On the Origin of Religions

About this Project:

As one might guess from the title, this project aims to explain the origin and diversity of religion just as Darwin's On the Origin of Species explained the origin and diversity of life. In short, your religion evolved from a primordial soup of primitive superstitions.

This project is meant to be an accessible explanation of the evolution of religion. Part of understanding the evolution of religion involves understanding evolution as it applies to biology – and a few other things. There truly is an underlying “connectedness” of all things. That connectedness can be understood without any mysticism – the answers to all the important questions may be easily understood using the languages of mathematics, physics and other sciences. There may be some surprising conclusions along the way. As you read the draft chapters, please keep in mind that this is a work in progress. There remains a tremendous amount of work to be done.

Chapters – Draft Form:

Sex Education for the Masses: Stuff “Conservatives” prefer you didn't know.

The Pope Made You Gay: How Religion Causes Homosexuality

George W. Bush: Closet Atheist

  • Yes, I am applying logic and rational analysis to the utterly irrational, which is as shoveling sand against the tide, but I am compelled to try to “out” George W. Bush as the closet atheist which he is. The general line of reasoning employed in this essay can probably be applied with equal validity to any number of other politicians. For example, I may work up a new version of the essay specifically in reference to Congressman Paul Ryan (R) Wisconsin. A re-work of the essay with Ryan as the closet Atheist would be fairly easy due to an abundance of readily available evidence. Ryan is so un-Christian that a bunch of nuns went so far as to hire a bus and go on the road to campaign against his agenda. In an even more telling turn of events, the US Conference of Bishops denounced Ryan s budget plans as failing to meet the moral principles of the Catholic Church while Ryan claimed to be guided by his Catholic faith.

Donald J. Trump: The Worst Kind of Atheist

  • Yes, I am once again applying logic and rational analysis to the utterly irrational, which is as shoveling sand against the tide, but I am compelled to try to “out” Donald J. Trump as an Atheist - in fact the worst kind of Atheist.

Why Ask Why?

  • A question was posed to one of the speakers at the American Atheists 2009 National Convention. The speaker really didn't have an answer, but I did! We'll have to cut the speaker some slack though. My answer runs on for over 3500 words – and would not have fit in the time allotted for questions and answers at the convention. Read this essay to learn why the reason for the question is sometimes more important than the answer.

The irony of the proof for Intelligent Design Theory

  • “Intelligent Design Theory” does have a legitimate application – read this essay to learn what that application is.

  • A supporter of “creation science” emailed me a supposed rebuttal of the essay entitled “The irony of the proof for Intelligent Design Theory.” I could have just deleted it, but decided to post this response instead. Perhaps it will shed some light on the thought contagions of “creationism” and thereby help inoculate someone against this particular thought contagion.

  • Later I may update the original essay to preclude some of the criticisms imagined by the supporter of creation science.

Codependent irrationalities vs. the economy

Vitamin Woke

  • (New for 2024!) An essay which represents my push-back against those who would have people believe that “wokeness” is a bad thing. If you're not “woke” and need to be, then this might be a good place to get started on your path to “wokeness”.

  • My current writing priority is Sex Education for the Masses: Stuff “Conservatives” Prefer You Didn't Know. However current events are a constant distraction and very much on my mind. So to get those distractions off of my mind, I have committed my thoughts on “wokeness” to this essay.

  • Important Note: Opponents of “Wokism” and “Woke” policies often target transgendered persons. This targeting often takes the form of laws restricting access to public restrooms — where the transgendered person is required to use the facility associated with whatever gender is recorded on their birth certificate. These laws are often leveraged in fear-mongering campaigns designed to motivate certain voters — in one of the more reprehensible traditions of fascism. The most obvious historical example is from the Nazi regime where gay men were rounded up and placed in concentration/death camps. Many people will be familiar with the yellow cloth “Star of David” emblems affixed to armbands used by the Nazis to identify Jews in the concentration/death camps. These emblems were often constructed by overlapping two yellow triangles. Fewer people will be aware that gay men were identified with similar armbands. The Nazis used single pink triangles on the armbands of gay men. Other unpopular minorities were also scapegoated and demonized as the cause of societal ills. Returning to the present day, other attacks against transgendered people target transgendered youth. Blanket policies are proposed which prohibit medical intervention to prevent young transgendered persons from going through puberty under the influence of hormones of the gender rejected by the young transgendered person. This means young persons with female birth certificates, but having male-aligned brains will be forced to grow breasts. Likewise, young persons with male birth certificates and female-aligned brains will see unwelcome changes to their bodies. Some of these changes, such as a deeper voice, are not easily masked. That deeper voice is likely a permanent change which is not easily undone when the transgendered youth reaches legal majority. With all that in mind, an astute reader may conclude that ignoring transgender issues in “Vitamin (W)oke” was an unfortunate oversight. However, the omission was intentional. Transgender issues were not mentioned in “Vitamin (W)oke” because that subject is included in a “work-in-progress” elsewhere on origins-of-religions.org. Inquisitive readers may see the work-in-progress by clicking the link for Sex Education for the Masses: Stuff “Conservatives” Prefer You Didn't Know.

Certainty in Your Atheism

  • (New for 2024!) An essay explaining how one may have confidence in the non-existence of God.

Evolution of Ideas: Papers from English class

The $25,000.00 Challenge to Purveyors of Religious Nonsense

  • Governing rules and particulars here.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Questions and Answers here.

If you would like to help, then contact via the address below. Things which would be useful include illustrations as well as publicizing the website and website content for starters. See my wishlist for details.

You may send comments/suggestions and hate mail to: