Theists often complain about the Santa/God comparison.
Oddly, some forty odd years ago that is exactly what started me down the path to atheism. Back then, when I was in single digit ages, the rumour spread like wildfire about the schoolyard that santa was not real. It was all make believe. A great childhood disappointment, to be sure.
Being of a logical frame of mind even at such a tender age, after getting over the shock of such a revelation, my logical thoughts kicked in. "If Santa is not real and it is all grown ups pretending, what of God?" I asked myself. I did a quick inventory of the facts claimed about Santa and the facts claimed about God. Turns out they are surprisingly similar. Christians really hate that because it equates their god with an imaginary figure, as I found out. Despite parental oprobrium for even making such comparisons, I persisted in private and spent much of my teen years exploring every supernatural idea I could find. You name it, I did it.
And I found that all of them had one thing in common. They all had exactly zero credible evidence.
So today, I can cast your astrological chart, read your Tarot cards, manipulate your aura, balance your chakras, dowse, I Ching like a pro, operate a ouija board, perform a seance, induce past life regression, and on and on and on.
And all of it is superstitious bollocks.
I did, however, have a leg up in all of that. In his spare time, my father was a stage magician. And he passed some of that on to me. He taught me that the objective is not to fool people, it is to allow them space to fool themselves. Now, apply that lesson to any religious sect of your choice. Nuff said.
Oddly, some forty odd years ago that is exactly what started me down the path to atheism. Back then, when I was in single digit ages, the rumour spread like wildfire about the schoolyard that santa was not real. It was all make believe. A great childhood disappointment, to be sure.
Being of a logical frame of mind even at such a tender age, after getting over the shock of such a revelation, my logical thoughts kicked in. "If Santa is not real and it is all grown ups pretending, what of God?" I asked myself. I did a quick inventory of the facts claimed about Santa and the facts claimed about God. Turns out they are surprisingly similar. Christians really hate that because it equates their god with an imaginary figure, as I found out. Despite parental oprobrium for even making such comparisons, I persisted in private and spent much of my teen years exploring every supernatural idea I could find. You name it, I did it.
And I found that all of them had one thing in common. They all had exactly zero credible evidence.
So today, I can cast your astrological chart, read your Tarot cards, manipulate your aura, balance your chakras, dowse, I Ching like a pro, operate a ouija board, perform a seance, induce past life regression, and on and on and on.
And all of it is superstitious bollocks.
I did, however, have a leg up in all of that. In his spare time, my father was a stage magician. And he passed some of that on to me. He taught me that the objective is not to fool people, it is to allow them space to fool themselves. Now, apply that lesson to any religious sect of your choice. Nuff said.
