Great Responses from the Community

I got this link from Atheist Revolution. A columnist in Georgia decided to try and subtly jab at the atheist community through his Saturday column. I'm not so much posting about the article itself, which is really just poorly written and uninformed garbage. What I'm actually impressed by is the stream of outstanding outcry that his article received.
I will credit the attention the article got to the blogger community, as I can't believe that many people actually would read this guy. Of course, I'm sure there are a lot of local columnists all over this great land that are not exactly brilliant journalists. No surprise that the article is weak... just that he is so easily and handily ripped to shreds in the comments the article gets. Go for the ignorance, stay for the slaughter.

http://www.times-herald.com/opinion/op-ed/Believe-it-or-not--507794

Great article in The Economist

Check out this article. It makes a good argument for choosing our battles, and also shows what kind of strength we could have if we were able to unify in our disassociation from religion and superstition.

Enjoy the fight...

As I was posting on vjack's site a few minutes ago, I realized something about what made me determine myself to be an atheist and what makes it all so fun to me. It is the fight... the thrill of the hunt.

In high school, I realized how much I did not think like everyone else. Some of it was upbringing, but I know a lot of it was genetics. Regardless of why, I enjoyed being witty, smart, funny, and weird. The first time I was caught drawing symbols of heavy metal bands on my Trapper Keeper by some female friends, their response was priceless. They were honestly concerned that I may have problems and that I may worship the devil. Needless to say, I let them run with that. It was too good to be true, they actually felt sorry for me!

Without going on and on, it basically took off from there. I would regularly engage people in conversation playing only devil's advocate, while taking comfort in my own spin on Christian belief. Over time, I read more and more about the foundations of religion and ancient religions. Then came my infatuation with the cosmos and quantum physics (among other basic space and sub-atomic physics).

That finally did it. God flew out the window quicker than the Tooth Fairy after giving a kid a nickel for a molar. Luckily for me, some of my friends came to this conclusion around the same time as I did. Our new past time was out loud public blasphemy. At first it was for shock value, to see how far we could push it. Then it was uncontrollable, like we could not help blurting out exactly what we had to say. Finally, it was irrelevant. It barely ever got a reaction any more. Were people afraid of saying anything? We certainly gave them every reason to.

Now, I hold my opinions like a sword inside of a cane. I don't stick out, but I instill doubt. I am a voice of skepticism and reason, playing devil's advocate and not believing in him. This is what makes it all fun. The game is afoot...

The Atheist Sell Out

I just turned on AdSense... this should be interesting. I am really trying to do two things, make a difference in free-thinking and liberation from religion, and see what kind of money doing that would make me. I have a good job, and enjoy what I do, but if I save some huge client $1 million bucks, the world is not a better place. If I make a few smart people question the superstition of their ancestors and challenge the world around them, then I can say I did something worthwhile in life. Furthermore, if I can support my family doing what I love (and keep my wife happy about me sitting on the computer every night), then even better!

Soap Box Time:
Research your religion, challenge what you were born into, confront superstition, escape intellectual restrictions. Religion is thought-control. That is how it has been used for thousands of years, and we should all be ashamed that we have not discarded it's archaic hold on our minds.

Look into the universe, look into the sub-atomic world, marvel at what you find. There is nothing more magical and fascinating than the realities of science, especially the dogma of ancient superstition. Look into it, for yourself, your children, and the future of humanity.
End Soap Box.

Administrative Issues:

I am trying to reach out and support outspoken atheists. I have somewhat tried to find the myspace page for Jeremy Hall, the Army Spec 4 who was threatened for being an atheist. I am also trying to reach out to Pete Stark, the California Senator who finally admitted to his atheism. His site only allows contact from constituents, which is understandable. If anyone has some ideas to support these free-thinkers on the front lines, please let me know.

