It is our basic fundamental natural instinct to know that virgin birth and life after death isn't possible.
You can't say that. You can only say that you have never seen this happen, nor does it seem possible given the way the universe has been observed to function.
I am pretty sure we will never see a tortoise beat a hare in a road race, or even undertake such a race to begin with. Does that make Aesop's Fables a lie?
onemoretime hits the nail on the head here:
Lies are not the same as myths. Lies are falsehoods told to mislead the listener. Myths are stories told to point the listener in the direction of knowledge or wisdom that is not immediately perceptible. The historical truth of the myth is irrelevant to its purpose.
There is more than one kind of truth. One kind is what we come to understand through scientific discovery: the processes of birth, death, evolution, and other aspects of the natural world. The other is much more subjective and concerns the intangible realm: morality, spirituality, the search for meaning. It is possible to lie in either sphere. The first, being (more) objective, lends itself more readily to the disproving of lies, or even unintentional errors and inaccuracy. In fact, that is an essential part of the nature of science. In the second, lies can be much harder to counter.
Occam's Razor could therefore be;
Christians were lied to to keep them in bondage.
Probably by the men who wrote the Bible and took over Rome.
Christians have certainly been lied to by those in authority. Lied to, deceived, and manipulated to do all manner of thing, from parting with their money to fuel greed and corruption, to ostracising specific segments of society, to killing and willingly being killed. The first chapter in this manipulation took place not long after the time of Jesus, when religious authorities branded certain views of Jesus as heresies, and consolidated the early Jesus groups into a single hierarchical church establishment, much as goverment was a hierarchy led by the emperor. We look today at the many Christian denominations out there, but this diversity of belief pales in comparison to that of the earliest followers of Jesus.
So how does one separate the useful myths from the lies? According to the Bahai's, you will know a true prophet by his/her fruits: what are the consequences of the myths being told?
Why just christians?
I dont see them as any more or less easily conned than the rest of the population, nor do I think that non-christians are more critical and aware either, this is one of those atheist, so smart humble brags again, I've never met as conceited or compensating a bunch of people in my life, except perhaps on the fringes of evangelical movements of all stripes and opinions.
Not just Christians at all. We see the effects of this most violently today among Muslims. Extremist groups twist Islamic teachings to motivate people to become suicide bombers and commit other acts of terror. Religion makes a powerful tool in the hands of despots and others needing to enlist broad complicity with ignoble goals. The problem is much less with religious doctrine, though, than with the people who abuse it in this manner.
Why would you get to know the people at church? Granted I was raised Catholic and they aren't what I would call inclusive. But to me, you are in church to communicate with God. You and God. That's it. It's not a social thing. I really dislike how it was turned into one.
I can communicate with God fine on my own, and in fact prefer that. If I do go to a church or other spiritual group, I am indeed looking for a group experience. I find this not in conventional churches, though, but in my Pagan circle. There is nothing to be gained in an incompatible group.
We are not free to believe what we choose, we are free to believe what is reasonable.
For instance, Christianity teaches the doctrine of Faith and Reason, which means we are only free to believe what is reasonable.
And those who say, we are free to believe whatever we choose, are narcissists.
And narcissism is the default position of the New Age, and indeed the default position of the consumer society.
We are indeed free to believe what we choose, because we have the right to be wrong. It does behoove us to apply reason and critical thinking to our beliefs, as to anything else of import. Much suffering would be averted in the world were more people to do this.
Actually, the experience of losing religion was a lot like having someone I love die.
For me the experience of losing my original religion was very liberating, and bracing at the same time. It was the sense of having all training wheels, crutches, excuses, and even support at last and finally gone. I was alone, and needed to make my own way in the spiritual landscape. And I did. When I "re-found" religion - or more accurately - spirituality, it was so different, it almost didnt' look like spirituality at first. Now it feels like I have come home after a lengthy and eye-opening period of wandering.
Richard Feynman is quoted as saying "The first principle is that you must not fool yourself and you are the easiest person to fool." Those are wise words for everyone, regardless of religion or any other background.
My personal reservations about Feynman aside: Amen.
