Atheist or Agnostic

Atheist or Agnostic

Which are you? Atheist or Agnostic?  And, how does one know?

I won't bore you with the definitions but, I will challenge you to think about it.  We call ourselves atheist but I sometimes wonder about the level of "disbelief".  I can, of course, only speak for my self but perhaps something here will ring true for you.

Richard Dawkins uses a scale of 1 - 7 to judge disbelief.  The number 1 being full belief and the number 7 being full disbelief/rejection of a god.  It doesn't matter the religion in question.  The scale is still the same.

My own disbelief varies from 6.98 to 6.99 and I'll debate my stance with just about anyone.  My particular religion to reject is Christianity but, where ever you come from, it's all the same.  Why so strong a rejection you ask?  It comes from all the injustices I see in the world around me.  I became aware of them quite early with the death of my little brother from cancer when he was 5.  Why would a merciful god kill a 5 year old after years of suffering?  Why would a just god put a mother through that?  As my world view widened, I saw so much of these incongruencies that I completely lost whatever faith I might have had.  I am now at a point where I actively reject the worship of such an evil thing known as God.  And now, I add Allah to that list. 

I believe we all start out as an atheist. Then we are taught whichever belief system we happened to be born into.  Sooner or later, we begin to question our learned beliefs and become agnostic.  We must then make a choice to stay the course or further doubt/reject the teachings of our youth.

So, to be honest, we must ALL consider ourselves an agnostic first, even me.  That .01 - .02 of me still admits that, if real testable proof was offered, I would change my mind. Although an eternity of mindless worship to any god would be a hell for me.

Knowing the perverse nature of the Christian God, maybe that WILL be my punishment.

Prove This!

Prove This!

Logic is rare from our fundie friends. They approach the world from a singular point of view and it colors everything.  When they're looking down a tunnel and they see a light, it's usually a train coming at them as opposed to just the end of the tunnel.  Our fundie friends usually get run over by the train when their logic fails them.

We are often challenged to prove that a god does NOT exist.  This is a dishonest and immature debating technique that attempts to ask us to prove a negative.  Of course, proving a negative is impossible.

The onus of proof is ALWAYS on the positive side of the argument and we must never fall for this challenge.  Of course, they never stop trying and it gets quite irritating.

I've come up with a response that usually stops these types of challenges.  We can deflate their attempts by saying the following.

Fundie: If you can't prove my god doesn't exist, he/she must be real.

Atheist: I can't prove a negative and this is a dishonest attempt to manipulate the argument.

Fundie: You either believe or you don't.  If you can't prove he/she doesn't exist, why don't you believe?

Atheist: Although I'm 99% sure no god exists, I'm open to proof. What do you offer?

Here's the last bit that throws them:

An atheist is waiting for proof that your god exists.  We don't hate you for believing.  We just don't want you to force your beliefs on us without proof. So it's on you, Mr./Mrs./Ms Fundie!

Walk the Path in Grace

Good Story Telling

Good Story Telling

WondieBee from Twitter reminded me that a good story needs a protagonist and an antagonist.  Without enemies juxtaposed, the story goes nowhere.  It becomes just another dull featureless and very boring tome.

The Old Testament was a problem for a few thousand years because God, The Creator was also God, The Destroyer.  He was his own worst enemy.  Imagine that! A dichotomy that defies a solution.

The Christians, on the other hand, solved that issue by inserting Satan into their pantheon. It turned 50/50 good/bad guy into 100% (being very generous here) good guy.  Of course, God is still the ultimate bad guy but that's for another post.

That's why I often ask Christians if they worship Satan.  Of course, they reject it out of hand but I submit that they do.  Here's why.  Satan is so ingrained in the Christian mindset that they cannot help but think of "the dark one" every time they hear their god mentioned.  They simply cannot separate the two.

When challenged on it, they deny it because they have to.  To admit worshipping Satan would, in their minds, doom them to eternal punishment.  Or worse yet, they begin to doubt.  They just might start down the road to disbelieve, heaven forbid!

Another question the subject of Satan brings up is who is more powerful.  The faithful are preached that their god is the omega.  The apex power.  Omnipotent.  That being said, I then ask, "Why doesn't God simply destroy Satan and be done with it?"

There is no logical answer to that one.  If God destroys Satan, the need for a god disappears.  If their god doesn't want to destroy Satan, God is evil.  If God can't destroy the dark one, the Creator isn't omnipotent.

So, the bottom line is....wait for it....they are both imaginary.  Let's hope the 'faithful' realize it soon.

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An Atheist's Standards

An Atheist’s Standards

We are always being challenged to compare our standards of behavior to those of believers.  Believers will strut and bang the drum of superior morality while accusing us of being lower than slime.

