Godless Ranting

"You are in the wrong because all you have to say is negative things like 'There is no God.' You shouldn't be allowed to say anything because all you can say are negative things. Christianity is better because we are more positive."

Not if you are an atheist. Heck, even to other religious people, how is "Believe or you go to Hell" or "We are all terrible sinners and don't deserve God's love" positive? Personally, I would much rather hear that I am not being watched by an invisible, all powerful being that could send me to an eternity of torture by imposing rules I never had a say in.

Many atheists find it very comforting to know there is nothing out there, that when they die they just disappear rather than sticking around forever. And that when bad things happen to them, it's not some awful being doing it to them because he has some mystical plan he won't even tell me about.

Even if you don't agree and the thought of some Sky Faerie who you can blame everything bad on rather than taking responsibility for your life comforts you, you have to realize that it doesn't comfort EVERYONE and some people want to hear these messages. Some people need to hear them, just like you need to hear yours. Your messages to us do not feel positive, they are just as offensive. So how come you get to have your Christmas displays and public billboards, but we can't? Because you are ignorant and hypocrites.

Which is a more likely explanation for that voice you heard? Your mind playing tricks on you, or...

When human beings die an unexplained, scientifically undocumented entity detaches from their physical bodies somehow, and roams the earth and occasionally makes noises or talks for some reason, even though they have nothing corporeal enough to vibrate the air to make sound waves?

You be the judge.

The following is copied from a reply I made on a facebook page about removing the phrase "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance. A person argued that removing the phrase Under God is unfair to religious people, and if you are atheist you should just not say it. They also asked if we would stop using money because of "in god we trust," and we should forget this and move on to bigger fights such as starving homeless children. I sort of felt bad about the rant at the end but I didn't want to change anything, so I attempted a bit of humor there.

Whhaat? I'm sorry, but it doesn't matter if religious people think taking out "under God" is unfair. Having it in there is unfair to those who don't believe. Plus there is a separation of church and state, and this violates it. The government is not supposed to support or endorse any religion, and Under God very obviously does. Plus, so many people seem to forget that the pledge originally DIDN'T HAVE the phrase in it, it was added in later. What about the atheists of that time? Was that fair to them? I bet many felt ostracized and distanced from everyone else. We need to feel a sense of brotherhood through our being AMERICAN, leaving religion out of it. Any mention of God distances the atheist citizens from that fraternity. How about we return it to it's original and constitutionally compatible form?

As for the money issue, it's not practical or even possible to function in society without using it, but we can protest the "in god we trust" being on it, because it's another blatant support of a religion. On our money, representing America, it professes "In God We Trust," which just isn't true. Some citizens may, but the country and government itself should not.

Starving homeless children may be an important issue, but so is defending and enforcing the framework of our country and what allows us to help anyone at all.*

*All said while someone plays Battle Hymn of the Republic on a kazoo, in front of an American flag. lol

I like to read the comment threads in most atheist blogs to see what other people thing while reading this one a few people said something alone the lines of "If someone would break up with you for becoming an atheist, you shouldn't have been with them in the first place." I am going to disagree with that. Everyone has the rights to their own personal tastes, likes, dislikes, and needs. If your partner is the kind that needs to be with another Christian, they are allowed, and that is fine. They also have the right to break up with you should you change, especially if the change is in something as central to an individual's personality as their belief system. Turn that around on yourself. That if your atheist partner suddenly became super religious? You might still love them, but if they truly followed their bible and worked to convert you, spent their Sundays at church and donated 10% of their salary to the church, became pro life and rejected evolution and thought The Gays had no right to marry (assuming you are like me, you may not be) you might not want to continue to be with that person. And that's ok too. YOU have the right to your personal tastes, and sometimes changes can be too big to compromise on.

Please please PLEASE stop quoting the bile in order to prove your argument. I know you have little else, but like a random twitterer stated, using the Bible as proof of God is like using Harry Potter as proof of Wizards.

Atheists or members of other religions *do* *Not* believe that the bile is a real genuine holy book, so why would quoting from it convince us of anything?

I think a major problem leading to things like this is the assumption by Christians and some other religious folk that Atheists actually do believe in God, but are just rejecting him. This is *not* the case! Like with God, believing in something does not make it true.

