Three articles
appear below:
1. A
Brief History of
Religion
2.
"Prof. Brian De
Kretser"
3. "A
Brief History…"
Misinformed
A BRIEF HISTORY OF
RELIGION
(Investigator
125, 2009
March)
All
religions are
superstitions based on ancient myths and the fertile minds of men, who
for power and or riches, for personal gain or benefit, fostered these
fairy tales of gods, devils, heaven, hell, world saviors, sins and
forgiveness, at a price on ignorant mankind.
The
formation of religion
took place thousands of years ago when mankind was totally ignorant and
superstitious, attributing natural happenings e.g. storms, volcanoes,
tidal waves etc. to the work of angry gods who had to be appeased by
sacrifices. "Ignorance is the parent of superstition and superstition
is the parent of religion."
Rulers
and priests
quickly
realized that they were on a good thing:
"Religion
is
regarded by the simplest as true, by the wisest as false and by the
rulers as useful." (Seneca 4 bc – 65 ad)
"First
men had
worshipped
the forces of nature. This primitive animism had been accepted because
it had not tried to get beyond this world. The rot had set in when
people had started to personify the sun, wind and sea to create gods in
their own image and likeness. Finally they merged all these godlings
into one big deity, which was nothing but a projection and a mass of
contradictions. Poets and theologians had done nothing over the
centuries but make a gigantic exaggerated man, whom they will render
illusory by dint of heaping together incompatible qualities. Human
beings strive to aggrandize the proportions, until they have formed a
being totally inconceivable. The cradle of religion, therefore, was
ignorance and fear, and mature enlightened men must climb out of it."
(Paul
Heinrich—Baron of
Holbach (1723-1789)
These
myths have been
recycled down thousands of years, constantly amended to suit the times,
purveyors of that particular religion at that particular time, and the
god-men/saviors they were promoting. People of old can be excused, they
were completely ignorant, but for this to continue in today’s world,
with all the available knowledge and science, there is no excuse.
"Religion
can
be regarded as a virus of the mind." (Prof. Richard Dawkins)
There
is no shortage of
the simple minded who believe, even the so called educated.
Religion
still
dominates
the world and causes more deaths than all wars combined. It is this
blind faith in religion by the masses that enables it to thrive.
"Faith
is belief
without
evidence in what is told by one who speaks without knowledge of things
without parallel." (Ambrose Bierce)
As Karl
Marx would say,
"…Religion is an artificial creation of the human mind, seeking to
explain that which appears inexplicable, to justify that which is often
unjustifiable, to console those who seek consolation. The purpose of
religion is primarily to conceal reality in a veil of delusion. In its
essence religion is an illusion, the opiate of deluded people."
Prof.
Brian de Kretser,
Institute
for Research
into
Religions,
Darwin,
Australia.
"PROF. BRIAN DE KRETSER"
(Investigator
126, 2009
May)
I was
bemused to read in Investigator #125, "A Brief History of Religion", by
Professor Brian de Kretser, Institute for Research into Religions,
Darwin, Australia.
The
article was knocking religion in general. I agree with Bertrand
Russell’s observation that at most only one of the major religions can
be true, as they contradict each other. Accordingly, the central claims
of most of the major religions must be wrong, but this does not
necessarily mean that all religions are wrong, as Brian seems to imply.
However,
Brian's article did not contain any evidence or argument, but was just
a collection of assertions and the quoted opinions of others, and was
also a vivid illustration of the genetic fallacy.
Assertions
and opinions
are meaningless and prove absolutely
nothing. If you think of any random theory, you can always find some
idiot who proposed it. Cherry picking quotes can "prove" almost
anything.
The
nature of Brian's article does not seem to befit a professor. I have a
deep suspicion that the Institute for Research into Religions has a
membership of 1 and Professor Brian de Kretser does not have any
students.
I am not
sure whether Brian is having us on, but I suggest that if he wants to
parade himself as a professor, then he should start by arguing like one.
Kevin
Rogers
"A BRIEF HISTORY…"
MISINFORMED
Anonymous
(Investigator
126, 2009
May)
De
Kretser (#125)
commenced "A Brief History of Religion" sweepingly with: "All religions
are
superstitions based on ancient myths of men who…for personal gain or
benefit fostered these fairy tails…on ignorant mankind."
An "All"
statement
requires
only one exception to prove it wrong. My exception is the Bible. In
over 100 articles in Investigator I've demonstrated hundreds of
points
in the Bible correct — even cases of science being wrong and being
revised to agree with the Bible.
In The
Bible Holy or
Horrible? (#118) I answered various atheist accusations and showed
that numerous Christian ministries have immeasurably improved peoples'
living conditions throughout the world. Modern science, for example,
began in Christianity, and thousands of schools and hospitals are run
by Christian churches.
A few of
many Australian
ministries are:
•
Habitat for Humanity which builds houses for impoverished
people
in Asia and Africa;
•
The
Leprosy Mission which supports leprosy research and helps lepers
with
loans, surgery and education; and
•
The
Paraclete Institute dedicated to the care and education of orphans
in
Malawi.
Individuals
also, who
take
the Bible seriously, everywhere do great things just as Jesus foretold:
"The one
who
believes in me will also do the works that I do, in fact will do
greater works than these…" (John 14:12)
A
"retard" of my
acquaintance who could barely talk and faced institutionalization for
life, learned to read, and speak clearly, after the age of 30, by using
the Bible. Thankful for the independence thus gained the person wanted
to the cure blind; and raised funds for 1000 cataract surgeries.
Imagine
if ignorant
comment
like De Kretser's (or of other misguided atheists) discouraged the
millions of individuals who do good, or the thousands of ministries,
what a much-more tragic world it would be!
It would
be a world like
the atheistic rule of Russia, China, Cambodia and North Korea — a world
of "gulags", persecution, poverty, famine, and displaced or exiled
populations, where "might makes right", and hundreds of millions of
people are murdered!
De
Kretser's list of
quotes
from atheists who share his prejudice includes Karl Marx on whose
philosophy atheistic Communism was based. Considering the evil results
of Communist rule it's appropriate to change one key word and toss the
quote back:
"Atheism
is
an
artificial creation of the human mind… The purpose of atheism is
primarily to conceal reality in a veil of delusion. In essence atheism
is an illusion, the opiate of deluded people."