But, there’s a double standard. They know it and we know it.  The believer will tell you that they are sure they are going to an eternal reward.  It gives them a self-indulgent attitude that allows them to misuse us. They can be as rude as they like without fear.  They can accuse us of heinous actions while they feel that they’re entitled.

All they have to do is ask forgiveness before they die and everything is permitted. Imagine ending up in their heaven next to Hitler or some serial killer who was forgiven three minutes before he died.  And, the believer would have to accept it.  I think the concept is quite funny.

So, they have the ultimate loophole.

We atheists, on the other hand, hold ourselves to a higher standard.  We have our own internal morality that guides us and we must own it.  If we are honest, we must never consider their type of loophole. 

But, our situation is a double-edged sword.  We can never behave like they think we do.  It gives them a chance to say, “I told you so.”  We must behave in a calm and assertive manner without the drama that is so tempting.  All it does is make us feel superior for a little while and it loses our case during the discussion.

So, my friends, here’s what I recommend.  Stay calm. Use your knowledge of their holy book and debate them peacefully.

You never know, you might just start one of them down the road to de-conversion.

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On Morals

On Morals

We are often asked where our morals come from. Or worse, “’Atheists don’t/can’t have morals without God.”  Of course, these statements are patently dishonest.

Since the first tribes were formed, rules were made to keep the group under control and productive.  We even see basic rules in some higher animal groups.  Even chickens have a pecking order.

Humanity has taken societal rules to a much higher level and turned some of the rules into morals.  The only way a society can stay healthy is to control its members with written in stone rules.  Without morality, a society will degenerate into a lawless, selfish and very dangerous group.  Just look at Germany before and during World War Two.  The Germans didn’t keep their Christian morals and, instead, descended into a sub-human morality that, hopefully, will never be repeated.

We are seeing disturbing behavior in the Muslim world and, sooner or later, someone will be forced to bring them back into the humanity that we all dream of.

Morals don’t come from a holy book or a charismatic leader.  They come from tried and true methods developed over millennia. 

Never let the Twitter Christian tell you that you can’t have morals without the Bible.  Tell them that morality predates the Bible, and all other holy texts, by thousands of years.  Christianity is late to the party.

Our morals are the same the world over, or at least should be.  If we can get the Muslims back in line, this world could be a peaceful place. 

Almost a Garden of Eden.

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On Deliverance

On Deliverance

In a recent exchange on Twitter, a Christian was getting desperate, as they are wont to do when faced with good debating skills.  The Christian was trying to explain how she was saved by using an old line from a hymn.

We all come across these people from time to time.  Some say, “Your soul is doomed unless you come to Jesus.”  Others give the old standard, “I’ll pray for you.”

But this exchange was beyond the old boring stuff and got down to the following,

"Jesus delivered me out of the Darkness."  That may have been true in a way because some people have to be rescued from drugs or alcohol. 

What they don’t realize is that they’ve rescued them selves with the help of a doctor or recovery facility.  I agree that they may not have been able to do it on their own since it takes great personal strength to heal yourself. 

Science is largely responsible for reducing the addiction to drugs or alcohol.  We also rely on science to help climb out of the pit of depression and mental illnesses.

Here’s the two sentence exchange, “"Jesus delivered me out of the Darkness." And the response was, “Dude science provided the light bulb.”

Some people will never understand that we are on our own and whatever happens, there is no God, no Savior and especially no magic.

The moral to this story is that someone sees the big picture while someone else relies on an imaginary being to show the way.

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 Dude science provided the light bulb.

On Laziness

On Laziness

I suppose we are all a bit lazy.  There are those of us who don't change the cat's litter box often enough and those of us who don't do the laundry until we're out of underwear.  Some of us even wait to change our undies until they're all crusty and can stand up by themselves.

Then, there comes the lazy thinker.  We all know them.  They accept whatever they are told by people in authority.  Rule books are written especially for them.  The Bible and Quran were written for them.  They need a god to rule over them. It makes their lives easier when they don't have to take responsibility for their own behavior.  "If it's a sin, I can't do it." they say.  Or worse, "God/Allah commands it."

Written by man but purported to be inspired by a god, these 'holy books' have turned out to be the most destructive forces that mankind has ever created.  The people who wrote them knew exactly what they were doing and committed to controlling their fellow man by fear and deceit.  Fear of eternal pain is a powerful motivator.

With the coming of the internet, we are now seeing the ignorance of the common believer in the interactions of chat rooms, Facebook and Twitter.

Here's the rub: I think the laziness of the common believer is to blame for such ignorance.  They will gladly drink the Kool Aid at their local house of worship while ignoring the reality of the vile, cruel and callous behavior of their god.

