It occurred to me that atheistic morality is the only true form of morality. It is derived from empathy and life experience instead of instructed to us via scripture and religious figureheads. While religious morality oftentimes is in line with atheistic morality, especially ones that follow "The Golden Rule", they are only moral because they come from empathy. Do Unto Others, because you know how it feels to be mistreated and wouldn't like it.
Unfortunately, that message gets lost among the religious text when other rules are made that explicitly go against The Golden Rule. Stoning a person seems like the opposite of doing unto others what you want done to you. Selling your daughter to the highest bidder, not something you would want to live through. Forcing her to marry her rapist, again, not very empathetic. The only way biblical morality would ever be actual morality would be if it started and ended with The Golden Rule.
Monday, July 11, 2016
Thursday, November 20, 2014
Knowing you.
You have told me, time and time again, that I don't know you and that I never did. Maybe that is true, but it's not for lack of trying. I did know you, I tried in every way to know you and to know who you are. Maybe you didn't know who you were, or you were figuring out who you were, and I never got the opportunity to figure it out with you. Maybe I knew who you were, and you have grown and changed, and I never got to know who you have become. It's not a bad thing; I'm not the girl I once was, I am the woman I have become. When I met you, I was this woman. You were young, going through so many hardships and changes, things that would change you into the person you are now, and likely will be a part of the person you are still becoming. Maybe the idea that I never knew you isn't an insult, it's a truth. It's a truth because I was never allowed the opportunity to know who you have become and are still becoming. It's hard to form a deep bond with someone who is still in the throes of growing up. It doesn't mean you were dishonest with me, just that you were confused and just trying to find out who you really are and who you want to be. They say age isn't anything but a number, and in ways it's true, but in many other ways it's a huge, glaring lie. One may experience more in their younger years than others will in their whole lives, but that doesn't mean they are done growing or changing earlier than another. We grow and change almost our whole lives. The biggest lie we can tell the world and tell ourselves is that we are set in our ways. We are stubborn, what we feel now is all we can truly see and sometimes we think it's all we will ever know or see. Some people grow together, others grow apart. It's part of life, it's natural, and it's wonderfully painful. When two people enjoy a time together of intense closeness and caring and it ends suddenly, it causes pain and confusion, but it shouldn't lesson the beauty of the time that was spent loving and enjoying each other. I guess what I'm saying is, I don't know you. I did know you, for a brief time, and I'm grateful for that. If I see you in the future and you aren't even a shadow of the person I once shared secrets and joys and sorrows with, it will make me sad that the person I knew no longer exists. But we all must deal with death, it's a part of life. Metaphorical or physical death, both are equally painful.
Friday, January 10, 2014
Love
What is love? (InB4 "Baby don't hurt me")
Love is a chemical reaction. Love is a drug. Love is a dangerous substance that should only be taken in small doses and only when absolutely necessary. I think Cersei Lannister was correct when she told Sansa Stark to only love her children. Love makes you weak, love gives you loyalties to others besides yourself, love makes you settle for less than you want and deserve, love is toxic.
Those first few days of falling in love give us a false notion that love is a good thing. How could anything so bad for you feel so good? Well ask any heroin addict and the picture may become clearer. The sad truth is we don't only fall in love with those who have our best interests in heart, those who who love us with the same intensity that we love them. A lot of the time we fall for someone who is incapable of that, and this will cause you nothing but pain. Loving a person who only loves themselves will kill you slowly, as you let who you are and what you need be replaced by their own selfish desires and needs. One by one, you will give up every hope you have so that they can live their lives how they see fit, because they will not make those changes for you. Don't become a victim of love.
Love is a chemical reaction. Love is a drug. Love is a dangerous substance that should only be taken in small doses and only when absolutely necessary. I think Cersei Lannister was correct when she told Sansa Stark to only love her children. Love makes you weak, love gives you loyalties to others besides yourself, love makes you settle for less than you want and deserve, love is toxic.
Those first few days of falling in love give us a false notion that love is a good thing. How could anything so bad for you feel so good? Well ask any heroin addict and the picture may become clearer. The sad truth is we don't only fall in love with those who have our best interests in heart, those who who love us with the same intensity that we love them. A lot of the time we fall for someone who is incapable of that, and this will cause you nothing but pain. Loving a person who only loves themselves will kill you slowly, as you let who you are and what you need be replaced by their own selfish desires and needs. One by one, you will give up every hope you have so that they can live their lives how they see fit, because they will not make those changes for you. Don't become a victim of love.
