In the first part of the series, I mentioned how religion, if managed with business-like savvy, can be one of the most lucrative business schemes ever imagined. Given the huge market and ridiculous tax breaks which few organizations can ever boast of without being the least bit charitable, the next stage, it seems, is to invent your own religion.
While it is possible to start a religious organization without inventing a new religion, the challenge, it seems, lies with having to vie for the attentions of the flock with other similar, anti-rational institutions. Besides, these staid old timers have been around for so long, trying to cut into a piece of the heaven's pie is by no means a simplistic task.
Besides, forming a religion is chic: Not only can you be proclaimed as a Founding Father, messiah, prophet or even a deity; you can still get a shot at having your name etched into the pages of posterity.
Laying the Groundwork for Your Religious Institution
Before you begin building the proverbial castle in the air, you will need to prepare the groundwork for your religion to flourish: How well your religion will progress will be determined by the elaboration of your groundwork. An excellent network should possess fundamentally obsessed followers, plus a continuous flow of cold, hard cash.
With this in mind, let us proceed into the religious world of deceit.
1. Inventing a New Deity
While detractors may claim that it would be quite incredulous and impractical to actually introduce a new deity in modern 21st century civilization, one can actually find evidence of irrational belief in a myriad of bizarre, crazy cults that have surfaced in recent decades: The cult surrounding the pudgy, self-proclaimed deity, otherwise known as Sai Baba, and the really "unscientific" religion named, rather dubiously, as "Scientology".
Like fairies and pink unicorns, deities are really figments of man's demented imagination: All you need is a little imagination and a couple of persuasive tongues and a new deity can emerge amongst the ignorant populaces.
Because deities can neither be proved nor disproved, any belief in your new deity is dependent on one emotionally-charged trait: Faith. If you believe in God, no reason can touch you. Reason can be suspended, at least momentarily, when faith is aroused: Ask the regular Christian why he goes to church every other Sunday; he will say it is on the basis of his faith. Ask him why he goes to the doctor instead of the church every time he comes down with influenza, he will tell you a completely different tale.
Like the Sai Baba, you can claim godhood or sainthood: If you wish to go down such a path, a few magic tricks will come in handy. Stupid children's party tricks, such as turning wine into soda water, walking on sewer water (kind of stinks, but that is the price to pay for being a fucking deity) and the like will enhance the authenticity.
If you prefer not to subject yourself to such strenuous training, a prophet's identity will do. You could, from time to time, roll on the floor, at the same time foam in your mouth, as you feign the "God is speaking through me" trick to hoodwink your enthralled flock. Of course, some infidels will probably think that you might have been exhibiting all the medical signs of epilepsy. Your response? Fuck them. What the hell do they know, those stupid infidels. You are the self-professed emissary of a deity, and the only thing that should matter is, the folks believe in your bullshit!
Whenever possible, stick to one deity. Or try churning out different deities and claim that they are one and five or six deities at the same time. The key is to confuse and conquer: Generate publicity, generate ratings, and rake in the cash. "Confuse and Conquer" is the ultimate key to a resounding victory.
2. WRITING A HOLY BOOK
The world's major religions need them. From the ancient Jewish torah to the Islamic Quran, the writing of holy books is of utmost importance to any religion.
With a religious book, you will be able to secure the hearts and minds of your flock: Not only will you be able to drum your own set of dumb, ubiquitous moral codes into their faith-induced brains; it will also bring focus and unity within your own congregation.
Keep in mind though: A great religious book should never be rational: It must be boisterous, absolutist and finally, tyrannical. Words such as "however", "if" or "whenever" should be limited to the lowest denominator.
Whenever possible, write in obscure, unfathomable parables: That way, your congregation will waste precious time theorizing your bullshit, and such ambiguity will provide you with ample preaching material, as you and your religious leaders begin to proselytize and "spread the Good Word".
A holy book will chart the destiny of your new cult. Your followers will refer to your holy book for their moments of inspiration, as well as their daily indoctrination.
3. The Cardinal Sin
In any religion, it is imperative that the subject of sin comes into the picture. Fabricating false notions of wrongdoings will provide your fledging religion with a narrow focus, plus giving you a chance to wield your "supreme" powers as dedicated by your deity or yourself, if you intend to be the erstwhile deity.
To add more meat to your bullshit, you may consider etching a set of rules/commandments, preferably in sets of tens, hundreds, or anything that goes in multiples of ten (the human brain does harbor a strange obsession with the figure 10) on a piece of tough, almost unbreakable material with regards to the major "sins" which cannot be committed under any circumstances: Rocks, stones and other carbon-based minerals will do just fine. Forget paper or wood: These types of flimsy, organic material rots within a short time frame, and you will want something that should hopefully be the chief cornerstone of your nascent religion for hopefully a long, long time.
Remember to add special exclusivity in your commandments: Apostasy is a sign of grave weakness for any religion, and you will do well to abide by this unspoken rule of religion. Assign the gravest possible punishment for apostasy, and your flock will be scared of out their shitless wits. Never, ever give a single inch of ground to infidels.
4. Heaven, Hell, & The Fictitious Devil
Let's face it; every major religion has a hell and a heaven. Working in tandem with the "Cardinal Sin" doctrine, the "carrot and stick" theory is a time-proven method, used to restrain the faithful from ever leaving their flock.
By blocking rational thought and insinuating the Pascal's wager, you will successfully deduce the backsliding believer's choice into two alternatives: Believe in your deity, and you stand a chance in heaven. Suspend belief, and there is an awful chance of an eternal barbecue.
To further tighten mental and emotional control, invoke the Demon: A scary, throng-carrying horned (or horny) Beast, condemned by you and your deity, always ready to snare unbelievers with temptations, trials and tribulations.
With the inception of the legendary Beast, the theological masquerade is complete.
5. RECRUITING DISCIPLES
Behind every successful religious leader, is a very successful clique. You will need to recruit a very talented, glib-tongued and loyal band of recruits, who will do your donkey's work of spreading the Good Word.