Ignorance is the simple act of not knowing while stupidity is not knowing and not caring if one doesn't know.  Quite a difference, eh?

I believe the stupid are the most dangerous people on the planet.  Because of their laziness, they exemplify the very thing they hate.  Bigotry is common and violence is often the result.

We see battles daily on Twitter and Facebook but rarely do we see any changes because the believer is so deeply entrenched in his muck.  He's mired up to his neck with the quicksand of stupidity. 

What can we do?  I believe that we have an opportunity to teach and cajole every time we interact with the religious.  We have a chance to 'preach' by showing them the contradictions, misogyny and violence in their books.  Their own laziness has given us a chance to show them that we know more about their own 'holy book' than they do'

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What Is Religious Faith

What Is Religious Faith

We often discuss the word ‘faith’ with our religious opponents. One of the weapons we overlook is asking them, “What makes up faith?” and “Why do you have faith in your god?”

Since they quite often, and quite immaturely, attack us when we use the innocent word ‘belief’, we need to immediately attack them for their unsubstantiated ‘faith’.  To do this, we must have a solid plan of attack.

First, let’s discuss why they have faith.  We all think that they are indoctrinated in their religion so deeply that we can’t challenge their belief system.  But, that’s wrong most of the time.  The ones who come to Twitter to troll us aren’t the strong ones.  They have the need to prove themselves like the schoolyard bully.

The definition of faith in the dictionary is: “firm belief in something for which there is no proof (2): complete trust”.  So, we should remind them of the definition and then ask them for proof of their god’s existence.

The challenge for us is to get them to doubt their faith.  It’s important to remind them that they are childish enough to accept a ridiculous premise that their god is real.  When I was a child, I held on to childish things; when I became an adult I chose grownup things. Remind them of that.

Asking them to describe their god could be a good tactic.  Blue eyes? Brown hair?  Ask them if they have faith in Zeus or Baal.  Keep hitting on their faith and try to make a small crack in it.  Don’t be afraid to laugh at them for their foolishness.

That’s all we need is to create a tiny bit of doubt.  It’s the way we make new atheists.

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Why Satan Is Necessary

Why Satan Is Necessary

Throughout the history of man, he has invented gods, good and evil.  He needed these gods to cope with the strange and violent world that surrounded him.  Mankind has depended on these imaginary characters to reduce life down to a more manageable scale.  It was difficult enough to worry about today's food without understanding why the sky god's would send down the lightning bolt to kill them.

It's always been the battle of good vs. evil with mankind always in between.  The good gods wanted us to serve them and the bad gods wanted the same.  Of course, because our species is full of optimists, we accept the belief in the good gods more readily.  Besides, who wants to worship the bad guy?

Satan was created to control believers.  To terrify them into subjugation.  The first shaman controlled his tribe the same way the Pope does today.

As our knowledge grows, it becomes untenable to preach about the existence of any gods, either good or bad and religions know it.  As the church loses its influence, the congregants will be told that Satan grows stronger.  It's fear mongering at its best/worst.

That's why I say that Satan is the fourth god in the Christian pantheon.  Without Satan, the other three don't matter.

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Belonging To A Gang

Belonging to a Gang

When man first began to realize that teamwork was better than going it alone, the first gang was created.  We now call it a tribe but, if we could travel back there, we would see the same behavior then as we do now in gangs.

As time went by, tribes became larger and ‘citystates’ were born. Power in numbers was the rule of the day and still is.  Now we have tribes as large as whole countries and even larger when countries work together.

There are two ultra large gangs on Earth today.  Christians and Muslims.  Both wanting supremacy over the planet.

Humans are social creatures and have an innate need to be together in groups. Since the religion of a person is usually an accident of birthplace, the gang grows each time a baby is born.  Some become sheep and some become shepherds.  The gang’s sheep are usually harmless unless they are stimulated enough to go to war.  The really dangerous ones are the shepherds.  Some are so radical that they prowl on the perimeter of the gang causing untold misery.

We see shepherds in the Christian Catholic church in trouble now because they have become enamored of their own power.  The have violated their oath to humanity.  Their god is unimportant because the shepherds have discarded it.

We see the shepherds of the Muslim faith also creating unrest by teaching the sheep that anyone who isn’t a Muslim must be eliminated.  Training boys as young as eight years old to be a willing human sacrifice to get to heaven is a crime against humanity.  This heinous crime is beyond any societal limits.

Our need to belong to a group will force us to overlook the dark side of the tenets of these gangs just so we can belong.  Moderate Muslims will tell you their religion (gang) is one of peace.  The moderate Christian will tell you the same thing.

We non-believers cannot defeat these huge gangs unless we become a gang ourselves.  Yes, Christianity is dying as we speak but Islam must be broken and crushed. 

