One of the accusations made by Christians towards atheists that I find most annoying is that we are obsessed with God. I have been accused of this by my own family several times myself. Their reasoning is that for someone who claims a non-belief in God we sure put a lot of time and dedication into disproving his existence.
There are several reasons why accusations such as these do not hold water. I personally am not on a mission to demonstrate that the biblical god or any god for that matter exists at all. Belief in God is a personal choice and matter that each and every individual must make for his or herself. I know as well as any other thinking atheist that you cannot prove a negative. As it stands now we cannot prove or disprove conclusively the existence of God or gods, anyone who claims to be able to do so is a fool.
But at the same time it does not mean that with the evidence we do have, or lack thereof we can't make logical conclusions based on observation and investigation. Theists point to the order of the universe or the laws of nature to demonstrate that this world was intelligently designed or created by a higher power. But they neglect to mention all of the chaos that is also evident in nature, for instance there is no design in the extinction of plant and animal species. This suggest that it is rather a result of evolution through the process of natural selection.
The only reason I am so "obsessed" with religion and God is because it is relevant in our society. It holds positions of power amongst the elite and the poor in such things as politics and the advancement of scientific research. Religion permeates almost every fiber of our society here in the United States and it spills over into the secular realm as well where in my opinion it does not belong.
If you choose to believe in the myths and tales perpetuated over 5,000 years ago if you include the new testament then that is your choice as an individual. But when you try to force your beliefs upon the rest of society by manipulating politicians and impeding science then you are stepping out of the boundaries of your personal beliefs. The first amendment of the U.S. Constitution make it abundantly clear that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion," this rule should apply both ways.
Theists want government to stay out of matters of religion but at the same time they want to manipulate and impede government. That is what you call having your cake and eating it too. Our laws should not be subject to those of any religions idea of what their god of choice has established. Instead our laws should be based on the betterment of our society and its inhabitants.
You can pin it down to one word: "Therefore." Theists (regardless of theology) have this persistent habit of transitioning from "I believe" to "We believe" to "We must" to "therefore" to "You must." Sometimes they skip right over "We must" and land on everybody else, making rules and laws that make no sense under the light of reason, but plenty of sense when simmered in a soup of emotion -- especially the emotion of fear. Pin a believer down on the "therefore's," and the only defense they have is to throw it back at you "But doesn't that make sense to YOU? Where would our society be without [fill in the blank]?" In a box somewhere I have a printed transcript of a weeks-long debate with a Muslim lady on Yahoo, a few months before 9/11. It was a classic example of this form of argument. For one thing, I'd bet she was being coached by a husband or other male relative, because any time I'd make a point, I'd have to wait a couple of days to get a reply, whereas I shot back an immediate response to anything she had to say. Our debate was about burqas, but it rolled into the "inherent" differences between men and women. On one hand, she's going on about her prophet M being a great champion of equal rights for women, but almost in the same breath, had to add something about how children can't be properly raised unless men and women adhere to their "natural" roles, and then always wrapped it up with "Is that not so?" The discussion came to a grinding halt when we got onto the subject of the necessity of the burqa and similar forms of women's dress to protect them from men. When I suggested that it would make more sense for the men to wear the burqas so they couldn't run around causing physical and sexual harm, she dismissed my answer as nonsense and I never heard from her again.
ReplyDeleteHi David,
ReplyDeleteI am also "obsessed with/by atheism"..lol.
If we were Christians, and spent this much time and energy studying the Bible and pleading with god on our knees, society would call us "Holy men".
Since my teen age years I have had a hunger for finding out the truth about who we are. I've looked for those answers in most all of the places that people are still looking today (UFO's, Meditation, drugs-sex-rock & roll...etc) but my most concentrated effort was my commitment to Christianity. I spent 8 years down deep in the trenches for Jesus...
Once I emerged from the fog of fundamentalism, I found myself finally getting the straight dope on what is true and what is bullshit.
Atheism is my calling in life. I love atheism and I'm not ashamed to say it.
Love your stuff...especially when you focus in on the Jesus myth. Jesus SO never really existed.
Good luck with your new writing assignment.
Billy (speck)
http://www.ctlibrary.com/ch/1985/issue5/531.html
ReplyDeleteGreat post.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I'm obsessed with reality!