Today I bought two 8X11 spiral notebooks and three 6X4 wirebound memo pads at Rite Aid. One large notebook with pink paper (which I'm rather fond of) will be dedicated to prying into my subject matter by using a proposition, question, answer, question, answer-type format. I want to stay on topic. I want to be concise. I want the logic of my propositions to be sound. And I want the evidence to be both applicable and strong. So I'll use the large notebooks to further these goals; and I'll place the small notebooks upstairs, downstairs, and in my bag so that I'll always have something nearby to scribble thoughts on.

Its a wonder that I'm even taking this project on given that it would be so easy to ignore the fact that religion plays a large part in shaping other peoples' lives, and given that other people's religious belief rarely affects how I go about living life day to day. Because churches and churchgoers are so ordinary in our society; and our society is relatively peaceful and stable; it seems silly to spend a second of my time thinking about religion. I'm largely free to do whatever it is I want to do, regardless of my neighbor's religious belief. And I very rarely feel as though other's beliefs are being imposed upon me, or are otherwise oppressive. One might ask, if everything is fine, why work for change. For some time now, I've intended to address this question. Why am I taking up this project?

Ultimately, all of my answers to this question will need to be supported by sound reasoning and solid evidence. Trust me, I look forward to providing that support. But for now, I'll haphazardly offer the short versions of some of these answers.

First, a world without religion would be a world in which morality would be better defined and more widely accepted. Conflicting sects and dogma would not muddy the waters of ethics. People would be forced to answer profound ethical questions regarding how they should treat others and how they should live their lives for themselves, which would grant their decisions more power and personal meaning. There would likely be more logical basis for a system of morals not founded on a leap of faith and inconsisten, ambiguous ancient scripture.

Second, a world without religion would be a more peaceful world and a world less likely to experience devastating wars on a global stage. Without religion, there would be less division between peoples and more understanding.

Third, those seeking popular support for unwise or evil schemes would be less likely to find that support if they could not stoke the publics' religious passions. Also, political candidates would be judged upon whether or not they were well qualified for the job.

Fourth, people would be happier because they would be freer to decide for themselves what makes them happy, and they would be freer to go ahead and do it. This is a rather complex notion, involving an indepth discussion on happiness, truth, and freedom. In other words, I'll talk about it more later. The gist of the idea is that if someone doesn't believe that one book represents the truth, and if that someone doesn't sacrifice the quality of life on earth for a theoretical paradise after death; then she will be more likely to take the responsibility of discovering what makes herself happy more seriously/urgently, and she will be open to all sources of knowledge on the subject-as opposed to holding a particular bias towards on unsupported, faith-based knowledge. I hope you can decipher the "gist" of that run-on sentence...

At any rate, this enhanced freedom that I mention is the primary motivating factor for this project of mine. I want people to live more for themselves, think more for themselves, and live in accordance with real personal truth. I'm also very motivated by the thought that humans could exist in greater harmony if a strong, sound system of morals was better defined and untainted by mythology. I wish people would spend their time arguing about ethics instead of the meaning of certain scriptures. And I never again want to hear someone ask another person if they've accepted Jesus Christ into their hearts. Such an idea is empty of meaning and offers nothing in the way of guidance for living...in short, its an intellectual dead end, just like faith. Speaking of faith: it is what happens when the mind and will voluntarily turn off and, in most cases, are handed over to the control of someone else. Unfortunately for believers, that someone else is not God, but someone much less perfect.

There are also specific harms that religion causes individuals. How many men and women have been tormented because of their sexual orientation. Some are tormented by guilt. Other's are tormented by unrequited, unsatiated desire. Still others are physically tormented, beaten, killed, or otherwise oppressed. Then there are the poor children who are taught that the functions of their bodies are bad-that their desires for the opposite sex are due to the temptation from the devil. Today's Christian society ignores the sexuality of all who are not married and condemns sexual practices outside of marriage. Next we'll mention that women-nearly all women-have suffered because religions teach that men are the masters of their homes and women are servants. Historically, women have been denied sexual pleasure and freedom thanks to the supremacy of male desires in the religious and traditional family hierarchy. This is all very very sad. Pleasure denied is living denied. In this way, religion has killed millions, if not billions.

The goal of diminishing religion's legitimacy and prevalence in our society does not arise out of some vague animosity or wild conspiracy theory. On the contrary, it is a goal for those who feel empathetic towards their "brothers and sisters" on this planet. It is a goal for those who truly want for others what they want for themselves.

