ask,

is there not every single species of animal in Turkey? Would not

every type of animal be present at the landing point, since some

offspring would stay?

Another argument is that maritime animals would flourish

heavily. If all land animals had been practically extinct, but no

marine wildlife touched, why do the oceans not froth with fish?

There are many animals that are not proficient at swimming.

Deer, for example. How then, did Deer come to North America

after the Ark landed in Europe? Deer cannot swim the distance of

an ocean, which is simply absurd. Some people will say that

Noah’s Ark landed during Pangaea, then the continents spread

apart. Christianity states that the Earth and the Universe itself is

no older than 6,000 years old. Science says Pangaea was in

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existence 250 million years ago. This makes any possibility of this

argument null and void.

At times, I have been in an argument with someone who said

no artic animals existed until after Noah’s landing of the ark. After

this, some of the animals traveled North or South, then adapted and

changed physical features to suit their environments. This is the

basis of Evolution, which is denounced by Christianity.

It is pretty obvious to see that this part of the Bible is a work

of fiction. The events described in it are so irrational that any

logical human would reject them, after seeing them in a more

intellectual light. To believe in this part of the Bible is to believe

in the existence of a Disney character, because both are very

elaborate and well told stories. Neither of which are true.

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Chapter 5

Jonah and the Whale

“How can a religion accept a man being swallowed by a whale and kept alive, but
dismiss the thought of a Flying Spaghetti Monster creating the universe? There is
no difference in evidence.”
- Duke Focalor

The story of Jonah and the whale is a bedtime classic for

many Christian families. The story needs little explanation, and is

simply summarized as : Jonah was asked by God to proclaim

judgment to Ninevah. When Jonah tries to flee by boat, God

creates a great storm. The crew of the ship throws Jonah over,
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attempting to appease God. A great fish then swallows Jonah,

Jonah lives inside the fish for three days, and then prays to God for

forgiveness. God hear Jonahs prayer, and commands the whale to

spit Jonah out on the land. After he has his feet again on dry

ground, he travels to Ninevah to fulfill God’s will.

The problems with this story are so numerous that I would

think this chapter completely unneeded, yet recent conversations

with myrmidons of the Christian faith tells me otherwise. Many of

them claim this story is simply “a story that never really happened,

it just is a lesson God gave us”. First off, there is a name for these

lessons, and they are called parables. Secondly, The Bible states

whether stories are parables or not. The story of Jonah IS NOT

stated as a parable, therefore it must be taken as true in every way.

Given those parameters, my first doubt on the truth of this

story is the fact that Jonah lived inside the great fish for three days.

The acid in the stomach of a fish of this size would kill Jonah

before an hour, never the less three days. The ignoring of this

scientific data cannot continue, and these false stories must be

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brought into the light of knowledge.

My second doubt is that a “great fish” would even swallow

Jonah. Either this fish was a carnivore or omnivore, which means

that it would kill Jonah as it chewed him, or it was an herbivore,

which entails that it would not swallow Jonah in the first place. To

argue that “God had commanded it to swallow Jonah” is simply

that imagination filling a void of reason with fanciful thoughts,

none of which can even be considered true, on the smallest

spectrum.

So why do so many people find it easy to believe in a giant

fish swallowing a man and keeping it alive for three days, yet as a

society we reject the thought of evolution, a factual based

hypothesis. Many people simply don’t like to be associated with

primates, yet primates must be smarter than the average human, for

they do not have religion. Even the mind of a primate would reject

the book of Jonah in any realm of logical thought or conversation.

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Chapter 6

The beginning of everything

“If we are going to teach creation science as an alternative to evolution, then
we should also teach the stork theory as an alternative to biological
reproduction.”
-Judith Hayes

As always, I will give you a summary of the Christian Belief on

Creation:

In the beginning, everything was dark. God said, “Let there be

light” and there was light. God then proceeded to separate light
 37

from dark, and day from night. This was the first day.

On the second day, God divided the water from the air. From

his, the blue sky emerged.