Like the 12 (or 13, if you include Judas) disciples of Christ, this very tight-knit band of disciples will become your family: In reality, these band of brothers will be your partners in crime. They will prepare your groundwork, preach your word, and spread the good news. If your pioneer batch does spectacularly, chances are, your religion will flourish with great aplomb.
You will do well to treat this band of brothers with utmost respect and dignity: Any apostates from this pioneer clique can lead to your precipitous downfall. Typically, apostates from internal cliques are never good news for any fledging creed. If you can keep them happy, your success is almost complete.
6. COLLECTING TITHES
When your religious leader told you that religion was a personal relationship with God, he or she was lying outright in your face. Let's face it; religion is a multi-billion dollar business. It is estimated that money generated by churches in the US of A is more than enough to feed the world's hungry people for months on end.
Depending on your motives and personal greed, the amount of tithe you would wish to exact from your flock will be directly proportional to their paychecks. While it is perfectly fine to demand a certain portion of their wages as a minimum tithe, aggressive demands may alienate certain sections of your flock and force them to leave. Leverage your stock, and you may well be on your way to a thriving cult.
There are certainly a myriad of innovative ways to exact monetary gains from your faithful: Paypals, Mastercards and other modes of payment can be integrated via your religious website. Spread your tentacles far and wide, and watch with child-like wonder as the dollars start bludgeoning your bank account.
As your religious flock gains strength from increasing numbers, you may have to find a permanent roof over their heads. Initially, you may be renting out a dinghy little building to hold your sermons, but surely, as you gain financial stability, you may find that space is a premium you cannot scrimp on. Buying large swathes of land is a good option: Having your religious institution with land to spare will allow room for expansion. Or better yet, purchase prime estate: A posh religious building in a swanky
8. SILENCING THE OPPOSITION
Assuming that your cult manages to survive the initial stages of development, it is inevitable that you will face opposition from infidels who cannot stand the sight of your Holiness. When you begin to face serious opposition, fret not, for this is good news indeed: It is a sign that you have achieved so much prestige and success, that people are no longer laughing now. Initially, they may have passed you and your little band of followers as ignorant buffoons. But they are no longer laughing now. Praise the Lord.
At this point, it is time for you to stand up and be counted.
Your enemies will include:
i. Ex-members/followers of your congregation:
The best way to deal with them is to take up the role of an abused housewife: A little sobbing at the press conference in front of the media: Proclaim to the whole world that despite their vile tongues, you are willing to forgive them.
Once you have the sympathy vote, you can be sure that membership in your flock will rise, and once the opposition’s stock falls, lampoon them in front of the press. Exalt your God, & inform the press that the fates of your opponents have been preordained by God, as punishment for their blasphemy.
ii. Jealous members of the public:
These members of the public may try to dissuade people from joining your congregation, and may from time to time, publish their ill feelings on newspapers.
The best way to deal with them is to sue one of these infidels for libel. That will shut the rest of them up. When suing, always choose the weakest prey. Better yet, threaten the infidel to publish an apology, or face a lawsuit. An out-of-court settlement will inflict a crushing blow to their egos as well as their pockets
iii. Bad Press: Not much you can do about, really. You can't offend the press. Bribe them to your side, or at the very least do not offend them.
Rather than worry about the press reporters, you ought to harness the advertising power of paparazzi. Always remember the Golden Rule of Weird Publicity: Bad press is always better than no press.
iv. Inciting hatred: Ensure that you insert a few pet hatreds along the way. The essence of religion is the "We are right, you are wrong, and you are going to hell" mentality. Eligible groups of choice will be gays, atheists, infidels and pagans.
CONCLUSION
Follow the steps as prescribed, and you are well on your way to yet another established faith. If your religion outlives you, you will leave behind a legacy for posterity, plus amassing a huge, personal fortune that will probably allow your future generations to lead a swanking, opulent lifestyle that would have made Saddam Hussein blush, if he was still alive.
Take note, though, the likes of infidels and atheists will probably take pisspots at your holy book, or even your portrait, just for kicks. In fact, you should not be surprised to find your holy book being flushed down the toilet by one of these disgruntled infidels.
As the saying goes, one good turn deserves another.
121 comments:
I have changed my mind about starting a religion. I'm just not rotten enough to do all that.
I'll leave that up to the Christians & other people that are good at being religious.
Well written, bro!! So, when can we start our own atheistic religion? How about inventing the deity first? Lord Dawkins? LOLROTF
It's time for you to start accepting Jesus, if you continue to be an atheist, you will have a horrible, incomplete life.
Yes, lets invent a religion that has a lamb as a leader. Who dies and is humiliated. Lets write a holy book all about sinners who are cheaters, thieves and adulterers. In fact, lets make the hero's dispicable cowardly people.
Lets invent a 'heaven' where there is no sex, and we worship god all day long.
That sure sounds like an invention of man hu????
Ya, right, what human would invent a religion like that??
Get real, the Christian religion is a far cry from anything 'man made'!!!
Now, the Islam...there is a man made religion for ya...
When you die, you get Virgins to hang around and do your beck and call...and when they're not virgins anymore, you get 10 new ones!! Heaven is all about your personal hedonistic playground.
Sounds like something I would make up to attract some men to my religion...for sure!
Hey people, Don't be anonymous!!
Hi ladies and gentlemen
Sorry for not responding. Been down with a slight fever.
Rykel:
I don't really think starting a religion is that easy: Obviously a lot of work is needed at the foundation setting stage. A humanist organization will be a better alternative.
As for "anonymous", have the courtesy to leave your name behind so that I can address you properly. Christianity, Islam and all that myriad of religions are, to me, man-made.
The character of Jesus is no more different than the character of John Frum, the mystical figure of the Pacific island cargo cults.
