Fundie In Disguise

Fundie In Disguise

I temporarily followed a guy who said he was an atheist.  As I read his blog, I saw thinly veiled Christianity and we discussed many things.

I have the opinion that If we don’t stop Islam, we may end up back in the Dark Ages. And, he challenged me on it.

This is as close to a quote as I can remember, “So what, we survived that one, we’ll probably survive the next one.”

So, I wrote a poem/song that goes to the tune of ‘Strangers in the Night’

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Fundie in disguise.

Said he did not believe.

Followed me today.

And said he could not conceive

Of a god or two.

Blogged of many things.

Thinly veiled preaching.

Anti-theist me.

I tried to teach him.

Of no gods and such.

Tweets went on and on.

Each one more telling.

Calling me names.

Was quite compelling.

His churchy ways were bare.

He soon began to offend me.

Said all atheists

Were all the same thing.

And still he would persist

To tell me I was wrong.

I left him to his insanity.

Told him to find a way

To get more healthy.

He loved his god today

Loved his delusion, too.

Beware of pretending fundies.

They always show their spots.

A leopard has to display.

He really had the hots

For his imaginary god.

Why Do I Rail On About Religion?

Why Do I Rail On About Religion?

I’m sorry I haven’t written much lately but summer seems to take up a great deal of my life.

I was asked recently why I go on so about religion when I don’t even believe in it.  The question came from a fundie who didn’t understand how an atheist can be so concerned.

After some thought, I came up with several reasons (in no particular order).

1. I feel it’s our duty to point out the delusion to anyone who will listen. Yes, I realize it makes me a proselytizer but if we don’t do our best to eliminate religion, the world will never change.

2. It’s important that we not be quiet about atheism to show others that they are not alone.

3. We must continue to point out the evil that exists within religion.

4.  It’s our duty to shame those who use religion for dishonest and immoral purposes.

5. Since most religious people don’t want to make trouble within their own religion, especially the Muslims. So, we must continue to remind them that they are the minders of their own people. It is their job to police the extremists who profess to their faith. If outsiders try to contain the bad guys, the result is often a holy war. We must continue to pressure the unwilling to stop the bombers, killers and evil doers.

6. Some one has to be strong enough, brave enough and logical enough to step up to the challenge. If not me and you, then who.

Remember to keep your debates calm and logical. We will never convince anyone to listen if we mistreat them. We will never bring them into the light if we shroud our words in darkness.

So, that’s why I continue to fight to bring the world into a logical and sensible place.

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Did God Create Evil?

Did God Create Evil?

It's a question I asked myself when I was a believer.  I mean if God created everything, then surely He must have created all things human, too, right?  He created Satan who is supposed to be pure evil (what's a good story without an antagonist?).

Yes, supposedly, the angels had free will.  And, yes, they rebelled against God during the Heavenly Civil War.  But, I submit that God, if omnipotent, created evil or at least allowed it to exist; not to mention that, if omniscient, knew it was going to happen.  Complicated, eh?

Many times during my 'chats' with believers, I will ask "Did your god create evil?"

And almost every one will say, "No."  They give several variants of 'man created evil by____________ (fill in the blank).

When I remind them that the Bibles says it in black and white, they then throw various excuses at me.  From, the interpretation of the Hebrew word 'rah' which is where the descriptors evil, chaos, devastation, etc. come from. To, God is a good god and wouldn't create evil. And, everything in between.

Yesterday, I was accused of not being a good enough Bible scholar. That's a new one for me.

Here it is in Isaiah 45:7

KJV (Cambridge Ed.) Isaiah 45:7
I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

So, there it is. Black and White.

So, I ask you, gentle reader, what's it to be?  Study a bit more or read it directly from the Bible as written?

If the Bible in the inerrant word of God and can't be changed by man, then the believer has no excuse to deny, 'Did God create evil?'

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Evolving Mankind

Evolving Mankind

Mankind evolved enough to need gods and, then, created them.  When we evolve some more, we will decide to destroy all of them.  A paraphrase from a quote by  Emil A. Zafirov

As I've said in earlier posts, man has created a multitude of gods. Probably first created when the first conman found the first rube during a thunderstorm.  So, here we are in 2013, mankind has had gods to pray to for approximately 8,000 years and where are we?

We have a third of the world's population believing, or pretending to anyway, a god that supposedly created the Universe and knows the exact thoughts of every single one of Earth's citizens.  Imagine that! Here we are in a nondescript galaxy circling an even more nondescript star.  One among billions in this nondescript galaxy alone.

Then we have about one third of the citizens believing in, more or less, the same god but its message was relayed by a less than desirable 'prophet'.

And, the one third plus the other one third don't seem to want to play nice.  It's like two three year olds. One is a fairly well behaved kid who is generous but sorta enjoys meddling in other's kids business.  And, the other one is sly, distrustful and mean but is a master at playing the victim.

The other one third of the world's population is a mishmash of everything from ultra peace loving nonviolent types to nonbelievers.

