Comment

Comment by NoGodNik on July 9, 2010 at 12:00pm

Fellow Atheists:

Religion has existed, in various forms, for some several thousands of years, to the detriment of life, both human and otherwise, as well as to the detriment of the planet. All manner of craziness has been brought about because some people insist that there exists, somewhere, an all-powerful, infallible entity, to which we are all answerable, and, to whom we must all be deferential, lest we incur its wrath. Not a single useful invention, cure for disease, or advancement in understanding or enlightenment is attributable to religion. Neither has war, poverty, illness, or any other plague affecting the general welfare of the planet and its creatures been eliminated, despite the perverse perseverance of religion. It has, moreover, been directly responsible for persecution in various guises, including The Inquisition, slavery, anti-Semitism, “holy” wars, jihads, and homophobia, among others, and has incited people to all manner of nefarious acts. Yet, it clings tenaciously to our world, desperate not to die away. There are a plethora of competing religions, which refute claims made by the others, and, which have their own internal inconsistencies. Although there is no suggestion that imminent doom is at hand, it seems that the time is ripe to begin a campaign to advance reason, against the encroachment of senseless “faith”, in its various manifestations.
It is not, however, due merely to the preceding, that I issue this “call to arms”, so to speak. I urge this course because it is within mans’ power, not only to explain what can be explained, but also, to debunk such beliefs as can be superseded by reason. Among the problems I see are that the “faithful” will not consider rational philosophies and statements, particularly when such things conflict with their faith, however illogical their faith may be. I suggest that, rather than continuing to try to persuade the “faithful” to abandon religion, through such means as the Theory of Evolution and the Big Bang Theory, it may prove necessary to “chip away” at their beliefs, by proving how fallacious such beliefs are. There must be some way to present such an argument as the one that follows:
“God is mans’ invented anthropomorphic representation of objective authority, the purpose of which is to compel obedience.” Dissent, which is a feature of independent thought, is inimical to the perpetuation of arbitrary mythology. This mythology has been, in many ad myriad ways, harmful to life, both human and otherwise, and prevents progress; who knows: without religion, mankind might by now have evolved into a higher creature, with powers and understanding that we can only dream of.
I feel obligated, before I continue, to issue the following disclaimer:
While I find Evolution a perfectly acceptable basis for explaining how life came about and how it has evolved, I’m afraid that it has been a very tough sell. My concern is that, logical and plausible as these things are, they are failing to convince believers to abandon religion. I would like to see more proselytizing by Atheists, even if doing so constitutes “militancy”.
If I may suggest a theory I’ve held for many years:
Religion probably originated in pre-historic times, when “primitive” man wondered about the many mysteries of life and the world in which he lived. Absent science, the best explanation such a creature could come up with was that some mysterious entity was in charge, and that being deferential to such an entity was probably prudent. This eventually evolved, as most disciplines do, into what we’re faced with today: the idea that we must all placate some unseen agent, lest we incur its wrath, and, on the flip side, that we can expect to be rewarded, if we are obedient.
A veritably ideal example of the harm religion causes, is the scandal that erupted in Spring 2010, when George Rekers, a high-level figure in the movement that purports to “cure” people of homosexuality, was found to be traveling in Europe with a companion he found on the Rentboy website, which anyone who has visited it, can see, is a site for gay escorts. Rekers is a classic example of how religion forces people to repress their own true nature, in favor of living a lie. People like this spend virtually their entire lives in a state of denial, until such a time when an opportunity arises to safely explore their true feelings. Since we know that there is no afterlife, then there is no reason to waste the one and only life we get on foolishness that deprives us of living our lives to their fullest extent. But, people like Rekers, who has devoted most of his adult life to persecuting gays, by putting them through “treatment” to “cure” them, when nothing was ever wrong with them, and who has contributed to attempts to enact legislation to further limit their ability to function, would have everyone be subject to what the “Bible” tells them, none of which is at all useful.
The “faithful” inculcate their children with this nonsense at an age when their ability to discern truth from fiction is not yet well-developed, crippling the poor young things intellectually and emotionally, for the rest of their lives, unless they develop the wherewithal to see through it. Religion causes people to go through their lives with blinders on, and generally encourages followers to have rigid ideas about right and wrong.

Comment by ryan cameron on July 8, 2010 at 9:23am

I don't understand how any thinking person could possibly NOT be a strong atheist. Its high time we stopped giving deference to delusion and grew up as a species.

Comment by sinisterpictures on May 22, 2010 at 4:21am

http://proudatheists.wordpress.com/2010/05/16/dear-christians-i-sim...

Good for a laugh and I'm sure some of you would like to comment on what some of the delusionists have said here.

Comment by Secular Forces 2013 on May 16, 2010 at 7:49pm

Strong like sun.