On the third day, God made dry land by gathering the waters

into in areas. He covered this dry land with Grass and other plants.

On the fourth day, God put the sun in the sky, and the moon in

the night.

On the fifth day, God created all the birds in the air, and all the

fish in the water.

On the sixth day, God created all land animals. Cows, pigs,

goats, humans, etc*.

And on the seventh day, God rested.

That is how the tale goes. As interesting of a story it is, it is

not true. I hope very much that you were able to pick up on some

flaws in the story, as there definitely are some. We will start with

the most obvious fault.

God created light on the first day. He also separated the night
 38

from the day at this time. How can there be night and day on Earth

without the Sun? It’s clearly illustrated that God did not create the

Sun until the fourth day, yet until then there was still night and day.

This is just not logical.

Another large problem is the fact that god needs to rest on the

seventh day. While I do realize that it would be a tiring week, is he

not omnipotent? I did not know that omnipotent beings required

rest. Rest is described as a period of inactivity, so one can regain

stamina. Does this mean there are times when God is too tired to

help us?

I often argue the creation of the universe with people, and I

have confronted the same question every time. “If God didn’t

make the universe, how did it get there?” And the simple response

to this is “If nothing ever created God, how did he get there? Why

can God have just happened for no explanation, while our universe

couldn’t have simply happened, even with scientific facts”.

Another argument I encountered was that the Big Bang theory is

impossible, and that even if a highly dense point of matter did

 39

explode, it would not continue to stay in motion forever. But, you

must remember that there is no gravity on these objects in motion,

no obstacles in their way. Therefore, yes, they would continue to

expand. The universe is expanding is a proven fact, accepted by

Creationists and Atheists alike, so we have valid evidence of the

Big Bang Theory.

Chapter 7

Homosexuality, Sexism, and God’s

intolerance in the Bible

“Man created God in his image : intolerant, sexist, homophobic and
violent.”
- Marie

There is no one definite story I can give you to sum up all of

this, so I will relay many shorter stories to you. The Bible states

many times though its intolerance to Homosexuality, its beliefs in

 40

sexism, and the intolerance of God. We will start at the top, and

explore the Bible’s policy on Homosexuality.

Sodom is a city in the Bible that existed long ago. The

inhabitants of it were extreme sinners, and God set out to destroy

it. Abraham pleaded for God not to, and God said if there were 5

righteous men in the city, he would not touch it. Finding only

Abrahams Nephew righteous, God destroyed the city. Genesis 19

is clear that this city was destroyed because of Homosexual

activity inside of the city.

There are many other examples of Homophobia in the Bible,

many of which are founds in Romans. Romans 1:26-27 states that

: “For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even

their women did change the natural use into that which is against

nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the

woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men

working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that

recompense [sic] of their error which was meet.”. The meaning of

this quote is simple and straightforward. Being a homosexual will

 41

send you to hell.

Another blatant quote found in Leviticus 18:22 is : “Do not lie

with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable.”. There is

no way to get around the fact that The Bible believes that

Homosexuals are directly disobeying God, and therefore will burn

in hell.

So why do many Christians accept Homosexuals? The answer

is that they pick and choose parts of the Bible to disregard. This is

once again proof that people do not follow the rules of religion, but

that religion, in fact, follow the rules of people.

The next topic we will cover in this chapter is sexism. The

sheer prospect of a Female rights group directly contradicts

Christianity. Genesis 3:16 states : “Your desire shall be for your

husband, and he shall rule over you”. I don’t think there is any

possible way around this. According to Christianity, Men are

created to have more rights then women.

Another verse that is profoundly sexist in the Bible is Genesis,

6:2, which reads : “The sons of God saw that the daughters of men
 42

were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose.” There is

no possible way around the simple, concise nature of this verse.

Firstly, if man chooses a woman, and she has no say in it, it is

obvious who the greater force is. Secondly, I found it interesting

they would say the males are the “sons of God”, but call the

females merely the “daughters of men”. The Bible is stating that

men come directly from God, yet females did not. Females are

ruled over by man, as man is ruled over by God. I find this very

odd, and when females are questioned about it, they simply ignore

it.