God of the Gaps

God's gap is getting increasingly smaller. Thanks to the advances of science and technology the domain of superstition, mysticism, and religious dogma has become much, much smaller. It is because of this that a person of average intelligence and curiosity for the world around them can so easily realize the truth. Let's try and look at it in a very simple way:

• I am typing on a computer, connected to a world wide network of computers.
• Computers are possible because of advances in science, technology, and overall enlightenment and education of the general public
• Science, through its proven and repeatable methods, have given us a range of theories
• Among these theories are the theory of relativity, string theory, the Big Bang theory, and evolution
• All of these theories are directly contradictory to many of the key theories put in place by religion and superstitions, which also attempt to explain the world, life, death, and the beginning of human existence.
  
• Christians and Muslims, who do not allow for the fact that their scriptures may not be totally true, are forced to condemn the findings of science.
• Those who do accept some of the science, but refuse to give up religion, are forced to dwell in the gaps.
  

With that, I present The Anointed-One's argument against atheism. Thanks to a poster on the Atheist Revolution website for pointing this out. This is a very well thought out attempt at marrying science and superstition. I give this credit for now, I have not had the time to really dig into the details. I will be interested to hear other's thoughts.

Raising Free Thinking Children: Part 1

My son and I had about an hour conversation the other day. It started by watching Ken Burns' new documentary, The War. He professed, that at 11 and in the public school system, he did not know which war was which, so we started talking. Speaking of the second world war, topics turned to kamikaze pilots, the terrorist suicide bombers, then, naturally, religious zealots.

For ease, here are the bullets of our conversation:

• Some religious fundamentalists feel the need to kill for their religion.
• Some of these people kill other believers, for not believing the "correct way".
• The differences between Catholics and Christians.
• Who wrote the bible, where they lived, how they lived, and what their situation entailed.
• How the bible has been passed down, translated, re-worked for political reasons (The King James Bible, for example).
  
• As an analogy, I told my son to imagine that I wrote a story about how great my grandfather was. That he lived to be 80, and was a great blacksmith who could make anything with metal. Now imagine that this story was translated into multiple languages, passed down over the ages, and the grapevine effect kicked in. Finally, in the future, my grandfather is revered for living to be 800 years old, and could magically create metal objects with his bare hands.
  
• Multiple religions and multiple gods, different people and different cultures, and so on.
  

Many children go through playing the grapevine game. They learn how a simple message, over a short amount of time can mutate and take on a whole new meaning. Sometimes, you can identify the one person, who with a slight misunderstanding, identifies a pattern and a meaning that has some significance to them, and changes the entire message.

Some parents these days believe in telling their kids everything, and not hiding anything. I made the decision, years ago, that I would not systematically brainwash my son into believing anything. I question how he feels about religion, or if his classmates question his beliefs (we do live in a very conservative small town), or if he feels uncomfortable about faith. He usually says there is no problem, and shrugs it off. I have played out telling him exactly how I feel and why in my mind's eye, many times.

My parents took me to church occasionally at a very young age. My father was raised Irish-Catholic, my mother Presbyterian. I assumed their general, modern, and somewhat liberal views in God. I believed, and took it for granted that I would earn my way to heaven at some point. However, they never pushed me into a belief, and never silenced me on my questions and disbelief on certain stories of the bible. I attribute my ability to question authority and think freely to my parents, despite a loosely Christian upbringing.

My son, laying on the floor, looks up at me and says, "what is it called when you don't believe in any of that stuff?"
"What stuff, you mean religion and gods?"
"Yeah. Like if you don't think any of that stuff is real."
I trembled, composed myself, then spoke.
"That's called atheism."
He questioned the word, and I explained how theists believe in some religion, atheists believe in none.
"I don't believe in any of that stuff" he said.
"I will not ever try and influence your beliefs, and I am okay with whatever choice you make", I say, trying to not do the exact opposite of what I was saying.
I continue, "I spent most of my life believing in basic Christian concepts, but challenged them and researched them. I finally made up my own mind. I hope you make up yours in a similar way."
"How do you know so much about this stuff Dad?"
"Well...."

The Best Reasons to Give Up Religion

I plan on making this a permanent fixture on my site, and I hope that it will evolve into a solid list that people will refer to, quote, ridicule, or at least think about.

So far, it's a list of 8 items... a nice 10 will be settled upon in the long run.

