Top 5 Questions to Ask Yourself If You Don’t Think You've Been Indoctrinated

Here are five questions to ask yourself to identify if you have been indoctrinated. While these questions all refer to religion, they may also be applicable to other beliefs such as political views or your understanding of an event.

1- Did you believe in Santa Claus at the time you accepted your religion?

2- Were you taught only one religion and that’s the one you've accepted?

3- Were you told you must accept your religion on faith and that faith is all you need?

4- Have you been discouraged from learning things which might challenge your religion as it might be Satan trying to deceive you?

5- Have you read the entirety of your holy book?

If you answered YES to any of #1-4 and NO to #5, then you HAVE been indoctrinated. If you care whether your beliefs are true, I urge you to examine them as critically as you would if they weren't your own. If you don’t care whether your beliefs are true or will only look for evidence to confirm them rather than looking for evidence against them – then don’t waste your time. If a belief is correct, you won’t be able to find evidence to disprove it. However, if you look only for evidence to confirm your belief - you will be able to justify believing whatever you want.

If you chose not to challenge the claims of your religion - please don’t teach others your religion or vote in elections. You also waive your right to mock other religions no matter how ridiculous they may seem.

Why Republicans Didn’t Celebrate MLK’s “I Have a Dream Speech” as Democrats Did

Yesterday, August 28, 2013, was the 50^th Anniversary of Martin Luther King's famous "I Have a Dream Speech". Many liberal/Democratic Facebook pages celebrated the speech, but on popular Republican pages such as Being Conservative, Mr. Conservative and Conservative Daily there was little to no mention of the speech. 

However, Positively Republican made a post encouraging people to watch the speech, but it didn't go over too well. It didn't get nearly the amount of "like's" as other posts on the page and in the comments many called Dr. King a "plagiarists", "a racist", along with a comment that said, "My family will never sit down and listen to King a communist backed negro… Stop being ashamed for being white!" (this comment sadly received many likes).

This was odd since Republicans often like to claim MLK as their own. But as I have said before, "Republicans care about the political label MLK identified himself with - Liberals care about the rights MLK fought for." Yesterday showed this to be accurate.

Republicans get upset when they are called racist, and rightfully so for those who aren't (and many aren't). If Republicans are not racist, then what possible reason would they have to not want to celebrate this famous civil rights speech?

The only conclusion for ignoring this speech is that the GOP didn't want to anger the racists who identify as Republican. The GOP likes to claim moral superiority, but there is nothing moral about choosing not to celebrate equal rights for fear of losing the support of racists. To not speak up against racism seems to be just as immoral as racism itself.

Some may say it's unfair to judge people based on what they don't talk about and to some degree that is true, but we can understand what people really value based on what they support and celebrate. The fact Republicans didn't celebrate MLK's speech speaks volumes. Let's hope voters remember this next time Republican leaders try to claim moral superiority.

The Root of the GOP’s Problem

We often hear from Republicans that they need to improve their message in order to better connect with minorities and women, and the GOP is struggling to figure out this new message. Texas senator, Ted Cruz suggested recently that Republicans just need to “stand up and win the argument”, as if they haven’t already tried that. But is changing their message enough to turn the party around? I don't think so. There are many issues with the Republican Party’s positions, but there is no need to mention any of them because their positions are only a result of the party’s real problem.

In Carl Sagan’s book “The Demon-Haunted World” he wrote, “Those who have something to sell, those who wish to influence public opinion, those in power, a skeptic might suggest, have a vested interest in discouraging skepticism.”

The GOP may claim to be skeptical, but they have confused skepticism for denialism. Denying reality and creating conspiracy theories is not skepticism despite what they may think. Skepticism is the approach that requires all information to be well supported by evidence - creating theories based on no evidence and demanding others to prove it wrong is not skepticism, yet this is what Republicans continue to do.

