You can dig a hole for your new swimming pool using a wooden spoon.
But, really now, it would be a stupid tool to use. You need the right tool to do the job efficiently.
When we say that somebody is rational we mean they are able to see relationships and form conclusions.
This can be productively practical when the right toolkit of thought is used.
6th Century (b.c.e.) philosopher Thales (Thay-lees) determined how tall the Great Pyramid in Egypt was by thinking rationally.
Literally, he used the RATIO of his own shadow to his height.
At the time of day when his shadow was exactly the same length as his height he had his assistant measure the shadow of the Great Pyramid in the sand.
Rationally, the length of that shadow at that moment would equal the height of the Pyramid! Thales rational toolkit used real relationships of actually existing things.
Imagine trying to use your standard tape measure to perform such a measurement! It would be like using a wooden spoon to dig a swimming pool!
What is the best test of rationality?
How can you know if you aren't using the right toolkit?
Think of it this way: LIFE itself is the most practical test!
Are you happy? Are you comfortable? Have enough money? Or, are you depressed, distressed and scrambling to pay your expenses?
The answer to that question is A BIG RED FLAG.
Whatever you are doing to make things work ISN'T WORKING!
You are digging your swimming pool using a wooden spoon!
Time to change your toolkit.
This world and this life are real. The problems are real. The tools you need must be RATIONAL.
If you use the wrong comparisons you are going to get the wrong results. That is the definition of IRRATIONAL.
The ancient mastadons blindly wandered into the La Brea Tar Pits to graze on the moss growing on top of the sludge.
These heavy beasts started to sink slowly into the inescapable ooze. Pretty dumb.
Then, the cautious predators caught sight of these struggling prey and wandered in to the same viscous tar to feed off the trapped victims. Well, it looked like a good idea at the time...
They too became victims!
One by one new predators saw the old predators having an easy meal and followed the very same (seemingly rational) plan of action.
The result? THEY GOT TRAPPED and doomed themselves in the process.
What is your La Brea Tar Pit?
For many of us we were led down a path of rational comparisons between cherry-picked scriptures in the Holy Bible and our own lives.
We believed GOD was talking to us across thousands of years!
We studied this "message" and followed the path leading to..................................our own La Brea Tar Pit where we got trapped.
Is the Bible the right toolkit?
Or, is it metaphysical wisdom being applied in a physical world?
Is it only "poetically" true?
Check your life and the life of all the devout bible believers you know and look at the condition of their LIFE ITSELF.
Do you measure your own happiness by "shoulds" and "oughts" rather than practical policy?
Do you view errors as "sin" punishable by extinction at the hands of God?
Are ongoing world events random periodic occurances and natural upheavals or do they form a signficant signal or "sign" of End Times?
For the last 2000 years the most pious, sincere, devout bible believers have believed THEY could PROVE they were living at the End of the World according to scriptural "signs". They were clearly, demonstrably WRONG.
IS THE BIBLE any kind of TOOLKIT to apply to real life problems or solutions??
ARE WE STUCK in our own LA BREA TAR PIT like those extinct idiots who wandered in looking for an easy meal?
Haven't we doomed ourselves by using the wrong tools?
We live in a cause and effect universe.
If we attribute the WRONG causes to the effects we witness aren't we fooling ourselves as to how the world really works??
The earliest primitive people tried to BRIBE Gods and Spirits by sacrificing valuable things (even people) to get favorable results!
What have you been sacrificing and what are your actual results?
We may find that we are being offered "Hope", "Everlasting Life" and "Wisdom from God" with the Bible as the only source.
HOW IS THAT WORKING OUT FOR YOU?
What if you spent just 10 minutes out of every day asking yourself a simple question: "What if there is NO THEREthere?"
You could be digging that swimming pool until the day you die with nothing to show for your life but a small pile of dirt and tiny hole.
Why not develop some practical tools that actually work in day to day life rather than attributing spooky invisible causes with world events?
Here are a few:
1. A good vocabulary 
2.Practical Math Skills
3.Knowledge of Fallacies and Logic reasoning 
4.Basic skeptical investigative principles 
Bottom line? We all want something REAL in our life. Like a swimming pool. Nobody is going to dig it for us just because we are nice.
Why not pick the best toolkit for the job so that YOU END UP WITH SOMETHING REAL IN YOUR LIFE??
If your life ISN'T WORKING you are definitely in need of a new toolkit!
Life is about diving in. Make sure you have a pool and that there is water there before you leave the diving board behind!!
