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.
I was watching the above episode of the Atheist Experience on YouTube and the host said that he does not blame the religious for what they think because they had little choice in the matter. He said that instead he thinks of them as victims and feels sad for them, at first I agreed with this idea. However, the more I thought about it the more I changed my mind. I now think that anyone over the age of say 20 or 25 should not qualify for this pity. In the modern world there is no reason that once a young adult is able to gather information and think for themselves that they should still cling to Religion. There are shows, movies, articles, blogs ect that will help you find your way out of religious beliefs. Atheists are all around and usually more than willing to talk to you about how to live without God. Once all of these resources are made available to a young adult and they are too lazy or too un willing to look at them and consider what they see then they are no longer a victim, they are now willfully ignorant and probably passing this on to other people. I think that this willful-ness is inexcusable.
The other idea in this episode that got me thinking was when the caller asked about the responsibility of Atheists to care about the environment. I tend to agree with this caller, while the host is correct in saying that Atheism does not make you believe anything in particular I think that it should come with some responsibility that could bring people together. Here are the main responsibilities that I came up with that I think should go along with Atheism and why. 
– respect for life. (ie no murder, or hurting others) Why? because Atheists believe that this is your one and only shot at the beauty of life and that should carry a heavy weight. Once someone is gone there is no do over, no afterlife so this life should be of the utmost importance and treated as such. Death should be a big deal to an Atheist, however since it is inevitable there should be a major effort to make the time you have worthwhile for yourself and for others. This also means that research into extending life would be important, as who would not want to be around for as long as possible? This respect for life as the most important ideal could lead to breakthroughs in medicine and if applied well enough could extend as far as standard of living. If there is just one shot at living, well everyone would want to live to the fullest so there should be a push in leisure, technological ease of life, and a general increase in standards of living so that this one life can not only be long but can also be happy and fulfilling.
(Side note, I have also decided that it is upsetting to me when the religious mourn heavily when someone dies. If they are in a better place and you will get to see them again shouldn’t you be happy for them? Stop being so selfish, if your best friend or spouse moved to a beach house in Hawaii with no cares at all and you were going to meet them there soon would you cry about it? I think not.)
– respect for the planet/environment. Why? Once again this is the only shot at life you get, and the planet is kind of essential for sustaining life. By taking care of the planet we can sustain our own lives for longer and we can sustain future generations who we should be worried about looking out for, don’t they deserve a shot at life? This sort of mentality could also serve to foster a sense of inter connectivity with those around us (past, present, future) that people seek in religion so much.
(This idea is also unsustainable in many Religions because if you think that Death is not the end all and only a step to a better place what is the big worry. Dead? That’s ok! You get to be with God. End of the World or Planet? That’s ok! The end of the world means the prophet comes back and the chosen ones go with God. So really in Religious ideology the more we take care of the planet we are just pushing our meeting with God away and so this would not be a priority.)
Recently I watched this video:
Now this is not a particularly good video in itself, but it did get me thinking on one point. The hosts of the show get asked by the caller if Hitler gets punished for his evil deeds. Initially both of the hosts try to say that yes he did in his death but the caller then makes a great point that everyone dies so how does that work as a punishment? I think that this is something that a lot of people feel they want – someone who has done wrong should be made to regret that action, they should suffer. However, I really liked what the female host of this show said instead in that the punishment did not matter, what mattered was that the evil that he did stopped. This really struck me. I do think that someone who commits violence against another person should be removed from society so that the can be prevented from hurting others but I think that this idea of punishment is unnecessary. Prison is often seen as a punishment and a way to make criminals suffer, and I do not think that it needs to be seen that way – this should just be a space to remove dangerous people to. Do we really think that making a criminal suffer is going to change anything? It will not undo what was done. It will not make them change how they as a criminal are. So what is the point? Many times criminals who are supposed to spend this time suffering to develop feelings of guilt or sorrow actually end up feeling just the opposite. Many criminals come out of the system worse and more angry.
