1. Believing without knowing things can be fine. Some people believe Sasquatch exists, and no harm comes from that. But a belief in a Supreme Being without evidence leads to all sorts of mischief, to put it mildly, through the centuries: going after “heretics,” instilling harmful sexual ideas (no sex outside of marriage), and asserting things about the nature of the world that are not true. A belief in Sasquatch is harmless; a belief in God isn’t always harmless, but could be if people’s belief in God were kept utterly private and out of the public square. Then again, forcing children — children! — to believe, uphold, and abide by certain religious traditions is unconscionable.
2. The conflict between science and religion can be seen by noting the various things that people believe that have no relationship with reality. Why “teach” the Adam & Eve story when these figures never existed? Why is it that anyone on the planet (I’m not saying this is you) believes Earth is no older than 10,000 years old? How do these bad ideas get started let alone gain traction? They get these ideas because of religion.
3. When I mentioned that I don’t find beliefs interesting, I’m referring to beliefs for which no evidence is offered. There’s a difference between saying I believe life exists elsewhere in the Universe (my view) and saying life exists elsewhere and that a Celestial Entity is the cause.
4. Nothing to add.
5. Nothing to add.
6. I’m saying there’s no reason to believe that a Celestial Entity has anything to do with why we’re moral creatures — and that includes any notion about receiving guidance. There is no evidence to support the claim that humans have received “guidance” from any “outside” source—that is, if “guidance” is defined as something occurring outside of the environs of human existence and flourishing. I reject this idea of receiving guidance and/or that our moral impulses were instilled us by an Unseen Entity because there is no evidence to support these ideas.
7. There is zero evidence for the existence of invisible, ethereal “things” in our bodies (“souls”) that allegedly whoosh out at death and go to a Happy Place or a Bad Place.
8. Yes, my response was aggressive and blunt and forthright. I will always go after the wackiest and zaniest beliefs that religious people harbor because they are intrinsically wacky and zany. That you’re not a Christian doesn’t prevent you (or shouldn’t prevent you) from making a judgment on the Catholic claims that a priest talking to ordinary water changes it to “holy” water. My guess is that you think this Catholic belief is nuts (though you’re unlikely to be as blunt about this as I am). People often say that we should “respect” other people’s beliefs. Why? Yes, respect people, but if a person says Elvis Presley is still alive, I will be forthright in saying that that’s a stupid belief to have. A guy on Twitter tells me that he knows where Hell exists: at the earth’s core. No, I am not going to “respect” that belief. Sorry, Twitter person. I think your belief is stupid and I won’t be shy about saying so.
9. Keep up the good humor!
10. My heart is still broken. On par with the dumb Jonah story and the dumb belief by Catholics that “holy” water is a thing in the world, the same goes for a belief in invisible, flying humanoids otherwise called angels. What amazes me about believers is that they don’t seem to realize that they are living in a Rowling/Tolkien world — except that Rowling and Tolkien fans know that their respective works are works of fantasy. It’s fun to discuss the details of Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings or Star Trek, for that matter (look at this fun Wikipedia entry on the United Federation of Planets). People ingratiate themselves in these universes because understanding the back stories of these fictional worlds and their fictional characters can be entertaining and often insightful about the human condition (the latter happens when “art” occurs, but that’s a discussion for another time and place). But the Bible? It’s a work of literature! No one was supposed to believe in Adam & Eve or that a certain schmuck lived alongside the gastrointestinal guts of an aquatic creature. Weight displacement ratios explain why certain insects can walk on water while humans cannot (I’m talking to you, J-man). And so on and so on. And yet millions of people… believe! Gosh.

All told, the entire religious enterprise, whether you’re a Christian or a religious Jew or a Muslim or a Hindu, rests on make-believe. “Prayer” is talking to yourself. Any thing that has been “blessed” or “consecrated” is still that thing, unchanged (translation: notions of things as being “blessed” and “consecrated” are ideas that exist only in the minds of believers). No horse has ever had wings. Corpses don’t walk around chatting and high-fiving people. No body of water moved because it was “commanded” to do so. There was no worldwide flood, and Noah and his ludicrous ark is one of the most inane and ludicrous stories of all time.

I’ve had quarrels with some believers about this or that detail in the Bible, and while some things in the Bible are true, there’s no compelling reason to believe that any of the fantastical fantasy stuff is true. Sure, there are stories and parables and the like that may get a nice message across. Great. I have no quarrel with parables. My only quarrel has to do with the supernatural stuff that people assert or assume to be true — and the incessant “teaching” of these falsehoods to gullible and credulous children. I’ll leave you with the fun and perfect meme (not created by me):