8. Enjoying Personal Pleasures

Ultimately, this one is something that religious and the non-religious do alike. However, non-religious may not be as devastated by guilt and fear of eternal hell-fire for enjoying private pleasures. I will touch on this subject in the other bullets, without getting into too many details (I don't want to give away all my secrets, but let's just say I am VERY happily married, and won't go to hell for anything I've done....). Remember what is truly ethical, right for society, and legal (as legal as possible), and you will feel complete without feeling empty.


7. Thinking Outside of the Box.

Yeah, I said that annoying business axiom. However, how much more outside the box can you get? The phrase asks us to question what's accepted, challenge the status quo, and get away from the beaten path. If religion were obscure, rare, and limited in scope, then this would not apply. Religion is none of this, it is everywhere. It dominates rational thought across the world, and it keeps critical and free thought in check, as it has for many thousands of years for many millions of people.

6. No Masters.
This is similar to number 5, however more literal. I will officially state order of importance as to who your masters really are:

• Family
• Society
• Humanity
• Nature

I add nature only to specify that we owe our environment special care. That said, humanity, family, and society are dependent on our ability to take care of the environment. Why serve a thankless God, who at best knows what bad things you've done and keeps an eye on billions of lifeforms (let alone the billions of already deceased souls)? Why be a number to God, when you can be the center of the universe to your loved ones? Many will argue you can do both, but I won't put anyone above family, which is more than a lot of followers can say.

5.No Thought Police.
I think bad things... sometimes a lot of bad things. We all do. We are animals, barely civilized in a few thousand years time. In fact, listen to the news and decide for yourself how civil we actually are today. I have vividly thought of violence against people. I have had reprehensible sexual fantasies. I delight in doing harm in the privacy of my own mind, however, I am in control of myself. I love my life, family, wife and children, and I believe in the general well being of others. It saddens me that some people need a supernatural mega-being to keep them in line. My obligation to family, society, and humanity are my regulators. It is healthy and natural to have immoral thoughts, it is not either to pray for forgiveness from a jealous and vengeful God.

4. No Invisible Overseers.
One of the best things I ever did was to decide that no one was actually watching me every minute of the day. Whether a god, an angel, a dead relative, or even a dead pet following me around, I just never liked the idea of being watched by an unseen being. Especially when I was 14, and thought the door would fly open at any minute because my dead grandmother had tipped off my mom about my appointment with a Playboy magazine.

3. No hell.
No brainer. See "No heaven" for much of the argument. The human sensory system can only accept so much input, before it overloads. To keep it simple, it sure is nice not having to worry that you picked the wrong god, didn't do enough Hail Marys, or masturbated too much when you were 14 (or last week).

2. No Heaven.
This one may seem unusual, as you may be thinking that is the best thing about faith (although the bible itself is pretty sketchy on the afterlife. As with many of the stereotypes we maintain of religion, it has mostly been made up along the way). Here are some issues with heaven, for starters:

• Sanity. How can the human mind go on forever? Too much of anything would become a hell. If I think of my 30 best days, I know I couldn't tolerate them for eternity.
  
• Relative pleasure: what is everyone's heaven? Will my Aunt Marsha be in my heaven, as it would likely conflict with her perception of heaven? I would love to see all my dead relatives and friends again, but it does not stand to reason that we would all share a personal paradise.
• Morality: What if, as a perfect Christian, you lived a life burying your homosexual impulses? That is who you are, and it partly defines you. How then, can you be happy in a heaven forbidding such desire? Are you waging that you will be rewarded with fulfilling those needs? What about other fetishes? Does heaven remove them entirely? I don't know that I would ever want to stop fantasizing and subsequently having sex (as long as I'm conscious).
  

1. You won't have to defend ancient dogma and superstitions to atheists!

Trust me on this one. Atheists tend to really do their research and can be quite articulate. Their arguments are usually logic based, and it can be really frustrating trying to convince them that faith is an answer to anything. I am fortunate that I have never had to do this, but I seen a few people squirm, question, and paint themselves into corners. I didn't envy them.