There is no way you can know for sure that religion is man made. And if you blog about atheism, and you continue to criticize religion and religious people the way you have been doing, you will surely be punished by god. Everyone sins, and god will forgive most sins, but there are few which you will never be forgiven for, one of those is speaking blasphemously about the word of god. So you have to really think carefully about your choice to be an atheist. When you grow old, you will regret all of this. I used to be an atheist hater, then I realized, they're just sinners like every single person on earth, just a different kind of sin. And like all sinners, they just need some guidance, and eventually then will repent, and god will forgive them.But still, there are those few unforgivable sins.
Shaun
Thank you for your warning. You have just reminded me to commit another round of blasphemy.
Like a pious Muslim, I always have this very likable habit of committing blasphemy at least five times a day. It relieves my bodily constitution and lifts my spirit. And of yes, nothing beasts a great dose of blasphemy with a bottle of alcohol spirits!
Beast
you're not really an atheist, you're just confused. See, an atheist won't blaspheme the word of god for fun, cos as far as he or she is concerned, god doesn't exist, so there's no use speaking against him, you can't fight without an opponent. I think you just hate god, cos maybe he dealt you a bad hand. Guess what, every one gets them, the ones who are strong, deal with them, and the rest either start hating god, or just stop believing in him. What you've done is, you've become an escapist, you claim to believe god doesn't exist, and hope that he buys it, so when you die you won't be punished so severely. Like a robber claiming he didn't know stealing was wrong. You have an intelligently written blog, but when you read what I had to say previously, you didn't respond with any intelligence, that's because you can't face the truth, god exists. Try thinking about why you hate god so much(do you have a bad life?... Not happy about something?...), and realize that you can only hate things that exist. that's the first step.
Shaun:
What do you know about atheism? You are not even an atheist, for Zeus's sake.
In any case, blasphemy is fun to me, because it makes the fundamentalist such as the likes of you squirm, and nothing makes me happier than to see a fundie making a desperate attempt at shoring up his or her silly beliefs.
As for being an "escapist" and hoping that some "Gawd" will punish me less severely, you remind me of a recent trip I made to a buddhist shop: Right on the shop's glass panel was a laminated pictorial depicting the over one hundred levels of hell: Eye-gorging, tongue pulling, waist-chopping, and all the gruesome punishments for all manners of "sins"......Apparently, the idea of hell and punishment is not exclusive to Christianity. Just imagine, though: You die, and your repentance in your deity doesn't count for shit, and you will still end up in a gulag camp.
Truth, my friend, requires evidence. I can simply pick from a myriad of religions and show you what it means to be dead without their deities.
Beast
I never said anything about hell, I just said god will punish you, and I never said that only Christians believe in punishment for sin.
As for Buddhism, I don't know what the deal is, and I don't care. You're doing the escapist thing again by bringing up Buddhism and hell, when I never said a word about either.And your words don't make me squirm, they would have a year ago, when I just hated atheists, but like I said, I don't anymore, I just see you as someone who needs guidance.
And you don't repent "in your deity", like what you've written, that's not how it works. what you do is, you repent for your sins, and that is how you will be forgiven.
And you wrote that truth requires evidence. religion has nothing to do with science, only science truths require evidence, not religion. However, no one's asking you yo have blind faith, if you become a Christian, god will occasionally renew your faith, things will happen that you will not be able to explain, good things.
Tell us a bit more about yourself please. were you a theist before? A bit about your life?
And you wrote that truth requires evidence. religion has nothing to do with science, only science truths require evidence, not religion. Shaun's "religion" doesn't have much to do with real truth either, as evidenced by how narrowly he interprets it.
Jeez shaun, get a little higher consciousness. Join the enlightened human race.
Shaun:
You talk about punishment, so I will assume that you are talking about hell? No? What other punishment, then?
So now I can't talk about Buddhism because you don't care? Why do you Christians love to impose your self-proscribed speech ban on me? I am using Buddhism to highlight to you that your religion does not own special exclusivity to banal, religiously-inspired nonsense.
You said that "repenting in your deity" isn't what your religion (which I assume its christianity) is all about? Didn't Jesus says that one should repent their sins upon the Cross, hence the deity? Are you reading a different bible from mine/???
Think first before you type.
My testimonial:
http://atheisthaven.blogspot.com
/2007/06/why-i-am-atheist-gradual
-evolution.html
I am the one who pointed out that the Bible has no evidence of being a man made religion.
Do you have any response to what I said?
Do you realize that Legends never slander the hero's and main characters.
Man made religions always make the hero's out to be spotless and blame free.
Why is that so different in the Bible storie, unless in fact, they are true.
"Man made religions always make the hero's out to be spotless and blame free."
What about Jesus?
Hell is not the only punishment, there are many other forms of punishment. Like Moses, after searching for the promised land for 40 years, moses was not allowed to enter it because he once took credit for god's work. That's was also a punishment, but not hell.
The reason why I said I don't care about Buddhism is because they don't have a god. They're atheists too, so there's no point in bringing it up, I don't understand how you could have 100 levels of hell without even having a god in the first place. Jehovah is the only God who can punish people.
And finally, no, Jesus never said "one should repent their sins upon the Cross". I'm sure we're reading the same bible, you're just confusing 2 things.He just said we should repent, and he bore all our sins and died on the cross.
And either way, the cross isn't our deity. God is, Jehovah.
It's you who should think before you type, not only because you're destroying your own credibility, but also because you're blaspheming the word of god.
Jesus wasn't a hero, he was god's son, a savior, his purpose on earth was to lead a sinless life and then die on the cross, to pay for all our sins, not to be a hero. Christianity doesn't have any heroes.
Shaun:
Do not tell me what I can or cannot do. I will blaspheme as and when I deem fit. If you do not understand free speech, I will take that right away from you on my blog.
"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one
comes to the Father except through me."
John 14:6
"Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." (Acts 2:38)
Very clearly and succinctly, the bible says you must repent in the name of jesus, i.e deity.
Again, allow me to remind all posters that if you want to tell me what not to do, I will not hesitate to delete your postings. I have already done this to Christians, and if you do not understand the right of others to free speech, the moderator will enforce the ban on you.
Beast
Christianity doesn't have heroes???
