Now it’s time for a little more about yesterday’s protest. Addressing some claims made by the religious. I have found that any time you interface with the religious, especially in a confrontational type setting, it makes for a fun game of “name that logical fallacy.”

There’s always the cliche, “The US was founded on the Christian religion” myth. I’ve addressed this before, but I never get tired of Article 11 of the Treaty of Tripoli which reads:

“As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquillity, of Mussulmen; and, as the said States never entered into any war, or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties, that no pretext arising from religious opinions, shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.”

There was one man who quite angrily (shocking right?) told us that his sister was delivered from her former drug addiction by the power and grace of Jesus. How does he know this? He prayed for his sister and she changed her ways. I think his confirmation bias is showing. It is possible that he and other family members praying for her did help her change her ways, but it’s not the prayer that did it, it would be that she knew that her family cared about her and wanted her to break the habit. God didn’t free her from addiction, she freed herself.

There were a few women who came across the road to speak to us about their own deliverance from drug addictions. One was speaking way too quietly for me to hear her over the praise band, so I let my buddy talk to her and I moved on.

A bit later a new friend and I were approached by a woman who wanted to tell us that she agrees with us and likes our signs. She hates religion, what people need is a relationship with Jesus, not some lame religion. Sorry lady, but a “relationship” with someone who you can’t prove is there is almost by definition a religion (or psychosis). She obviously has a religion, it’s called Christianity. A bit later she was talking about how all denominations are wrong, but her non-denominational church has it right, oh wait, they’re a Vineyard church, sorry but that’s a denomination.

She too was miraculously delivered from drug addiction. She found herself in a church felling very out of place. So she prayed and asked God to reveal himself to her with as much power as a cocaine and meth high, not one or the other, but both. She got it. Within a few weeks she quit the drugs and hasn’t gone back. Well, no wonder, if you can give yourself that kind of high, why waste the money and risk on the drugs to do it.

Within the first week of calling it quits on religion, I found myself on a snorkeling boat off of Cozumel with a cooler full of beer that we were free to help ourselves to. I chugged a few on the way back to the dock. Then went to some shops that served complementary shots of tequila while you browsed their selection. In about 30 minutes time I had downed three beers and three shots of tequila, I then lit up a knockoff Cuban cigar. Since I was still very new to alcohol and tobacco (all of a few days) I had to sit down. I just sat there in amazement at the euphoria from the combo alcohol and cigar buzz. Then I recognized it, from church. It was a very high energy church service called “The Awakening” with 350 college students crammed into a room designed for 300, a rock band, and general feel of pious frenzy, it was there that I had felt that same powerful feeling of euphoria.

It’s easy to create the same feelings through either substances or religion (or both), so it’s no wonder that people who break from drug addictions often find their way into religion. It’s their new drug. It’s like Methadone is to Heroin, but since your mind creates it and modifies its own chemistry you can make it fill the void created by any drug.

Then this woman began to talk about her visions, apocalyptic dreams at night, words on projection screens that aren’t there, rainbows coming out of manhole covers on the road, even rainbows coming out of Obama’s tie during a recent public address. I was amazed at how comfortable she was telling two atheists about all of this, telling us about her hallucinations. I was torn about whether or not I should try to convince this woman to see a psychiatrist, fortunately the friend I was with referred her to JREF’s Million Dollar Challenge. She has claims of prophetic visions and healing powers, let’s test it. When she fails and doesn’t get to collect the million dollars (nobody has yet) maybe one of them can refer her to a competent professional who can get her brain chemistry in check.

I guess religion isn’t all that bad, it allows addicts and the mentally ill to self-medicate in a way that is likely less damaging than what they would otherwise do to themselves. Of course actual psychiatric treatment might make it so she wouldn’t be distracted by imaginary rainbows when she’s driving. Either way, it’s not the strongest argument for your faith.