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.
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
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.
Friday, March 2, 2012
The Self-Centeredness of Christianity
Think about it... What is more conceited than having this imaginary being that you've built up in your own head to be the be-all-end-all of perfectness? The creator of all things? The person who determines whether good or bad will come your way? That will decide who is "righteous" and better than everyone else? That grants eternal happiness in the place of eternal damnation? Then to pretend that every time good luck comes your way it's because YOU are so amazing and awesome that he must favor you in some way and gave you special treatment? My, how very VAIN of you.
"I passed my driver's test, praise the Lord!!"
Fuck off.
Even if there were a god, and he did meddle in human affairs, what makes you think you are so special? Why should he have "blessed" you with such a minor thing while allowing thousands of African children to starve every day?
The other facet of this total escape from reality comes in the form of badgering others for not being as "godly" as you are. Yep, you get to sit there in all your self righteous glory and point fingers at those that don't measure up to you in your head. Gay? You're going to hell, fag, accept Jesus or suffer. You're not part of my club. I'm better than you. It somewhat reminds me of cliques in high school who think they hold some power. And in a sad way they do. I always thought to myself that they weren't REALLY popular, just liked by the other people who they deemed good enough to fit into their club. If all the people who they treated poorly and who actually despised them stood up and treated them with the same disdain that they showed everyone else, they could easily make their life a living hell. I feel the same way about Christians in America.
There is no doubt that there are more Christians than non Christians in America. I do argue that many of those so called Christians aren't actually Christians and are probably deists or pantheists or some other type of person who believes in a god but not the dogma associated with the church. They are just ignorant to what those other belief systems are, and since Christianity is so in-your-face they equate a belief in god to Christianity and identify themselves as so. They don't practice the lifestyle. They haven't read the bible. They just do what is easiest because it's so accepted and revered here, and all their friends are doing it. You see, it's not TRUE belief that matters. It's NUMBERS. When they have the numbers they can control what our nation does and teaches, and before long they will have enough kids indoctrinated into true believers that it won't matter.
I would wager that if a large number of those people really invested themselves into some introspection and studying on the subject, they would quickly become agnostic if not full on atheist/antitheist. The trick is avoiding that knee-jerk reaction you get when you outright attack something they identify with. You'll notice, when you meet someone who isn't even a devout theist, they just have a vague idea of a creator, as soon as you suggest maybe they're wrong it gets personal. ESPECIALLY if they are ignorant to science and well established theories on where we come from. Education is the key. And making it clear that you aren't a better person and more important just for believing in something with no evidence to support it. We must instead teach them that being a skeptic, that demanding proof and forming your own ideas, that learning and questioning everything is the real virtue.
Faith is nothing but arrogant ignorance and gullibility in a fancy suit.
I realize this is going to evoke an automatic reaction of "I'm not like that! I don't think that way!" I don't want to hear it. The fact is that if you have prayed for any special treatment, or thought you have been blessed in any way, this completely applies to you. I have great things happen all the time. Good things happen, bad things happen. It's not a god. It's not karma. It's life, and the way we see things.
"I passed my driver's test, praise the Lord!!"
Fuck off.
Even if there were a god, and he did meddle in human affairs, what makes you think you are so special? Why should he have "blessed" you with such a minor thing while allowing thousands of African children to starve every day?
The other facet of this total escape from reality comes in the form of badgering others for not being as "godly" as you are. Yep, you get to sit there in all your self righteous glory and point fingers at those that don't measure up to you in your head. Gay? You're going to hell, fag, accept Jesus or suffer. You're not part of my club. I'm better than you. It somewhat reminds me of cliques in high school who think they hold some power. And in a sad way they do. I always thought to myself that they weren't REALLY popular, just liked by the other people who they deemed good enough to fit into their club. If all the people who they treated poorly and who actually despised them stood up and treated them with the same disdain that they showed everyone else, they could easily make their life a living hell. I feel the same way about Christians in America.