The first two thirds are on a collision course without a mother, au pare, or guardian in site.

Children! It's time to put your gods, prophets and holy men where they belong on the trash heap of history before it's too late.  And, by too late, I mean we end up back in the stone age and start the need for gods all over again.

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My Anger

My Anger

My anger has been set on 'kill' lately and that's why I haven't written much.  Angry blogs are senseless and only make me feel better while making the reader 'turn off'.  So I'm trying to lower the anger to 'stun', instead.

My last post appealing to Muslims to take care of their own idiots was not received well by my few Muslim followers.  Although they admitted I was right, they couldn't get past blaming the US and the UK for foreign aide to Syria.  And, before that, it was Egypt.  And, earlier still, it was Israel.

Do you see the pattern?  It seems it's never the Muslims at fault for their own actions.  We all know that the actions of the worst few will be construed as the attitude of the rest of a population or religion.

One of the first things we learn as children is that we are responsible for our actions.  We get our hands slapped for stealing or being mean.  We don't touch a hot stove a second time.  All that.

And yet, we see the Muslim world acting like a very spoiled child who is NEVER responsible to the rest of society for bad behavior.

The non-Muslim world attempts to control the worst of us with prison or worse.  The Western world is polite and law abiding because of it.  We can walk most streets in relative safety.  Women can dress somewhat provocatively without fear of rape. Our children can play without risk of kidnapping. (Of course, there are dangers from the worst of us, but for the most part, the risk is minimal.)

Crime never touches the vast majority of the Western world.

Not so in the Muslim world.  It seems that the worst of them are celebrated. Bombing indiscriminately, killing nonbelievers, killing even those who believe in Allah who have slight differences of belief, raping girls without penalty ......ah ........the list goes on and on.  And, it's depressing to list all the things Muslims can do within their own countries without punishment.

I've asked Muslims why they don't take responsibility for their unacceptable actions and have received excuses.  So, I've decided to put the anger aside as it does me no good and has no effect on the Muslims.  I will continue to debate them with logic and reason, but I have no desire to be angry at anyone with the philosophy of a two year old child.

Here's my prediction: If the Muslim world does not discipline itself very soon, the Western world will be forced to do so.  Just like in 1941, we will be embroiled in a world war of unheard of ferocity.  We will consider it a war of disciplinary action while the Muslim world will judge it as a Holy War, just like a two year old would react.

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An Appeal to All Muslims

An Appeal to All Muslims

We, humans, are faced with an enormous challenge.  There is an event that seems to be coming that can be stopped. But it will take great courage to avoid this tragedy.  I am an atheist citizen of the Earth and I appeal to all Muslims to make this change possible.  I am told that Islam is a religion of peace and I truly, desperately want to believe it.

The violence in the world seems to be growing by the day. And, it appears to be out of control.  If it continues to grow, it could engulf the entire planet in a war that will damage all of mankind.

Radical extremists are killing, bombing and raping innocents in the name of Islam.  These monsters use verses from the Qur’an to commit unspeakable acts.  These monsters MUST be stopped.

There are two ways they can be stopped. 

1. Armies of the non-Muslim world will be deployed to bring these people to justice.
2. Peaceful Muslims will find a way to arrest these people and present them to the proper authorities.

I beg each Muslim who reads this to see that if the first solution must be used, the whole world will be drawn into a conflict that will make all previous wars look like child’s play.

If Islam is truly a religion of peace, I implore you to find the strength to police your own radical extremist and become the peaceful people that I’m told you are.

None of us want a war.  None of us want to see our loved ones in danger or perhaps killed.  I beg you with all my heart to stop these violent people among you.

Will We Deserve It?

Will We Deserve It?

Humans, since the beginning of knowledge, have searched for the meaning in everything.  For some reason, we seem to think there's a reason for why things happen the way they do.

Blaise Pascal wrote: Human things must be known to be loved: but Divine things must be loved to be known.

We have always put a god in position to try to explain the unexplainable.  Let's call it a human frailty.  Our psyche is still so close to the animal from which we evolved that we need to feel protected, loved and, most importantly, to NOT be responsible.

We attribute everything that seems evil to one god or another.  The recent tornado that hit Oklahoma is a case in point.  Everything from 'God works in mysterious ways', which is only a little bizarre, to Alex Jones' truly incredulous claim that our own government has a weapon to control the weather, was bandied about in an attempt to assuage our uncertainty.

The Black Plague was a judgment from God.  The tsunami in 2004 was a punishment from God for everything from not praying enough to the LGTB movement.

When we're born, we are totally dependent upon others to take care of us. And, until we're old enough to take care of ourselves, we stay that way.  Somewhere, buried very deeply, that need to be coddled never goes away.  Hence, gods.

But, all is not lost.  I see hope for humanity. I see the dying gasps of religion on the trash heap of childish things.  If, and that's a very big, IF we can get past the 'blasphemy' of denying all gods, we can begin to grow up and realize that awful things happen just because.  We will begin to see that good things happen just because.

