Atheism Is Not A Religion
Ok, this article or whatever does not aim to prove or disprove God in any way shape or form. While I consider myself a Christian, I am not an intolerant asshole when it comes to differing viewpoints on the existence or nonexistence of God. As Steve will tell you I’m pretty open to the differing views of people who don’t agree with me because I think it’s very interesting to see how others perceive the world around them and, in turn, have mostly intellectual discussions based on those perceptions. I know that by now you are probably wondering where I’m going with all of this, so…
I have a buddy at work who is an atheist. Normally I have no problems with people who don’t believe in God or gods, but this guy is just as bad as the “religious fanatics” he claims to despise.
He hates people who shove religion down his throat, but when confronted with someone who is even a little bit religious (i.e., me), he waves atheism around like a flag that, to him, makes him better than anyone who actually believes life isn’t some form of random chance, mainly through childish name calling, not with any actual reasoning. I mean I know you can’t “prove” religion, but you know what? You can’t prove evolution either. No one has ever seen something change into something else (on the level set forth by Darwin) just as no one has ever seen something created from nothing.
He harbors fierce intolerance to people with theistic views and then says he hates Christians for not being tolerant to his views. He acts like that because he doesn’t believe in anything religious, the whole world hates him for it and is ridiculing him behind his back when in reality no one gives a fuck; least of all me.
This dude hates religion so much that he wrote down ‘Atheist’ when asked for his religious preference for his dog tags. His rational was that if he wrote ‘No Religious Preference’ down, the military would just arbitrarily choose a religion for him if he died while on active duty instead of giving him a secular burial. I really think it’s humorous because Atheism is not a religion…it’s a lack of. It means the same thing as No Religious Preference. I don’t have a problem with putting Atheist on his dog tags; I just think his reason for doing it was pretty over the top.
I could go on for days about this, but I won’t.
This dude is just a typical left-winged asshole who preaches tolerance and all that shit until the thing he has to be tolerant of goes against his views. Tolerance doesn’t apply to the left, just to everyone else.
I guess the biggest problem I have with him is the fact that the guy couldn’t have an intellectual conversation about religion (or anything else that opposes his views for that matter) to save his life. He doesn’t present any arguments as to why he believes what he does except that to believe in a higher power is stupid. That’s his whole argument. Wow; fucking life shattering stuff there.
I don’t give two shits about someone’s religion or lack thereof, but you should at least have the fucking brains to know why you believe the things you do; get a fucking clue for God’s sake. Think for yourself. I know that there are a lot of people that use that phrase to ‘tactfully’ tell you they think you’re a dumb ass, but I mean it…even if that means not finding a religion. Don’t swallow what your college professor says to you without reading up on it first. Hell, while you’re at it don’t believe everything that comes out of a pastor’s mouth either. Both are just people. No different than you or me. I guess what I’m trying to say is that you shouldn’t take someone’s word on anything just because they hold some kind of position of power over you. Don’t let others decide what you believe in. THINK FOR YOUR SELF. At the end of the day, I guess I’ll always have Pascal’s Wager going in my favor…not that I think I’ll need it.
14 Responses to “Atheism Is Not A Religion”
By Jules on Jun 27, 2009 | Reply
I actually started watching reliouglous, or how ever its spelled, even though he is a douchebag he makes some good points. I like you have my set views but am open to anyone bringing forth “evidence” to be proved wrong. I welcome it actually. Do I believe in God… yes but the whole organized religion has left a stain on me that I will never quiet rub off.
By Jules on Jun 27, 2009 | Reply
I hate how some Christians like to put their own stuff in the bible that is not even there… And we have lived our lives thinking that God wants us to act a certain way or do a certain thing and its not even in the bible…
By Chris (MSF Admin) on Jun 27, 2009 | Reply
I’m kinda weird about it. I think if you say you are a Christian you should take the Bible at face value…it’s not something that can be ‘interpreted’. I guess you could say I’m a non-practicing Christian.
By Steve (MSF Admin) on Jun 27, 2009 | Reply
Really Chris? When you say “face value,” I assume you mean that all the stories in the Bible are factual. You don’t strike me as the type of dude to REALLY believe that Noah lived to be 900 years old and put two of every animal, including the thousands of species of insects, on a boat and repopulated Earth. Not saying its wrong to believe that, just would not have thought you would take all the stories in the Bible at face value.
By Steve (MSF Admin) on Jun 27, 2009 | Reply
…and Jules, Religulous is a great documentary that everyone should see and I respect the hell out of the fact that you as a believer watched it. So many people ran away from that movie because they were afraid of what they might here. I was so stoked when I heard he was making the documentary and when I finally saw it I was blown away. That’s awesome that you are open-minded enough to watch something like that…The world needs more of you.