Please remember that all of these ideals are The Bibles, and

not mine. I personally do not believe in the superiority of either

sex. The sheer factor that we need the other to survive makes the

relationship symbiotic, therefore neither is greater. No, I do not

support sexism, but I do intend to shed light to the Bible’s support

of it.

The third and final quandary we will contemplate in this

chapter is the intolerance of God. While God is made out to be

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perfect being, we must realize how impossible this is. Keep in

mind the notion that God is perfect throughout this section, and

you will pull on the thread of this sweater of lies.

It’s told that God created man in his image. This seems a

little egotistical to me. It’s only natural though, Humans created

Christianity and they end up being the blessed kind. Also, if God

created man in his image, why are we not all Gods? How could a

being of human caliber create the Universe, and everything in it in

a week? No, I believe that man created God in his image, such as

the quote at the beginning of this chapter states.

A perfect God would not kill his children. Why would God

create us, if only to later flood the world and cause us pain? How

great can he be, if he cannot control our actions, only our fates?

Anyone can kill another human, it is not anything special. A real

God would eliminate conflict. The Christian God never ends it, he

simply shows he is greater at creating it than man. This is not

worthy of lordship.

Many people say that all this conflict is simply a test of our
 44

faith. Would we not have faith if we were born into heaven? If

born into heaven, there would be no lack of faith, and every human

would be saved. No, Christian God decides to put us on a large

rock to see if we believe. And then, he watch’s over us,

“delivering us from evil”. My favorite movie, “The Count of

Monte Cristo” has a very good lesson in it. A man is taken to

prison, and threatened to be beaten. The man is religious, so the

jailer says “Let's make a bargain. You ask God for help, and I'll

stop the moment He shows up.”. I encourage all those reading this

to put this to the test. This proves that even if there is a God, he is

not concerned with the pain of man, and he will not help or save

humans.

Another great quote I have found is : “Is God willing to

prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able,

but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and

willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing?

Then why call him God?”. This is a famous quote by Epicurus, an

ancient Greek Philosopher. I recommend pondering this quote

 45

from a non-bias view. It makes a very valid point, and a non-

arguable statement.

Section two : Islamic

 46

Chapter one

Muhammad
“Fight them until all opposition ends, and all submit to Allah.”
-Muhammad
 47

I doubt that all of you are as familiar with the story. It is

extremely different from the story of the Christian messiah. The

following is a detailed version of the life of the Islamic messiah:

Muhammad was born 570 CE (Common Era, the one we are

in) in Mecca. His father Abdullah had died several weeks before

Muhammad’s birth. Muhammad had a normal life for the first six

years, and when he was six years of age, his mother died. His

grandfather, Abd al Muttalib received Muhammad until Abd al

Muttalib’s death when Muhammad was eight. Abd al Muttalib was

slain by Abu Talib, Muhammad’s uncle. Abu Talib took

Muhammad in, and taught him how to merchant.

When twelve years old, Muhammad joined his uncle on a

Caravan that went all the way to Bosnia, Syria. During this

journey, Muhammad earned himself the nickname “al-Ameen”,

which means the honest, the reliable, and the trustworthy.

Khadijah, a wealthy merchant widow heard of Muhammad and his

credentials and asked him to deliver some merchandise to Syria.

 48

After Muhammad completed this, Khadijah proposed

marriage to him, and Muhammad accepted. Khadijah had already

been widowed twice, and was forty years old. Muhammad was

twenty-five years of age when he accepted. Over time, Khadijah

and him had 6 children, four daughters and two sons. One of his

sons, Qasim died when two years old. Muhammad then got the

nickname Abdul Qasim, or “father or Qasim”. Muhammad’s other

son Abdullah died while an infant.

