One of the many things that fascinates me most about Christians, especially the fundamentalist kind, is their tunnel vision. Christians can't seem to see beyond the boundaries of what they have been taught to believe. They literally possess selective hearing and sight, and no matter what may be presented to them that is contradictory to their beliefs they will not be moved.
I have often stated that faith itself is the ultimate equalizer when discussing or arguing with theists about religion. The reason for this is that faith requires absolutely no evidence whatsoever to be deemed true. Believers love to wave the faith flag when they are backed into a corner, and for the most part it works to their own satisfaction.
I can sympathize with them myself because I was very much the same when I was a theist over 16 years ago. There wasn't a man in the world or any evidence that could sway my faith, I was like a stone when it came to my belief in the biblical god. I was unbreakable, immovable, and determined to let everyone know about my beliefs and about the one I served as lord and master of my life. What we must understand as atheists is that most Christians are happy with their beliefs no matter how ridiculous or false they may be.
Many are content to bury their heads in the sand and miss all of the joy and pleasures that life can bring. Most people I know including members of my own family have referred to me as crazy for not believing in the biblical deity they choose to believe in. Many atheists are treated as outcasts by their own families who in some sick way pity them for not accepting the indoctrination that they have.
Even the most atrocious acts committed by God in the bible are explained away by theists with such stupid quips as "he is our creator and he can do what he wants" or "who are you to question God?". Yet if any living man or woman did even half of the horrible things God has done to mankind according to their book of fairy tales he/she would immediately be called a tyrant, lunatic, mass murderer, and a host of other demeaning terms.
When your mind is clouded by faith nothing else makes sense, but the nonsense you spew. Faith makes fairy tales true, through faith it is easy to believe what is known to be impossible. Jesus ascended to the heavens, Moses parted the red sea, the walls of Jericho came down with a unified trumpet blast, etc. You don't need reason to be a Christian, all you need is its opposite: faith.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
No God? No problem.
One of the problems that has been a thorn in the side of most theologians is the problem of evil. They have no way to explain the existence of evil, since according to them God is benevolent, omniscient, and omnipotent. The argument itself basically points out that the very existence of evil, is contradictory to the attributes of the biblical God.
My own take on this argument is simple: when you think about the many inexplicable occurrences that we experience in life, such as death, rapes, murders, birth defects etc. It is easier to explain them when you take God out of the equation. There is for instance a perfectly scientific and sound explanation for birth defects, as opposed to trying to say that the child was born that way because it was God's way of testing the faith of the parents etc.
I call the act of trying to rationalize the existence of God, trying to make sense of nonsense. Christians remind me of that kids learning game where you have to fit certain pieces into a box with various shape cut outs. No matter how much you try you cannot fit a square piece into a circle. But by trying to rationalize the existence of their god this way, they are doing exactly that.
Ancient man was very superstitious and to this day even with all of the knowledge and understanding that we have gained about the world we live in, there are still many who refuse to let go of ancient superstitions. I personally count the existence of God or gods in general as superstitious and mythological in nature.
When you remove the concept of God out of life's troubles and hardships natural disasters, and whatever other calamity you can think of, then you can see them for what they are: natural occurrences. When you come to the realization that life is nothing more than a continuous string of random occurrences, then you will see the world with clarity.
My own take on this argument is simple: when you think about the many inexplicable occurrences that we experience in life, such as death, rapes, murders, birth defects etc. It is easier to explain them when you take God out of the equation. There is for instance a perfectly scientific and sound explanation for birth defects, as opposed to trying to say that the child was born that way because it was God's way of testing the faith of the parents etc.
I call the act of trying to rationalize the existence of God, trying to make sense of nonsense. Christians remind me of that kids learning game where you have to fit certain pieces into a box with various shape cut outs. No matter how much you try you cannot fit a square piece into a circle. But by trying to rationalize the existence of their god this way, they are doing exactly that.
Ancient man was very superstitious and to this day even with all of the knowledge and understanding that we have gained about the world we live in, there are still many who refuse to let go of ancient superstitions. I personally count the existence of God or gods in general as superstitious and mythological in nature.
When you remove the concept of God out of life's troubles and hardships natural disasters, and whatever other calamity you can think of, then you can see them for what they are: natural occurrences. When you come to the realization that life is nothing more than a continuous string of random occurrences, then you will see the world with clarity.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
What is God?
