Fifty seven years of atheism
By Bob Patterson
I'm frequently asked why I pursue promoting atheism. I'm told that atheism is a negative and wouldn't it be better to promote something positive?
Au contraire! Atheism is a very necessary and positive force in opposition to irrational superstition.
Let me elaborate.
The world is a finite place. The "blue ball" is only 7918 miles in diameter. The world population is over 6.6 BILLION people (6,600,000,000). The earth is said to be about 4.5 billion years old. Man, as we know him, may go back at least a million years from our chimp ancestors, but has only matured to technology in a mere smattering of years in geological terms. The technical achievements of man is staggering, in such a short time. I remember the first 4-bit memory chip in the 60's; it could count to ten! I was impressed! From the time of the Wright Brothers' first flight (1903) until we put man on the moon (1969) was a mere 66 years! Man did the work and man alone deserves the credit.
As an atheist, I see religious belief as nothing more than superstition perpetuated by those who are monetarily rewarded and assisted by those either looking for a reward or avoiding a hideous punishment. Atheism is simply a lack of belief that a god exists. Atheism is NOT a belief system or a religion. There is no way to logically prove that something doesn't exist. One would have to explore the entire universe to say something did not exist. As an open-minded freethinker (I hope I am) I would once more become a 'believer' if the following questions were to be answered and verified. I will NOT acknowledge 'faith' as evidence of anything except self-induced delusion. Neither will I accept unverifiable stories about magic or miracles as evidence.
There are about 2500 recent gods and more than 10,000 ancient gods; How do I know your god is the real god? After all, other religions claim that their god is the real god.
Where is God? Define God? If God is real he should be able to be defined. The earth is an infinitesimally small object in a vast universe. Isn't that an unnecessary waste of space if humans exist as pawns to entertain this emotionally unstable deity who drowns and murders those who fail to satisfy his need for praise and recognition?
What kind of intelligence does God have? If God is real, he must have mass or matter to have intelligence. I cannot conceive of intelligence in the vacuum of space.
What does it take to communicate with the big guy? I have talked and listened (but not since 1951) and have never gotten a response. I submit those who claim to hear from God would do well to schedule some couch time with Dr. Phil.
Many claims are made on the big guy's behalf, yet war, disease and much suffering still persists. What about birth defects? How long are we supposed to wait before he does something?
Is there any difference between a god who can cure disease, but doesn't and one who claims to but cannot?
Is there really any difference between your god and the Wizard of Oz?
Is it as embarrassing for you, as it was for me to be asked to pray in public?
Isn't it confining to be taught that these kind of questions are 'off limits'? I submit that no question is off limits.
Isn't it true that your god has no more basis in fact than Santa Claus, the tooth fairy or harry Potter?
Isn't it as embarrassing for you, as it was for me, to have to admit to believing this 'stuff'?
Isn't the fact the Catholic church has paid out BILLION's of dollars in pedophilia cases convincing enough to think if a god was involved, he'd have intervened by now?
The basis for all religious dogma is faith, not facts, which is why every religion is different. Shouldn't that make one skeptical?
Most every crooked scam in the world is a confidence game based on the victim having 'faith' in the scam artist. How is religion any different from this?
Man is the only animal with an imagination that allows him to create religions and gods.
All religions are NOT alike, some are much worse than others.
Christianity is a 'designer' religion by Constantine and was forced on the world through the Roman occupation. When Christianity flourished in Europe, the period was called "The Dark Ages."
Man is (or should be) his own complete self. The desire for an invisible sky daddy is an admission of immaturity. Having a god may also be a means of not having to accept full responsibility for one's self.
The credit for man's great achievements should belong to man alone. Religion's desire to remain in the dark ages is only beneficial to the gurus who benefit from it. Humanity should free itself from religious superstition. It cannot do that if good men refuse to speak. I know too many 'closet atheists' who are afraid to admit it.
That great Statesman and orator, Jesse Ventura once said: Religion is a crutch for those too lazy to think for themselves". Only George Carlin could top that!
I'm frequently asked why I pursue promoting atheism. I'm told that atheism is a negative and wouldn't it be better to promote something positive?
Au contraire! Atheism is a very necessary and positive force in opposition to irrational superstition.
Let me elaborate.
The world is a finite place. The "blue ball" is only 7918 miles in diameter. The world population is over 6.6 BILLION people (6,600,000,000). The earth is said to be about 4.5 billion years old. Man, as we know him, may go back at least a million years from our chimp ancestors, but has only matured to technology in a mere smattering of years in geological terms. The technical achievements of man is staggering, in such a short time. I remember the first 4-bit memory chip in the 60's; it could count to ten! I was impressed! From the time of the Wright Brothers' first flight (1903) until we put man on the moon (1969) was a mere 66 years! Man did the work and man alone deserves the credit.
As an atheist, I see religious belief as nothing more than superstition perpetuated by those who are monetarily rewarded and assisted by those either looking for a reward or avoiding a hideous punishment. Atheism is simply a lack of belief that a god exists. Atheism is NOT a belief system or a religion. There is no way to logically prove that something doesn't exist. One would have to explore the entire universe to say something did not exist. As an open-minded freethinker (I hope I am) I would once more become a 'believer' if the following questions were to be answered and verified. I will NOT acknowledge 'faith' as evidence of anything except self-induced delusion. Neither will I accept unverifiable stories about magic or miracles as evidence.
There are about 2500 recent gods and more than 10,000 ancient gods; How do I know your god is the real god? After all, other religions claim that their god is the real god.
