The human brain is a fascinating organ, but is very susceptible to input based on your output (what you already think you know). We see what we are programmed to see, what we expect to see, often seeing what is not there at all. The quirks of human perception must be understood before one decides where they stand—on any subject. Palinopsia is when you see that residual image after you remove the original from view. Most of us have seen these demonstrations at one point or another where you stare intently at an ink blot or photo, then take it away and close your eyes. The image reappears.
Below is the checkerboard illusion. Look at squares A and B. They are in fact the same shade of grey, but your preconditioned expectation of what the checkerboard looks like, will not even allow you spot see it correctly, even when it’s pointed out to you.
Look closely. Your brain is playing a trick on you, but the puzzle is cleverly designed to do just that. Here below, a strip in the same color is laid between the two squares. This bridge confirms the illusion, but look at the top pic again and the trick remains.
This is just the tip of the neurological iceberg when it comes to perception.
“Attention is what steers your perception, it’s what controls your reality, it’s the gateway to the mind. If you don’t attend to something, you can’t be aware of it”—Apollo Robbins, The Art of Misderection (9 min TED)
But if you only attend to it, you miss the best of reality—Enter religion
Christianity and Islam demand all your attention, all your devotion “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might—not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord”
My attention today is to open your mind to the possibility that that focus is a misdirection. A hijacking of your self empowered life.
If you observe even just a little and split through all the talk, things are rarely what you’ve been told. Most of our children begin their lives being deceived at every turn, hidden from realities while imaginations of santa, tooth fairies, Easter bunnies, birds and bees, and religious superstition are ingrained from birth. At what age are they supposed to think for themselves? But no, they carry it forward to their own children who are extremely trusting creatures and raise them in deception—Why?
Obviously the title can be used in a dual sense, but I have a confession. Through no fault of my own, I have eaten dog and cat, and a lot of it too. I had no idea at the time, but back in the 80’s on Monday nights for a few years, my family would meet at a Chinese restaurant and have a little get together. The food was always good, and Monday’s were usually quiet for our gathering. One day I was watching the news, and there was our restaurant on the receiving end animal cruelty charges, with a dumpster full of dog and cat carcasses at the rear of the store. Apparently this had been going on for quite some time. It was too late to throw up, but I wished I could. Becoming aware of the situation changed everything. I was sickened by it and was obligated to never return. 
TheCommonAtheist 