Science is a way of gaining knowledge through observation, experimentation and carefully examining evidence - it is absolutely mind blowing that we have leaders who are against this way of thinking. This is the root of the GOP's problem - they discourage critical thinking and are anti-science.

The GOP is against critical thinking because they prefer their own traditional beliefs over reality - in order to hold these beliefs, they must deny any facts that would undermine their beliefs. Many Republican politicians believe God is on their side and if information disputes the Bible then it must be wrong. The religious right believes evidence and reason is “Satan’s” way of testing their faith, and they aren't interested in considering that they might be wrong.

Republicans wouldn't be struggling if it weren't for the growth of critical thinking and atheism in the US; it’s difficult to manipulate voters through their religion when more people are questioning religious claims. This puts the GOP and especially Republicans who haven’t completely denied science and critical thinking in a tough position. If they speak up against the party’s irrational views - they won’t get elected. If they pander to irrational beliefs – moderate and semi-rational Republicans won’t vote for them.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has even said, “We've got to stop being the stupid party.” But he doesn't understand that as long as the Republican Party sticks to their current positions – the party will be dependent on ignorant voters.

Republicans can continue to talk about how they need to improve their message, but the problem is that they don’t really want to change their message. They like who they are and even if they do change their message they won’t mean it. Engaged voters are smart enough to know that changing their message is only an attempt to manipulate them for their vote. Because let’s be honest, when we hear Republicans say, “we need to improve our message” they are really saying, "we need to do a better job manipulating the public by telling them what they want to hear even though we don’t really believe it." If they believed it, they wouldn't need to change their message - because it would have been their message from the start.

If Republicans aren't going to embrace critical thinking, their only hope is that the public doesn't either.

Conversation Between Inquisitive Muslim and an Atheist

A couple weeks ago, I received a message from a girl from Saudi Arabia with questions about atheism. With her permission, I have decided to share our conversation as I think many will find her willingness to ask questions encouraging. I also ask her a few questions about living in Saudi Arabia and her Muslim faith (which may expose my ignorance as I have no idea what it is actually like to live there).

I've done very little editing (as you will see) in order to keep the feel of our casual conversation, so please excuse the grammar. I will be using her initials "IN".

-Start of Conversation-

-IN

hello.. well im not an atheist i just wanna know what do you atheists believe in? do you not believe in anything at all? and for who and why do you think you live? im really curious how atheists think..

-Discovering Reason

IN, thanks for your questions, I think they are excellent questions and I'm glad you are asking an atheist and not a believer what we believe. Would you allow me to post this question on the page and you can see answers from many other atheists and not just my own answer?

-IN

alright sure.. but without mentioning my name please

thank you

-Discovering Reason

But to answer your question, we believe in many things we just don't believe a god exists. That is the only thing that atheism describes. But for me I also don't believe in anything supernatural - I believe everything can be explained through natural processes. I'm also a humanist, I believe that people should treat everyone equally and that society should do everything it can to make life better for everyone.

Why do I think I live? That is an interesting question, I don't think there is any grand purpose for why I'm alive, but my consciousness tells me I am alive and I want to make the best of it. Because I understand that this is the only life I get, so it is important for me to make it the best one I can. I could go in depth further, but not sure if you are interested. If you have a question or would like me to go in depth further about anything I'd be happy to do so. I hope my answer has helped.

-IN

so not all atheists are humanists right? i mean those who aren't might harm people or something? And how do you think earth was created? you believe in the big bang?

and yes thank you and sorry for disturbing

-Discovering Reason

Of course, I will definitely respect your privacy. Thanks, I'll post your question now. Where are you from? It looks like you may be Muslim? May I share your religion and what country you live in?

-IN

yes i am a muslim, and im lebanese living in saudi arabia, thank you again

-Discovering Reason

You are not disturbing me at all, I appreciate the questions!  But yes, not all atheists are humanists, but most are.