I need to read some Harry Potter (even though I think the writing is garbage, sorry guys), so I can quote it back at Christians every time they try to use the bible to tell me I should believe. Just bewilder the heck out of them.


On an unrelated note, I read a lot of Christians asking how former theists could have believed before, but not believe now. Did you used to believe in Santa? The Easter Bunny? The Tooth fairy? Many (American) children believed in one or all of these at some point, but as they grow up they come to realize that these ideas are silly and stop believing them. It is almost exactly the same with atheists. As children or naive adults they were taught things that in reality are rather absurd or silly, and as they matured and became educated, these concepts no longer made sense to keep to heart and were discarded. That's all.

So, the eternal question, are science and religion compatible. No.

Why is it so hard to talk to people with theistic tendencies? As someone who has tried to debate a number of topics it always tends to boil down to one thing, simplicity. People are comfortable with seeing the world in simple terms. Every animal alive has to abstract the environment and make best guesses about everything in life. 'Is it better to attack this prey right now or find something easier' 'Is that noise something dangerous?' 'Should we head out to new hunting grounds even though we've only had a few bad weeks of hunting'. All of these are perfectly valid questions that tend to be answered quickly, with gut instinct, based on our previous experiences and ingrained common sense about the world.

Just a little rant on prayer, and how it makes no sense whatsoever. Ok, it can make a little sense if you are just doing it to praise God. As in, "Dear God, you rock! Thanks for everything, Love, Bob."

But does asking for anyhting make any sense? No. At least not if you believe your god is all knowing and has a plan, which most Christians seem to. He'd pretty much have to to be god. I suppose if you don't think your God is all knowing, sure. Or if he has no real plan, go ahead. But one or the other or both? Why would you EVER pray?

If God is all knowing, he already knows just what you want the moment you want it. If you'd like to get a raise to better care for your family (or buy a car or whatever), God knows. Right now. Before you've prayed. He knows how much you want it, he knows what you'd do for it, what you'd do if you got it, everything. I guess you could argue that maybe God is waiting for you to get down on your knees and actually ask for it, but he'd already know you were going to do it before you do it. Why bother?

Also, if your God has a plan, and everything is special to it, who are you to ask for something that doesn't go into the plan? If your husband is in a coma and about to die, why pray for him not to die? The only effect you could have on your husband is to get him all the care possible on EARTH, within your realm of influence. Praying for it is asking God to change his plan through supernatural means. Do you know better than God? And if he wasn't meant to die, he's going to live whether you prayed for it or not, so there's no point in that either.

I know it says to pray in the bible, to ask for things, Mountains will be Moved and all, but what I am saying is that it's just another huge contradiction displayed for all to read and believe. If God is all knowing, he knows what you want. If he has a plan, then who are you to mess with it? He was/is going to whatever he wants anyway, so there is no need or reason for prayer.

Image a man runs up to you and says 'I know that we've been invaded by aliens and in 3 years they will destroy the world'. You think 'Hrm, weird guy there. This kook is making some pretty outrageous statements but heck, everyone can believe whatever they want, its a free country. He can't really do anything that would impact my life. '. Time goes by and a couple of months later you are linked to a website AliensWillKillUs.com by a friend. Reading the website is like looking at a blended up version of Communion and The Turner Diaries. Stories like 'How powerful are death rays really?' and 'How to bleed a cow for a dandy bloodrutini' are on the front page. You think 'Well, they do seem to be pretty violent and man, thier rantings are just incomprehensable, but really we have enough rational people that it shouldn't be a problem.' And then a building is blown up to 'erase an alien stronghold'. The groups charismatic leader denounces skeptics as anti-earth and alien-conspirators. This seems pretty troubling but the perpitrators are caught and convicted and are kicked out of the group. 'We don't condone violence against humans, we must prepare for a greater enemy'.