Muhammad was of forty years of age when on one of his

numerous visits to Mount Hira, his meditation spot, when the

Archangel Gabriel appeared to him. Gabriel said to Muhammad to

“read”, or “recite”. Upon Muhammad’s response of “I cannot

read”, Gabriel embraced him, then once again commanded him to

“read”, or “recite”. This happened one more time, and then

Gabriel asked Muhammad to repeat after him: “Recite in the name

of your Lord who created! He created man from that which clings!

Recite; and thy Lord is most bountiful, He who has taught by the

pen, taught man what he knew not.”. You can find this in the
 49

Qur’an, 96:1-5.

This disturbed Muhammad, and he returned to his home.

After telling his wife of his experience, she replied “Allah will not

you down because you are kind to relatives, you speak only the

truth, you help the poor, the orphan and the needy, and you are a

honest man.”. Khadijah then asked her cousin’s opinion of it, who

was extremely knowledgeable of scripture. Waraqa, her cousin,

informed her than the angel was Gabriel, the same angel that had

visited Moses. He believed Muhammad to be a long expected

prophet. Khadijah believed Muhammad was the prophet, and was

therefore the first Muslim.

Over the next twenty-three years, Gabriel appeared to

Muhammad many times, and instructed him of meaning signs, or

verses. Muhammad then instructed his many scribes to record

them as he relayed them, and thus the Qur’an(Koran) was born.

The task of Muhammad was to restore the full and undeniable right

of all worship to Allah. The earliest Muslims created the popular

phrase “There is no God Except Allah, and Muhammad is the

 50

messenger of Allah.”. Islam can be translated to “peace by

submission”, and those who follow the Islamic beliefs are

Muslims.

During his first 3 years of his ministry 40 people accepted

Islamic way. He then started preaching to the public, and the

leaders of Mecca decided to stop his preaching. They offered him

many valuable things, and even the position of king, if he would

abandon preaching. They even attempted to convince his uncle

Abu Talib to find someone to kill Muhammad. Abu tried to talk

his nephew out of preaching, but Muhammad refused.

The leaders of Mecca, or “The Quraish” then started to beat, or

torture Muslims, and even to boycott the business of Muslims.

The Muslims who were poor would be publicly beaten. One time

they killed a woman, Umm Ammar. The more prestigious

members of Islamic faith were put on house arrest until they

denounced their religion. Muhammad was publicly ridiculed, and

filth was thrown on him as he prayed. Muhammad advised all

Muslims to be patient though, and to wait it out.

 51

During the fifth year of his ministry, Muhammad advised all

Muslims to move to Abyssinia. Eighty people (small children not

included) immigrated to Abyssinia (modern day Ethiopia). When

the Quraish learned of this convoy, they sent a force to bring them

back. The leader of Abyssinia, Negus, was intrigued by Islamic

and allowed them to stay. The Quraish then retaliated by severing

any chances of contact between Muhammad and his relatives that

had stayed in Mecca. The ban of contact lasted three years, then

was lifted, Shortly after it was lifted both Khadijah and Abu Talib

died, and Muhammad was greatly saddened.

After the death of his wife and Uncle, Muhammad married

Sawdah, a widow who’s husband had died in Abyssinia.

Muhammad then received a vision by Allah that he was to also

marry A’ishah, a friend’s daughter. Since it was Allah’s will,

Sawdah accepted it fully, and they were Muhammad’s only two

wives until he reached fifty-six years of age.

Also at this time, Muhammad traveled to Ta’if, to seek

protection from persecution of the Muslims. They scoffed at him,

 52

and threw stones at him. Muhammad then received a revelation

from Gabriel, saying that if Muhammad asked Allah for

permission, he could destroy the town. Muhammad decided not to

destroy the town, and received another vision, stating that the

Koran is the doctrine for both Humans and Jinn(Jinn are known by

the English language as Genies, and are created from smokeless

fire. They existed before Adam according to the Koran, and are

widely accepted as real by Arabic culture.).

Shortly after, Gabriel appeared to Muhammad and took him

to the all Mosques, far and near. At the Mosque in Jerusalem met

with the prophets of the past; Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and others.

Muhammad lead them in prayer. This all occurred in one night,

and while Muhammad was staying in al-Israa.

After this night of events, Muhammad traveled to Al-Miraj.

During one night, Muhammad was then taken up to the heavens by

Angel Gabriel, and shown the signs of Allah. During his time in

heaven, he learned of the five daily prayers. He was to relay these

back to his people when he returned to earth. This whole

 53

encounter took but a few hours of one night.

After this experience, he traveled back to Mecca. Upon

entering, he was mocked, and ridiculed. Muhammad vividly

described Jerusalem, and a caravan heading towards Mecca that he

had seen. When these descriptions proved true, all of the

nonbelievers stopped mocking him.

By 622, The Quraish had decided that it was necessary to

kill Muhammad. They formulated a plan on how to kill him,

where one man from each Quraish tribe would attack Muhammad

at the same time. Gabriel appeared before Muhammad, and told

him of their plans. Muhammad fled Mecca with Abu Bakr, his

close friend of whoms daughter he married, on the planned night of

his assassination.

They traveled to the mountain cave of Thawr. They stayed

in the cave for three days, then traveled to Yathrib(commonly

known as Medinah). When the Quarish found he eluded them they

put a bounty of 100 camels on his head, dead or alive. His journey

to Medinah is known as the migration, or Hijra and this is the start

 54

of the Islamic calendar. Medinah welcomed Muhammad with

open arms, and the Muslims of Mecca all joined Muhammad here.

Wanting things to remain peaceful, Muhammad created a

treaty for the code of conduct among all humans in Medinah,

regardless of religion. All in Medinah embraced this contract, and

it kept order in the city.

After Muhammad arrived in Medinah, the Anti-Islamic forces

increased their army size. Many battles were waged around

Medinah (Battles of Badr, and Uhud, and Allies) during a

following period of time. These battles were to destroy the Islamic

faith, and during this period of time Muhammad married many

women who had been widowed by the war. One of which was

Umm Salamah, a women who’s husband died from wounds

sustained in the Battle of Uhud. Two other wives he gained

(Juwayriah and Safiyah) had been prisoners of war. Both were

“royal” in their tribes, and Muhammad granted them their freedom

in return for them accepting Islamic faith, and marrying

Muhammad.
 55

After this, Muhammad received a divine message that no

man shall have more than four wives. He was instructed to keep

all of his though, and he did. His wives were role models of a

Muslim female, and they often recited his verses to others.

By now, Muhammad and his followers pilgrimaged every

year. In 628, he and 1,500 myrmidons left for an annual

pilgrimage, this time to Mecca. On their journey they were stopped

at Hudaybiyah, a city on the way. A treaty was created stating that

Muslims would be permitted to plunder Mecca the next year.

While at Hudabiyah, Muhammad taught the Islamic faith to many.

By this time, a large number of Muslims had read and memorized

the Qur’an. They were sent to spread the practice of Islam to

places where Muhammad had not yet been. Over fifty of these

followers were killed.

Weeks after Hudabiyah Muhammad sent notes to many

Kings and Sires, as invitations to practice Islamic ways. Negus

(King of Abyssinia, also the ruler of Bahrain), and Heraclius

(Byzantine Emperor) joined Islamic faith after receiving letters. A

 56

large number of other leaders joined Islamic faith without

invitation.

Two uneventful years passed, and in 629 the Quraish broke

the Treaty of Hudabiyah. They had aided in the attack on the army

of Bani Khuza’ah, a friend of Muhammad. Some off the escaped

men of Bani Khuza’ah’s army ran to Mecca. The Quarish did not

help the men of the army of Bani Khuza’ah, and these men sent

messages to Muhammad asking for help. Muhammad responded

by Marching to Mecca, 10,000 Muslims strong, to reclaim the

“Holy Ground”. Before laying siege to the city, he sent a note

inside that side all who remained in their homes would not be

harmed. They marched into Mecca with little resistance, and right

into the temple that Muhammad had prayed at as a child, known as

Ka’bah. Muhammad then proceeded in destroying the idols in the

temple, and reclaimed it as a temple to Allah, the one true God.

