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.

Walk the Path in Grace

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.

Walk the Path in Grace

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.

Walk the Path in Grace

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.

Walk the Path in Grace

 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'

Walk the Path in Grace