The Biggest Lie, Unveiled

Here we are in 2022 preparing for election midterms with candidates still claiming the Big Lie, that the 2020 election was rigged. Tens of thousands of people are still dying annually in our country from Covid and gunshots, yet vaccines and meaningful firearm legislation are shrugged off as dangerous options. Football coaches coerce students with prayer while subscribers to zygotes possessed by souls have pushed theocracy on the rest of us. Somehow we have raised the banner that "everyone has the right to their opinion" with the subtext being The Biggest Lie, that each opinion has equal merit. With this doctrine held high, tons of misinformation is sold to the public at large, often as youth indoctrination and part of an inhumane political power grab.

How have we arrived at this moment, where unsubstantiated claims receive so much attention? In short, we have been raised to believe lies without questioning them. Sure, your parents eventually came clean about Santa, the Big Bad Wolf and the Tooth Fairy, but God, Allah, Yahweh, Brahma, Vishnu, etc. continue to plague the minds of grown adults. I'm sorry, but there is NO GOOD EVIDENCE that any of these supernatural beings exist. The choice to continue believing in these fairy tales is at best child-like wishful thinking, but mostly is residual indoctrination of falsehoods meant to simplify a complicated world rather than attempt to understand it.

We lie to ourselves because we don't want to face the painful reality. In fact, so many humans subscribe to these crazy beliefs that we fail as a society to intelligently address the real challenges that exist in maintaining a healthy world. Only by living authentic and evidence based lives can we achieve our highest potential and improve cultural tolerance, environmental health, the quality of life for sentient creatures, and pursue ever better explanations of the world around us.

Sure, no one practicing nonsense religion should not be persecuted. Nevertheless, we should recognize supporting the unsubstantiated tenets of all these contradicting, supernatural-based religions hurts our society to the core. Religious belief peddles weak thinking and an emotional connection to the unreal. If we are to improve as a people (and we are, all too slowly) we need to look our beliefs, opinions, and emotions in the face and retire the ones that don't make sense. A world without gods may lose its imaginary safety net, but it also frees up resources and clears the global mind so we can come together and confront reality toward the most joyful of ends.