Religious Experiences and Debate

Ah, yes. Life changing experience.

"You cannot understand how I feel. I can FEEL that God exists. How do you disprove that?"

Very easily, but it's not so easy to convince someone, because people who FEEL that God exists, usually deny anything that contradicts that feeling. I used to be the same. And saying, "you cannot understand," is very cowardly. I DO understand. I used to be a Christian. I could FEEL God working. I could FEEL the magic when we closed our eyes to pray. But that does not make it true.

Example 1:
A woman in India somewhere (I can't find it, someone just told me about this) suddenly became a Christian and knew all these things about Christianity she "couldn't have known." And the person says: "How do you explain that?!"

Example 2:
A boy (can't find link right now, but there are several stories) in China found out that he was reincarnated. He knew several things he "couldn't have known." How do you explain that?

Both of these cases are known as supernatural events. There is a $1 000 000 prize(see bottom of page for link) for any person who can demonstrate a supernatural event (above cases included) in a way that can be tested or verified. This will never happen, because there are no supernatural events. That "reincarnated" boy never went for rigorous testing. And that Indian woman neither. They could have easily made $1 000 000 if they were telling the truth. They both just made claims and the newspapers went crazy and probably exaggerated as well.

No one tested their claims.

How do you explain that?
Well. I explain it by telling people that it's probably a lie, or a delusion. I've always wanted to go to an insane asylum and talk to someone who honestly believes that he is Napoleon. But then I realised that I can simply talk to religious people and ask them what happens to them when they die, or if they believe in angels.

Let me tell you story I read in The God Delusion. A man and a woman were touring Sri Lanka when they were young. They were slightly religious. When they were camping in a tent, they heard a voice which "could only have been Satan himself!"
The man renounced his "evil ways" and became a reverend. He is still a reverend today, just because of that experience. When a biologist recently asked him why he became he reverend, he related the story. The man laughed excessively and told the reverend about the "Devil Bird," which has a cry which sounds like the voice of a demon. It's a common bird in Sri Lanka. So, basically, the man became religious and scared to death because a bird was crowing near his tent. I find this extremely sad and amusing.

There are also stories of Shamans who curse people, and then the people die. We actually DO have an explanation for this (read the link: Placebos), but even if we didn't, that would not make what the Shaman says, true. The effects may be similar to what the Shaman predicts, but not the cause.

The same can be said of any religious experiences.

If, for example, you are happier after you have "accepted Christ in to your life", then that does not make it true that "The Holy Spirit" is inside you. It just means that whatever you believe makes you happy. I, for example, believe that mushrooms are delicious. When I taste mushrooms, it makes me happy. Someone else may eat the same mushrooms and feel disgusted. I may say/think it's because I am CHOSEN to enjoy mushrooms, which are the HOLY VEGETABLES. And that the other person isn't CHOSEN. The truth is, of course, that my taste is different from his. In this case, also, the effect is the same, but the causes are different.

You cannot make decisions based on emotion
Even if it is love. Especially if it is love. I know of a few people (me included) who fell in love with other people who were completely and utterly insane. I LOVED that person and would do anything for that person. I changed my personality, my habits, everything, to suit her. I was in love; therefore I did not care about what SHE was like. I just wanted to make her happy. That is what love can be. But I made a mistake. Luckily, I realised it. We are not alike. We do not even complement each other.

At that time, I would have said: "No one can understand how I feel."

But that is exactly what emo is: You get completely emotional and you wallow in your emotions. You pretend that you are the only one who can feel the way you feel. There are at least 6 Billion people on the planet. Most of them know how you feel. People feel similar emotions through the course of their lives. And, most importantly: Emotions are chemicals in the brain. It can be controlled through medication. If "know one knows how you feel," then why would there be such effective medication to control these "unknown" emotions?

Emotions never explain anything.

Think of, for example, a mental patient. He could be extremely happy because the aliens are coming to fetch him tomorrow. But they aren't. And he is stuck in a mental institution. Obviously things aren't going well. But he is happy. This means absolutely nothing.

Try reading the links for more info. Especially Intersubjective Verifiability and Psychology of Religion.

Debating about religion:
I would like to take this opportunity to invite any religious person to debate with me. Religion is a topic just like politics and morals. People can easily talk about something like, for example, the death sentence, but they are afraid to talk about religion. Why is this? I would like to openly talk about religion with someone. Just because I ask you, "Why did Jesus have to die and suffer for three days, if God could only have forgiven us without the suffering?" then it doesn't mean I want to make fun of you. I simply want to know WHY. I want to know... everything. And I use various means to get the information. People often refuse to openly talk about religion, so I have to confront them. But then they talk emotionally, and that is not very productive.

I would just like to have a normal, civilized discussion. Though I sometimes intimidate people subconsciously...

This blog has not been as extensive as the previous blogs, but I think I have proven my point. Please tell me if you have any other questions, suggestions or points to make.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil_Bird

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiritual_awakening

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placebo_(origins_of_technical_term)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Varieties_of_Religious_Experience

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychology_of_religion

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intersubjective_verifiability

http://www.randi.org/research/index.html