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I know a grown woman who, when she and her boyfriend were in a financial jam and the house felt tense and unwelcoming, burned sage in an attempt to improve her situation.
Not "she looked for work", not "she considered smarter financial planning", she burned sage.
Naturally, things got worse. The couple lost their apartment and broke up (for many reasons), and she moved back in with her parents. Single and forty, alone and angry about it, she looked for someone to blame.
I asked her later if her beliefs, her "saging" had done anything to help, and she angrily asked if my atheism was helpful.
Although atheism isn't a belief system and therefore by definition is neither helpful nor harmful, the short answer is yes. It helps because the atheist is unencumbered by irrational beliefs. Rather than burning sage, which does absolutely nothing, when I find myself in a financial situation I turn to more concrete solutions.
I've driven for a ride sharing company, I've picked up paying gigs on the side, I've taken temp jobs or part-time work.
I'm not implying that somehow only an atheist can do temp work, only that I consider it helpful that I would do that instead of wasting my time burning sage around the house to smoke out evil spirits.
I'm not opposed to beliefs (well, yes I am), but you have to be able to live your life. And the inability to live your life without falling back on your ineffective religious delusions is, in my opinion, indicative of an abject failure to grow up.
But this is how these belief systems work, as opposed to adopting an evidentiary worldview, one which espouses following the evidence and then learning the lessons it teaches, and then, finally, taking the appropriate action.
It takes longer, but the results are real, as opposed to the imaginary results of burning sage in your living room.

Jthurston2 6 Aug 16
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2 comments

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Burned a lot of sage (figuratively speaking) in my day. Learned the hard way that you've got to do the work of living your life.

1

Hey, burning sage and incense are very helpful financially, to the sage and incense sellers ha ha

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