Muhammad then confronted the Quraish, saying: “I will

treat you as Prophet Yousuf (Joseph) treated his brothers. There is

no reproach against you. Go to your homes, and you are all free.”.
 57

This surprised the Quraish greatly, and they found in the Islamic

faith. The few who did not accept the Muslim way of life fled, for

they feared Muhammad. Muhammad also stated that Allah had

created Mecca the same day he created the heavens and the Earth.

It is holy ground, and it is unlawful to shed blood or cut trees

within Mecca.

Those who had fled Mecca in fear of Muhammad received a

letter stating they would not be harmed, and they returned to

Mecca, and joined the Islamic faith. It only took about one year

for nearly all of Arabia to accept Muhammad as the prophet, on

630.

During that year, Gabriel once again appeared to

Mohammad and used to title “Father of Ibrahim” to address him.

Hours after this meeting Mohammad’s first wife (Khadijah) gave

birth to their third son, her first child after their previous six.

Mohammad named him Ibrahim, and Ibrahim lived to be ten

months old. The day he died there was a Solar Eclipse, and

Mohammad stated that all should pray at any time of an Eclipse.

 58

Arabia’s conversion to Islam made the two main powers of

the area at the time cautious. The Byzantines and Persian

governors made threats to attack Medinah, and Mohammad set up

small armies on the Northern borders of Arabia to help defend their

lad from the northern empires.

Mohammad completed his last pilgrimage in 632, with

120,000 myrmidons following him. This is when he was bestowed

with his final revelations. Shortly after words, he fell ill and died.

There is the story of the prophet of Islam. I think it is

important to understand something before you persecute it. That is

the main reason why I gave such a detailed story of the life of

Mohammad, according to the Koran.

First I would like to point of the fact the Mohammad never

possesses any supernatural powers. He is an ordinary man. How

can we accept his word is the word of Allah, if he is the only

person to have such encounters? He is a normal man who claims

extraordinary contacts, and others accept it without any logical

 59

reasoning or explanation. Imagine someone of modern day

claimed to have a contact with a Celestial being. This person had

no extraordinary powers, yet he claims to have encountered a deity,

who commands him on how humans should live their lives. This

man then preaches to other about it. Wouldn’t you think this man

was a complete nutcase? How does it differ when we talk about

someone 1550 years ago?

My second point is that Muhammad kills many people.

When he “pilgrimaged” towns he actually invaded them, killing all

those who would not convert. He is violent, and I do not think that

violence is something that should be modeled, certainly not

idolized. This blatant display of intolerance is the reason I believe

religion should be abolished.

My third observation on the life of Muhammad is that a

“Christian” angel visits him. It is important to remember that

during this time, Christianity was a widely accepted religion, and

therefore this stemmed off of Christianity, much like Roman

mythology and Greek mythology. In Greek mythology we have

 60

Heracles, but in Roman mythology we are presented Hercules.

These two characters are synonyms for the same person, but

neither acknowledge the “truth” of the other.

In conclusion, I believe that Muhammad was not a Messiah,

a prophet, or even a holy man. Any man suffering from delusion

could easily fabricate a story, and Mohammad did so. This is

before modern medicine, and many people suffered heat induced

mental conditions in the hot environment of Arabia.

Chapter two

Jinn
“If men and jinn combined to write the like of this Koran, they would surely fail to
compose one like it, though they helped one another.”
-Qur’an, 17:84

I’m sure that we all have been acquainted with Jinn one

way or another. Western culture generally depict them as Genies,

such on Aladdin(1992), a Disney movie based off of an Eastern

 61

tale. In western culture we prefer to say Genie. Genie and Jinn are

the same thing though, and it is important to understand that. The

basic story of Jinn are as follows :

The Jinn were created before man from a smokeless fire.

Upon man being created the Jinn were commanded by Allah to

bow to Adam, the first man. The Jinn refused, and were banished

to Earth. They also became labeled “Shaitan”, which is the Islamic

cognate to Satan. According to Islamic beliefs Jinn are mass less,

and can fit themselves into anything.