I'm not exactly sure what you mean when you ask, "those who aren't might harm people or something?" I think there is an awful stereotype that atheists are mean people or something and you have believed that stereotype. People say awful things about people that are different from themselves and unfortunately religious people say that about atheists all the time. In my experience atheist are more caring and loving people than most religious people because they realize that once they die it is over and they want to treat people respectfully during their life. Atheists aren't prefect just like everyone else, but you never see atheists bombing buildings because of their atheism but you do see this with religious people. In fact in America, less than 1% of the prison population is atheists and the other 99% is religious. That may help answer that question.

-IN

one more question please.. do you believe in demons?

and yes it did thank you

-Discovering Reason

no, I don't believe in demons or angels, or heaven or hell. I use to though, I grew up Christian and about 4 years ago after studying the origins of religion and searching for answers to questions I always had but no one ever had an answer to, I realized that it was not true. It is just a deep seeded belief humans have that have been passed down generations and altered through time.

I posted your question on the page, so check it out from time to time to hear their answers. If you have a question you want to ask someone about their answer, feel free to copy and paste their answer and the question you have so you can keep your identity private.

-IN

thank you for making things clearer now  and yes i will, i appreciate your help a lot.

-Discovering Reason

Oh I'm sorry I forgot to answer your question about how the earth was created and the big bang. These may take longer to answer, but there are many great videos on YouTube of my favorite scientists Carl Sagan and Neil deGrasse Tyson answering them. If you want me to suggest some to you let me know.

-IN

Alright I'll check them out

Next Day

-Discovering Reason

Hey IN, I was thinking about why you asked me if I believed in demons, so why did you ask that? Were you told that atheists worshiped demons or something?  I'm just curious.

-IN

good guess, yeah well they gave me this idea that you drink blood and do those crazy stuff or submit yourselves to satan, so i didnt wanna judge the way they did, so i asked a real atheist ..

and im sorry i thought about atheists that way

-Discovering Reason

haha, I figured, it happens all the time unfortunately. Drink blood? I think they are confusing atheists with vampires... very very different things haha. Well I'm glad you asked and can now correct them.

Do you ever question your Muslim faith?

-IN

well they kind of gave me the idea that atheists are more likely to be those gothic people who worship satan and doesnt believe in god, thats why i asked what do you believe in, and well yeah i do, i wonder a lot, but i dont think i can ever give up on religion, it makes me feel safer somehow.

-Discovering Reason

I understand, many people feel that way about their religion. If you gave up Islam, would you fear for your safety because of how others would treat you? Do you ever fear being stoned? I see pictures of horrible things like that happening to women in your part of the world and I wonder how often girls think about that happening to them.

-IN

No thats not what ill be afraid of, in my religion when we get scared from something we ask God to help us, and it feels safe to know he is there listening to your prayers, and no such people cant represent the arab world and the islam, in saudi arabia it might be a bit hard, but yet it's really peaceful, when the woman respects her man he will respect her, if not he will treat her the same way, but in our holy book such abuse is forbidden, and as i mentioned above, i do wonder what if all of this was a lie, but then i think what if it wasnt, hell isnt a good place to go to..

-Discovering Reason

I get that, when I was a Christian I used to pray to god in the very same way and it was a comforting feeling. I just came to the conclusion that I rather care what it true rather than how it makes me feel. And yes, if hell existed it wouldn't be a good place to go and that was a fear I always had as well. But the more you learn about the world and the universe the easier it becomes to let go of those ideas.

But I don't want you to feel like I'm pressuring you to lose your faith or anything, was just curious if you were questioning your faith or what.

What do people think about Malala Yousafzai? I'm a big fan of hers, I know she is Muslim but I have a feeling she will become an atheist when she is older similar to Ayaan Hirsi Ali. If you don't know her - look her up on YouTube or something. You might really enjoy listening to her.

