The Time Wasted Argument Against Religion

Discussion in 'Religion & Philosophy' started by tkolter, Apr 11, 2015.

  1. tkolter

    tkolter Well-Known Member

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    Here is my Atheist and simple argument against organized religion using simple numbers to prove its wasteful, not believing in a Deity or such, but going to places of worship or doing faith activities.

    Lets take average Joe who just goes to worship and travel to and from said place of worship.
    1.5 Hours

    Multiply by 52 weeks.
    78.0 Hours

    Add a modest 10% for other time religious days etc.
    85.8 Hours

    I did not include time wasted by dedicated faithful or faiths using lengthier services consider that based on those faiths the numbers get worse to me.

    Using this time some examples you could take three college classes, do 1/10th of a shorter career diploma at a trade school (local example would be learn to be a nail tech or barber), read 14 serious books or more, watch 52 long documentaries on-line etc.

    Now multiply this by all the faithful, for their lifetimes for many centuries its a big drain on human civilization and the money and other wasted resources.

    Instead of bettering yourselves, donating this time to help society, spending time educating your children something useful you drive around to and from a building, pray to a deity and come home when couldn't you just believe and use this time more productively?
     
  2. Anders Hoveland

    Anders Hoveland Banned

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    Yes, if you did not believe there was anything beyond this world, your argument would seem to make perfect sense.

    But let me ask you this: Why do you think there are people willing to give up everything for God?
    They must be really convinced and have a huge amount of faith. Why do you think that is? If it was just a story and nothing more, why would they have so much faith in it? Some of these people weren't even raised in a religious home.
     
  3. tkolter

    tkolter Well-Known Member

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    Did I say any specific deity or pantheon but religion as in cults ,if you personally believe in a deity then fine, its the massive waste of time on civilization to follow religions. As for your question some did it to survive, some to get a better life monks in the Dark Ages or nuns, some wanted power and most deluded as children by adults who abused them passing on cult teachings as real and reinforcement. Some who see visions are simply mentally ill.
     
  4. Anders Hoveland

    Anders Hoveland Banned

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    There were people who thought Christ was "mentally ill" too, because they were unable to understand why else he did what he did. (John 8:48-59).
     
  5. DennisTate

    DennisTate Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    I was an atheist from the time when I was about eight years old until I was thirteen and heard Garner TEd Armstrong explain the "soul sleep" theory that caught my attention. I had been offended by the hellfire and brimstone teachings of Dr. Billy GRaham when I was about six years old.

    Once I began to attend church I travelled about 150 miles one way to attend a church that observed the weekly Jewish Sabbath.

    I had had rheumatoid arthritis from the time when I was 14 until I was about twenty one when my girlfriend in that church convinced me to be anointed with oil and prayed for while I was at a Sukkot/ Festival of TAbernacles service. Within a few months I noticed that I had no more pain from arthritis. Travelling to church was certainly not a waste of time in my life…… because my mom's hands and feet were severely deformed by rheumatoid arthritis but here I am 55 years old….. and zero arthritis!


    James 5:14
    "Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:"
     
  6. I am rage

    I am rage New Member

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    Well, seeing as there are a lot of people of entirely different faiths, often contradictory faiths, they can't all possibly be right. If they aren't correct then they are just some story, right?

    As for why. A magic eight ball could answer that one as well as anyone.
     
  7. DennisTate

    DennisTate Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Perhaps being the most accurate doctrinally isn't the most important thing that we need to learn during this life.

    Maybe toleration and respect for people whose culture and belief system is different than our own is a more important character trait.

    The Prophet Isaiah explained how a Gentile……… could attain such a high level of consciousness that they could be led by the right hand by the G-d of Abraham.

    http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Isa&c=45&t=KJV
    "Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut;…..For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.
    I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:"
     
  8. crank

    crank Well-Known Member

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    so what?
     
  9. crank

    crank Well-Known Member

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    SOME people will give up everything for the bizarrest of reasons. There are plenty out there who believe absolutely that aliens walk among us. By your measure, they're right simply because they're convinced. Is that so?

    The rest were probably indoctrinated as children and are simply unable to break the chains.
     
  10. fifthofnovember

    fifthofnovember Well-Known Member

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    Some people were convinced enough, and had enough faith, to drink poison Kool-aid in Guyana. So, since they were REALLY convinced, does that mean they were right? Or maybe they, and others who believe stories about talking snakes and donkeys, are just out of their damn minds.
     