There is no doubt that there are more Christians than non Christians in America. I do argue that many of those so called Christians aren't actually Christians and are probably deists or pantheists or some other type of person who believes in a god but not the dogma associated with the church. They are just ignorant to what those other belief systems are, and since Christianity is so in-your-face they equate a belief in god to Christianity and identify themselves as so. They don't practice the lifestyle. They haven't read the bible. They just do what is easiest because it's so accepted and revered here, and all their friends are doing it. You see, it's not TRUE belief that matters. It's NUMBERS. When they have the numbers they can control what our nation does and teaches, and before long they will have enough kids indoctrinated into true believers that it won't matter.
I would wager that if a large number of those people really invested themselves into some introspection and studying on the subject, they would quickly become agnostic if not full on atheist/antitheist. The trick is avoiding that knee-jerk reaction you get when you outright attack something they identify with. You'll notice, when you meet someone who isn't even a devout theist, they just have a vague idea of a creator, as soon as you suggest maybe they're wrong it gets personal. ESPECIALLY if they are ignorant to science and well established theories on where we come from. Education is the key. And making it clear that you aren't a better person and more important just for believing in something with no evidence to support it. We must instead teach them that being a skeptic, that demanding proof and forming your own ideas, that learning and questioning everything is the real virtue.
Faith is nothing but arrogant ignorance and gullibility in a fancy suit.
I realize this is going to evoke an automatic reaction of "I'm not like that! I don't think that way!" I don't want to hear it. The fact is that if you have prayed for any special treatment, or thought you have been blessed in any way, this completely applies to you. I have great things happen all the time. Good things happen, bad things happen. It's not a god. It's not karma. It's life, and the way we see things.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Give up the word games, Christians.
Okay, if you are a functioning member of society and engage in any online networking, chances are you've already seen this.
What a crock of shit. I'm so tired of people using this "Christianity isn't a religion, it's a personal relationship with God!!" Bullshit. This type of new age Christianity is nothing more than a movement of lazy people who don't want to adhere to the rules and regulations of their organized religion, and an easy way to be a lazy Christian. Don't want to take the time to go to church or read the bible? Just claim you have a personal relationship with god! Want to throw out the judgments without having to adhere to them? Just have a personal relationship with god!
It really kills me. These are the people who rear up when you tell them what hypocrites they are, and point out all their sin and say it doesn't matter because Jesus died on the cross so it's all forgiven as long as you believe in him and accept him as your savior. Then, when someone is convicted of a murder they sit back and make sanctimonious judgments about how they are going to burn in hell. Really? Not according to the rules you've made for yourself. Fuck, according to your rules, Hitler, a Roman Catholic, is sitting in heaven right now. But when you point out this fallacy suddenly they flip it, and you have to believe but you ALSO have to be a good person. So let me get this straight. You don't have to go to church even though the bible says you do. You don't have to tithe even though the bible says you do. You don't have to follow all those rules at all. You simply have to believe, and be a good person based on the moral rules that YOU make up in your own head. So what's the point of the bible again? When did god suddenly change his mind and decide that you were good enough to decide what was sin and what wasn't? I must have missed that part.
It's the evolution of faith baby. What started with cherry picking bible verses to fit their personal wants and hatreds and now evolved into making up your own rules, the only rule from the actual text, the RULE BOOK of your faith, is now simply believing.
Oh, and the part about being gay. Because every good buddy of Jesus knows the fags are going to burn.
Fuck off Christians.
What a crock of shit. I'm so tired of people using this "Christianity isn't a religion, it's a personal relationship with God!!" Bullshit. This type of new age Christianity is nothing more than a movement of lazy people who don't want to adhere to the rules and regulations of their organized religion, and an easy way to be a lazy Christian. Don't want to take the time to go to church or read the bible? Just claim you have a personal relationship with god! Want to throw out the judgments without having to adhere to them? Just have a personal relationship with god!