By Chris (MSF Admin) on Jun 27, 2009 | Reply
well read my post again…non-practicing Christian (which is probably the wrong choice of words)…meaning that while i believe in the God of that very Bible, I do not subscribe to everything written therein…but if you go so far as to become a minister or some shit like that, then yes, I think you need to truly believe every single word in that book…how else then could you going to teach it correctly?
By Jules on Jun 28, 2009 | Reply
Steve.. Yes despite being Chris’ sister I do try to keep an open mind lol… It brings me back to HIgh School when sat behind a Johavahs Witness AND a Mormon and asked them to please change my mind about their religion being a cult… They never did so my opinion stays. But while yes I do believe in God I welcome any and all intellectual arguments that I might be wrong! If you never open up to outside opinion you never really learn anything.
By Chris (MSF Admin) on Jun 28, 2009 | Reply
That’s probably the single most intelligent thing to have ever come out of your finger tips, or your mouth for that matter, ever…
By Jules on Jun 28, 2009 | Reply
I do have my moments you know…
By Chris (MSF Admin) on Jun 28, 2009 | Reply
Just saw the movie you mentioned…not bad I guess…But he did pick seemingly the biggest retards to interview about what they believe.
By Chris (MSF Admin) on Jun 28, 2009 | Reply
lol
By brodie on Aug 5, 2009 | Reply
I don’t think you ever listened to the reasoned arguments this person proposed to you. How about how the bible and all of it’s bronze age rules? Let’s take a look: “When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do.” -Exodus 21:7-8. So its cool to sell your daughter, and unlike selling your son, she doesn’t get to go free, ever. On the other hand, some of them are great rules. Let’s take “thou shalt not kill”. Why do you need the fear of eternal damnation to to not kill someone? Why are so easily convinced by some camel-herders 2000 years ago saying how old the earth is, but when someone puts forth the best explanation so far for life as we know it, you say it can’t be proven because it takes so much time to occur. I guess just could never accept willful ignorance over human curiosity. Religion is a something human’s needed to define their world 1000 years ago. Religion is, as it should be, dying out. Their are more atheist’s than you think. It’s just that most of them fear the label placed on them because atheist’s are the least trusted minority in America. http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=1786422&page=1
By Jules on Aug 12, 2009 | Reply
I dont think Chris is at all fooled about how many atheists there are in America. And I dont think they are the least trusted. Many our laws now and judicial decidings are now made to please atheists.I dont see too many laws now being enacted to bring God into the fore front of the American way.
By Chris (MSF Admin) on Aug 25, 2009 | Reply
@brodie
Correct, Sir, slavery is stupid, but consider the times as you have so pointed out. Almost every flourishing civilization kept slaves to do their bidding in those days and there were rules governing and Exodus 21 is a great example of that.
I don’t agree with slavery and am glad most of the world doesn’t either. Then again, back then the word ‘slave’ was an ambiguous term. It could have and probably did refer to (at least in this case) indentured apprenticeship or service and not the bondage that slavery means today. The people the passage was ‘said’ to were the Israelites, or Hebrews in a broader sense, who had themselves just got out of being slaves to Egypt. You know, the slaves that built some of the great Egyptian monuments and died by the thousands doing it?
I just find it hard to swallow that the slaves they were referring to were actually slaves in the way we think today, considering the hundreds of years they were put through the same thing.
Then again, I could be wrong. That’s just the impression I get with the bit of research I did on it before posting this comment.
Anyways, I know I’m not actually answering the comment. To put it plainly, most of the people who I talk to about this don’t know their ass from their elbow with very few exceptions and I was commenting on one particular one.
I do believe that religion does blind people to reality, but I am not one of those people. I am all for scientific progression and reasoning and the like and am curious to what science will tell us about the history of the world in my life time. If it turns out that I have erred in my way of thinking, I will revise it, but until then it seems that there are generally only two ways to look at the birth of our world and that’s religion and science and I don’t think the science behind it is, at this time, complete enough for me to believe it. Until then, I’m satisfied with the intelligent designer (basically God without the religion) theory.
Even though religion has it’s flaws, and it has a lot, one thing can be certain…It can give someone the courage to keep on trucking because they believe their life has a purpose beyond living and dying even when faced with the seemingly impossible. Can evolution do that? No, Sir, it cannot.
And one more thing…as far as atheist are concerned who the fuck cares and who the fuck should care what you do or don’t believe in. It’s your choice, your freedom.