I went to an event this weekend that featured Richard Dawkins, Lawrence Krauss, Neil Degrasse Tyson, Bill Nye and others and felt so inspired. Since the event previewed a movie that is not out yet, and we were asked not to share too much I thought that I would instead gather other inspirational quotes and share them here as a way to spread the feeling.
I was watching a video with Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris talking and the Question was asked what is the end game of debating religion- what does a win look like? Then two other things happened that prompted this post. First was a comment on a previous post that mentioned trying to de-convert people and where I stand, and then at work there was a conversation about hating religion and why I have a BA in religion if I am an atheist.
I may seem like an in your face Atheist that must be yelling at everyone and telling them that they are stupid. However, this is not the case. I created this blog so I could have a space that I can express my thought and feelings because in my regular everyday life I do not tend to express these thoughts (I think them, but I to keep my mouth shut). The same with Facebook or any other outlet, I may get upset but I will just grumble while I scroll passed a post and I leave the friend or family member alone. I also will not post or share any anti-religious or Atheist material so I do not offend anyone. (Although I will “like” certain things) The only “action” that I take is that I am open about being an Atheist.
Having said where I stand in my day to day life I have been giving some thought to being a braver more outspoken Atheist. I get told all the time that I need Jesus, that I need faith. I have to put up with and respect what other people say and post so why am I so afraid to make people put up with me?
The one time that I said anything was the holidays – I posted a photo of my tree decorated and said “Our yule-tide tree all decorated!” and right away I got responses about making it a Christmas tree and for the rest of the season posts like “It’s Merry Christmas not Happy Holidays” were directed at me.
Further, at work the extremely devout employee expects the schedule to work around his church needs, expects it to be ok when he tells people to follow the Bible or that the way they live is wrong, expects it to be ok to challenge the music on the radio because it does not exalt God but at the same time everything offends him and everyone else has to watch what they do or say if he is around.
Why do so many people think that it is alright for the religious to constantly try to convert others and to wear what they believe openly, but if an Atheist does the same they are offensive and should keep it to themselves. Just let people believe what they want, but Atheists are the only ones that are told to do this – if two different religions meet they are not going to be told to just be accepting they are allowed to think that they are right.
Let me try to explain it this way – If you had a friend who joined an adamant Big Foot group would you accept that? Perhaps you would be-grudgingly accept it but I imagine that your “eccentric” friend would not be going to many more parties. It turns out that people who have crazy theories are not the same kind of people that get invited to social events. Why is this? Well it is disturbing to be around someone who does not have a grip on reality. If this same friend began going on Big Foot hunts regularly and started to devote large amounts of life to this group would that make you happy? I would say no. I would be sad if my friend was wasting life searching for something that is not there.
However I want to make an important point. If religion was like a Big Foot group then it wold be ok, you can have whatever crazy belief you want if you keep it to yourself. However this is where Big Foot is actually better than religion, because religion is incompatible with being kept quiet. No other group gives you instructions for how to live, how to think , how to act, or how to treat others. No other belief system opposes reason, science, human rights and progress. No other belief has a consequence like ETERNITY in torment – by it’s very nature having such specific instructions and such dire punishment requires this belief to be in the forefront of living. (and in case it is not obvious No belief system should be allowed to have any of those things. This is why we can all agree that cults are bad.) This is where a Big Foot group would be preferable to Religion because believers are constantly looking for proof. Imagine that, even they know that no one will believe them without proof (why should anyone?) and so they keep relatively quiet until they can prove why they are right. That is a belief that I do not have to agree with, but that I can accept.
So after much thought I decided that for me a win would actually be de- conversion. Would I ultimately want no more religion? Yes. Empty Churches? Yes. (Although they would make great museums or libraries maybe they could be converted.) I would call it a win for all Religions to be put on the mythology shelf. All the music and art and architecture can still be beautiful art and can still be appreciated but I think that the world would be a better place if myths were just myth. There is a small part of me that worries about the large amount of people that claim to only be good because of Religion, but I think that if current Atheists can be good without God then so can most of the rest of the world.
So this video has been popping up on Facebook and other websites:
For many people that have been sharing this video it is frightening proof that Satan is out there and is coming for everyone. However, to me there are so many things in this video that point out the flaws of this theory and show the terrible ignorance that Religion allows people to be comfortable with.
First I think that it is important that people know what Satanism is. There are a few different types of Satanism. I will look at two:
-LaVey Satanism (An Atheistic belief system that sees the self as the “god” figure in that you are responsible for you own actions. Followers of this belief system focus on the material world and the rituals or worships that they do focus on worshiping themselves and what they desire. They do not endorse cruelty specifically but they feel that you should only be good to people that deserve it and not waste your time on those that do not. ) Click the Images to enlarge for some of the core Satanic beliefs.
