../ Here are some collected thoughts about christanity. Sesificly the indevidual strain that Elliot Bridges was exposed to.

Why I Am Not a Chirstan

The problem of Evil

Why would suffering exsist under a all knowing, all loving god. Why would infent death exsist. Why would the suffering of animals exsist. Why should people die of cancer. Why would cancer exist at all? It seams more likly that there is no all knowling, all loving god. The univerce does not seam to care about us. Our human exsistance is defigned by a war against decay and pain; a goal to make life better for those around us, to midegate suffering and ill intent. I'm not trying to say that hardship is wrong. Meaningless suffering seams extreamly wrong if it dosn't have to exsist. Our need to experience pain and hardship is only useful so far as it can be applied to life. Pain teaches us about the sharp parts of reality. So there's the idea that, great sufferings bring about better outcomes. Like the hollocaust was nessisay as to teach us to prevent some much worst event from happening. But what about stubbing your toe, or getting a papercut. What moral lesson is there in these things? XD Small things like this seam, meaningless and unessisary. Finaly, why does suffering exsist in animals? A cat breaks the neck of a mouse. A lion bites down on the neck of a zebra, it chokes to death over the cource of an hour. A tree falls down onto a dear in the forest; its back broken, it starves to death over the cource of multiple days. Why does this exsist? It seams the univerce does not care about making things less painful. The univcerce is painful. Why couldn't an all loving god made it diffrent? The theory that this god does not exsist makes more sence. There's the argument that these animals don't really feel pain like we do; but here, as an example. Give me your dog, i am going to bashit with a metal baseball bat. Are you saying that this dog does not feel pain when it howls, grouls and barks at me? How do you know it does not feel pain. Lets get a chimp in here i'll start attacking it with a sword. If these animals do not have feelings and emotions then why is this wrong? Why would sitations like these be enexrably terible EVIL things to do to a fellow animal / creature / entity?

Why is God Hidden

If God is the substance of the univerce then why is confusion of who "He" or what "it" is. If "He" were so prevelent then why shouldn't a carfule exsamination of reality show that God's teachings are true? Just what exsactly is prayer? Its extreamly hard to figure out what your thoughts are, and what God's words are. Where did those words of god come from? If person who never read the bible prays, would they come to understand god exsaclt as it is in the bible? If not, then WHY not. It seams more likly that the reason why this type of god seams so hidden, is because "He" is in fact not there. A figment our or trying to make sence of the world. Why is it when we are confused about a situation god doesn;t give direct answers? We have someone who is norisitant to the idea of god. If god is truly the center of enverything then this person shall be led to find the truth of gods legitamacy. The goal is to not have our minds made up. Its to discover the truth of reality. Why do people belive the tradition that they grow up in? The Geographic isolation of diffrent theoligies? How likly you are to be theistic is tied to the locaiton of your birth. From the perspective of a all loving god, why is there this descrpency? What explains this better, naturalism, or theism???? You place of birth is a reliable indecator of weither or not you will be saved? Isn't that starnge??? You are so much more likly to be a theist in England that in Thailand. Under naturalism, this this i what is expected. Because religion is a scocial localized phenonenom. I mean, why shouldn't god just show such obvious sighns to everyone that everyone gets saved? Why not just eradicate thing like rape? Make human society a better place? Why didn't Jesus make his resorection more obvious? Multiple sightings, roman recordings, jewish recordings, more sorces than the few example we are given in the gospels.