Although I am now an atheist, every now and then I ponder the idea of the existence of God. What interest me most about this topic is the insistence of theists on the existence of God based on faith. There is no objective evidence for the existence of God and I am pretty sure that there never will be any to validate the theists claims.
I would like to share with you a theory regarding the existence of God or in this case non-existence of God. If you think back to ancient times and religions and religious beliefs you will see right away that in those days, most beliefs were based on ignorance and superstition about the forces of nature and the world in general. People interpreted things that they did not understand by calling them gods.
Things such as natural disasters, disease, famine, etc. were all interpreted as a result of a deity being displeased with the tribe or civilization. Gods in the most ancient of religions had to be appeased, and at first such things as fruits and vegetables of the land were sacrificed to those gods in return for their favor. Men throughout religions history have worshiped trees, astral bodies, animals, and in some cultures even other men! In China the emperor was considered a god among men, and the same goes for Egypt's Pharaohs.
As is illustrated for instance in Greek mythology man later began to worship objects within their environment such as the sun, moon, planets, and stars. They later gave all of these objects names, personalities and things that they would control or oversee. This process is called anthropomorphism. Wikipedia defines anthropomorphism as the attribution of human characteristics to animals or non-living things, phenomena, material states and objects or abstract concepts.
The God of Moses is a being that is in objective terms undefinable, and whose existence relies solely on ancient texts that propound the beliefs of an ancient people. Jews and Christians have in an essence followed the path of those that came before them. In order to define God or make him easier to comprehend, they have anthropomorphosized him. They have taken the idea of God and personified it by giving this idea human traits. God gets angry, he hears and see all things, he is defined as a male, he is said to speak.
Here is my theory regarding today's general idea of God (specifically the Judeo-Christian God), I am convinced that this God is nothing more than an abstract concept.My reasons for believing this is simply because this God cannot be defined.Ask any theist what is God and all you will get are dogma or abstract ideas about God. Theists claim that he is unknowable, beyond our human comprehension. If this is so then why are so many theists claiming that they know God and have a personal relationship with God?
What I find comical about this is that at least the ancients were personifying objects that they did not understand, such as Ra or R'e the Egyptian sun god. Jews and Christians don't even have an object to personify, they are personifying an idea/concept. From a logical standpoint this is absurd! Jews and Christians choose to worship a deity they neither know nor can define, now what can be more insane than that?
Using the so called order in the universe as evidence of God would not suffice either because along with that order there is massive chaos as well. Of course we don't fully comprehend what exactly took place at the beginning of the universe, but I can assure you that it certainly was no imaginary guy in the sky!
People of the more charismatic bend tend to claim to feel his presence or hear his voice, but as I state in my video could this be just symptoms of their own delusions? All of these experiences are of a subjective nature and in no way constitute evidence for the existence of God. Therefore based on all of these points made in this post I conclude that there is no God, but in reality the onus is on you my dear theist to prove me wrong since it is you that are making the positive claim that there is a God and that he exist.
I would like to share with you a theory regarding the existence of God or in this case non-existence of God. If you think back to ancient times and religions and religious beliefs you will see right away that in those days, most beliefs were based on ignorance and superstition about the forces of nature and the world in general. People interpreted things that they did not understand by calling them gods.
Things such as natural disasters, disease, famine, etc. were all interpreted as a result of a deity being displeased with the tribe or civilization. Gods in the most ancient of religions had to be appeased, and at first such things as fruits and vegetables of the land were sacrificed to those gods in return for their favor. Men throughout religions history have worshiped trees, astral bodies, animals, and in some cultures even other men! In China the emperor was considered a god among men, and the same goes for Egypt's Pharaohs.
As is illustrated for instance in Greek mythology man later began to worship objects within their environment such as the sun, moon, planets, and stars. They later gave all of these objects names, personalities and things that they would control or oversee. This process is called anthropomorphism. Wikipedia defines anthropomorphism as the attribution of human characteristics to animals or non-living things, phenomena, material states and objects or abstract concepts.
The God of Moses is a being that is in objective terms undefinable, and whose existence relies solely on ancient texts that propound the beliefs of an ancient people. Jews and Christians have in an essence followed the path of those that came before them. In order to define God or make him easier to comprehend, they have anthropomorphosized him. They have taken the idea of God and personified it by giving this idea human traits. God gets angry, he hears and see all things, he is defined as a male, he is said to speak.
