AN ATHEIST'S RELIGION, AN ATHEIST'S BELIEFS

If you're one of those people who just don't, won't or can't 'get' that atheism is NOT a religion and that atheists DON'T have a set of beliefs, instead of calling you an idiot, I'll play the game your way for a few minutes.

I've just made myself the founding member and the chief primate of The Church of the Rational Human. And I've written my church's creed. It's only in draft form at the moment and I may -- or may not -- be motivated to give it more thought and polish it a bit. But, dear misguided reader, this has been written just for YOU, so I do hope you get some satisfaction from it.

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THE FIRST ATHEIST CREED OF THE CHURCH OF THE RATIONAL HUMAN

I believe that we do not live before we are born and that we shall not live after we die.

I believe humans have no free will but that not everyone has the courage or the intelligence to face life with that knowledge; there may be some things it is better for some people to not know.

I believe all religions evolved out of fear and human need to control the conditions of their own and others’ lives.

I believe that this is a pitiless universe and that only those who remain ignorant of suffering, or for whom the knowledge of suffering is unbearable, can imagine it to be the work of a loving creator.

I believe that in a just world every human could and would be born equal and with equal rights to a happy life.

I believe this is an unjust world where those who think themselves superior by virtue of their wealth, status, nationality, religion, politics, gender and colour believe they have the right and the duty to limit the freedoms and rights of others even to the point of death.

I believe theologists and religious apologists are locked into an increasingly desperate attempt to validate their views against humans’ increasing store of knowledge and rationality.

I believe that terrorism is a broad church, that fundamentalists of all stripes present a clear and present danger to human happiness and survival and that education based on rational and scientific principles remains the greatest hope for the future of the world.

I believe all belief in the mystical and supernatural is mere superstition; this includes (but is by no means limited to):

Karma, reincarnation, homeopathy, crystal healing, reiki, auras, souls, spirits, ghosts, angels, sprites, leprechauns, fairies, tarot cards, fortune telling, horoscopes and astrology, crystal balls, prayer, miracles, faith healing, aromatherapy, chakras, feng shui, palmistry, phrenology, voodoo.

 

ACTUALLY, YOU COULDN'T

Imagine you're speaking to a close friend.
Imagine that friend is a lovely person who has a very large (and possibly unattractive) nose.
You need to tread carefully when you mention the nose.

You might say to your friend, "You're a sweetheart; I don't care if your nose is rather large."
Another way of saying the same thing: "You're a sweetheart; I couldn't care less if your nose is rather large."

Whatever you do, DON'T say, ""You're a sweetheart; I could care less if your nose is rather large." because you're telling your friend that it is actually possible for you to care less about the nose -- and if you could, perhaps you should!

I don't know why Americans insist on getting this WRONG. Dear USA, please stop it!

www.urbandictionary.com

David Mitchell's 'Dear America ... '

YOU CAN'T BE MORAL WITHOUT GOD

I'm not going to re-invent the wheel.

It's been said so much better than I can say it ...

No morality without God ...

RELIGION -V- SCIENCE

What exactly was it that brought you to this page of this blog?
A bit of curiousity maybe ... but the instrument that brought you here was a computer of some kind.
And the computer is powered by electricity.
And you may be sitting on a chair, at a desk.
You may even have a light on - powered by electricity.
You probably have a phone.
You probably own books.
You may own a car.
Or a bicycle.

Now ... unless you're a hermit living in a cave, you use science.
Don't you dare tell me that science gets things wrong while you continue to benefit from and use all that scientifically-discovered technology!


And don't tell me that your religion is flawless because other posts on this page show how deeply flawed it is.



Science flies us to the moon.
Religion flies planes into buildings.

ATHEISTS SERVE SATAN

This is one of the silliest things believers say.

And that's saying a lot because they do say rather a lot of silly things.

God is supposed to have created Satan [who, we're told, was one of the goodies before he 'fell' and became a baddie].

So if I don't believe god exists, how could I possibly believe Satan exists?

And if I don't believe Satan exists it's impossible for me to 'serve' him.

Got it?

Good.

Goodbye.

Haven't got it?

I don't care.

Your problem.

Goodbye.

PERFECT BEING. PERFECT KNOWLEDGE.

So, let me see if I've got this right:

Your god is a perfect being. He must be because he couldn't possible be worthy of being called god if he (or she) wasn't.


A perfect being cannot have imperfect knowledge.

Perfect knowledge means knowing everything that has happened, is happening now, and will happen in the future.

It thus means knowing who will be born and what the whole of their life will be like, including whether or not they will accept
(a) the existence of god
(b) the sacrifice of god's son for the redemption of their sins

So it's inevitable - given god's perfect knowledge - that millions of humans will be destined for eternal damnation BEFORE the moment of their conception because
(a) they were born in a country where the culture subscribes to the existence of a different (wrong) god
(b) they were born in a country that has a difference (wrong) religion
(c) they were intellectually disabled and could not understand the concept of god
(d) they were died before jesus was born and so never knew they were supposed to accept him as their saviour
(e) they want hard evidence before believing
or any other circumstances beyond their control.

That sounds like a pretty crap system to me.


 

GOD IS REAL!

Anyone who wants to be taken seriously in their claim that their god is real must be prepared to provide evidence to support their claim.

If I say that I believe in 'Russell's Teapot" - a teapot said to be orbiting the Sun somewhere in space between the Earth and Mars [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell%27s_teapot  - the burden of proof lies with me. I must provide evidence for the existence of this (very unlikely) object. If I can't, you are entitled to suspect I am deluded in my belief.

he same applies to those who claim any god exists. The burden is proof is with you and not with the people who have doubts about your claim.

Citing any book, including the bible, without any further evidence is insufficient evidence.

The argument that 

(a) god must exist because the bible says so and
(b) the bible must be accurate and true because it is god's word

is both weak and indefensible.

If I write a book that says that a colony of pink unicorns exists in the centre of Australia's Simpson Desert and I want people to believe me, I'd better have more proof than just my book and better evidence of my infallibility on the subject than merely claiming that I don't tell lies and I don't make mistakes.

The bible is demonstrably full of contradictions, scientific and historical errors. I'm not going to spoonfeed you by pointing you to websites that demonstrate this, EXCEPT for his one (because it's based on fact and it's fun): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RB3g6mXLEKk