While it may make some people feel better for a moment to see someone that hurt them getting hurt this is not a beneficial reaction. The idea of justice seems synonymous with revenge, people want to get justice for the families or the victims that were hurt by hurting the criminal. While listening to this caller this also struck me as another central idea in religion. Many bad people or bad actions do not get punished in life, these people will live the violent way that they are and they will not regret it and some may not even get caught at all. The idea that God is watching and he will know is comforting and it removes the responsibility of doing something about these actions from people who are alive. The idea of “they will get what is coming” does two things. First it approves of the revenge and punishment idea as an acceptable way to react. Second it shifts that responsibility to be not our problem. Sadly, Violence and crime in the real world is everyone’s problem and perhaps rather than worry about punishment we should worry about prevention. Instead of worrying about how to make the bad people suffer, worry about how to make the good people heal.
I am always amused when I tell someone that I am an Atheist and they immediately ask if I am sad that this life is all we get and if I am not strong enough to handle the truth of God. To this I always laugh, because I believe the opposite.
That is not to say that I am not sad or afraid about death, of course I am. Only an Atheist can grasp the true terror that is death, the knowledge that there is nothing and this beautiful gift of consciousness and experience will be gone and unless you do something truly great (or horrible) in a short time there will be no memory of you, no impact, nothing. Thinking about this too long is utterly terrifying but at the same time it can be inspirational. If no one else will remember you and there will be little impact then there is all the more reason to make your experiences count and to impact those around you while you can so that in some way there will be a lingering effect. (This also plays a part in my feelings about Atheist morality and where that comes from, but that is another post.)
As for this disbelief and fear playing into being not strong enough to handle God, well this is what really makes me laugh. It is clear that religions originally came about to explain things that people did not understand. It was common for people to attribute everything like the sun and rain to deities and to try to influence the out come by praying or offering. As people moved on and learned about the world around them these beliefs fell away and were replaced by knowledge and new belief systems emerged. However still, there is no explanation or comfort for the idea of death (and I think that this is because there isn’t one) so modern religions remain. A good look at Judea-Christian religions will reveal an absolute obsession with death. In fact the entire belief is the way you should get through life in order to get to a good death and afterlife. The emphasis and rules for living is only so that there can be an even bigger emphasis on dying. Christianity even takes this a step further and worships death in the story of Jesus. To me this shows that those who cling so strongly to faith, even when there is so much evidence against it, are clinging because they are afraid of what life without it would mean. Many believers will say that they feel sorry for an Atheist because the life “must be so empty and sad” and for me this shows that they are unable to grasp what it means to face the harsh and frightening realities so they cling to the comfort of faith.
Now in the theme of my blog, while I think that clinging to something that is false just for comfort is silly I also have a deeper problem with this. Many believers are convinced that Jesus is going to return while they are alive and so they have very little concern about what this world looks like and what the current generations will be leaving to the future. If the focus is on struggle and getting to the next life then there is no reason to have real world concerns that will have any impact on things like medicine or the environment and this is very scary to consider when reasoning non believers try to improve the state of the world against the inaction of those that are waiting for the next world.
So aside from being an Atheist (I know people are shocked to find out that there is more to life than that) I am also a writer. One idea that I have been thinking about for awhile is a fictional book that would be about what if the Biblical war in Heaven was actually lost and the God in the Bible is actually Satan and vice versa.So that the God that is worshiped and that is in the Bible is actually the evil being that wants people to be repressed and unhappy while Satan is actually the good guy who wants people to enjoy all parts of life.
While I really find this idea interesting and I could find Biblical support I have never been sure how I would present a story.
So I am reaching out to fellow non believers that would be able to give this idea good consideration and maybe have any ideas for me.
I found this quote today, and it made me think right away of what I just posted about religious believers inadvertently aiding in the overall damage of the religious structure, about the frustrating nature of inaction and what could be accomplished if there was an emphasis on taking responsibility and taking action.
A good read of the Bible (Old or New Testament), Qur’an, and Buddhist teachings among others HAS to show this point. The biggest problem many Atheists have with believers is the “pick and choose” way that they read Holy Scripture. There is an abundance of terrible teachings and the encouragement of horrible deeds and yet somehow it is ok to condone this system for the good parts, but when an Atheist takes the opposite approach and condemns this system for the bad parts well then they must be wrong? Hitler did some good things for Germany for a while, does that make him a good guy? Well…He was a firm Christian so the logic could follow that way.