-IN

well i never really heard about them, ill research them on youtube, well the reason i wanted to know more about atheists was because i had the scary image in my head and i thought they would kill me to give my blood to Satan or something, i know it sounds crazy but this is what i thought, sorry, moreover, i actually thought people would attack me when you told them im arab, but they didnt, and thats why i made sure what i heard was untrue.. I got ashamed of the way i pictured atheists in my head last night

-Discovering Reason

You have nothing to be ashamed of! Just by asking the questions and seeking the truth puts you leaps and bounds ahead of people much older than yourself. Too many people are afraid to ask questions and assumed that what they hear is the truth and forever are fearful of something they know nothing about. If only they had cared enough to learn more.

You remind me a lot of Malala, I think you will find her story really inspiring. I can't believe you haven't heard of her!

Let me know what you think.

-IN

yeah ill listen to what she has to say, it's good to know atheists are good people

-Discovering Reason

haha yes it is.

Well to give you a summary of Malala, she is about your age maybe younger and I believe from Pakistan. She is an activist for education and was shot in the head while on a bus to school by the Taliban. She survived and is still fighting for girls to get an education.

-IN

yeah im watching this video where she speaks at the UN, she's a great inspiration, her speech is beautiful

-End of Conversation-

Check out the Facebook post where I asked others to answer her original question. If you have a few minutes, please consider answering her question here in the comments section or on the Facebook page.

Coming Out As an Atheist Can Mean Stepping into a Bizarro World

The religious are questioning their beliefs more than ever before, and for those who conclude their beliefs have no validity and no longer believe in a god struggle with how to tell their loved ones. Many keep it to themselves until they feel it’s the right time to “come out” because they know it will hurt the ones they love, and some never come out for fear of being discriminated against in the workplace and/or losing relationships.

For me, I was never a closet atheist. As soon as I came to the conclusion that I no longer believed in a god – I told the people who were closest to me. It never occurred to me that I should be ashamed or afraid to tell others that I discovered something new due to my skepticism and research. I naively assumed everyone valued the truth above everything else, but I quickly discovered this was not the case. It felt as if I just stepped into a bizarro world, where evidence and logic was suddenly bad and delusion was good.

I thought people would be curious how I came to my conclusion but instead they became uncomfortable and extremely defensive. So why do believers respond this way?

Atheists get this reaction because when they tell a believer they no longer believe in God, they are also inadvertently telling them they are wrong – this is something they don’t want to hear and the conversation becomes very emotional. Belief in god isn't based on reason or evidence; it is based on emotion and tradition. This is why believers aren't interested in having a conversation about the evidence or lack thereof which has brought someone to the conclusion of atheism - because evidence isn't what brought them to their belief in god in the first place.

Those who constantly try to convert one back to their belief are rarely doing it because they care about the person’s “soul”; we know this because they rarely try to convert those they love if they believe in a different god/religion. For example, from a Christian perspective, there shouldn't be any difference between an atheist and a Mormon – both are wrong in their view. However, according to the Bible the Mormon would be guilty of worshiping a false god, which is an added sin that atheists aren't guilty of. Yet, people try to convert atheists back to their belief because if someone doesn't believe in a god it makes them uncomfortable.

Religious people constantly have doubts about their beliefs whether they admit it or not. Anyone who doesn't doubt their religion are extremely brainwashed because a reasonable person can’t look at the world and see the 100’s of religions that exist which all claim to be correct and not doubt their own. A reasonable person sees this and asks, “How can so many people be convinced their god is real when everyone can’t be right?”

Sadly, many are satisfied with believing everyone else is just wrong and they are right. But if they take the first question even further they may ask, “If so many people can be convinced their god is real, could I be wrong as well?” Unfortunately, these questions are extremely uncomfortable for believers to ask themselves which is why it is so uncomfortable for them when they hear that someone they love no longer believes as they do.