The day of the invasion arrives, the once small group has swollen from its humble beginings to a large majority of the population. The teachings have solidified and now mutated into a complex weave of militaristic dogma and promises of vast riches should the humans win and take the alien technology of the would-be overlords. 'Man.' you think, ' I don't understand how so many can believe this.' And yet there you are, in a sea of beleivers, waiting for an invasion. A comet crosses the sky and nothing happens. Soon the foretold 'invasion' has become a thing of memory as you go about your daily buisness. To you and your friends its obvious that nothing happened, no change at all, infact it has soundly refuted the premise that there would be an alien invasion. You are satisfied that it was never real.

Later in life you are recounting the story to a group of friends and one of them, wearing a small earth pendant, says to you 'Well of course the aliens didn't just land and kill everyone, they knew we had prepared. It'd be silly to expect them to just be so OBVIOUS about it. No, the invasion happened, I've talked with dozens of people that have seen them. You ever wonder why so many homeless people go missing?' and you sit there unsure of what to think. 'They are just quiet about it, getting into position to undermine us all. In fact, spreading these false rumors about the Invasion is exactly what I'd expect from a sympathizer'.

This is the progression:
A Kook: Mostly harmless in their ideas but unchecked without criticism can spread the delusion to others. Society tends to just ignore the kooks.
A Cult: The ideas spread, usually mutated with new insights or additional wackyness as more people join the herd. The feelings of safety and validation create an atmosphere of absolute faith in the truth of the teachings and isolate any dissent. In this enviroment the original core beliefs are applied to everything making any leap needed to make them fit. Society can mostly control a cult, preventing most major damage.
A Religion: Once the cult grows to pose a real danger to the society it becomes a religion.

Today is another anniversary of 9/11. To some this day is seen as one of the worst days in American history, with good reason. It highlights the extreme actions that people can take when they feel justified, in this case, religiously justified. I think that this is one of the most dangerous things about a world filled with religion, any sort of action can be justified. I think it woke a lot of america up to the fact that people out there want to kill us. Not personally, just generally, for being an affront to allah. America for the most part, hasn't had to deal with this like Israel or now Iraq, Pakistan, India and countless other countries have for the longest time. The religious worldview that discards all reason for flawed logic and emotional satisfaction is what leads to these attacks. In American, since then, theres been a rapid growth of christian fundamentalism while also having a little bit of growth in atheism. I think the confrontation that americans feel with such a deeply hostile religion like fundamentalist islam has caused many to question thier faith. For some it has led to a breakdown in the twisted logic it takes to continue to beleive without evidense and they have jettisoned thier dogma, for others though, it was caused them to beleive that the fervor shown by muslims must be matched by christian fervor.

In a real sense I think we have entered into a holy war. The attacks against evolution and science in general, the overall fundamentalist visibility since 9/11, a general feeling that not going to a church makes you suspect. And just imagine, without religion it would just be another rainy day.

I think a lot of people are only religious because they have been for so long and are afraid to admit they could have been wrong for so much of their lives.

I don't think some people realize what an asshole they make God out to be. "My baby almost died at birth, but my friends prayed for it and God saved her."

So if no one had prayed for that baby God would have let it die? What about people all over the world that have no one to pray for them, who have sick children or are sick themselves. God just lets them die? Your baby is special because you know enough people who can pray for it?

Just because a bacteria hasn't evolved up into a higher form if life, doesn't mean there isn't evolution. If a bacteria is good at what it does and has no need to change, it won't. There is no "constant rate" of evolution that has to happen. If some sort of animal evolves to be perfectly calibrated for living in a puddle of water at the bottom of a cave, and that puddle stays exactly the same for a trillion years, that animal will stay pretty much the same for that amount of time. Bacteria don't NEED to evolve into a higher form, so they don't.

I'm just going to get right into this.

So, according to most Christians, everyone has fallen short of the glory of God, we are not capable of living up to his standards and it's only through Jesus, forgiveness.. blah blah blah that we can even hope to get on his good side and get into heaven.

What if I got pregnant and decided that by the time the kid turns 10, if the baby hadn't obtained a doctorate and passed the bar I would punch it in the face 100 times. I know there's no way it could possibly do this, but I'm going to do it anyway. Maybe if the kid begs for forgiveness I'll stop. Boy, what a great person am I! Should that child be thankful I gave it the opportunity to not be punched in the face, by me, because of impossible rules I imposed before it was even born?