How we deal with the awful things will determine whether we deserve the good things.  Let's stop loving the unknowns and understand them for what they are:                                                         Unanswered Questions

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ASH VS. THEM

ASH vs. Them

This quote is from a Tweeter that I respect and I thought of the future and our (ASH) place in it:

"When bad men combine, the good must associate else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle."

When you read the above quote, what do you think of?  We've seen this happen over and over throughout human history.  Some one comes to power and influences people to commit heinous acts in the name of country, religion or money.

All it takes is for good people to not step up to stop these evil doers for evil to triumph.  As the quote above says, "...they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice..."

ASH needs to stick together to fight the good fight against religion or each of us will end up on the pile just like everyone else.  With a cohesive group, we can make a difference.

BUT, we must stop the petty bickering and infighting to do it. Is it worth losing the war over making a small point that, in the long run, means absolutely nothing? 

So, I ask you.....NO, I beg you to keep your disagreements civil.  Of course, you should make your points and, of course, you should defend them.   That can all be done in a civil and polite manner.

If you want to see ASH fail and each of us become the "unpitied sacrifice", then keep doing what you're doing.  If you want to see ASH succeed, the keep the tone of your discussions civil and polite.

Here's the real problem:  The Christians aren't our REAL enemy.  Yes, they disagree and, yes, they hold a great deal of power in America, Australia and the UK; but they are mostly impotent.

I'll leave it to you to determine who the REAL opponent is. 

Back To Start

Back To Start

Atheism is as complex as you want it to be.

It starts with, "Well, I wonder if God exists?" after some stressful event in your life.  You might not like the outcome and wonder why it turned out the way it did.  Then, you find yourself saying, "Well, if God doesn't exist, that would explain a lot."

The next step is saying, "I don't THINK God exists because ___________."   You start to argue with your friends and family about miracles and their improbability.  Maybe something happens that others are telling you, "God works in mysterious ways."  Although you nod your head, deep inside your mind is screaming, "No f'ing way!!!"

Some time later, perhaps years, you discover that you're actively denying "God's blessed hand has touched us."  When you hear of a tornado that tore through a town, killing dozens while "a miracle" is declared because a baby survived with a piece of glass in its brain.  And you throw your shoe at the television.

And the last step is to become an anti-theist.  Actively denying the existence of any god becomes your modus operandi.  You're polite in public discussions out of respect for your fellows but you now KNOW that if a god existed, this world wouldn't be so f'ed up.

Bottom line:  IF a god existed, just one of the 3,000 or so suggested throughout history, it would exhibit itself to everyone.  Most gods have been hate filled, narcissistic, insecure monsters and, in my opinion, you have every right to disbelieve in all of them.

You don't become an Atheist, you go back to being one.  We are taught to believe in a god depending on the region where we're born.  Some of us unlock the shackles and breath free.

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A Free Gift

A Free Gift

Immigrants the world over have moved to a new country for three basic reasons. To escape something, to run to something or to invade somewhere.  Of course, life is complicated and it can a combination of any of the three.

What I've noticed of Muslims immigrating to the Western world, it's a combination of escaping and invading. 

They escape the totalitarian living conditions, but:

They escape the lack of common decency, but:

They escape the deplorable living conditions, but:

            They bring their religious intolerance with them.

They invade the absolutely free living conditions, but:

They invade the wonderfully available free lifestyle, but:

They invade a land that encourages religious freedom, but:

            They bring their suffocating law with them.

So, what are we faced with? Escapees to a better life or invaders who take all that is offered to them and demand their laws be respected?

It seems that in the UK, it's the latter.  Islam demands respect and tolerance while exhibiting none.  Islam labels dissenters as 'Islamophobic' while demonstrating that it is 'phobic' about EVERY other religion in the world.

It will come to the US.  I predict that it will come to the US within ten years.  We are already seeing very small skirmishes in Dearborn, Michigan.

Here's the solution: If you move to another country, please, live within that country's framework of laws.  Please throw away the inhuman religion that caused your own country to make you want to leave.

If you think you need to change the laws to fit your need and create the same thing you left, then feel free to find the same boat or plane and get back on it.

I'll help you pack.  If you were born here and still want to create another Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan or any other Muslim country here, I'll help you pack.

And, as a departing gift, I'll supply a small bottle of dirt.  Free dirt.  Take it back to your sub-human hell-hole and, with enough of them, maybe you can live free there, too.

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Togetherness

Togetherness

Animals all through nature tend to band together for many reasons.  Safety and procreation are the main ones but I'm sure there are many others.  Fish form schools, dolphins form pods and there are many ants in an ant hill.  Predators do it, too.

There are great benefits of numbers.  Ants can kill prey many times larger than they are while bees store food.  Lions and wolves work in teams to feed themselves.

A post on Twitter by @FreeAtheism got me thinking that maybe that's why religion works for so many.

Is it also built into our psyche from eons of togetherness to form religions to take the place of working together when we had to hunt to survive?  If you study history, you will find that religions came about at the time when we were starting to break the dependence on daily hunting.