  11. tkolter

    tkolter Well-Known Member

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    This thread is going off track fast if you as in personally believe in a divine whatever its fine its the wasted time religion for many centuries wasted on the big picture on this ceremony, ritual and observation that is a crime and how this could be used to better the species. I got this up to say the Renaissance we didn't know much so believed in this. But one would think science, the advancement of technology and such would have eroded this to fairy tales in the vast majority by the 20th Century and we would find better uses for our lost hours as a species than this drivel of religion.
     
  12. tecoyah

    tecoyah Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Even more wasteful than time lost, would be the mental waste brought about by dogmatic blinder induced ignorance. Imagine the number of Einsteins lost to Gods influence.
     
  13. DennisTate

    DennisTate Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    IF........ near death experience accounts turn out to be actual encounters with life forms from higher dimensions of space time....... then what was shown to near death experiencer Christian Andreason indicates that aliens and/or UFO's may play a significant role in bringing real peace to the whole world over the coming decades and centuries.

    If this is true...… then UFO enthusiasts are not completely wasting their time!

    http://www.allaboutchristian.com/spirituality/

    On the other hand...… if Christian's theory about aliens playing a role in some of the Biblical miracles is true........ then perhaps the best way to get UFO's working on world peace..... might just be to go to synagogue, church or mosque....... and pray to the G-d of Abraham/ HaShem/ YHWH to send us lots and lots of altruistic aliens with specific orders on what G-d wants done?!
     
  14. FoxHastings

    FoxHastings Well-Known Member

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    """"Maybe toleration and respect for people whose culture and belief system is different than our own is a more important character trait.""""

    When do christians start?
     
  15. Karma Mechanic

    Karma Mechanic Well-Known Member

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    Since attending religious services gives people many different things the argument that it is a waste of time is ridiculous. Most people who attend houses of worship don't feel they are wasting their time. You know what is a waste of time, spending hours arguing against what people do for themselves that effects your life not at all.

    As for scientists. Many of the great scientific discoveries throughout history were made by people who had a belief in God and were members of a faith tradition.
     
  16. Swensson

    Swensson Devil's advocate

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    The average 35-49 year old american watches 33 hours of TV a week, I don't think religion is the big time waster here, nor do I think that the freed up time would be used for college classes.
     
  17. I am rage

    I am rage New Member

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    I would probably say that which religion seems most accurate is probably the absolute least important thing to learn.

    Respect for people is a good thing. Respect of cultures and beliefs? That depends on the culture and the beliefs.

    So people who don't believe in that specific god have a lower conscious level? G-d?

    What does that even mean, and what does it have to do with what I wrote?
     
  18. Anders Hoveland

    Anders Hoveland Banned

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    Some of them may not be as contradictory as you think, underneath the surface. That being said, certainly most of them have to be at least partially wrong.
    We can also look at this another way: Christians do not believe Judaism is necessarily wrong, just that there is much more. In fact Messianic Jews are both Christian and Jewish.
    In India there are many Hindu sects, but most Hindus do not believe the other sects are absolutely wrong, just that their particular sect is better than the others.
     
  19. I am rage

    I am rage New Member

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    Tell me this. What do the Christians think of the religion of the Aztecs? Do they see some truth there? Or would most of them dismiss it as laughable myth?
     
  20. crank

    crank Well-Known Member

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    Great cop out :/

    You're comparing varieties of apple. Try including some oranges. Compare wiccans, pagans, Satanists etc, to Christians. Who is 'right'?
     
  21. crank

    crank Well-Known Member

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    Yes, because they didn't have a choice. Probably many were actually secret atheists. The point is that atheist or theist, a clever scientist is a clever scientist. An entirely human achievement.
     
  22. TrackerSam

    TrackerSam Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    It gives them comfort, and in some Baptist churches, very entertaining. But you could also apply any activity like going to movies and concerts, hobbys and sports to the above satement. You spend your money on a movie and they put their money in a basket or a poor box. Is all of your time being used productively? To many it's also their social outlet, can't get that home alone. I don't think they go to church to be with God but to be with like minded people and belonging.
     
  23. shmittygoatman

    shmittygoatman New Member

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    I would say that from the majority of the churches I've seen, church does its part to do all three of those things (ok, maybe not educate children, but at least care for them and teach good behavior).

    I estimate that it probably took you at least a good 30 minutes to come up with this thread post, do the math, and then articulate and post it. In that amount of time, you could have driven down to a local soup kitchen and helped volunteer there. Why didn't you?
     
  24. TrackerSam

    TrackerSam Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Or spend post on PF.
     
  25. perdidochas

    perdidochas Well-Known Member

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    using that argument, nobody should be watching TV, playing video games, watching sports (live or on TV), etc. All of those are a complete waste of time under your standards as well.
     

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