Abraham, Elijah, Moses, Samson, David, Saul........
In particular, Samson, the guy with the long hair......
No heroes? Duh???
"The reason why I said I don't care about Buddhism is because they don't have a god. They're atheists too, so there's no point in bringing it up, I don't understand how you could have 100 levels of hell without even having a god in the first place. Jehovah is the only God who can punish people."
Obviously, you don't really understand Buddhism. While it talks about nirvana and other non-theistic philosophies, Buddhism also places remarkable emphasis on crime and punishment, and in particular, reincarnation. And depending on which branch of buddhism you are practicing, deities are not uncommon in the realm of buddhism.
If you think Jehovah is the only deity that punishes man, you might want to look into other religions as well.
Beast
Deleting our messages is again practicing escapism, like all atheists are. And repenting in the name of Jesus is completely different from "repent their sins upon the Cross". I'm not trying to tell you what to do, just trying to guide you, and yes, you do have the right to free speech, the same way I do, and I also have the responsibility to try and guide sinners like yourself back to the path of righteousness. So do what you want to, just know that by deleting my posts or my messages, all you're doing is choosing not to face the truth. You've got a blog dedicated to atheism, that in itself kind of shows that God does exist, like I said you can't be speaking against nobody, there must be a god for you to hate him so much.
and as for those people, "Abraham, Elijah, Moses, Samson, David, Saul", they weren't Christianity, they were Christians, Christianity is Jesus and Jehovah. and they weren't heroes.
Face it, god exists, and it's time for you to embrace him. Stop being an escapist.
More insinuations of the bigoted kind.
Say what you want about Samson, Elijah, David etc, but the truth is, the bible does concoct characters which are, in essence, characters meant to be looked up upon as models of morality. In particular, samson's great strength when he had long hair is no different from modern day marvel super heroes.
As for deleting messages, I will only impose it if you attempt to shut me up. If you don't, you are save.
As for being escapist, this is really lame. How do you define "escapist"? When I do not subscribe to your god, I become an escapist? In that case, I will be glad to be an "escapist".
Insinuations of these kind really mean nothing to me. I can call you a fool for being a fundamentalist, and you will still delight in being a fool for god. So what? Who cares?
With regards to hating God, I hate the idea of God. Gods make us lazy. Imagine if every doctor on this planet says:"Fuck it,let us not go look for a cure for this or that disease: Let us pray for a cure instead." Gods are merely lazy explanations to explain our pathetic existence, and if every scientist and doctor or medical professor were to operate based on their religious creeds, we'd be operating in the stone ages.
Yes, in that sense, I hate gods. The gods that exist in the demented minds of fundies.
Beast
You are an escapist in the sense that you choose not to believe in god because you don't want to follow his rules, like I said, you pretend not to believe he exists and hope he let's you off for it. Won't happen.
The same way you think no matter what you do, I won't ever become an atheist, I could say that whatever I do, it won't change your mind, but i won't do that, because I believe no one is a lost cause. You will never be able to convince me to become an atheist not because I have blind faith, God has worked many miracles in my life, and each one continues to make me a stronger believer, now what's your reason for so strongly disbelieving in God? you don't have one. You're just choosing not to believe because it's an easier life. There's no need to go to church, no need to pray, no need to feel guilty about sinning... and so on.
If you really don't believe in god, it won't hurt to try and embrace Christianity for a while, to see if your mind changes.
Man made religions do in fact make up spotless hero's....
NOT Christianity.
Abraham gave his wife over saying she was his sister...coward
David pilfered his best friends wife, then had his friend killed.
Jesus: Well, if he was 'made up' who would make up a god that was a 'Lamb'?? Or how about a god that cried before he was martyred? In the Garden He cried??? Come on...WHO MAKES THAT UP??? WHY??
The only answer: It must be true.
Your own reason points to the unlikely nature of having hero's that are not spotless...even Sampson was week and failed, before he honored God...he dishonored himself. NO ONE MAKES UP THAT STUFF UNLESS ITS TRUE!!
WTF???
OK, these guys aren't real are they?
They must be figments of your demented imagination. :)
Oh ok. So Christianity has no heroes, but villains instead. Seems to me that the Christians here have taken up the challenge of shooting themselves in the foot!
With regards to "trying God for yourself", please give me, as well as your imagined god, some respect: I have "tried" your God for ten years, both protestant and catholic, and frankly I am sick of them all. If you wish to peddle your God, at least treat him with slightly more respect than handiplus.
Gosh. All these Christian morons. To think that I have just recovered from a raging fever!
Beast
Shaun:
As far as I am concerned, I have not attempted to convince you of being an atheist. I rant and rave about christianity and all the other bigoted religions, but I am not prone to proselytize about atheism.
It is not my duty to teach you about beliefs or lack of. You just need a little common sense to rationalize the sheer ludicrousness of religion.
Don't call us morons, we never called you names. But I guess that names are all you have to throw back at us, you can't think of anything intelligent cos there isn't anything. I've given you reasons why I'm a believer in God, you still haven't given a reason for why you're not. You said you tried it out for 10 years, and you're sick of it. why? What are you sick of? you don't have any answers do you. By this time if you don't already see you're just being an escapist, you're just fooling yourself. Think about it, you never once had an answer for why you don't believe in god. The fact that you spend so much time and effort writing pages and pages of material about atheism just says that you're angry at god, not that he doesn't exist. Think a bit about what's in your mind, don't just type a paragraph of rubbish to try and escape it.
"Again, allow me to remind all posters that if you want to tell me what not to do, I will not hesitate to delete your postings. I have already done this to Christians, and if you do not understand the right of others to free speech, the moderator will enforce the ban on you."
Now Beast, you told me that you would never ban or censor any persons on your blog. Remember when we discussed the other blog we visit, and it happened to me, you said you would never do that to anyone at your blog.
I realize this is your blog, and you are free to change your mind and do as you see fit. I am just reminded you of what you said.
Tim
what posts did he delete, and why?
IT, figments of our imagination??