It really kills me. These are the people who rear up when you tell them what hypocrites they are, and point out all their sin and say it doesn't matter because Jesus died on the cross so it's all forgiven as long as you believe in him and accept him as your savior. Then, when someone is convicted of a murder they sit back and make sanctimonious judgments about how they are going to burn in hell. Really? Not according to the rules you've made for yourself. Fuck, according to your rules, Hitler, a Roman Catholic, is sitting in heaven right now. But when you point out this fallacy suddenly they flip it, and you have to believe but you ALSO have to be a good person. So let me get this straight. You don't have to go to church even though the bible says you do. You don't have to tithe even though the bible says you do. You don't have to follow all those rules at all. You simply have to believe, and be a good person based on the moral rules that YOU make up in your own head. So what's the point of the bible again? When did god suddenly change his mind and decide that you were good enough to decide what was sin and what wasn't? I must have missed that part.
It's the evolution of faith baby. What started with cherry picking bible verses to fit their personal wants and hatreds and now evolved into making up your own rules, the only rule from the actual text, the RULE BOOK of your faith, is now simply believing.
Oh, and the part about being gay. Because every good buddy of Jesus knows the fags are going to burn.
Fuck off Christians.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
But it's not the same rape!
Arguing with theists on Instagram has become more of a passtime than I would like. I have my normal IG account, then I have my troll account. Today I was posting screenshots from EvilBible about rape. I love getting bitches going about rape in the bible. It's there. It's fun because you can post quotes directly from the bible and watch them rage.
So I was posting the normal stuff, scriptures encourage the ravishing of women who were spared in the mass murder of people who oppose god, the rules on marrying your rapist after he pays your dad fifty bucks, and sex slaves, etc. I get a lot of angry reactions to these quotes. Mostly prayer threats. Today was interesting however. I had two girls telling me that the rape mentioned in this particular quote (Deuteronomy 22:23-24) and was told "It's not the same as rape now". She went on to tell me that it was speaking of the coming of Christ and that the armies would gather to attack enemies of Jerusalem and the men would be killed and the women raped. AND??
This was the facepalmiest moment I've ever had with a Christer. She literally apologizes for and rationalizes anything that is okay in the bible. Even rape. How scary is that? I promptly let her know that I expect that same rationalization if in the end we find out that the Muslims have it right and she's about to be gang raped by some magnificent army of Islam.
I went fishing by asking for bible quotes that either say slavery is wrong and immoral, or that women are equals (since the OT and NT seem to carry an equally disgusting view of women as property). All I got in return were cries of "You're wrong! It says in the bible over and over again that god loves me!". I asked again: "Please provide scripture that shows that women are to be treated as equals and are NOT to be sold by their fathers and used as sex slaves." "You're wrong! Stop talking to me you're getting on my nerves!" (All this on MY post to be clear.
Good times. jesus_ponies
So I was posting the normal stuff, scriptures encourage the ravishing of women who were spared in the mass murder of people who oppose god, the rules on marrying your rapist after he pays your dad fifty bucks, and sex slaves, etc. I get a lot of angry reactions to these quotes. Mostly prayer threats. Today was interesting however. I had two girls telling me that the rape mentioned in this particular quote (Deuteronomy 22:23-24) and was told "It's not the same as rape now". She went on to tell me that it was speaking of the coming of Christ and that the armies would gather to attack enemies of Jerusalem and the men would be killed and the women raped. AND??
This was the facepalmiest moment I've ever had with a Christer. She literally apologizes for and rationalizes anything that is okay in the bible. Even rape. How scary is that? I promptly let her know that I expect that same rationalization if in the end we find out that the Muslims have it right and she's about to be gang raped by some magnificent army of Islam.
I went fishing by asking for bible quotes that either say slavery is wrong and immoral, or that women are equals (since the OT and NT seem to carry an equally disgusting view of women as property). All I got in return were cries of "You're wrong! It says in the bible over and over again that god loves me!". I asked again: "Please provide scripture that shows that women are to be treated as equals and are NOT to be sold by their fathers and used as sex slaves." "You're wrong! Stop talking to me you're getting on my nerves!" (All this on MY post to be clear.
Good times. jesus_ponies
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