Faith is fear.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Religion is the systematic marketing of fear.
                               Blessed are the poor (donate heavily). 
Blessed are the meek (obey). 
Blessed are the humble (don't question authority). 
Blessed are the  hungry (make us rich while you starve). 
Blessed are the merciful (if you  catch us doing something 
wrong, let it go). 
Blessed are the pure of  heart (switch off your brain). 
Blessed are the timid, the cowardly, the  fearful.
                               Blessed are those who educate us to become  slaves. 
                               That's the kind of nonsense religion pushes on people. They 
train you  to turn your back on courage, strength, and conscious 
living. This is  stupidity, not divinity.
 Religion will teach you to fear being different, to fear standing up 
for yourself, and to fear being an independent thinker. It will erode 
your self-trust by explaining why you're unable to successfully manage 
                              life on your own terms: You are unworthy. You're a sinner. You're  unclean.                               You belong to a lesser caste. You are not enlightened. Of course the solution                                is always the same — submit to the will of an external authority. Believe that                   you're inadequate. Give away your power. Follow their rules and procedures.                             Live in fear for the rest of  your life, and hope it will all turn out okay in the end.
                               When you practice faith instead of conscious living, you live under 
a  cloak of fear. Eventually that cloak becomes so habitual you forget 
it's even there. It's very sad when you reach the point where you 
can't  even remember what it feels like to wield creative freedom over 
your own  life, independent of what you've been conditioned to believe.
 Faith is the coward's substitute for courage. It's also really good  marketing if                      you're the one who controls the faith. If you're afraid or  unwilling to assume total responsibility for your life, you're a perfect  match for religion.
 Fear in one part of your life invariably spreads to all other parts —  you can't compartmentalize it. If you find yourself frustrated because  you're too afraid to             follow your dreams, to talk to members of the  opposite sex, to speak up for yourself,        etc., then a good place to start  is to rid your life of all religious nonsense. Don't let fear     get a  foothold in your consciousness.
 Stop trying to comfort yourself by swallowing religious rubbish. If  you really need something to believe in, then believe in your own  potential. Put your trust in your own intellect. Stop giving away your  power.
 Dump the safety-in-numbers silliness. Just because a lot of people  believe stupid stuff doesn't mean it isn't stupid. It just means that  stupidity is popular on this planet. When people are in a state of fear,  they'll swallow just about anything to comfort themselves, including  the bastion of stupidity known as religion. 
 Religion is spiritual immaturity. It's entirely possible to enjoy your life without spending   so much of  it bent over in submission. Pull your head out of your rear, and look  around with your own two eyes. If you need something to worship, then  feel grateful for your own conscious mind. Pull it out of the cobwebs,  and boot it up.
 Besides... if some popular religious version of God does exist, there's  a good chance he's      a complete and total idiot. He made us in his image,  right? So perhaps we shouldn't be so quick to worship an entity so  lacking in intelligence. We're better off on our own.
 God isn't going to smite you for not formally worshipping him. If he  didn't smite me by now, it's a safe bet you'll slide beneath the radar  as well. And if that doesn't work, you can borrow my fake ID. I've been  baptized and confirmed, and I'm the son of an altar boy and the nephew  of a priest, so I'm sure I'll be fine. 
                                                                                                                                                                                                         Steve Pavlina
                              Thanks  to schools, colleges, and universities established with the financial  support of the church in the Philippines, the majority of Filipinos are  born not to be educated to be the intelligent masters of health,  hygiene, and sanitation. Filipinos are born to be the sick victims of  religion in cahoots with corruption. Indeed, for the greater glory of  God up there, we Filipinos are born to enjoy a corrupt and a sick  society as the Sick Man of Asia down here.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                                             Poch Suzara
                              
                                      
                                          
                                   
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Thoughts To Provoke Your Thoughts
Non-FictionThe power of reason behind the beauty of logic.
 
                                               
                                                  