I think we could imagine better hero's if we made them up in our minds...I think the fact that they are all to human and all to big of a sinner, it shows the veracity and truth of the story...NOT that its a figment of imagination...
I can imagine much better and more inspiring hero's than a lamb, and an adulter. Thats the point.
Bill, Beast didn't delete any of my post, it was a different blog with a different owner. I was just reminding Beast he said he would never ban or censor persons here at his blog.
Tim
Well, Tim. Some Christians want to restrict my freedom to vilify them, when they take my liberties and use them against me.
Since they do not recognize my right to free speech, I have taken what I feel is a last resort to deny them that right.
And no, those who have been banned are not the christians in this post. Rest assured I do not activate this rule, unless you do not respect that freedom which I value very much.
Beast
Shaun:
I think I have provided a link to my testimonial. I don't like to repeat again and again.
Once again, may I remind you that I have just recovered from fever. My mind is not functioning well at the moment, so my temper may be slightly frayed, if you know what I mean.
Like I said, I have more or less answered your posted questions in my blog, and most readers here will know that my posts are extensive and very comprehensive. So you will excuse me for not going too detailed.
Beast
Without a proper apology, you shall not post here.
Get out of here, DRD. You are no longer welcomed, until you give me and my fellow atheists a proper apology.
Beast
Thank you DRD, I read your comments before he deleted them. I was actually posting another comment and reloaded the page, accidentally, and noticed your posts, came back a few moments ago to my desk, and rechecked..and they are deleted.
Guess you upset Mr Beast hu?
I will leave you and Beast to determine whether an apology is needed, but, as a Christian, I do emplore you to use humility in your responses(the one you left was not too humble, you know, the butt whoopin thing!).
I do wonder why none of the atheists here have commented on the unlikely nature of these stories being "made up" to put in a holy scripture, to represent a made up god?
Bill
That is because Christopher Hitchens has already done that in his latest book: God is Not Great.
Beast
Basically, DRD said a lot of unsavory things, but that was not what pissed me off.
He basically badmouthed me and the atheists here by calling them "cronies", and then when I get vulgar with him, he says I am rude.
And then he got his good for nothing nephew involved. I warned him from that point on. Since he continues to be stubborn, I have to teach him a little humility, something his congregation probably forgot about.
In any case, his posts are temporarily with held. Until such time I get the necessary apologies, I will delete all his posts.
Beast
DRD
If you are still here, you can get me at soul_686@yahoo.com using messenger or email.
I am also at gmail at beast686@gmail.com
I will directly tell you, in your face, why I am enforcing the ban.
If you want to thrash this out, now is the time.
Beast
I await your reply...email is drd-1@hotmail.com
Bill hear again...since I have not read this 'Hitchens' book, please enlighten me to his basic rebuttal.
Thanks
I have finally forced myself to read your very long article on why you're an atheist. That was about 15 minutes of my time wasted, because there is no reason in there, just sarcasm, insult, and wit. God never disappointed you, you just got frustrated by Christianity. That's just the devil using you for his cause. You say you repented of your sins, can you please explain what you meant by that. Repenting is not that easy.
Did you ever pray? You said you lost faith by the time you were 14, first of all that's too young for you to really understand religion enough to make such a decision, and secondly, it doesn't appear you ever really had any faith in god.
You take so much time to write on this blog, why do you bother? it's not like you've got a fan base of atheists who come to ready your blog, this is the most attention your blog's ever gotten. So why do you write, that's just a sign of frustration. you must be frustrated by something. what is it? don't blame god for it, you never really embraced him in the first place.
Shaun
Not everyone who becomes an atheist is an abused child of some sort, sexually or no. I simply find Christianity intellectually bankrupt, that is all.
Why do I write? That is a good question. I guess it is a form of expression of my brain. I love writing, I guess.
Like all human beings, I do get frustrated. I am frustrated when I see religious tyranny. I am frustrated when I read about christians murder gay people because of their sexual orientation. I get frustrated when I read about the thousands of women in ancient times tortured and murdered to death on charges of witchcraft. Yes, these are the things I do get frustrated, but not all the time.
Beast
Beast, how about the gang who killed two gay men for 'looking at them'...in our paper 2 weeks ago. A notorious drug gang killed two gay men...are you frustrated by this, or only when some 'so called christian' does it?
How about the murder and abuse of woman done by murderous rogues, not for religious reasons....does this bother you too? Or, is this truly some vendetta against a god you think 'dissappointed you' or 'frustrated you'?
Every atrocity you can name has been commmitted by both Christians or religious, and non-religious alike. Why do you focus on the extremes in religion!
I would like you to explain 'Hitches' response to my question in brief you if you will. You have yet to address it.
Hitchens has elucidated the myriad of religions that include virgin births. Its one of the leading best sellers, and since I do not have the book at the moment (I exchanged it with a Dawkin's book, "The Ancestor's Tale"), I think you can purchase it and read it yourself.
As for being frustrated, I get frustrated over many things, but unfortunately, a lot of these things have a religious connotation. Reading about religious sectarian violence in Iraq, for example, saddens me.
As for your charge of being "frustrated with God", I think you are not the only christian who has asked me this odd question. I don't think I am frustrated with God any more than I am frustrated with Santa. I simply hate the idea of a god, something which I have, in great length, explained.
If you have read my testimonial, you will realize that my philosophical outlook changed over time. I went to church, had a catholic education and ultimately was not convinced. Religion, to me, has never authenticated itself the way Science does, and like Dawkins, I am more enthralled with Science than mere Dogma.
While it is true that any crime can be committed with or without religion, religion is, more often than not, used as an excuse to whitewash their crimes. Take the paedophile cases of the Vatican. Instead of sending the offending priest to secular authorities, the Church decided, in the interest of its own reputation over the victims, to move them from diocese to diocese instead.
It is also religion that gave Bush the excuse to go to Iraq: How many times have we heard Bush talk about "crusades" and God's command for him to attack Saddam?