They set up communities similar to those of a human.

The engage in marriage, and death like human do. Due to them

being mass less though allows tem to house a community in any

size object. Jinn are invisible to humans, but can make themselves

visible if they wish to. When they make themselves visible, they

may appear as humans, or animals. While humans cannot see Jinn,

Jinn are fully capable of seeing humans. Jinn also follow Islamic,

and can even be summoned by humans.

The summoning of Jinn by a human is referred to as black

 62

magic. A dark Jinni is summoned, in exchange for money. The

reason for summoning dark Jinn is to have it do something terrible

to another human. Generally, you must pay a magician to have a

dark Jinn summoned.

This may seem extremely insane to the average Christian,

but it’s no more ludicrous than your average Christian Demon.

However, since neither Jinn nor Demons exist I will now continue

in my examination of Jinn.

A very simple fact that I noticed, and I’m sure many of you

also noticed was that Jinn are invisible. This means that there is no

factual evidence of the existence of Jinn. While Muslims may use

the fact that Jinn can manifest themselves in human or animal form

as an argument, this is not in any way, shape, or form an argument.

This just proves that the creator of this false religion was testing

how gullible people were. That statement entails that any human

you see, or animal, could be a Jinn. It defies scientific knowledge

on all fronts.

If you kept an open mind throughout the story of the Jinn,

 63

you may have noticed one more bit of information than those who

closed their minds. Allah created man, and commanded the Jinn to

bow to him. This once again shows the egotistical views of

mankind, as a race. We believe that everything was made for us,

and we are the supreme rulers of earth. No one gave us this title,

until we created religion.

A third problem you may have noticed in the story about the

Jinn is that they have no mass, yet they are living. Science shows

that there is no such thing as an object without mass. It is

impossible, and religious characters are no exception. How then

can man be so bold as to assert that there are living organisms that

have no mass?

No, I believe that Jinn are no more real then the Angels of

Christianity. They were created as a “servant” to man, and prove

his ego exceeds his intelligence. Also, the fact that man believes

they can summon a Jinn to harm another man shows the sickening

violence and disregard that humankind shows to each other. This

violence and disregard stem from religion.

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Chapter 3

Jihad
“Who told me that the act of Jihad, the act of killing non-Muslims was good?
Well, if you read the Koran, you will find that in a certain sura Allah says that he
has bought the lives of the Muslims in return for rewards of paradise. They kill
non-Muslims and get killed in this war effort, and the reward for these Muslims is
paradise. Paradise is a huge garden inhabited by the most beautiful virgins, who
live in palaces, and there are countless pretty pearl-like boys to serve them as
well.
-Anwar Shaikh

Many of us have heard the term “jihad” before, in our news

or in other political discussions. Jihad is a name that is often used,

 65

but never properly addressed. While many would believe that the

attacks of September 11th were completely unpredicted and had no

real reason behind them, this is simply not true. The attacks were

executed because of Islamic fundamentalism. This chapter will

focus on exploring the fastest growing movement of religious

extremism.

A large portion of Americans today find themselves

believing that groups like Al-Qaeda and Abu Sayyaf are simply

insane, and find that the only way to solve these matters is to hold

on tighter to their Christian beliefs. This is an example of

ignorance to reason. These groups are attacking because they have

actually read their religious doctrines, as opposed to most

Christians, who have not read theirs. Dismissing them as insane is

not justifiable, since they only are doing what they must to obtain

paradise. This is a sad example of how religion is affecting the

world today.

Those who say that Islamic is a religion of peace, and that

Jihadist groups have simply misinterpreted the text are either

 66

ignorant, or lying. In fact, the Qur’an is a sieve of intolerance.

This starts in 2:6, where it states “Don’t bother to warn the

disbelievers” all the way to 60:1 “Don’t be friends with

disbelievers. They are your and Allah’s enemy.”.

