Story of Jesus Christ was 'fabricated to pacify the poor', claims Biblical scholar Joseph Atwill

Mr Atwill writes: "Christianity may be considered a religion, but it was actually developed and used as a system of mind control to produce slaves that believed God decreed their slavery.
"

Can you just quickly post his evidence of this here? Please. See how fast I make you look like a fool.
 
Even if there is more out there it doesn’t nullify nihilism. If you zoom out far enough it seems almost guaranteed to me that nihilism is the real truth. If you believe in big bang/contraction theories then all those galaxies, and everything ever done in them will be swallowed up destroyed and return to that which they came from. But that doesn’t mean on the small scale, a human lifetime, that nothing matters.

For me the knowledge of infinite universes and galaxies is as uplifting as the idea that in the end...it doesn’t even matter. But if it doesn’t matter then for your lifetime it is what you make of it, and for our lifetimes we do exist, and those universes exist and we are all interconnected. None of that is cheapened by nihilism.

I was trying to get at the idea some people have that is that there is no supreme being, or great maker. Because the essence of that is that there is no universal right and wrong. I think good people know and are aware there is a right and wrong and good and evil. If not, why not murder all those who oppose your greed? Whose law isn't being broken? Mans? Some other mans then, and that man isn't you, so fuck it. Why choose to be good and help others?

It's evil that tries to espouse nihilism, so good people lose their will to combat evil.
 
You have to be a real simpleton to believe everything started that way


Another poster tried getting into a debate about the creation of the universe wth me yesterday. He was coming from the side that genesis was correct. I told him I wouldn’t even bother debating it because it’s wasted effort. He basically told me I suck. Lol

How can you debate something like that anyway? It’s not even worth the time
 
I was trying to get at the idea some people have that is that there is no supreme being, or great maker. Because the essence of that is that there is no universal right and wrong. I think good people know and are aware there is a right and wrong and good and evil. If not, why not murder all those who oppose your greed? Whose law isn't being broken? Mans? Some other mans then, and that man isn't you, so fuck it. Why choose to be good and help others?

It's evil that tries to espouse nihilism, so good people lose their will to combat evil.


I don’t believe in a great maker or supreme being. I don’t believe there is a universal right or wrong, but I know what right or wrong is for me. Whether or not I, or anyone else, is good is extremely subjective. I can think myself good and you could think me evil. Which one is true?

I dont break my laws. I don’t strive to be good to others because of fear of a being greater than myself or punishment in another world, but because I KNOW I am made of the same matter you are made of, the same matter that my dog is made of, the same matter that the concrete pillars of my house are made of.

In the same manner that if I zoom out far enough nihilism is my only conclusion, if I zoom in close enough the interconnectedness of all things is my only conclusion. I am a conglomeration of protons, neutrons and electrons, the same as the air beside my head and the wall beside that air. Those atomic particles make up my cells which make up my tissue which make up my organs which make up my person. That seems like an obvious web but equally obvious should be that people make neighborhoods etc etc till the world is made and from there galaxies and from there the universe to multiverse blah blah blah, I’m sure you get what I’m saying by now.

I believe nihilism though I don’t bother to go on about it, I see it as a reality with no practical purpose in the day to day, but I don’t believe myself to be evil. For the most part I do ignore the laws of other men. Golden rule type stuff is closest to what I follow, short of that I don’t see why what I choose to do with this lifetime should be under the control of any other entity.
 
Last edited:
I take it to mean the consciousnesses that experience being selves, which emerge from brains.

In your second paragraph, I'm curious what work the word "illusion" is doing. Do you mean the brain makes meaning seem like it's out in the world, when really it's only internal?

You could also mean, a la Dennett, that perceived consciousness of meaning is entirely illusory (perhaps because consciousness is too), but then I have to wonder who or what the illusion is deceiving exactly.

By illusion I mean there is no meaning independently existing, there is nothing in our brains that we can say this is meaning but not part of the brain or governed by the physics which governs the brain. We observe certain things and we call them by their names because we are disposed to do so. Words mean things is another way of saying that we have a disposition to apply certain names to certain things. All this is external. This is a theory of meaning that is coherent in a physicalist world. All we have is a sensation and we call this sensation meaning or understanding, when in fact it is the sense of satisfaction that comes from our disposition to apply words to things correctly or to categorise new things in the brain so we can identify them next time and label them correctly again.
 
We can develop our own ideas or what's right and wrong without a corny ass book telling us so. We have obviously been intelligent enough to develop morals over the years. I think religion is ridiculous but I still believe in the same ideas behind the "10 Commandments" Cheating, stealing, killing.... All that shit is fucked up. Don't need to be a Christian to feel that way. Plus there are PLENTY of Christian's and other relgious folks that go against their beliefs on a daily basis. Just watch Locked Up or any other prison show with every murderer telling you how devoted to God they are.
 
