RATIONALISTS SPEAK

According to Bill Maher, 20% of adults now say they are Rationaists. He didn’t offer the name or date (or anything useful) about the poll or survey he was citing. But there’s no doubt that the Rationalist ranks are growing.


No rights implied.

“There are other similar ‘savior figures’ in the same neighborhood at the same time in history: Mithras, Attis, Adonis, Osiris, Tammuz, and so forth and nobody thinks that these characters are anything but mythical and their stories are so similar (to Jesus’ story)… that it just seems like special pleading to say, ‘Oh, in this one case it really happened.’” -Robert Price, Historian

“Why should we consider the stories of Osiris, Dionysus, Adonis, Attis, Mithras, and other Pagan Mystery saviors as fables, yet come across essentially the same story told in a Jewish context and believe it to be the biography of a carpenter from Bethlehem?”
- Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy,“The Jesus Mysteries”

“Many currents fed the Jesus myth, like streams and tributaries joining to form a major river.”
-Kenneth Humphries, “Jesus Never Existed”

“…‘Defenders of the (Christian) faith’ were compelled under incessant charges of fraud to admit that Christianity was a rehash of older religions. …In fact, in their fabulous exploits and wondrous powers many of these (Pagan) gods and goddesses are virtually the same as the Christ character, as attested to by the Christian apologists themselves. In further inspecting this issue we discover that ‘Jesus Christ’ is in fact a compilation of these various gods, who were worshipped and who’s dramas were regularly played out by ancient peoples long before the Christian era.”
-Acharya S, “The Christ Conspiracy”


No rights implied.

When “the penny dropped” for me, was when I realized that Yeshua was a man. You might think this was when I stopped revering him, but that’s not the case. I was, in fact, much more in awe of the man than I had ever been of the god. Imagine a poor man (cut away all those “miracles”) who is so wise and so brave as to stand up against everything he’s been taught, against the established church, against following his people’s laws as a way to heaven. A very interesting man, indeed. I believe he was a pauper (he was a carpenter’s son, but there’s no mention of him being a carpenter himself) with a transcendent vision of peace and the brotherhood of all men. You see, the miracles, the rituals, the mythos mean nothing at all to me. But I can respect a man who says the church is not the way. Cutting out the whole mythos, one thing remains; someone caused an enormous break from Jewish tradition around 30 CE. So there you have it; I don’t claim Jesus Christ as my personal savior, but I do claim an enormous respect for a poor man called Yeshua for living by what he believed. For me, it doesn't hurt Yeshua's case at all (though "his" church will disagree) that he had a bit of a temper on him. Christians should not be put off by that fact (such as when he cursed whole cities – in which I feel certain there was at least one good man – or when he cursed an innocent fig tree for having the effrontery not to bear fruit out of season because he was hungry - I've done the same). He even cursed his own disciples pretty regularly. Christians don’t usually dwell on this side of his personality. I have the same respect for Akhenaton, who had a transcendent vision of one god being for everyone, Martin Luther for having a transcendent vision of the Word of God being for everyone, and the Buddha for having a transcendent vision of right living, right thought, right action. Wise teachers all, and all horrifyingly misunderstood at one time or another, if not altogether.