-Luciferianism (Theistic followers believe that Lucifer is actually the good guy in the Bible and he cares for humans and he wants people to enjoy life and be happy. He endorses knowledge and success. Atheistic followers have a similar view as Sanists but they have slightly less emphasis on the physical and take a bit more of a spiritual approach.)
The video mentions Anton LaVey specifically so they are definitely trying to draw on the first of these types. However this type of Satanist that they want to make people afraid of dies not actually exist. Now, I can not say this 100 percent as true because I am sure there are some crazy people out there that have seen the movie version of Satanism and try to summon or sacrifice in order to be rewarded. There are crazy people everywhere, and they should not be allowed to represent a larger group.
Anton LaVey was a showman, and he thought that Religion (especially Christianity) was terrible and foolish and he tried to make a mockery of it on purpose. The Black Mass and the inverted cross were trying to show people that all that symbolism is silly – but no one saw it that way. No one looked at him and thought “wow that is silly, I should quit.” The churches condemned him and made people afraid. If you think about it the opposite of believing in God is not Satan – the opposite is NOT believing at all.
One more quick point about Satanism before I get back to the video, the pentagram is not an evil thing. Pagans use the pentagram as a symbol of unity and energy it is not some demonic thing, but since the churches also condemned Pagans the pentagram was also seen as evil. For many Satanists the pentagram is a very physical symbol (5 elements, 5 senses so on) and when inverted can mean facing your inner darkness and taking control or of giving into the physical world and being “subservient” to your carnal self.
Now that a basic understanding (and I stress BASIC. Satanism as a worship of the self is very personal and can be extremely different for each individual) of the actual beliefs is out of the way I want to get back to some other points in the video.
The video talks about the sweater that Jay-Z wears that says “Do what thou wilt” I would like to first point out that this says do what THOU wilt, not do what Satan wilt or any such nonsense. This quote is telling people to do what makes them happy and I fail to see how that is a bad thing, the video says that this means going against what God wills but if there is a God then wouldn’t he want you to be happy?
Crowley thought people should find purpose and they should go after it fully. He was not as into carnal desire and instant gratification as some Satanists but he thought that if you could find what you really wanted you should the do that one thing and be happy. This finding of what you truly wanted involved a lot of inward contemplation and sometimes meant that you would have to give up instant gratification for a greater purpose, but all of it focused on this one life and was never giving things up for some un foreseeable reward – only give things up for a greater reward that you can actually be sure of getting.
This saying from him also invokes a common Pagan saying (which is in part where he got the idea) that is used in many castings.
The “it harm none” is vital here however, because Wiccans believe that if you do something that will harm someone else it will come back to you three times worse. With this sort of rule there can be no room for casting dark or hurtful magic.
Finally the video focuses on Sasha fierce, who is the Demon/Alter Ego of Beyonce. Now this strikes me as just nonsense but I am going to address it anyways. It seems to me that everyone has an alter ego, some people may have several. This is normal, every situation requires slightly different behavior. Think about how you may act at work or around your family, and then how you may act around friends or at a party. I would imagine that while you are the same person these situations are going to have you acting differently. In order to be a performer worth watching you would need to be loud, and fearless and some people may not be that way in day to day life. So like anyone who would be taking on a role they would change to fit the situation. Beyonce is the only artist I know of that has given this change a name but I have heard many interviews of performers that say they feel a calm that takes over and then they can go out and give a good show. Actors do this as well when they “get into character” and I would imagine that to be necessary.
The sort of thinking in the video strike me as outright silly, but it seems to have grabbed some attention and that saddens me. I want to point out that this should highlight what I have mentioned in previous posts about the harm of Religion – there is a very serious push for giving up this life for the next. What is the harm in being rich or famous? Celebrities may be annoying sometimes (and I think being obsessed with them is also silly) but they are not hurting anyone. Do what makes you happy! The only time I find celebrities as being a bad thing is when they are no longer happy with what they are doing but they continue to do it anyways just for money. Acting or Singing is a job much like any other and these people are just trying to do what they enjoy. Fame comes with a big paycheck, but it also seems to come with just a big of a price (no not your soul, I am referring to privacy and being micro analyzed). Someone who has not met these people or been famous and is watching these videos that makes worldly success and pleasure a terrible thing should take a step back and think about what they are doing.
Am I sure that Beyonce does not worship the devil? No, of course not. I have never met her. However she has done many gospel songs and talks very positively about God. So I doubt it. There is the possibility that she is mocking religion on purpose but I find it much more likely that she was not intentional in this conspiracy and she has said some unfortunate things that got taken out of context (and apparently made some unfortunate faces while on stage).
Everyone should watch these.
Atheist Ramblings 