A Convenient Untruth?

Say! There were some interesting ones in there!

...the thing I find fascinating is that so many believe in many scientific proofs which don't actually exist!

I'm convinced the global warming hype is what made gas prices soar not so long ago..

Oh Boy! I'm with you on that one! Organized religion was behind the Spanish Inquisition and the Crusades that took so many lives all in the name of Christ. Organized religion's sole aim is to keep us under their thumbs, to rule our lives as they did in the Dark Ages, and of course, don't forget the financial gain.
Oh now you've got me on my soapbox!
The Church chose the books of the Bible they are so fond of throwing in our faces. The Old Testament was written by men thousands of years before Christianity started, simple stories for uneducated people, not true stories. The New Testament was written years after the death of Christ, it's all hearsay. The Church decided from those writings that Christ was divine. He's been chosen as divine on rumor!
Now, a thought, organized religion has engendered the terrorism that is plaguing us in current times. They are taking simple uneducated men and turning them into killers. Men who want only a better life for themselves and their families are being brainwashed, told that this is what Allah wants, and led to kill. Their goal, to eliminate Christianity and convert us all to their faith, very similar to what the Christian Church in the Dark Ages.
Now, fortunately for us there are many many people who truly are good people, who use their faith to improve themselves spiritually and really believe in their faith. That commitment to their faith is commendable, they aren't looking to control others. No matter what name you put on their religion, Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Buddhism, there are many good people who want to live in peace and with love. Greedy organized religion can ruin all that.

I hear you. What bothers me most about any religion is the insistence that one must give up their personal power. By that I mean, when you work for something and it comes to you, YOU did it, not some god, yet this elusive god gets the credit. Same with when one does bad, it wasn't them, it was the devil.
I have studied religions extensively. Expecially christianity, if the christians knew their church's history, I wonder how many would still believe? Just to clarify, Jesus' divinity, it wasn't even hearsay, it was voted on at the Nicean Conference in 325, or 323 depending on which source you read, held by Emperor Constantine, who's only motive was consolidation of power.
There are older Christian texts, such as the Nag Hammadi, which were written closer to the time of Jesus, yet the church didn't want those texts in the bible because they are gnostic, more spiritual and not full of dogma like their own.
There is nothing unique about the christian religion, every single thing is a reworking of an older religion. Everything. The virgin birth, Isis. The resurrection of a god, Osiris. The symbolic eating of a god, Cernonnos. All long before christianity surfaced. Even the holy days are celeration days from older religions: Easter is the Celtic Ostara, Christmas was Mithras birthday along with many other pagan religions, it was the winter solstice, the birth of the sun, not the birth of the 'son'.
Religion is all about controlling the masses. I'll agree that in ancient times, it was probably the ONLY way to control people. Imagine how unruly they must have been! What's to fear from doing wrong and committing atrocities upon one another, there was no law like we have now. But that time has past.
And during the Dark Ages, it was about hoarding knowledge. The ONLY way to learn to read or write in the christian-dominated world was to be a monk. that's some sick and twisted thinking if you ask me.
Now, if you want to talk about Jesus the man, then you'll find he was known in India, Persia and other areas. He was an enlightened man who tried to teach people. Unfortunately, his teachings were usurped by others with less noble intentions.