I urge every one who reads this to find a larger group to join and keep fighting the good fight.  I realize the atheism is usually an individual process and our inner strength lessens the need to be in a gang, but we need to band together.

Unfortunately, we need to resort to being a gang to defeat the other ones.

After that, you can go back to being the singular rebel that you are.

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Islam and Honor

Islam and Honor

I’ve been thinking about the possibility the Islam could force its way into many countries.  It already has a solid foothold in Europe.  Especially in France and England.  They now have enclaves in both countries where the local law enforcement is forbidden to enter.  Sharia law is followed and gangs of ‘Sharia Policemen’ patrol the street and severely punish people who violate their Sharia codes.  Even local residents who venture into the enclaves are harassed until they leave.

Moderate Islamist will tell you that their religion is one of peace; but the definition of the word “Islam” is not peace.  It’s “submission”.  And, if you don’t submit or you deny the religion all together, you are summarily executed.  Usually by beheading.

What scares me about Islam is that the fundamentalist adherents have such a twisted understanding of it.  They subjugate women.  They will cut off a woman’s nose if she shows too much of her body in public.  They shoot young girls just for wanting to go to school.

If a woman is raped, she is often punished more harshly than the rapist.  How sad.  A woman is only worth one half of a man.  She is not allowed to be in public without a man as a chaperon. 

Imagine that!  A woman is considered property to be beaten or raped (even by her husband)!  If a man’s daughter refuses her arranged marriage or in any other way brings any shame, however slight it might be; her father can kill her.  It’s called an honor killing. 

A woman can be stoned to death for a myriad of reasons and the world does not seem too interested.  It’s as if the whole world is afraid of radical Muslims.

So, here’s my gripe:  Islam has no honor.  It has no limits of human depravity.  The Quran teaches Muslims that they will inherit 72 virgins in their heaven.  And the most dishonorable action they take is to strap on explosives and blow themselves up killing as many people as they can.  They even kill their own kind!

Honorable people don’t do the sort of things mentioned above.  There is no honor in such despicable acts. 

I, for one, pledge to not allow this heinous activity to go unchallenged.  I don’t ask you to put yourself in danger, but we must spread the word that honor is sacrosanct and Islam is without the slightest trace of it.

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Religious Liberty

Religious Liberty

In modern America, there's an upheaval going on about religious rights.  Believers, mostly Christian, are complaining about others criticizing their chosen belief system. 

"You are kicking God from the public square!" or "I can't display my religious beliefs the way I want to any more!"  Bryan Fischer calls the non-religious "the American Taliban".

At the same time, these same believers will commit atrocities, big and small, in the name of their god.  They protest billboards by non-believers while cheering those of their chosen faith.  Some commit crimes of damaging property of another's church.  Even burning them down.  Their very vocal broadcasting personalities fan the flames quite energetically for ratings while causing many of these crimes themselves.

And, worse yet, history is replete with crimes against humanity in the name of a god.  Bigots are everywhere, to the detriment of the human race.

Everyone should understand that religious liberty is a double edged sword.  Every liberty you demand must, by default, be given to another.  If someone demands respect for their belief then it must be offered, although begrudgingly, to everyone.

That doesn't mean we mustn't try to convince them they're wrong; but, we must never try to damage or destroy things or psyches.  Gentleness and honest questions are always recommended if you enter into a debate with someone.

Some people fail to understand the meaning of "Religious Liberty".  Your freedom is not in jeopardy just because you don't get to be a bigot.

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Don't Play with Scissors

Don’t Play with Scissors

When we were young our mother would warn us to ‘not play with scissors’.  I’ll bet every one of us was warned of it.  And for the most part, we listened until we were old enough to decide for ourselves how to use them.

Religion is controlling, brutally controlling.  Believers surrender their hearts to a system that doesn’t care about them.  It only cares about how much money the believer can toss into the collection plate. 

I can imagine this god they believe in as a master puppeteer who pulls and twists the strings of control for each believer.  Wars are started for this god’s enjoyment.  Hearts are broken.  Families are destroyed.  Fortunes are lost.  Children are raped and priest are protected.  All under the watchful eye and the deft hands of Giuseppi the puppeteer. 

BUT, we atheists have cut the strings! We’ve found a way to free ourselves from the awful overlord.  And, our freedom isn’t easily won.  There is sometimes a huge price to pay with shunning and disownment.  We lose friends and sometimes a job.

Ya know what?  It’s worth it.  I have never felt so free, so light, so full of life!  I’m glad to have found friends on the internet who think like me.  I don’t feel so alone any more and I hope that I’ve offered solace to others as well.

We need to support each other and help new arrivals feel welcome.  Sometimes it ain’t so bad to play with scissors.

Walk the Path in Grace