I hope I have elucidate my thoughts and position to you.
Beast
Beast
Beast, you have explained your thoughts..but only mentioned the Virgin Birth, which was not my point. None of the myths with a Virgin Birth have a "lamb" as a god..none have hero's with such checkered pasts.
If Hitchens tries to explain it, its got to be a 'rationalization', because no one has done so to date that I am aware of, and I read the liturature reviews..and none have commented on this. Your summary is less than convincing of any real 'rebuttal' to the problem of sin in the scripture and why its there if its legend or myth.
Next you say "religion is, more often than not, used as an excuse to whitewash their crimes"..this is just incorrect..
If you read on pedophilia, its usually by deranged individuals, and rarely men of faith. The online pedophile recently in the news was far from a religious person.
It seems you pick on the sins of the religious...which I am sure are present in large quantity, Scripture is clear on that point, but so much if not more of this stuff is done outside any religious context as to make your asserstion seem all the more biased.
Lastly, your comment on Bush is interesting, and I see why you may have that opinion, but his point has always been this is a war of "THEIR" religion against the world...not his religion as an excuse to attack.
Again, it seems you spin motives and you infere motive on those you perceive as religious, then blame religion for all the ills.
It just does not follow reality from what I have seen. There are too many crimes done in the name of 'greed, drugs, sex, ect.' that have nothing to do with religion, although some may play the 'religion card', you seem content to pin it all on that. I assume your frustrated with God because it seems your all to eager to blame Him.
I hope I am wrong, but your opinions seem a bit too loop sided for me to swallow that at this point.
Hmm. Ok. I think at this point there is no need to go further, but I'd like to say this.
I support greed, sex and drugs.
Greed is what drives capitalism. Greed is what fuels democracy, makes your country powerful and rich. Greed is a good thing, provided, of course, it is channeled in the right direction.
Sex? Without sex you and I would have been non existent in the fabric of time?
Drugs? Fuck. I drink, and I smoke. Do you want to question my morals because of my "nefarious" habits???
Beast
Beast
Greed is the depravity of the concept of economic success. It leads to most, if not all the worlds ills.
Capitalism is wonderful..its the greedy abuse of it that is wrong.
Sex, and Drugs....well, unfortunately its the depravity that these lead to 'in some' that cause the problem. The debase way some use both, that leads to harmful addiction, and finally, patterns of behavior that are destructive, to the individual as well as society.
I see you have no comment on my other point?
Not much, considering that we have polarizing views and differing attitudes towards religion.
Beast
Yes, Beast, we seem too, yet you offer no real explanation for yours, and no explanation for your biased nature toward the sins of Christians verses the sins of others.
You also wrote an essay on inventing your own religion, yet my points directly rebut your assertion as it relates to the Jewish and Christian texts.
You offer nothing more than "we have polarizing opinions"?
Bill:
I have better things to do than waste time with proselytizers. If I wanted a good sermon I would have gone back to church, and a lot of stuff you wish for me to elaborate is already out there on my blog.
Beast
Beast
I don't believe I have proselytized at all.
I simply have brought up facts about what is contained in the Christian scriptures, and the unlikelyhood that someone would "make them up"...no preaching going on here...just interested in a good dialog.
Whatever.
Did you ever pray? You said you lost faith by the time you were 14, first of all that's too young for you to really understand religion enough to make such a decision, and secondly, it doesn't appear you ever really had any faith in god.
Now, that was in a comment I read. I am not too good at expressing my opinion so bear with me. I never had religion growing up, but was aware of how ridiculous it sounded. I didn't have religion to begin with, so you can't say I have some hate towards a god I didn't know. If 14 years old is too young to make a decision about religion then if you ask me, children should not be made to go to Sunday school or church till they are 18, that is if they want to go. I have no hate towards any gods, I just don't think religion has any place in our political or educational systems. Why should any child or otherwise be made to say a pledge "under god" if there is no belief in that god? Why is it anyones responsibility to lead me to a god anyway? Isn't that kind of like a cult? Sorry for the long comment Beast. I'm learning as I go.
The idea is, you learn about religion from as early as possible, and you get to understand it, and when you're old enough, you can pray, and you'll have faith. And when parents and preachers and Sunday schools screw up, the result is a bunch of hell bound atheists. But you can still redeem yourselves. it's not too late until you die.
Another question for all you science loving atheists, how do you explain things so scientifically accurate written in the bible so long ago?
So Tina...does truth exist in the moral realm? Do you believe in right and wrong?
Do you believe in Justice?
Sorry, I didn't read this post (I'll get to it.)
I was directed here by my Tina (my mom).
Shaun said: "...when parents and preachers and Sunday schools screw up, the result is a bunch of hell bound atheists..."
How would you then explain those atheists who've never once grew up in a Christian lifestyle? I never went to church until I met my wife (I hated it and saw it exactly for what it was worth; a sham). I was 24 then (11 years ago).
I never "grew up in the church". That's not the fault of "parents, preachers and Sunday schools" that screw up. It seems you are blaming Christians who aren't "real" Christians. What is a "real" Christian anyway? All of 'em will tell you something different.
What is the problem with this? This difference of opinion. The fucking collateral damage to the rest of us. What is this collateral damage? Look in the mirror. You've been brainwashed and indoctrinated to believe in the biggest lies the world has ever known. I don't even care if this sounds offensive or not because in the end I'm not going to get mad and go blow up a church or something. As Christians blow up abortion clinics and such. As all other deeply, fundamentalist terrorist, religious zealots do. I don't see any terrorist atheists around do you?
DRD: You DON'T need religion to know what right and wrong is. What this delves into is the societal concept of right and wrong. In ancient Egypt many pharoah married their sisters and nobody frowned down on that. Today it's considered wrong...
This is comment is getting long so I am posting on my Comment response on Atheist Haven
LOL, my Tina! My mom.
larro
So, we agree...you don't need 'religion', but you do need a standard bearer to know ultimate right, unless you don't think things are ultimately true..only relatively true.
