Pope Francis trashes the ‘prosperity gospel’: Pompous Christians are ugly pagans

[MellowDem]

78. Nope

Many pagans have no belief in the supernatural. And some definitions of pagans include atheists. Indeed, much like "barbarians", "pagan" is a word that was used as an epithet by the Catholic Church for centuries in its wars to kill and slaughter others that didn't adhere to the One True church. It just throws all "nonbelievers" into one giant, convenient, and easy to demonize pile. Frankie using it is just continuing the usual. Kinda like his opinion that Hillary could never be a priest because she's a woman, or his belief that the drive for gay marriage is being orchestrated by the devil. I mean really, what a dick, but look at the organization he leads. He and Duck Dynasty have a lot in common.

Are all people who believe in the supernatural (whatever variety) deluded and often mired in cognitive dissonance? Yes. By their own admission and by the very definition of words they are.

Delusion: an idiosyncratic belief or impression that is firmly maintained despite being contradicted by what is generally accepted as reality or rational argument.

I can't think of any reality or rational argument for believing in the supernatural. In fact, the very definition of supernatural makes it impossible, because it is beyond our reality of understanding. None of our rationals apply.

Religion is just a sort of normalized delusion, though it is becoming less so bit by bit. It takes a while for the privileged to see past their own entitlement. Religion has been shielded from criticism that any other idea rightly receives for thousands of years, and even now it gets the benefit of the doubt from the leftover of religious privilege.