We started farming and raising animals for food.  We didn't need to be together for those reasons anymore but we still kept our tribes anyway.  Why?

Because we, like many other species, are social animals; but intelligence started to separate us.  The con men among us seized this opportunity to bring us back together and profit from it.  Religions grew from there. 

Before you ask, yes there are true believers out there and there are believing preachers, too.

As atheism grows, we are seeing us tend to band together as well.  We are forming small groups which, I predict will grow as reason overtakes faith.  I won't live to see atheism become a major force in the world, but the younger readers of this just might.

Can't happen soon enough for me.

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Cherry Picking

Cherry Picking

I've always wondered about how cherry picking the Bible came about. But then I realized that it's just human nature to want to read the good stuff and ignore the bad.

I think our species, for the most part, keeps a positive outlook.  So it figures that we would not want to think about bad things, especially when it comes to something as important as 'our creator'.  I mean, who would want to think 'our creator' was a monster.

From what I know of our history, even back in the caves we thought about more than us. The primitive art on the cave walls is very telling.  They show the hunt for food and the excitement of the challenge.

We wouldn't have formed tribes, countries or any society unless we are basically a positive people. 

Now, here's the problem.  When our Christian friends start debating how good their god is and how omnibenevolent it is, we must be prepared to show them where the evil is in their holy book.  Quite often they don't even know it's there. 

And worse, there are believers who know it's there and still choose to believe. I scratch my head at that one but that's for another post I guess.

Start by asking if they've read the Bible and then, gently, proceed to show them the quotes.  And don't forget to show the verse identifier.  Oh, and don't forget the "out of context" argument.

If our fundie friends can cherry pick, we can 'evil pick' just as well.

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Immaculate Deception

Immaculate Deception

What is an immaculate deception, you ask?

It's a con job that is so well set up that billions believe it without question.  Even when shown the ridiculousness of many of the elements, the believer is not convinced that it's just plain silly.

Only religion can do this.  But, why?

We are born in fear and we live in fear our entire lives.  It starts out with fearing everything.  A two year old might seem fearless but when you consider that they don't want to be in the dark and jump at strange noises, our base fears are there.

Many of us learn to fear one or both our parents as we grow which instills respect/fear of people in authoritative positions.  This indoctrination is built upon when we start learning religion.  Isn't God/Allah the ultimate authoritative being?

This fear is driven so deep into our psyche that most of us just can't get rid of it.

The con of religion can only work if three things happen:

1.  Our unconscious psyche accepts someone in authority as superior.

2.  Our unconscious mind needs something/someone to guide us, however ephemeral.  It give us peace and confidence while allow us to shirk responsibility for our own lives.

3.  Our conscious self willingly give up control of our lives to someone/thing else.  It's the lazy way of getting through life without responsibility.  "God did it." makes us feel better when bad things happen and doesn't allow us full credit when good things happen.

The religious con game has existed since the first god was made up and humans, with all their flaws and greatness, are easily tricked into believing that someone/thing is looking out for us.

"God works in mysterious ways." is the ultimate out for the con man.  He never has to explain when his con is questioned.  He never has to give back the money, time or respect he has stolen from the mark.

Maybe the con is beginning to fail as our knowledge grows.

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A Debate I Had Last Night

The following it a Twitter debate between myself and two fundies (at first). I call them He and She. He drops out in the middle.

Me: Can I ask you some questions about God?

He:  Any questions you ask isn't relevant because you're assuming human logic can understand God and His ways.

Me:  Not these questions.

He:  Let's hear them.

Me:   Is God omniscient, omnipotent and omnibenevolent?

He:  Yes

Me:  And God created everything?

He:  Yes, and I know what you're going to ask me. Lol

Me:  Okay, what?

He:  Just ask me the question. Lol

Me:  Did God create Satan?

She:  He was Gods right hand angel who lusted for power thus falling and taking heavenly hosts with him so yes God created Lucifer. Lucifer got power hungry & fell from heaven and became Satan

Me:  Good, did God create evil?

He:  Evil is the absence of good not a creation in itself.

Me:  Are you sure?

He:  yeah you can't create evil.

Me:  Read Isaiah 45:7

She:  And evil isn't the opposite of good, just the absence. just like cold isn't the opposite of hot. just the absence.

He:  Very sure. He allowed satan to have a choice. Don't ask me why

Me: Did you read the verse in the King James Version?

He:  be careful when taking single verses from the Bible without understanding the context.

Note:  This is a typical defense ploy. Out of context can be real but in this case, God is bragging to Cyrus about things He has done. Here's Isaiah 45:7 from the King James Bible  ⁷ I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.

She:  atheists have a habit of doing that.

Me:  Of doing what? Taking a verse as it is written? How can a direct statement from God be taken wrongly?

Me:  In Isaiah 45:7, it's a direct statement from God and, in the King James Bible, clearly says, "I created evil."