The idea of incest being acceptable does not make it right. Or do you think it does?
If so, is murder and rape a relative thing?
PS...let Tina speak up..she was just learning to express herself.
Express Yourself....hey, that's a good song. I think social situations and learning to live with one another in peace teach us right from wrong. I know right from wrong and a god didn't teach me that. I really don't get it, do you mean to imply that if a person is not religious they don't know the difference? I'm just asking.
My point is that times change and not adversely affected by "religious" ideology. Rather by the zeitgeist. I don't think incest is right, but one can't attribute that to just one book of morale code as the basis for morality on this subject (it was an example). We all live in this world and we better not step on other peoples toes otherwise toes will get trampled back. Christians seem to think that what's good for them is good for all. Sorry, that doesn't fly with me one bit. I will NOT live in Jesus' name. Whatever anybody says. In all actuality it's what makes this great country great...CIVIL LIBERTY. To believe or not believe what you feel is comfortable for your existence in civil society. When somebody declares that your beliefs are "wrong" in their eyes then I have a VERY big problem. And most Christians (I single out Christians only because this country is "Christian")
This country is NOT Christian, though. It is made up of a great many diverse viewpoints. Are those viewpoints worthy of censorship? Ultimately I care less about the "god existence" argument than the civil liberty argument.
Hint: Don't ever preach, ask or quote scripture to me regarding a "theological argument". I'll immediately flush it down the proverbial toilet. I have since turned my hand against it. Hence: "Talk to the hand". Done with that.
Apologies. I've had a few beers.
More sober commentary on the way.
No Tina...scripture says "God inprinted the knowledge of right and wrong on all of our hearts"..we all know...we don't need taught.
In addition God made us in His image..that means we certainly have some of His traits...like, the desire to help, be kind, benevolent, sacrificial on occasion. Even the worst of us has some of these traits...I know...I am one of those (worst of sorta guys)...so, no, you don't need 'religion' to know right from wrong..you just need a God to have formed you for truth and purpose.
larro...
what you have said Christians do, you certainly show your guilty of in that post. You are totally intolerant of Christian belief.
Look at what you said:
"
When somebody declares that your beliefs are "wrong" in their eyes then I have a VERY big problem."
You have just declared my beliefs are wrong..so, you got a problem with yourself? And, as I said earlier, the moral code is not just in a book, its in your heart, thats why you know incest is wrong.
For children who were never in a religious environment, someone is still to blame, if not their parents, maybe their grand parents, or great grandparents, or great great great grandparents, the religion got lost somewhere up the family tree right? Cos it all started with 2 people guided by God.
larro, now we know why you're an atheist, cos your mother didn't show it to you. What about your father? is he an atheist too? And is your wife a Christian? If so, shame on her for marrying an atheist.
Once again my question has been totally ignored by the atheist folk. Try and make sense of all the science in the bible, which was written very long ago. Who could have known all these things back then, not man, who else? must have been god.
Science in the bible? What a fucking joke.
I have written extensively on why "Biblical Science" is not even pseudoscience. The one on the Noah's Ark takes the cake, Shaun. You can search for it on my blog.
Beast
larro, now we know why you're an atheist, cos your mother didn't show it to you. What about your father? is he an atheist too? And is your wife a Christian? If so, shame on her for marrying an atheist.
Oh boy...I'm glad my mom didn't show "it" to me. :)
You know, I tried to be civil and pose questions to you guys, but all I get is criticism? Larro is also thankful that I didn't indoctrinate him, he has a mind of his own and it's not dictated by an invisible thing. My youngest daughter is atheist also, my other two children are agnostic.
As for Larro's father, that is up to him to answer that question, you see, he is dead.
Now as for his wife, you should be ashamed of yourself to assume or ask a question like that.
Beast, sorry to carry on this dialog for so long, how do you put up with these guys? I love your site by the way.
Hi Tina.
I don't know. I kind of give up already, anyway. Its always the same old repetitive shit.
Save for one, the rest of the Christians weren't invited here. In any case, if you can't stand them, leave them alone.
As the saying goes:" let the worms play with the worms".
Beast
Yeah, I have heard that one before. I was just interested in why they believe what they believe....blind faith? :)Do you have an RSS Feed?
No, I don't tina. Not sure how to use it either.
Beast, I'm not going to bother reading your piece on the ark cos as I've learned, your blog is nothing more than the ramblings of a person frustrated with god and an attempt to justify atheism to yourself.
But if you've read the bible, you'll know what I'm talking about.
Tina, when your husband was alive did he believe in God? Have you ever wondered why he died? A family of sinners will definitely be punished. Anyway, God has an agenda for everything he does, you have yet to see it. Please explain why I have to be ashamed for asking what I did. So is she an atheist or not?
I wanted to add you to my home page. Maybe Larro at UngodlyCynic can figure out how to set it up...?
I wouldn't mind. I am looking for an atheist to co-write this blog with me anyway.
Good try.
Don't kid yourself, you know you read it. Besides, ignoring just means you have no good response.
Shaun:
I am not sure who you are talking to, much less what you are talking about, but if you are talking about refuting the bible, I have tons of writings right here on this blog. There is no need to keep reiterating every biblical bullshit for all and sundry.
Beast
I'm talking to whoever reads what I write (Beast, Tina, ...). I'm talking about the bible. What are you talking about?
Science is there in the bible, it's no joke, there are miracles in there too, not don't try to mix the 2. Miracles were when Moses caused the sea to part, and when the virgin Mary gave birth.
Science is different, here's something I pulled from the internet 2 minutes ago. God says that every male must be circumcised on his 8th day of life. Now it gets interesting here,(this is the part that atheists like to ignore, and pretend they never read), apparently, the 8th day of life is when the blood clots best. So how did that get written in bible 2000 years ago? Only god could have known back then.
There's evidence all over the internet, how come you haven't see it yet? There's an explanation for that, you don't want to.