In the last decade, I watched the birth and ascension of Fox News with slack-jawed astonishment. I'd never witnessed anything like it before. The network's own anchors and pundits seemed to do everything they could to create and frame issues in ways which furthered the causes of Christian conservatives, big business, and the Bush administration. The methods employed by the entire racket have been the most obvious, dispicable means this side of Guan Tanamo. It most effective and commonly used tactic has been to announce over and over again that the American way of life is under attack by liberals. Never mind that every American is liberal compared to the average Muslim, and never mind that American values are easily more liberal than not. Fox News members have opted to throw around the label "liberal" in such a willy nilly way that viewers can easily imagine army's of evil liberals just waiting to take over their hometowns. "They" are out there and "they" want to impose their will upon you and your family. As we've seen with the War on Terror and the Iraq war, Fox News is quite adept at creating enemies. Terribly, they've gone so far as to pit honest, good American's against honest, good Americans for the sake of preserving religion.

Of course, this labeling and fear mongering tactic is designed to cause the wagons to circle, the people to prepare for battle and die in defense of their values. Being defensive involves closing one's mind to consideration of the real issues at hand. What I'm trying to get at is that the tactic employed by Fox is the same tactic that's allowed religion to survive for all these thousands of years.

Enemies and War have served Religion well. Religion has used them to hide behind family and national pride in order to avoid challenges to authority and questions of authenticity. I feel strongly that this is true. How else could stories as vague, unsubstantiated, contradictory, absurd, and fantastical as those that begat all major religions continue to be believed century after century? The only possible explanation lies in religious institutions' uncanny ability to avoid serious analysis, discussion, and debate regarding its authority, validity, logic, origin, methods, etc. Its my hope that this blog will help build a case against religion so powerful, so plain, concise, and logically sound that believers will be unable to ignore it. I'd like to think that it were possible to open eyes to the life-draining and even dangerous effects of religion.

Religion has ridden on the backs of good people for more than 2000 years. It has been an oppressor for far too long. Its time the world knows that life can be more than a struggle to make it to "paradise". Life is not a step towards something better. Life itself can be paradise if only we recognize the real barriers that stand in our way, rid ourselves of those barriers as best we can, imagine an ideal life, and do our best to live it till the end. Hmm..."Imagine"...nice word.. we should be free to imagine....

Welcome to The Reconstruction of Disbelief. Here you may find a few harsh words regarding religion. Moreover, if you return to read day after day, you will discover that the author is methodically constructing a case against it. Of course, the project will take some time, but its development should provide the reader both entertaining moments and, hopefully, flashes of insight.

Religion is like a massive castle in which a population, out of ignorance and fear, submits iteslf to the will of a king whose divine authority has been unblinkingly accepted for ages. With this blog, I hope to create something akin to a seige weapon capable of breaching the walls of the religious castle, revealing to all that the world outside is theirs if only they'll abandon their faith. A world without a king or walls is to be embraced, not feared. True freedom awaits those with the courage to walk away from the confines of religious belief-that man-made monolith which crumbles to dust when exposed to the light of reason. Real happiness is something we deserve, and it is something we can find if only we unburden ourselves of religious belief-a belief which was simply dropped in our laps at birth, or heaved upon our shoulders by friends with contagious emotional viruses.

There is more than religion holding us back from our momentary, daily, and life-long quests for truth, joy, and contentment. The biggest obstacle remains ourselves: our nature and our particular psychoses-by which I mean one's general demeanor, inhibitions, insecurities, fears, anger, depression, etc. Next to living a life in accordance with some dogma, replete with the suppressed imagination and oppressed body that comes with the package, these psychological barriers to life and living are far more formidable challenges. Which gives one greater reason to confront the smaller annoyances early in life, to dispense with silly notions like heaven and hell, confession and communion, so that one may be free and more able to work on the complicated challenges standing before-and within-himself.

Religion has enslaved the hearts, minds, and bodies of this magnificent creature for too long. Human beings are privileged animals, with mental capacities like mirror balls. We can see the future; thus, we can shape our future. Thanks to large memory stores, we usually know that if we do this, then that will happen. And if that happens, then its likely that this other thing will happen. And if this other thing happens, then we'll feel wonderful. Yes, experiencing joy, pleasure, and contentment is that simple. We use our brains, and at times we allow ourselves to follow our hearts. But religion retards this beautiful process by filling our heads with the immaterial. It sickens our hearts by filling it with fear and guilt. And these effects are not just generic and passing-they are so specific and timeless as to warrant comparison to a great crime against humanity; a type of genocide of physical beings, happiness, and human progress. Soon, I'll list the terrible crimes of religion in more exact detail when I've got the time necessary to do so.

Before I call it a night, I'll provide a quote from "An Essay on Morals" that doesn't necessarily follow from that above, yet which fits in perfectly with this blog.

"This is a Christian Nation, where Sabbath is a holiday, and the property of churches is not assessed, untaxed donations to God (up to ten percent of income) are permitted by the revenue collector, money bears the name of the Lord, the witness to crime is sworn on the Bible, most violations of the Ten Commandments are punishable by law, and statesmen say grace. Yet there are enough different kinds of Christian churches here to convince any Buddhist or any worshiper of Baal or any Martian that Christians themselves have no idea what Christianity means or what it intends that they should do."