Problems with the canon fo the bible

How did Yahweh Become God ? The Origins of Monotheism

extra reading

Why I Am Not a Christian by Bertrand Russell (1927)
notes Was Christ the best and wisest of all men? "Judge not, unless you be judged." "Give to him who askesth of thee, and him that would barrow of thee, turn not thou away." "If thou be perfect then sell all you have and give it to the poor." Matthew 16:28 KJ “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.” This was not true. This has been reinterpreted as a spiritual death, by those who are unwilling to acsept that Jesus was a Apoctoliptisit. The Kingdom did not return before these people died. Not in the way that this would have been interpreted in that day. When thw second coming is eminent, then people stop worrying about the world around them. They stop worrying about tomarrow. Jesus in hell. "Vindictive fury agaisnt those who do not listen to him." Socrates was better in this way. There is no hate for those who do not agree. Matthew 23:33 KJ - “Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?” Said to those who did not like his teachings. New Living Translation Matthew 12:31 “So I tell you, every sin and blasphemy can be forgiven—except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which will never be forgiven. Imagine you think you commited this? He put the deamons into the pigs instead of juts letting them go off? "i think i would put the buda and socrates over him morally in these respects." 28:38 Higs arives in a remote country and escapes in a balloun. He comes back much latter to find a new religion, were he is called the "Sun Child". "I'm going to expose this humbug, i just went up in a balloon!" The priests replly, "No you must not! All the morals of our contry are bound to our Sun Child, this religion! If they find out that you did not fly off into heaven than they will all become wicked!" Throughout history, the more intence a religious belief in some type of unchanging dogma the worse the state of afairs has been. There was the inquestition, a time when chiristans had solid moral beliefs. Woman burned as witches. Every moral progress in law, or otherwize, has been aposed by the orgonized religions of the world. Church says "what have human happyness to do with morals? The object of morals should not to make people happy" Why not? If a religious law makes people unhappy, if it hurts people, than it is bad right?? Fear is the basis of religion. Fear of the unknown, fear of the incomplete, fear of having no big brother to tell you what to do, how you should live life. That which is uncomfortable is considered evil, that which is comfortable is considered to be good; of gods nature. The probelm being, diffrent people are comfortable with different things. The fear of death. Sience can help us get over these fears. No longer do he have to look around for imaginary, plasibo like suports. We don't have to pray apon the people of the sky. We can try to foucus our efforts on what we are able to do. Make this world a better place to live! No more praying for plage to just "go away" but to actually find ways of getting rid of problems. Respect yourself! You are not fundementally evil! Undeserving of intelligence, respect and love. Look to what our human inteligence can create. Human love. Real tangable love.
2025-02-19 Most people belive in God, not because of some phylosophical reasoning, but because of deep emotional importance. They were raised in the church, are deeply formiliar with its people and its religious fealings. Its a place of safty. A place where you are with like minded people you grew up with. This is the Religious Emotion Paradox. The feeling that God is a very important part of who they are, how their meaning in life gets defined. 2025-02-16

The Grey Area of Belief

What the exsact point at which belief in Jesus it legitamate. Is it when you say "well that seams most likely". Is it when you say, "100% belief, but im struglin gwith some questions". Or is it, "I have 100% belief, no questions, not doubts." At what point in questioning your faith will you no longer be saved? Just from a idea of solid asurrance, whats the cut off point? I think thats why questioning you faith as a christain can be seen as dangrous. I felt that. If i had a question, something didn't line up or make sence, I was loosing my faith. So you stop questioning, you move away from the uncomfortable possiablities, reasure yourself that your position is correct. Reafirm your belief. What it takes too understand reality is a willingness to learn. Even from things you think you'll learn nothing from. Often, if you can't find something, its in a place you have not looked at yet. To learn, we need to open our minds to the possiblity that we do not fully understand another position. Then once we have observed this new information we must then exsamine it. And try to figure out what the most probible truth of reality is. If we are unwilling to change, then we might dismiss somthing that would make life better. We might not be able to make the world a better place. bad things will happen, and instead of trying to fix it, we will ignore it, because it makes us uncomfortable. We are not always correct, thats the fact. We have the ablity to hurt people through our beliefs and our inablity to change. We need to learn from our misstakes. And to learn is to have an open mind, and a williness to doubt previous beliefs. The process of belief should not be in conflict with learning. I belive that X person is my firend. Why, becuase of the social love we hold for eachother. They are consideriate of me, i am consideriate of them. I have a stronge belief that they are good, beutiful person. If that were to change, say i realize i didn't know them as well as i thought i did, then if beilif in them should change. My awareness of who they are needs to change. It would hurt us both if i held onto a fantacy of who they are. Or say the other way. Say i am using somone for personal benefit, i am hurting someone, inconsiderate of their emotions. Mabye they don't like how i treat them. Maybe there are things about myself that need to change. These are questions you need to be able to ask yourself if you are too become a more loving person. 2025-01-02

The Religious Emotion Paradox

the thing which makes most sence is that which you grew up thinking about religion takes hold in a brain, then later the only thing that gives deap meaning and ourpose is that which is deaping tangled with that religious upbringing if we want to take emotions were does the netolga for childhood come from where does the love for your home come from where does the love for your perents come from where does the love of a childhood friend come from. where does love for god come from? it come from the lived experience which makes your brain the way it is. right? its a cyclical and circumstantial relationship. change the circumstances, change what that brain loves. where does you beging and they start??? as i lay here in bed listen it the room i do not hear silence the silence is filled with my tenitus, a noise. its filled with my heart beat. the reality i see is created by my physcial presence. how can a person be emotional genuine? with the relization that their opinion iscontoled not by them but their circustaces. The beuty of the unsayable Comes from the saying of the sayable Untill you have tried to say everying that is sayable The unsayable becomes too confused with what we do not understand Our goal should be to understand Not to sit in ignorance call it hope a human mind coinstruction to pass the time and make life worth living are you willing to be a human? its imposible for a brain to observe without a tinited observation we cannot see ultra violet its a conflict between the "known" reality and the experience "reality" (in quotes because relativew?)