The other picture I found:
I talked about this in my last post as well, but now that I want to be blogging I have been looking to get a collection of quotes and images (after all an all text blog would be terribly boring).Think about the idea of what someone could do if all the fervor put into Religion was put elsewhere, I do not think that people who are devout and single minded are that way because the belief in God is that compelling, I think that some people are inclined to give themselves wholly over to what they believe in and when Religion finds them they do so. Imagine if something else were the object of all this time, effort and money.
Two hands working can accomplish more than a hundred clasped in prayer. Think of a Prayer Vigil for victims of any tragedy – all the time and money spent organizing this event and then the event itself. Couldn’t all this effort be put into a volunteer program for the victims or the families? Or a program to research how to prevent further tragedy?
After all how would it accomplish anything to ask the being that created the problems to then fix them, wont that go against the divine plan that we are not supposed to mess with? I don’t think I can understand the point of this, if someone hurt me or made me sick they are probably the last person that I would go to for help in getting better.
Religion is Something that I have always been interested in, I have always asked questions and tried to grasp why and how it all works. I went to Catholic school from 7th grade until I graduated and still had questions, so to that end I got a BA Degree in religious studies (studying at 2 different universities). No one has been able to satisfactorily give me reason when presenting religion, but I still to this day find the topic fascinating. However, I also find that as I am getting older my fascination is being matched by frustration. I am increasingly growing less able to give religion a free pass and just let it be.
I used to be able to live and let live, I thought that religion was just a belief system that served as a comfort and guide to many and that as such should I should do my best not to offend anyone and let people believe. I am revising that opinion. Why am I changing my mind? A large part of the reason that I am changing my mind is that I can no longer turn a blind eye to the harm religion causes, and I am realizing that even if a believer does not directly support this harm and professes that those who do are not “true” believers they are not seeing the whole picture. I can not support or tolerate a belief structure that encourages or allows repressing people, hurting people, lying, stagnation or inaction. If they are not directly involved religious followers still aid in these behaviors with financial support either by donations or purchases and spread the message by giving attention to speakers, preachers, broadcasts, music and any other source of religious information.
Beyond the direct and obvious harm of war, murder, rape and slavery and the hatred that religions have caused I get frustrated by the refusal to adapt and to act. As an example whenever I hear of someone who is in need of help and someone responds “I’ll keep you in my prayers” I want to scream at them to DO Something. All the time and energy spent praying, going to Church to ask a Deity for help, or reading a Holy Book for answers could be spent actually helping RIGHT NOW not waiting for intervention. If all the millions of believers put that energy and devotion into taking action – making this world a better place rather than praying for it or lamenting that it can not be because there is a lack of faith then there could be a real difference. If people could stop arguing about which book has the right stories and look for proof to back up ideas then perhaps there could be beliefs that everyone could agree on. The circular logic and the inability to back down or change a belief makes religion infuriating – Trying to teach peace and love through stories of hate or violence makes for a strange and often dangerous view on moral superiority that still allows for plenty of hate and pain. As an extra frustrating bonus, there is always asking for forgiveness and repentance if it turns out that you were wrong or if someone gets hurt. An Atheist does not have that luxury, they have to live with the choices they make always and if those choices are bad then they have no one to forgive them, no way to make it alright. Where is that sense of personal responsibility in religion and why is the lack of such a good thing?
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As a last note this blog will talk mostly about Religion and God(s) and probably focus mostly on Christianity because I live in the U.S and that is the predominant faith that I encounter. I will also make posts about topics that are related to religious beliefs but may not be religion and if/when I do so I will include an explanation of why I am making the post and how it relates to religion and Atheism (at least how I feel it relates, this is a blog after all which means my OPINION.)
Here is hoping to meet and talk with open minded people, Atheists or Believers.
Threatening comments will not elicit a response from me, I do not have the time or energy to waste.
Atheist Ramblings 