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Choosing to believe or not to believe
I've often been accused to choosing to not believe in gods or supernatural phenomena. My general response in a haughty tone is that my mind is NOT that shallow, and that I cannot force myself to believe or not believe in anything, that only the evidence will convince me. Do I stand by this? Maybe. I'm starting to question half of the statement more and more.
I absolutely feel that I cannot force myself to believe something. Whether or not this only applies to me or people like me is another question which I will not delve into at this time. I have been in enough situations in my life to realize that I truly cannot accept things on peoples words. Once upon a time I was quite gullible. Much embarrassment as a result of said gullibility has hardened me into a hardcore skeptic. This has produced both positive and negative results in my life. In one way I am a much more reasonable and rational person when it comes to matters that aren't close to my heart. In another way I am untrusting and tend to test people and things which are close to me. What is clear is that I don't believe things simply because I'd like for them to be true.
On the other hand, upon having a conversation with my best friend the other day, I began to question whether I may choose to NOT believe things. I certainly choose to not believe them until some sort of proof is furnished. Confused? Let me go into more detail.
Most people would consider proof seeing something with their own eyes. Often other atheists say "If God were to appear before me and prove he existed, then I would have no choice but to believe". Other more hardened skeptics, myself included, admit that if God were to appear before them that their first instinct would be that they were having some sort of mental break, a delusion, and would be to seek psychiatric help. By being this skeptical, by holding a preconceived notion that god is not real and cannot exist, am I not setting myself up to reject any evidence that may come my way? True, there are many things that can be proven with evidence that cannot be dreamed up or imagined, but what of the things that cannot? Afterlife, ghosts, deja vu, gods?
Once again my non-belief has led me to questions that I cannot answer, and causes more confusion than clarity when I seek to answer the questions.
I absolutely feel that I cannot force myself to believe something. Whether or not this only applies to me or people like me is another question which I will not delve into at this time. I have been in enough situations in my life to realize that I truly cannot accept things on peoples words. Once upon a time I was quite gullible. Much embarrassment as a result of said gullibility has hardened me into a hardcore skeptic. This has produced both positive and negative results in my life. In one way I am a much more reasonable and rational person when it comes to matters that aren't close to my heart. In another way I am untrusting and tend to test people and things which are close to me. What is clear is that I don't believe things simply because I'd like for them to be true.
On the other hand, upon having a conversation with my best friend the other day, I began to question whether I may choose to NOT believe things. I certainly choose to not believe them until some sort of proof is furnished. Confused? Let me go into more detail.
Most people would consider proof seeing something with their own eyes. Often other atheists say "If God were to appear before me and prove he existed, then I would have no choice but to believe". Other more hardened skeptics, myself included, admit that if God were to appear before them that their first instinct would be that they were having some sort of mental break, a delusion, and would be to seek psychiatric help. By being this skeptical, by holding a preconceived notion that god is not real and cannot exist, am I not setting myself up to reject any evidence that may come my way? True, there are many things that can be proven with evidence that cannot be dreamed up or imagined, but what of the things that cannot? Afterlife, ghosts, deja vu, gods?
Once again my non-belief has led me to questions that I cannot answer, and causes more confusion than clarity when I seek to answer the questions.
Friday, August 2, 2013
The internet and apathy.
After the rather wrenching realization that I was in fact an atheist and probably had always been, there were a few months of overwhelming anger. It sort of flowed in all directions at all the people that I felt had been pressing their faith onto me from all sides. Quite a bit of it also channeled inward, angry about all the times I felt I had to follow some sort of doctrine, all the times I had tried to convince myself that SOMETHING must be true. Quite a lot at the man who shared my bed for not sharing my new and clear world view. Family relationships became strained, friends disappeared or were cut out of my life. And the internet. Oh the internet. If you have some pent up frustration that needs to be spewed upon someone else, the internet is the place to go my friend.