She:  notice that the context of the verse is dealing with who God is. that it is God who speaks of natural phenomena ( sun light dark) and it is God who is able to cause well being as well as "calamity" as other bibles translate evil

Me:  So then, we can question the words of God?

He:  read it in context dudeeee

He:  You can take one liners from any book and twist and turn them, fyi. You have to understand context.

Me:  My next question was, 'Is God more powerful than Satan?"

She:  You're the only one questioning God. and yes most certainly He is. that's why Satan exists. He wanted to be as powerful of God as Lucifer.

Me:  Next question, Is God considered our father?

She:  Our heavenly Father yes.

Me:  Could God destroy Satan any time He wanted to?

She:  He's going to, yes. Its Gods plan.

She: We dont know the difference. and we're better off not knowing. God sent

His Son to make a way for us to live

Me: God sent himself to sacrifice himself to himself to forgive sins he created himself...makes sense to me.

She:  God did not create sin.

Me: Okay, we can forget that question for my purposes it's moot anyway. So to recap, God created everything,  God created Satan, God is omniscient, omnipotent and ominbenevolent and God is more powerful than Satan, right?

Me:  Here's my point: I submit that your god is evil. If he could destroy Satan anytime he wants, to protect his children that he loves perfectly and doesn't do it. Your god is evil.

Me: Any being who purposely allows evil to happen and not stop it is evil, too

Me:  God created sin. He made the rules that make up sin. Do you wear a cotton shirt with polyester pants by chance?

She:  No, God did not create sin. I'm done for the night.

What Is An Atheist?

What Is An Atheist?

We live a life free of prayer and dread

And find our way in our own good time.

Without a misguided book of promises

Our world is simple and sublime.

We love our children and our mate

A choice clear and strong.

Our only reason for living each day

To give love, gentle and long.

When asked about a creator

The answer is simple and plain.

We can’t believe in a ghost or spirit

A god to us is a being inane.

We do not attend a church or hall

We find our solace in our selves.

The books that scream eternal hate

Are left upon library shelves.

Preachers come and go,

Their mission to enlist.

We laugh and smile at their supplications

We know that no god can exist.

What Dreams May Come

What Dreams May Come

It seems that mankind has always needed gods. I'm suggesting that fear of the unknown, even before we became "intelligent", created the need to pile our anxiety on something greater than us.  At that time, our fragile world of survival was dominated by a bunch of things that could and would kill us.  Predators, unexplained illness, accidents and natural disasters all fed the need to be protected.

The thunder god, shaking earth god, the sun god, moon god/goddess, the list seems endless. 

The advent of society and the spoken word created the holy man.  Then, with written text, came the first holy books (probably stone or wood tablets, then paper books later).  Problem is, the gods became more powerful with the written word.  Religions could be standardized and whole countries could be controlled.

I submit that as our understanding of the cosmos has grown the need for gods has decreased. We now understand what thunder is and why the earth shakes.  We know where the sun goes at night and how our own bodies can kill us.  The god of the gaps is fading ever so slowly.

Understanding does not necessarily equate to intelligence and acceptance.  Sometimes dreams are sacrosanct and inviolable.  Seems it's easier to accept far fetched ideas than reality.  For some, dreams are harder to kill than reality.

It's high time we started dreaming of something that actually works.

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Why Do Things Happen?

Why Do Things Happen?

The news is full of tragedy and horror.  People are abused by man and nature.  We hear of explosions, animal attacks, car accidents and buildings collapse.  Cancer, diabetes and heart attacks kill us on a daily basis.  Babies die.  Lives are changed forever and we wonder why.

Not so much in the news is the other end of the scale.  Lotteries are won, people escape accidents that completely destroy a car with barely a scratch and one hundred ten story buildings collapse but spare a few people in a stair well.  Marriages happen and babies are born and we rejoice.  Some of us live well past ninety years.  And, we wonder why.

There are those of us who chose to believe something or someone higher than humanity is in charge.  They pray to a god with the hopes that their supplication will not fall on deaf ears.  They gather in groups large and small to celebrate the remote possibility that they will find a better life after this one is over.

It’s their god’s will that a whole town is destroyed by a tornado and it’s a miracle that the same storm spared a two year old but left him an orphan.  A miracle?

On the other hand, it’s luck when someone wins a large sum of money or narrowly escapes being hit by a runaway truck.  Sometimes I think God’s nickname is luck.

The bottom line is that bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people.  This is because chaos rules the universe.  Chaos is fair and doesn’t pick sides (thanks to @iraqvet1980 for permission to use his tweet).

It’s called chaos, fate, random chance and many others but it’s definitely not a god’s action.  There is no way to reason why or intent; it just is. 

Maybe the religious among us need to believe in a higher power to maintain their sanity.  Maybe they need to be close to others who believe the same to gather strength from them in times of need.  It’s sometimes called looking at the world through ‘rose colored glasses’.

Atheists look at it from a completely different viewpoint.  We know that strange things happen that are out of our control.  We take actions to prevent the bad things from happening whenever possible.  And, yes, we look out for our neighbors by trying to keep them safe, too.