With quotes like “Slay them wherever you find them….Such

is the reward of disbelievers” (2:191) it is astonishing that there are

not more fundamentalist groups launching attacks on nations that

are not under Islamic rule. It is with the Koran in mind that

Jihadists intend to destroy infidels.

While Jihaddists (Muslim extremists) remain the largest

religious fundamentalist group, there are terrorists on both sides.

To simply blame all religious terrorism on Muslims is foolish,

because Christians have more then their share of terrorism also. As

weapons of immense capabilities become available to these

groups, so will the ability to kill millions in one moment. We

cannot continue to allow religion to get in the way of our success

as a species.
 67

Section three : Conclusion

 68

Chapter one
 69

Pascal’s Wager
“If you believe in God and turn out to be incorrect, you have lost nothing
– but if you don’t believe in God and turn out to be incorrect, you will go to hell.
Therefore it is foolish to be an atheist.”
-Blaise Pascal

As you can see in the above quote, Pascal’s wager is a

philosophical argument that it is better to believe in God than not

to. While this may seem like an ideal argument for any simpleton,

it is extremely flawed. In this chapter, we will point out some of

it’s larger flaws.

The first argument is that this argument is only enjoyable in

theory. If you think deeply into it, you will find that the price of

believing in God is coming at a cost of our current planet. While

heaven is described as a place infinitely better than earth, we do

not know for certain the existence of it. Therefore we are

destroying our only real world for one that lives in our fantasies.

This cannot be allowed to continue.

The second large flaw in this wager is that simply being

concerned about yourself is not a reason to believe in any religion.

 70

That is not faith, that is selfishness. We should not celebrate

people who possess a combination of equal ignorant and self-

centered thoughts. If “God” were just, he would not allow those

selfish people into heaven.

I believe that we can dismiss Pascal’s Wager as null and

void. It is a self-centered value, and we cannot allow it to a reason

to believe in fairy tales. With that notion, we should assume it is

better to believe in Zeus, or Allah also. I propose a revised edition

of Pascals Wager, to be called “Duke’s Wager”.

“It is better to place concern in the current life then to

place faith in the next. You cannot have both, and you cannot

prove the latter life. Therefore, being a fundamentalist Christian

or Muslim is Foolish.”.

-Duke’s Wager

Section two
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Solving issues
“Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule.”
-Buddha

So how do we attempt to stop this system of violence? We

must separate ourselves from any religion that teaches us to look

at other humans differently. Though not a Buddhist, I find many of

their beliefs to be unrivaled lessons of morale. In order to obtain

world peace, we must put aside our differences. Our differences

are numerous, but none are as potent as religion. Yes, we must

learn to put aside religion.

While many theists will argue that morals are a product of

religions, it is simple to see this is not true. If morals had been

created by religion, it would be morally correct to kill someone

who had different beliefs then you did. No, I believe that morals

are a human trait, just as much as hair, or fingernails. We cannot

continue to give religion credit for morals that have been inside of

humans for thousands of years.

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In order to take a step towards world peace, we must lay

down our religions. Not spirituality, but religions. Spirituality is

essential for humans. It is perfectly fine to meditate, or fast for

spiritual purposes. These are spiritually unexplainable events.

However, we can continue to fast without deceiving ourselves, and

our children of what we know for certain. You cannot honestly tell

your children God is real, or that Muhammad is the one true

prophet. However, you can meditate and feel more complete

spiritually without concocting a false story about unexplainable

things.
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“If peace is to be achieved, we must lay down all absurdities we have

carried so willingly. We must admit that we do not understand the universe,
and we must admit that people of other faiths are also humans. We must
learn to love each other, rather then kill each other because of books our
ancestors wrote. The time to love is now. We can no longer afford to
persecute people based on religion, ethnic, or sexual differences. Our
largest enemy has manifested itself so greatly in our lives that confronting it
is almost impossible. To not confront it means pain, terror, and the end of
our civilization. No, humans will surely perish if religious martyrdom
grows, as does the potential of greater weapons.”
-Duke Focalor