Even though I understand why coming out as an atheist can be difficult for both atheists and believers, I’m still dumbfounded that those who have the courage to think for themselves and question their beliefs can suddenly be viewed as immoral and hateful simply for no longer believing in a god. Polls have shown that in America atheists are distrusted as much as rapists - this is astonishing! Although, it shouldn't be a surprise that when people disregard reason and logic and rely solely on their emotions that they can come to such illogical and absurd conclusions about others - it truly is like living in a bizarro world.

The Attack on Religion in America

We hear a lot from politicians and televangelists such as Pat Robertson claiming religion is under attack - and they are right. Religion is under attack, but not in the way they want us to think it is. When they say religion is under attack, they really mean Christianity because it is the most popular religion in America. We don’t hear them complaining when Islam, Scientology, Mormonism etc. is being ridiculed.

Let’s be clear, there is a difference between the ideas of a religion being attacked and attacking the right to worship. The right to worship or practice a religion is not under attack, it’s the credibility of religious claims which are being attacked.

In a free society, ideas are and should be up for debate because ideas matter, especially when those ideas influence government. America is a nation built on freedom, and because of that everything can be under attack including freedom itself. In order to keep this freedom we must stay vigilant of those who want to restrict our freedoms and in many cases, religion is the tool used to achieve this.

Those complaining that religion is under attack aren't upset because their religious beliefs are being misconstrued (because they aren't). They are angry because the facts and evidence show that religious claims lack credibility, and they don’t care whether their beliefs are true – they care about how their beliefs makes them feel. When the credibility of one’s religion is put into question it is very uncomfortable for those who don’t value the truth. If more people are losing their faith in Christianity, then Christianity eventually will lose its power and influence in government. This is a power it should never have had in the first place and losing it is what frustrates and scares them most.

When we hear people whining about an attack on religion, we need to realize that what they are really complaining about is the fact that people are waking up and telling them they have no right to force their views on others – because no one is trying to take away their right to worship. There is not a decline in churches or religious programming in America – freedom of religion is very much alive but so is the amount of people who are thinking for themselves and questioning religious claims. Just because religion is losing the argument, it doesn't mean that religious freedom is under attack. 

Why People Become So Fearful of Government and Politicians

We all know someone who distrusts and is even fearful of the government and politicians. It seems no matter what facts are presented to them, they continue to hold these fears despite having good reasons for this fear. It is almost as if they want to be fearful because it provides them some form of comfort.

So why do people tend to be so fearful? Well, there are many variables that can cause this fear such as a lack of education, media, indoctrination of an ideology etc., but another explanation for this fear can be found in the history of human evolution.

Humans evolved to be fearful, for example - if 100,000 years ago a woman was picking berries and heard something in the bushes but didn't think anything of it - that thing she ignored might have been a bear and was likely to be killed (resulting in her genes not getting passed on).

If the same situation happened but this time she became fearful and ran home even though she didn't know what was in the bushes - then she was more likely to live long enough to pass on her genes. What she heard may have just been the wind, but in this situation being scared is better than not being scared - because in evolution it is better for a species to be safe than sorry, otherwise they are likely to go extinct. So those who are paranoid and easily scared are more likely to survive; hence why the world is full of individuals who are fearful of those different from themselves.

This doesn't mean we shouldn't be skeptical of government and politics, it is healthy to question and not blindly follow authority - but we must have a healthy balance.

So how do we find the right balance of being cautious but not too cautious? The key is educating ourselves on the things we don’t understand and admitting that our current understanding could be wrong. Having a better understanding of government and the views of those we feel disagree with us etc., will lessen our fears of the unknown and help us make better decisions going further. Not being educated on issues and simply relying on gut feelings to make decisions often makes the problem worse.

This video of Romney supporters being interviewed at a rally in Ohio is a great example of how ignorance enhances fear. My favorite is “he is a Muslim (President Obama) - his father was a Muslim, his father was an atheist, and his father was a communist." If you don’t understand what is wrong with this statement - please leave a comment below so someone can explain it.