Chaos is a subtle creature.  Its stealth is what surprises us.  It sneaks up on us when we blink or when we’re careless.  Chaos is generous, too.  It can reward us with joy, happiness and material things.  There is no reasoning why and there is never a reason given.

Whatever happens to you, remember this:  Life is life, live it as if every day is your last.

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Islam: Religion of Peace

Islam: Religion of Peace

With the bombings in Boston, Islam is in the news again.  There is hue and cry about the ties to the ‘Religion of Peace’. There are those that say it’s extremism and that the true Islam would never do something so vile.  There are those who defend the actions of the two brothers as a blow against the great Satan.

I challenge anyone to say that Islam is a ‘Religion of Peace’.  Muslims will tell you repeatedly that Islam wants to be a productive member of the world’s population.  That’s taqiyya, an intentional lie to deceive us into thinking Islamists just want to get along.

But, you don’t get to be a ‘Religion of Peace’ when you shoot a young girl in the face for wanting an education.

You don’t get to be a ‘Religion of Peace’ when you throw acid in a girl’s face or cut off her nose for an innocent glance at a boy.

You don’t get to be a ‘Religion of Peace’ when you condone the marriage of an old man and a 9 year old girl.

You don’t get to be a ‘Religion of Peace’ when you assassinate a female political leader when she returns to her homeland.

You don’t get to be a ‘Religion of Peace’ when you kill innocents by strapping a bomb on someone and setting it off in a crowd.

You don’t get to be a ‘Religion of Peace’ when you cut someone’s hand off because they stole a piece of bread.

You don’t get to be a ‘Religion of Peace’ when you kill everyone who doesn’t believe as you do.

You don’t get to be a ‘Religion of Peace’ when you stone a woman to death for disobeying her husband.

You don’t get to be a ‘Religion of Peace’ when you train very young children to hate.

You don’t get to be a ‘Religion of Peace’ when you deny the holocaust ever happened.

You don’t get to be a ‘Religion of Peace’ when you deem a woman as half the value of a man.

You don’t get to be a ‘Religion of Peace’ when you kill your daughter because she ‘dishonored’ your family.

You don’t get to be a ‘Religion of Peace’ when you force your women to cover their entire body because you can’t control your animal instincts so that you commit rape.

You don’t get to be a ‘Religion of Peace’ when you plant a bomb that kills an 8 year old boy while you, a coward, walk away.

You don’t get to be a ‘Religion of Peace’ as long as you practice taqiyya.

You don’t get to be a ‘Religion of Peace’……EVER…but I get to hate you for what you are….Evil and Inhuman…..And, I’ll continue to hate you until you change or go away.

Walk the Path in Grace

Part of God's Plan?

Part of God's Plan?

I'm always amazed at this (thanks to Almighty Atheist): Convenient how when the prayers of #theists go unanswered it was simply not part of "Gods plan".

The religious will say that prayers are necessary.  They will also say that God hears all prayers.  And they say that prayers are answered but sometimes the answer is 'no'.

And still, they continue to pray to a god that, according to the Bible, has killed millions, allows millions to starve and allows diseases like cancer to kill millions more.  Why?

What does a supplicant get from the act of prayer?  What benefit?  Does the act of begging absolve someone from responsibility?  Perhaps, it allows someone to forget their problems for a while.

Everyone needs inner peace. It's essential to a progressive productive society. Walking around constantly worried, shamed or enraged can never allow a society to reach its full potential.

Here's the problem: Throwing all responsibility on to a god, imaginary or real, allows a person to feel special.  But, it also allows that person to think that what they did will be forgiven or what they need will be supplied.

Forgive a crime against humanity (When you think of it, all crimes are crimes against humanity)?  Get that new gaming system?  Get enough to eat today?

Stay alive another day while cancer ravages your body?

I challenge anyone to prove to me that prayer works.  God's plan indeed!

Walk the Path in Grace

So, Now You're an Atheist, What Now?

So, Now You’re an Atheist, What Now?

So, you’ve decided that there is no God or any god for that matter.  This is one of the most important decisions you will ever make.  And, to make it worse, this is completely foreign territory for you.

When a person finally decides to step up and formally deny that there are no gods in the world, it can be terrifying.  I remember every time I thought about it, I would feel intense fear.  So strong a fear that I would immediately retreat from the subject.  I was indoctrinated very young and it took 50 years to finally break free.

Twitter, facebook and the other social media places didn’t exist then.  I remember there were a few chatrooms then but my internet connection was so slow that I couldn’t really use them.  Lonely really doesn’t begin to describe my situation living in a fairly remote countryside.

So….my advice to you New Atheist.  Reach out. Go to Twitter.  Go to meetup.com to see if there’s an atheist group in your area.  Google is your friend.  There are more of us out here than you realize.

If you feel brave enough wear a shirt with the big red letter A on it.  I realize that it will take a lot of courage to do this but when others see it, they will wink at you or give you a “thumbs up”

My wish to all new atheists and established ones, too, is to be brave and know that you are not alone. 