By illusion I mean there is no meaning independently existing, there is nothing in our brains that we can say this is meaning but not part of the brain or governed by the physics which governs the brain. We observe certain things and we call them by their names because we are disposed to do so. Words mean things is another way of saying that we have a disposition to apply certain names to certain things. All this is external. This is a theory of meaning that is coherent in a physicalist world. All we have is a sensation and we call this sensation meaning or understanding, when in fact it is the sense of satisfaction that comes from our disposition to apply words to things correctly or to categorise new things in the brain so we can identify them next time and label them correctly again.

Okay, I think I understand. Perhaps I misinterpreted your use of "meaning" in a previous post.

Internalism/Externalism is more restricted than I realized. The debate there is about whether certain cognitive functions are merely brain states or are brain states interacting necessarily with the outside environment.

But I think the colloquial understanding of "meaning" as "purpose" is different, and compatible with both. That said, I don't think it exists anywhere in the world to be "pointed at" except for within the experience of a subject.
 
Okay, I think I understand. Perhaps I misinterpreted your use of "meaning" in a previous post.

Internalism/Externalism is more restricted than I realized. The debate there is about whether certain cognitive functions are merely brain states or are brain states interacting necessarily with the outside environment.

But I think the colloquial understanding of "meaning" as "purpose" is different, and compatible with both. That said, I don't think it exists anywhere in the world to be "pointed at" except for within the experience of a subject.
I agree with this.
 
Whether or not I, or anyone else, is good is extremely subjective. I can think myself good and you could think me evil. Which one is true?

I am a Golden rule type stuff is closest to what I follow, short of that I don’t see why what I choose to do with this lifetime should be under the control of any other entity.

Yeah, let's say a an Island tribesman who never saw outside people had no idea it's wrong to murder and eat people. Never felt bad about it. He probably wouldn't like it if it were done to him, and he probably would actively fight To stop that from happening. If he did as he would prefer to happen to him, it seems almost all people can understand that. That's why it is Jesus' golden rule.

I'm surprised you follow this as a nihilist, who I'm fairly sure believe in nothing and follow no code of conduct as they reject all aspects of right and wrong.

If it gives you pleasure, enjoyment, or somehow makes your life better, then do it. That's how I view it.
 
what an astounding discovery. Everyone from Schopenhauer to Malcolm X has said this. It is a slave's religion that makes the poor and the weak the most favored. Brilliant. And our western liberal society is just that. They love the poor and the weak. They favor them.

Liberal and Christian? Pick one because I personally am not of the opinion they have gone together for quite some time.
 
Liberal and Christian? Pick one because I personally am not of the opinion they have gone together for quite some time.

The only poor Christians care about are the ones from Israel. Everyone else can eat a dick including the ones in the US.
 
Yeah, let's say a an Island tribesman who never saw outside people had no idea it's wrong to murder and eat people. Never felt bad about it. He probably wouldn't like it if it were done to him, and he probably would actively fight To stop that from happening. If he did as he would prefer to happen to him, it seems almost all people can understand that. That's why it is Jesus' golden rule.

I'm surprised you follow this as a nihilist, who I'm fairly sure believe in nothing and follow no code of conduct as they reject all aspects of right and wrong.

If it gives you pleasure, enjoyment, or somehow makes your life better, then do it. That's how I view it.

I wouldn’t call myself a nihilist and I don’t reject my own aspects of right and wrong. I only “believe” in nihilism on a grand scale. If I want to score 100% on a test, getting a question wrong matters. If I want to graduate with a degree getting that same question wrong doesn’t matter. Everyone sets their own goals, desires and deems what is important or not to the life they are living, those parameters are what make things “matter” or not. I just dont think there is a universal version.

We all have to deal with the life we live. I CHOOSE to try to live one that I can be ok looking back on. Someone else can choose to live one that I would be ashamed to look back on, but I don’t have to deal with that, that’s their own burden to carry. The life for some is not the life for others. The only thing that I believe is universal is that everyone should strive to live the life that they desire.
 
I have a very hard time believing some people deliberately came up with a story with the intention of pacifying poor people. If that is true, then they sure did not do a very good job when you look at the incredible accomplishments that have been inspired by Christianity.
 
I have a very hard time believing some people deliberately came up with a story with the intention of pacifying poor people. If that is true, then they sure did not do a very good job when you look at the incredible accomplishments that have been inspired by Christianity.

How Canadian of you. So because Christianity inspired people it can't possibly be a long form scam that despite it's fruits does in fact pacify & placate poor people?

The same argument could be used on slavery, hey it "inspired people" to build pyramids, construct empires, invent blues and jazz music after all.

Despite the accomplishment both systems are blights on humanity.
 
Woah! Religions are a tool to exploit and control people? What radical thinking!
 
I’m sure Jesus will pop down shortly to clear this up.
 
Back
Top