Comment by Mac Rex on May 9, 2010 at 11:51am

The priest was a Catholic, so I don't think it's all that surprising. Hell, check out what the Pope's ambassador to the US as been treating a sex abuse surviver - http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/05/07/archbishop-sambis-bizarre-w...

As to our reaction to the violence of the pro-lifers, as agreed on before hand for several reasons. First, because they try to claim the high moral ground of "saving" babies, and claiming to be better, so we took a Gandhi like "passive resistance" stance. Second, because we knew we had been penetrated by under cover cops, so if we knew that if we did anything, we would be busted, and the pro-lifers would be shown as having the moral high ground. As we stayed under control, all the witnesses knew who were really the violent ones, and as it was in front of the Vancouver General Hospital, there were many, many witnesses. In short, our controlled behavior blew them off their moral high ground.
As for women who get abortions, many do come from religious back grounds. The abortion clinic we were defending is called "The Every Women's Health Clinic", and was organized by 4 women, 2 of whom I was friends with. From what they told me, many women who used their services were young, and ignorant of birth control, as they had come from fundamentalist families, who didn't let them take sex ed in school.
Did you smoke one before writing your post? Your first 2 lines don't seem to make much sense. ;)*

Comment by Richard Goscicki on May 9, 2010 at 10:19am

Mac, are you and the other strongs into

? I think they should make him Prime Minister?

Here's one aspect of abortion I've been thinking about. Women who get an abortion aren't religious types: it's a sin. On the other hand, pro-lifers will drop the baby whether they want it or not. Most of these people have large families. The demographics is scary.

Sorry to hear about your melee. The news coverage sounds criminal. Why didn't your friend charge the priest with assault?

Dig this: the Zombie is supposed to be The Prince of Peace. So what's a priest doing getting into fights? Abortion is a moral issue and he was offended by women who terminate their pregnancy for any reason.

But the Lord did the same thing when he was morally offended. He whipped the moneychangers in the temple and kicked them out. The lesson is if you're offended by the actions of others you have to right to get violent.

Let me know what you think of Pat, OK?

How this for a strong atheist motto? Fuck, smoke, drink, party, have fun: Just stay outta the army.

Comment by Mac Rex on May 8, 2010 at 6:46pm

LOL!
Good smoke always does that to me too, Rich!
I should note that the group I was part of at that time was a coalition of various types of communists, anarchists, and social activists. Calling them me "comrades" is just a simple way of labeling them my political allies. Also, I spent most of my life on the BC coast, as a left-wing political activist. I've never been a red neck!

Comment by Richard Goscicki on May 8, 2010 at 5:56pm

Bravo, Mac. Here you're driving a big transport rig in one of the coldest parts of the world, and you write "our gay comrades." The freethinking movement is making progress.

Maybe gays are referring to A/N members as "our doubting brothers."

The Bolsheviks probably had the same spirit when they overthrew the Czar.

Fighting back is cool but bear in mind that reason must eventually prevail. I mean, the fucking Bible is so ludicrous that people have to smarten up. It conduces war, slavery, male dominated hierarchy, subjugation of women, racism and homophobia.

How the heck did it last this long? The Internet is going to end the mental tyranny. Zombie Jesus (thanks Nick) is going the way of Zeus, Jupiter and the rest of them.

Just had some great smoke. This is what comes out—optimism.

Comment by Mac Rex on May 7, 2010 at 4:54pm

@ Nick
Er, I guess I didn't mention that a half dozen comrades held me back. The tv shot showed me lunging at him, with half our line grabbing me and dragging me back - we were in a linked arm formation, and my comrades knew my temper. It was a good thing, for both of us, that my comrades held me back as, being a politician, he gets special treatment from the cops, and I would have been put in jail.
Our response came in the form of a billboard ad, one of those ones with the fetus on it, being altered so that the fetus was proclaiming it's mother's right to choose. The fuckers had put it up in a very dense, and mainly gay, populated area in Vancouver. Our gay comrades were particularity pissed about it on their turf, and loved our change. It lasted about a week.

Comment by Jesse Richard Gordon on April 13, 2010 at 12:13am

Hello All!
Just stopping in to drop a link to a photo album I created on facebook called "Blasphemy" that's causing quite a stir amongst my religious friends/family.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=415713&id=535380450

Facebook is an excellent forum for debate if you wish to enlighten those closest to you. I highly recommend starting your own album/debate. I got the idea after the epic failure of 'A' Week on Facebook. Tons of people joined the group or invited other atheists to join, but very few actually changed their photo to an 'A' for the week. The common answer when I asked why was "My family might see it". I hope some of you here will have the courage to stand and be counted amongst the rational. Thanks!

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• …
• 8
• 9
• 10
• 11
• 12
• …
• 15
• Next ›
• Page