Email me anytime and I’ll help if I can. rklauka@yahoo.com

Walk the Path in Grace

Another Trojan Horse?

Another Trojan Horse?

As the story goes, the Greeks built a giant horse sculpture and left it outside the City of Troy.  The Greeks left the horse there after a fruitless ten year siege and sailed away.

The Trojans pulled the statue inside the city gates as a prize of war.  Little did they know, there were Greek fighters hidden in the thing and came out at night to defeat the Trojans.

That‘s where the term Trojan Horse Virus comes from.  The virus can infiltrate your computer and cause all kinds of ruckus.

Fast forward to today and we are too sophisticated to fall for a hollow horse statue outside our gates.  Instead, there is other subterfuge afoot.

Our friend, the modern Islamist, is using another form of Trojan Horse.  Have you heard of the term “taqiyah”?  Probably not.  The Islam holy book called the Qur’an has a passage that basically says “it’s okay to lie to and outright deceive a nonbeliever into thinking that the Muslim is a friend.” All the while, they are plotting to defeat the unsuspecting victim.

Imagine that! The ‘Religion of Peace’ is actually intending to pretend to live among us and, I suppose, someday rise up and do us harm.  We have seen it in bombings and violence in America and I’m sounding the alarm that this is only the beginning.

At one time, I respected Islam. I believed their outward appearance of peaceful worship.  But our world has grown dark with the threat of a holy war and we are allowing the enemy to live among us because we are a trusting people.

Here’s a link to read more http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/quran/011-taqiyya.htm

Let’s hope I’m wrong and I have to eat my words.  Only time will tell.

Walk the Path in Grace

Savage vs. Civilized

Savage vs. Civilized

I saw a tweet the other day that said, "So and so country is savage." And, it made me think about what the words 'savage' and 'civilized' really mean.

The human race is made up of nothing more than very smart animals. I use the word smart because intelligent means something else entirely.  An animal, when trapped, can turn into the ultimate savage and humans are no different.

On the other hand, we can be very civilized, too.  We can be very generous when someone else is in trouble or danger.  We read of incredible generosity when the tsunami killed so many people in 2004.  And again in Haiti after the earthquake there.

 All you have to do is look at charities to see both civilized and savage.  Some charities will give a great majority of cash received to the needy while others will give pennies on the dollar.  Civilized vs. Savage, indeed.

We humans can never escape our animal nature.  Some of us can sublimate it and work toward being civilized.  We become altruistic, giving and loving.  Others, struggle to reach upward to what most of us would call unfriendly.  It's sometimes a very difficult effort for them to care about society at all.

Here's the problem: All of us, every one, is trapped somewhere between the two.  There is a long distance seperating savage and civilized and we all walk the path between.  Sometimes nearer to one end and then, in an instant, nearer the other; but never fully at one end.

My wish for anyone who reads this is that you struggle to stay as near to the 'good end' as you can.

Walk the Path in Grace

What Harm Does It Do?

Harm?

What religion are you? What god do you believe in? How important is your religion to you?

Ya know what? I really don't care.  You can worship the Sun or the Moon. You can pay homage to an oracle who lives in a cave.  Maybe fall to your knees for a god that has no name.

It doesn't matter to me who, what or whatever you worship.  Means absolutely nothing to me until....

Do you come to my door with, "Have you heard about Jesus?"? Do you post huge billboards proclaiming "My religion is the ONLY religion!"? Maybe you secretly put religious tracts in public schools.

Do you protest when someone who believes differently than you when they want to put their religious symbol in the public park at Christmas time?  Do you sue someone when they want to put up a billboard that challenges your god?  Do you sue a school board when they refuse to "teach the controversy"?

And worse, do you cut off a young girl's nose because she glanced at a young man? Do you picket a soldier's funeral with signs that say, "Thank God for killing soldiers!"? Do you move into a country, start an enclave of like minded people and then demand that the country obey the laws you brought with you?

And even worse, Do you kill your daughter because she wasn't a virgin on her wedding day?  Do you shoot a young girl for wanting to go to school? Is there a huge riot including killing when someone has the audacity to suggest that your holy book is going to be burned?

And now for the worst of it all.  Does your country bow down to this insanity instead of stopping it? Will the sane among you stop the religious bigotry?  When will your countrymen stand up and say, "Enough is enough! We will not tolerate violence and murder in the name of our religion!"?

I don't care what your religion means to you - I care about the harm is does to others.

Walk the Path in Grace

Deadbeat Dad

Deadbeat Dad

God, I have questions for you.  If you created this world, why did you leave it unfinished?  Why did you create it so hostile to your children?  So hostile that thousands of us die every day of disease, starvation and murder.

Are you a just god? A fair god? 

In Proverbs 3 Verses 7 and 8, you give instructions that, if you were real, could provide food for every one of your faithful.  Surely a few of your recent converts in Africa believe in you so fully that your beneficence should shine upon them.  You MUST have at least 1% who believes in you with their whole hearts.  Just 1%. 

