Saturday, April 20, 2013

The Christian Invasion

First off let me state my purpose for creating this blog. The main reason I decided to create this blog is because when I was a theist I had nowhere to turn to for advice or no one to speak with regarding my doubts about my beliefs. When I talked to fellow ministers including my pastor I got the same useless response. "That's the devil attacking you, resist the temptations and rebuke any contradictory thoughts as soon as they come into your mind." These exchanges usually ended with them praying for God's spirit to strengthen me both mentally and spiritually that I may resist the temptations of the evil one!

Prayer is useless!

In those days there was no internet or easily accessible sources of information. Even the public library was limited as to books on atheism or even higher criticism. I literally took this journey from theist to atheist on my own. Ironically, it was a book by a Christian author called 'Charismatic Chaos' by John F. MacArthur Jr. that helped me the most. I began to doubt the authenticity of my subjective "spiritual" experiences and this book confirmed a lot of what I had learned on my own about the gifts of the Spirit and what they represented. It was this book that helped me shed the so called miraculous aspects of my beliefs that eventually led me to move forward with my research.

This book changed my life forever!

One of the biggest issues I struggled with as a theist was the supernatural aspects of my religion. I was a hardcore Pentecostal evangelist who fully believed in the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit as outlined in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10. My biggest challenge was overcoming the very powerful and genuine fear that I felt due to my indoctrination combined with my subjective experiences that at that time I believed confirmed my beliefs.

 In the same manner that theists write books and put up discussion forums and blogs to help one another with their beliefs, I too felt that I needed to do the same for my fellow atheists. This blog serves a dual purpose: it is mainly geared toward people who find themselves in a similar situation as I was once in. It is my hope that my experiences with charismatic fundamentalist Christianity will help others who also have doubts to overcome their fears and escape the menacing grip of their delusions.

There is also a second group that I hope to reach with this blog: atheist who were never nor have ever been suckered in by the lie that is Christianity. These types of atheists have responded to my blog in a positive way and it seems to help them grasp through my descriptions of my experiences how powerful this delusion truly is. It is not as easy to understand how a rational person such as myself could get caught up in this type of delusion but in reality it is not that hard.

I don't mind debating with theists about their beliefs versus mine for instance, as long as it's done with respect for one another, and that in the end we can at least agree to disagree. But when theists come to my blog with the intent of antagonizing me or my readers, then that is where I draw the line. It is reasonable for me to share my experiences freely online just as it is for theists to do the same. I don't believe in a god or any supernatural beings at all, but I don't go trolling theists blogs or discussion forums to express my views. That is why I have my own little slice of the internet where I feel at home and I can freely express my views without fear of offending anyone.

If I do by chance happen to offend the delicate natures of theists the world over then they have a very simple solution. They can leave and never come back to my blog again. It's sort of like watching television; if you don't like whats on then change the channel! It seems theists are not happy just walking down the street handing out biblical tracts, preaching in public parks and sidewalks, or as some of them prefer going door to door. They want to limit the internet as a place of free expression as well!

It's not enough that they want to influence our politics to coincide with the ridiculousness of their beliefs, nor that they want to undermine the hard work of real scientists with their absurd ideas of creationism being taught in our public schools alongside evolutionary theory. Today's Christians are no different than the Christians that lived during the time of the inquisitions. The only exception is that back then they were the law, and they used their power to the fullest by murdering anyone who dared oppose or speak out against them.They even murdered other Christian sects that did not agree with their established creeds and called them heretics or apostates. Due to the many advancements of our American laws and the limited protection of our Constitutional amendment for the separation of church and state they have not been able to carry out what they would like to.

I will make my point clear right here and right now. Theists, you are all welcome here to comment and share your views with myself or my readers, but you must do so with respect. As you demand respect of your beliefs I too demand respect of mine. Remember where you are, this is an atheist blog and you are outsiders here but at the same time I consider you as my guests. Just as guests are expected to be on their best behavior when they are visiting a friends house I expect the same from you when you are visiting me here.

I don't make a habit of visiting Christian web blogs or forums because I honestly don't believe that there is anything that anyone can tell me about God, Jesus, the Bible, etc. that I don't already know. I have no interest in arguing on what I would consider to be hostile territory, I tend to like the home court advantage. But even in the home court I try my best to treat my guests with respect and cordiality. 

4 comments:

  1. Please read "the Biology of Belief" by Bruce Lipton. Helps your arguments significantly. The subconscious is who people are actually muttering to wishing for petty nonsense from their pretend daddy in the sky. This book arms you with all you need to use objective science to defeat anyone in a debate. Even if you can get them to admit the Bible is not proof, which is always a chore, since it's all they have.

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    1. Thanks for the suggestion I will add that book to my reading list. I am currently reading "Who Wrote the Bible?" by Richard Friedman and "The God Argument" by A.C. Grayling. I have a couple of books on my nook reader along the same lines of the book you've suggested such as 'Believing Bullshit' by Stephen Law.

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  2. I've had a few that are truly crazy visit my blog. Others post rather predictable objections to my posts. I don't mind Christian visitors, either, except when they're disrespectful. I REALLY don't put up with insults especially gendered ones, but they are thankfully rare and come mainly from one nutty person.

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    1. Recently I had a commenter on here who for days was very condescending. He ignored my arguments and stuck to ad hominem attacks. He was constantly insulting my intelligence by denying to even tell me what his position was and instead preferred to stick to attacking me personally. I got tired of him deleted our exchange and began moderating my comments to avoid future nonsensical and unproductive encounters.

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