From reddit to Topix I found numerous places to vent my frustration, to practice presenting the evidence I had so recently allowed myself to accept, and point out the absurdities that streamed from the tongue of any evangelical that dared to witness me. I also learned a lot, and my skepticism bloomed. No longer do I take a person's word at face value, not even a close friend's word. Now I want to pursue the matter further, find out the facts and statistics. Never again do I want to look a fool to anyone, especially to myself. The first year in particular I kept learning new things, especially in regards to Christianity as I picked up my copy of the bible and gave it new importance, maybe more importance than it possessed when I was trying to convince myself that there might be some truth to it. I read books and listened to audiobooks constantly. The next time someone presented a foolish argument, I would be armed.
The first several months of internet debating was fun. I'd often spend hours fighting with someone, learning to maintain my composure as they melted into a fit of rage induced by cognitive dissonance. I learned how to avoid the pitfalls of their logical fallacies, and to stay on point. I learned that I was never going to change their mind, but only hoped to compel another person reading the exchange and maybe plant the seed of doubt in that manner. I also learned what is now eating away at me. I learned that every religious person I will ever argue with will undoubtedly have the same set of bad arguments, and will continuously dismiss mine without the blink of an eye.
No matter how much evidence you give, how many sources you cite, no matter how logically and convincingly you present your facts and point of view, it will fall on deaf ears. It's enough to drive a sane woman crazy, and I was never that sane to begin with. Sure, there are still times I feel the fight in me, and I'll engage someone. Always there reaches a point, unfortunately, where I choose not to continue. I grow tired of presenting the same (though relevant and well thought) arguments only to have them dismissed with the wave of a hand and no second thought or even and attempt to understand them. So now when I run across and argument pertaining to religion or the lack of religion, I spend a few weary seconds considering whether to involve myself, and about 90% of the time I choose instead to metaphorically walk away. Even when boredom strikes and I do choose to get involved, I do so more to take cheap shots and toy with the unsuspecting mouse I've caught in the trap of sophisticated debate. I rarely present real evidence or even a compelling point of view. Why bother? They're never going to change and my arguments have begun to bore even me.
The internet is responsible for the rise in atheism, this I do not doubt. We have far too much access to education to continue to buy the bologna the religious community is selling us. Far too many resources for meeting other atheists. We have a community, we can belong and not be ostracized. However, the same internet that sealed my fate by convincing me of that which I knew all along is also creating the apathy towards spreading logic and reality that has a firm hold on myself and many others like me. What started as the makings of generation of educated and convincing role models has devolved into a generation of trolls. Will the numbers of "nons" continue to rise, or are we doomed to help push society back into the dark ages with our apathy?
From reddit to Topix I found numerous places to vent my frustration, to practice presenting the evidence I had so recently allowed myself to accept, and point out the absurdities that streamed from the tongue of any evangelical that dared to witness me. I also learned a lot, and my skepticism bloomed. No longer do I take a person's word at face value, not even a close friend's word. Now I want to pursue the matter further, find out the facts and statistics. Never again do I want to look a fool to anyone, especially to myself. The first year in particular I kept learning new things, especially in regards to Christianity as I picked up my copy of the bible and gave it new importance, maybe more importance than it possessed when I was trying to convince myself that there might be some truth to it. I read books and listened to audiobooks constantly. The next time someone presented a foolish argument, I would be armed.
The first several months of internet debating was fun. I'd often spend hours fighting with someone, learning to maintain my composure as they melted into a fit of rage induced by cognitive dissonance. I learned how to avoid the pitfalls of their logical fallacies, and to stay on point. I learned that I was never going to change their mind, but only hoped to compel another person reading the exchange and maybe plant the seed of doubt in that manner. I also learned what is now eating away at me. I learned that every religious person I will ever argue with will undoubtedly have the same set of bad arguments, and will continuously dismiss mine without the blink of an eye.
No matter how much evidence you give, how many sources you cite, no matter how logically and convincingly you present your facts and point of view, it will fall on deaf ears. It's enough to drive a sane woman crazy, and I was never that sane to begin with. Sure, there are still times I feel the fight in me, and I'll engage someone. Always there reaches a point, unfortunately, where I choose not to continue. I grow tired of presenting the same (though relevant and well thought) arguments only to have them dismissed with the wave of a hand and no second thought or even and attempt to understand them. So now when I run across and argument pertaining to religion or the lack of religion, I spend a few weary seconds considering whether to involve myself, and about 90% of the time I choose instead to metaphorically walk away. Even when boredom strikes and I do choose to get involved, I do so more to take cheap shots and toy with the unsuspecting mouse I've caught in the trap of sophisticated debate. I rarely present real evidence or even a compelling point of view. Why bother? They're never going to change and my arguments have begun to bore even me.