Proverbs 3

⁷ Do not be wise in your own eyes;
    fear the Lord and shun evil.
⁸ This will bring health to your body
    and nourishment to your bones.

If you are real, why not help your children.  Even the most deadbeat of fathers sometimes helps their offspring.  Are you there, God?

We all want everyone on Earth to have health in their bodies and nourishment to their bones.  No one would disbelieve if you just created a bit of rain and provided them some seeds to plant so they could eat.

Surely, you must know that a nourished healthy body could worship you more than a sick one.  Even I know that and I’m just a human being.  I don’t think I’m asking too much here, God.

How about being a good sky-daddy and taking care of your kids?

Walk the Path in Grace

Childish Things

Childish Things

Growing up is very hard. Bills to pay, kids to raise. Time to put the games away and support your family.  We all go through it to some degree. 

Of course, some never do grow up.

1 Corinthians 13

¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.

When one looks at the Bible with non-believer's eyes, we see some very strange things.  I realize it's 2,000 year old stuff but, still, even when translated into modern language, it doesn't make much sense.

When we grow up, we cut the 'apron strings' that attach us to our parents and their attendant ways.  You are supposed to make decisions and act like a productive member of society.  Doesn't always work out, but you're supposed to try and that's most important.  Yes, I know about breaking the law but that's not my purpose here.

When we were children, we were taught to accept things like a child.  Believe what our parents believe or else.  We are dragged to church/synagogue before we can even formulate any thoughts and are indoctrinated into a belief system that is so flawed that it cannot stand on its own.

As we grow and begin to think, we are exposed to many beliefs other than those we've been trained to accept. All the social media that are available, no one can say they've never heard of atheism or non-belief.

So, to all the religious who may read this: It's time to put aside your childish beliefs of a god who loves you but never shows himself.  It's time to reject a god who will let thousands of people starve to death every week in Africa when a single thought could provide rain and seeds. It's time to tell your god to go to hell for creating Satan just so this same loving god can punish you for very minor infractions.

Please, I beg you, grow up and put this part of your childhood behind you!

Walk the Path in Grace

Just A Few Tweets

Just A Few Tweets

Mary @ Joe'smyMan

Had a bad dream a few weeks ago. Now I'm sick every morning. I hope it wasn't food poisoning.

Joe @ JoetheCarp

Well, the news is out. I never had sex with that cheating bitch and she's layin the blame on me anyway. I gotta marry her! Shit!

Mary @ Joe'smyMan

I swear, I've never had sex.  I mean I gave my cousin a handjob once, but that don't count, right?

Joe @ JoetheCarp

Baby arrived in the dead of winter.  Wouldn't you know it, happened while we were traveling. No motels, no money, had to sleep in a barn.

Mary @ Joe'smyMan

Damn that HURT!  I'm never doing that again.  He's a cute little thing, though.  All that glowing skin really freaks me out.

Twenty some years later:

The J Man @ Joe'smyDad

Been traveling a lot lately. Made some rad new friends lately. We hang a lot and watch the bazaar and stuff.  Like, it's a bitchin' time!

The J Man @ Joe'smyDad

Went swimming yesterday with my main man John TB @ SwimIsFab.  He's a righteous dude.  He bogarts the hashish man!

The J Man @ Joe'smyDad

Some guy tried to make me take some hard dope yesterday.  I almost did it, but then I thought about the "This is your brain on drugs." thing....close one.

The J Man @ Joe'smyDad

Me and my homie's climbed up this bitchin hill today. The wind was so strong that we had to scream at each other.  Felt like I was in church.

The J Man @ Joe'smyDad

Saw some guy fall this morning. He said his legs didn't work so I helped him up. Strange dude, man. He kissed my feet and walked away.

The J Man @ Joe'smyDad

We ran out of weed and I sent all 12 of my homie's to get some more.  I hope they score the good stuff and not that crap they grow up in Gehenna.

The J Man @ Joe'smyDad

I'm gettin to be an old man. Gonna be 33 soon and, wow, am I feelin it.  Got some good dope to get the thru.

The J Man @ Joe'smyDad

Fucker! One of my crew ratted me out to the Narcs. Now I gotta go to court.  Hope I don't got to do jail time.

The J Man @ Joe'smyDad

Told my crew not to worry about it. I forgive the rat but he says he feels bad and deserves what he gets.

The J Man @ Joe'smyDad

Got the worst sentence EVER! Now I gotta hang out with 2 criminals for a while!  Sucks big time! My hands are gonna be sore.

The J Man @ Joe'smyDad

Glad that's over! But, it was only 3 days and now I can PARTAAY!  I'll be gone for a while but do not forsake me my beautiful Tweeps!  I'll be back, I promise!

Petey @ PnPCrew

Man, I really miss The J Man @ Joe'smyDad, but he said he'd get back here in my lifetime.  Time will tell I guess.