Here is my theory regarding today's general idea of God (specifically the Judeo-Christian God), I am convinced that this God is nothing more than an abstract concept.My reasons for believing this is simply because this God cannot be defined.Ask any theist what is God and all you will get are dogma or abstract ideas about God. Theists claim that he is unknowable, beyond our human comprehension. If this is so then why are so many theists claiming that they know God and have a personal relationship with God?
What I find comical about this is that at least the ancients were personifying objects that they did not understand, such as Ra or R'e the Egyptian sun god. Jews and Christians don't even have an object to personify, they are personifying an idea/concept. From a logical standpoint this is absurd! Jews and Christians choose to worship a deity they neither know nor can define, now what can be more insane than that?
Using the so called order in the universe as evidence of God would not suffice either because along with that order there is massive chaos as well. Of course we don't fully comprehend what exactly took place at the beginning of the universe, but I can assure you that it certainly was no imaginary guy in the sky!
People of the more charismatic bend tend to claim to feel his presence or hear his voice, but as I state in my video could this be just symptoms of their own delusions? All of these experiences are of a subjective nature and in no way constitute evidence for the existence of God. Therefore based on all of these points made in this post I conclude that there is no God, but in reality the onus is on you my dear theist to prove me wrong since it is you that are making the positive claim that there is a God and that he exist.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Self degradation in the name of the Lord!
Those that chose to be "servants" of the Judaeo-Christian deity must first acknowledge that you are disgusting to your lord 7. And Yahweh said, 'I shall rid the surface of the earth of the human beings whom I created -- human and animal, the creeping things and the birds of heaven -- for I regret having made them.'Genesis 6:7 (NJB)
In order to serve this deity you must accept that fact that you are nothing and that he is everything, and that there is nothing you can't do without him (John 15:4,5). I personally find the very language used in the scriptures to describe the relationship that man supposedly should have with this god offensive and appalling.
If you have ever taken the time to read the bible regarding these matters you will immediately recognize a pattern. That what the language describes is nothing more than slavery. God is often referred to as the master, and you the ever so humble worshiper is described as a servant/slave. Your whole purpose in life is to please this non-existent megalomaniacal deity.
Within the scriptures there is also a system of punishment and reward for your service to the Lord. If you do good and walk upright you will be rewarded, but if he is not pleased with your performance you will be punished. The very idea of bowing down to some primitive deity who is obviously an invention of man. The bible instead of teaching pride in oneself and ones achievements teaches you that you must remember that you are nothing without God. That because our "first parents" sinned we by default have inherited this sinful nature and now are in his debt forever.
We are according to the scriptures born in debt to God for something we did not have anything to do with. So much for God being loving ands forgiving! And the only way to pay off this debt is to accept the fable that he became incarnate in a man (Jesus) and suffered at the cross as a sacrifice to atone or pay off our debt. If you ever want to make progress in this world we need to cast away all these silly and ancient superstitions and embrace the world for what it is. A natural and wonderful environment which can be both friendly and at times hostile, but would be a much better place to live if God were taken out of the equation.
In order to serve this deity you must accept that fact that you are nothing and that he is everything, and that there is nothing you can't do without him (John 15:4,5). I personally find the very language used in the scriptures to describe the relationship that man supposedly should have with this god offensive and appalling.
If you have ever taken the time to read the bible regarding these matters you will immediately recognize a pattern. That what the language describes is nothing more than slavery. God is often referred to as the master, and you the ever so humble worshiper is described as a servant/slave. Your whole purpose in life is to please this non-existent megalomaniacal deity.
Within the scriptures there is also a system of punishment and reward for your service to the Lord. If you do good and walk upright you will be rewarded, but if he is not pleased with your performance you will be punished. The very idea of bowing down to some primitive deity who is obviously an invention of man. The bible instead of teaching pride in oneself and ones achievements teaches you that you must remember that you are nothing without God. That because our "first parents" sinned we by default have inherited this sinful nature and now are in his debt forever.
We are according to the scriptures born in debt to God for something we did not have anything to do with. So much for God being loving ands forgiving! And the only way to pay off this debt is to accept the fable that he became incarnate in a man (Jesus) and suffered at the cross as a sacrifice to atone or pay off our debt. If you ever want to make progress in this world we need to cast away all these silly and ancient superstitions and embrace the world for what it is. A natural and wonderful environment which can be both friendly and at times hostile, but would be a much better place to live if God were taken out of the equation.
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