MORE THAN A FEELING

Like most salesmen, religious missionaries try to convince anyone with a listening ear that they are missing some essential thing in their life which can only be acquired through adherence to the missionaries' religion. For instance, while on my mission I would regularly compare temporary happiness with lasting joy. I would explain that things like sex, drugs and alcohol, etc, may allow a person to feel happy during certain moments, but in the long run the happy feelings do not last. By comparison, those who have a real relationship with Jesus Christ through Mormonism will have lasting joy and peace of mind. However, not once did I ever explain how this "lasting joy" actually occurs through such a relationship. I never even thought to ask.

A comfortable delusion is still a delusion. If believing that you have a personal relationship with a "still small voice" inside your head makes you happy, congratulations. I have no doubt that some one, somewhere is comforted by the fact that they are the real Napoleon Bonaparte (and I'm still single because my rugged good looks intimidate women... and I'm rich). By the way, if you do, in fact, hear a "still small voice" in your head you are not crazy. But if you think it is anything other than your own mind, you very well may be (or you have been trained through religious indoctrination to call your conscience "god").

The fact is, I made it up. Well, in all honesty, I borrowed the argument from someone else who made it up. It is a common concept. People want to feel special. They want to feel like they have some bit of truth or knowledge which makes them special. And to show how special they are, they try to pass it on to other people so they can feel special, too. That way they can reassure each other of their mutual specialness.

Before his death, Christopher Hitchens challenged theists often to present any moral action or benefit of religion which can only be done or acquired through religion. In his public debates he never recieved a satisfactory answer, most of which would involve saving people from an unsubstantiated place of eternal torture after their death for the finite crime of disbelief (which, by definition, is an infinitely unjust punishment). Mr Hitchen's refutes this by pointing out that this is a made up solution to a made up problem, and therefore, does not qualify as an answer to his proposition:

BONUS MATERIAL:


A group of Christian kids claiming they are persecuted:

And an atheist YouTuber responds (warning: explicit):