The internet is responsible for the rise in atheism, this I do not doubt. We have far too much access to education to continue to buy the bologna the religious community is selling us. Far too many resources for meeting other atheists. We have a community, we can belong and not be ostracized. However, the same internet that sealed my fate by convincing me of that which I knew all along is also creating the apathy towards spreading logic and reality that has a firm hold on myself and many others like me. What started as the makings of generation of educated and convincing role models has devolved into a generation of trolls. Will the numbers of "nons" continue to rise, or are we doomed to help push society back into the dark ages with our apathy?
Friday, March 30, 2012
Prayers, prayers everywhere (Warning: rant, contains the word "fuck" many times)
My family has a group on Facebook so we can communicate with each other about family affairs without playing a huge game of telephone. Lately it's being overrun by our more religious family members who can't seem to function regularly if they can't bring up god fifteen fucking times.
People ask for prayer for EVERYTHING. By the beard of Odin, fuck off! Today was a classic. There was a severe hailstorm and someone's windows were broken. Um, last time I checked prayer doesn't fix windows. Call a fucking window repairman you idiot. Is prayer necessary for everything you do in your life? "I'm gonna take a shit, please pray that I don't get hemorrhoids." I literally feel like that is a serious statement. It's not about actually wanting someone to pray for you, it's about being so fucking obsessed and addicted to religion that you cannot function if you aren't constantly bringing it up. It's about not having an identity that doesn't revolve around your faith. It's about having absolutely no sense of self, and filling your emptiness with god. It's about needing something to connect you to people because you are so boring and unpleasant that the only way people will tolerate you is if you guys worship the same figment and can sit around and fap together about how awesome it is.
People ask for prayer for EVERYTHING. By the beard of Odin, fuck off! Today was a classic. There was a severe hailstorm and someone's windows were broken. Um, last time I checked prayer doesn't fix windows. Call a fucking window repairman you idiot. Is prayer necessary for everything you do in your life? "I'm gonna take a shit, please pray that I don't get hemorrhoids." I literally feel like that is a serious statement. It's not about actually wanting someone to pray for you, it's about being so fucking obsessed and addicted to religion that you cannot function if you aren't constantly bringing it up. It's about not having an identity that doesn't revolve around your faith. It's about having absolutely no sense of self, and filling your emptiness with god. It's about needing something to connect you to people because you are so boring and unpleasant that the only way people will tolerate you is if you guys worship the same figment and can sit around and fap together about how awesome it is.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Science or a god?
One question I often am asked when people find out I'm not religious is how I can find any meaning in life. People like to tell me that a belief in a god gives them some sort of meaning, and a reason for living. I don't quite understand this statement. It seems to me that a belief like that would actually take the meaning right out of life. If we are just sport for some sort of deity and don't ultimately have control over our lives, if there's already a "plan" then what is our purpose?
I was watching the video of the high school student who has found a new, effective and unharmful way of treating cancer. It occurred to me that while I shout "Science!!! Fuck yeah!!" The religious person in the room would praise god and say how god is ultimately responsible for this by "blessing" the girl with the gift of scientific knowledge and intelligence. So let's get this straight: God made cancer. God then made the girl with the ability to cure it. So what exactly is the point of that? Busy work, at the cost of millions and millions of lives? That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Of course we're not supposed to "understand the plan" (copout) but if you really sit back and think about it, it's illogical. Unless humans are just a game, and god is just a big kid playing with an ant hill with a magnifying glass. I'll stick with the logical conclusion that there is no god, no plan, and we are just advancing and earning our lives through evolution.
I was watching the video of the high school student who has found a new, effective and unharmful way of treating cancer. It occurred to me that while I shout "Science!!! Fuck yeah!!" The religious person in the room would praise god and say how god is ultimately responsible for this by "blessing" the girl with the gift of scientific knowledge and intelligence. So let's get this straight: God made cancer. God then made the girl with the ability to cure it. So what exactly is the point of that? Busy work, at the cost of millions and millions of lives? That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Of course we're not supposed to "understand the plan" (copout) but if you really sit back and think about it, it's illogical. Unless humans are just a game, and god is just a big kid playing with an ant hill with a magnifying glass. I'll stick with the logical conclusion that there is no god, no plan, and we are just advancing and earning our lives through evolution.
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