Where is God? Define God? If God is real he should be able to be defined. The earth is an infinitesimally small object in a vast universe. Isn't that an unnecessary waste of space if humans exist as pawns to entertain this emotionally unstable deity who drowns and murders those who fail to satisfy his need for praise and recognition?
What kind of intelligence does God have? If God is real, he must have mass or matter to have intelligence. I cannot conceive of intelligence in the vacuum of space.
What does it take to communicate with the big guy? I have talked and listened (but not since 1951) and have never gotten a response. I submit those who claim to hear from God would do well to schedule some couch time with Dr. Phil.
Many claims are made on the big guy's behalf, yet war, disease and much suffering still persists. What about birth defects? How long are we supposed to wait before he does something?
Is there any difference between a god who can cure disease, but doesn't and one who claims to but cannot?
Is there really any difference between your god and the Wizard of Oz?
Is it as embarrassing for you, as it was for me to be asked to pray in public?
Isn't it confining to be taught that these kind of questions are 'off limits'? I submit that no question is off limits.
Isn't it true that your god has no more basis in fact than Santa Claus, the tooth fairy or harry Potter?
Isn't it as embarrassing for you, as it was for me, to have to admit to believing this 'stuff'?
Isn't the fact the Catholic church has paid out BILLION's of dollars in pedophilia cases convincing enough to think if a god was involved, he'd have intervened by now?
The basis for all religious dogma is faith, not facts, which is why every religion is different. Shouldn't that make one skeptical?
Most every crooked scam in the world is a confidence game based on the victim having 'faith' in the scam artist. How is religion any different from this?
Man is the only animal with an imagination that allows him to create religions and gods.
All religions are NOT alike, some are much worse than others.
Christianity is a 'designer' religion by Constantine and was forced on the world through the Roman occupation. When Christianity flourished in Europe, the period was called "The Dark Ages."
Man is (or should be) his own complete self. The desire for an invisible sky daddy is an admission of immaturity. Having a god may also be a means of not having to accept full responsibility for one's self.
The credit for man's great achievements should belong to man alone. Religion's desire to remain in the dark ages is only beneficial to the gurus who benefit from it. Humanity should free itself from religious superstition. It cannot do that if good men refuse to speak. I know too many 'closet atheists' who are afraid to admit it.
That great Statesman and orator, Jesse Ventura once said: Religion is a crutch for those too lazy to think for themselves". Only George Carlin could top that!
Comments
SKEP
Prostitution may be the world's oldest profession, but religion is probably the world's oldest con game!
An excellent post.
Logical and concise.
A good source of reference I can look forward to using in discussions about God.
AH....You are correct, In my haste I mistated our ancesteral past. Apologies to the chimps, too.
Your student,
Mary
Count me among your admirers.
Jim Earl
Please let me know.
That is a great summary.
I really like this one:
Bob: "Most every crooked scam in the world is a confidence game based on the victim having
'faith' in the scam artist. How is religion any different from this?"
Thank you for that gem.
Every person should seriously be asking difficult questions like those you listed, instead of having blind obedience to any
book that promotes the worship
of invisible beings and living according to a collection of ancient superstitions.
Believers are told to disregard key facts about life in favor of fantasies of faith. Relevant information is constantly being suppressed and re-written to fit their collective mold. Cult members are forbidden to accept particular pieces of knowledge simply because it directly challenges the churches power and authority. These acts alone should alert them to be suspicious and cause the followers to question WHAT is the church so afraid of?
The religious institutions have never liked freethinkers, and only because we have no problem with publicly calling them out on their scandals and schemes.
It is so ironic that believers are required to try and convince others that we should join them, as their faith actually depends on it. Pulling others into the cult is the only way they are able to validate their own beliefs and remain faithful to such irrelevant non-sense. Conversion is THE cornerstone of religious cults, and without this the whole ugly scheme quickly comes crashing down.
Their last attempt to assimilate you always ends with them threatening you with being tortured by their big sky spook.
That alone should make people skeptical and cause the B.S. alert to sound off loud and clear.
If people asked HONEST questions using plain old common sense, they would begin with asking why do they purchase their faith from retail churches and whole-sale preachers, just to maintain their confidence in a dark aged book.
If they lift up the curtain and see the great OZ at work, they finally discover how religion operates, and why it should be considered a faulty system that misleads masses of people with the most assuring of claims that it is a miracle cure for everyone.
The church has always targeted those who are hurting and vulnerable, as these types are easy to persuade. The poor are the easiest targets of all. Offer them a bit of food, some comfort, and talk of hope beyond their terrible circumstances, and then BAM! Next thing you know, they are proven guilty by the flesh and convicted of being born.
Guilt=God
Humanity has been punished for these screwed up unbalanced scales of injustice, written as mythical law by some bearded master goat herder from antiquity.
Every addict needs a dealer in order to get high, so maybe some recovering drone should take these religious dealers to court. Get them for false advertising and for not disclosing the harmful side effects of their faulty primitive products.
Believers are desperate to burden the non-believers with the goofy obligations they have made to live as servants of primitive psychological warfare.
Peace,
Melissa
take care and go out into the world
LOL....
I would like to post in-toto and with full attribution, your message on the message board of another forum of which I am a member and which is about Theism v Atheism. I hope this will trigger some serious thinking on the part of theists and elicit their feedback or counter arguments.
Any objections?
No problem, My rant is open and public for any or all to use in any way that promotes free thinking and exposes religious fraud. Thanks for wanting to use it....
Great response, One advantage of geting posted is the greater responses it stimulates. There are a lot of out there and we need to be heard. Kudos to Dave for this great post.
>bobathee@aol.com<
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