I just re4ad that little thing you wrote about god commanding Bush to go to war and all, maybe it's true. He's the president of one of the many countries which have nuclear weapons, an maybe god will use him as an instrument to fulfill the holy prophecy.
this is from 2 Peter 3:10,
"But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved..."
Sounds like nuclear war to me.
It may not be Bush, maybe his actions now will trigger the war in the future, or maybe something completely different will cause nuclear war, but 2 things match, Bush says he's guided by God, and that passage sure does sound like nuclear war.
And needless to say, in the lines following that quote, all sinners including Richard Dawkins, Beast, Larro, Christopher Hitchens, Tina, Charles Manson, Kate Archer, Tommy Vercetti........ will all perish. Unless they repent, of course.
In the mean while The forgiven will be taken to a "new heaven and new earth"
It'll suck to be an atheist on that day.
DRD:
What I meant was that to most Christians it's a "sin" to turn away from god, to blasphemy. This makes atheists and atheism "wrong". This is my guff.
"the moral code is not just in a book" I rest mt case.
Shaun:
"children who were never in a religious environment, someone is still to blame"
This implies there is a "wrong" that needs to be righted. Correct? I don't need to be fucking righted! Who are you to say what's good for me? To say what's right for me? You don't even know me. This here is what's at the very core of this conflict. Keeping ones nose out of other peoples belief or non-belief. On a side point; you will never "get" atheism because god really exists for you. You think I don't understand that? I'm bombarded by it 24/7. I understand the Christian mind, do you understand the atheist mind?
"it all started with 2 people guided by God"
What the fuck ever. Talking to me don't even bring up scripture in order to argue social issues.
"What about your father?"
"shame on her for marrying an atheist"
Man you just crossed a FUCKING line !!! Like I fucking said YOU DONT" KNOW ME. YOU DON"T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT MY LIFE! Do you really want to know? Huh? My dad is fucking dead. Thank you.
My wife? My wife is closeted. She's not open about her atheism because she's afraid to disappoint her dad who's a Christian. How's that a way to live? Fear.
"shame on her for marrying an atheist"
Let's replace "atheist" with "nigger". Bigot.
Beast:
You do have an RSS feed.
http://atheisthaven.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default
Shaun:
"attempt to justify atheism" (to Beast)
We all want to be validated in our convictions.
"A family of sinners will definitely be punished."
See what I'm talking about: threats and fear-mongering are favored tools of Christianity. I don't bend to threats or fear of this kind. Punished for what? Having a brain? Thinking for ones self? This here is why Christians abhor and dread atheism. Because atheists are people with just a strong conviction as Christians do and they are untouchable by conversion tactics. Christians prey on people that sit on the fence that are looking for meaning in life. And it's easy. So easy to throw the dice and believe in it. Religion is crafted and designed in this way. But atheists have made up their mind and Christians are frustrated that they are unable to convert them. Shaun you better stop using the internet because it is the free-flow of information that Christianity despises. The internet is chock full of facts, opinions and falsehoods alike. The key is that it's all out there; everything. Not like your precious bible with with testimony from 2000 year old sheepherders. Atheists are untouchable with conversion tactics. Lay off with the fear-mongering it doesn't work with us.
You keep blabbering on about the scientific evidence in the bible. You are looking, seeking and searching for what little snippets you "think" are there. Why do you think there are so many Christian denominations? Huh? Because somebody somewhere disagreed with some interpretation of the bible so they reinterpreted it to suit there needs.
"But the day of the Lord..."
Ignoring scripture because anyone can interpret it how they see fit. Fuck Bush!
"maybe his actions now will trigger the war in the future"
That's something to be lauded? Are you craving this annihilation?
"It'll suck to be an atheist on that day"
I could only rejoice when all Christians are gone from this earth. You don't even know how elated I would be if there were no people like you around.
Shaun is a bigot.
Sorry for using your site to argue a point or points. Hopefully Shaun will click on Larro's site to discuss things further. I won't waste my time here anymore, on this topic(inventing...) But I will be back to check for more interesting blogs.
Larro, you are a wrong that needs to be righted, whether or not I can do it? I don't know, I don't think so, but yes you do need to be righted.
I don't crave the day the world as we know it will end, but it's coming, and I would like to be ready. I do not search the bible for little bits of science, when I read, I just happen to find them.
This is what's in my mind, just try to look at it from my point of view.
I believe in religion, I have faith in God, I know sinners of all kinds who do not repent will not be taken to the new heaven and earth. Knowing that, how can I just sit down and ignore atheists. I have to try and help them. The way I see it, ignoring them would be a disservice to them, and to God. So all I'm trying to do is help, and I get a bunch of rubbish thrown back in my face, with f***s and insults and insults to my religion, and things like "biblical bull***t", that's what frustrates me, not my inability to make you see the truth.
And when I said a family of sinners will definitely be punished, I wasn't threatening you, I was trying to make you see that your family has already been punished. So much for having a brain.
I've got brains too, I think for my self too, I question everything I read in the bible. Did you think all Christians just read the bible and accept everything they see? Christians have been able to see the sense in the bible, it's the atheists who have not. Maybe we think more than you do, maybe you just give up to easily.
Tina, please don't worry about the argument on Beast's blog, it's the most attention this blog has ever gotten, and Beast is basking in it.
Larro, you are right, I know nothing about you, but is it really hard to understand why I 'know' you need god?
I'm a bigot? what's that about? Dude, you're an atheist, I'll take being a bigot over being an atheist any day.
There are a couple of recurring themes that annoy me in these postings:
First, that smugness of the "saved" -- what with all the comments about the unsaved being burned while they watch from "new earth" -- there seems to be a fetish about it. The poster really seems to delight in my ultimate demise.
Second, a bunch of the earlier posts saying that since the Bible is bad fiction with poorly drawn characters, it must be true. No logic problems there at all.
What these yabbos forget (and which Mr Hitchens points out beautifully) is that they are ALL ATHEISTS, as far as the hundreds of other world religions are concerned. I just believe one fewer than they do.
I'm afraid not, Fredthepig. Atheism only means not believing in the existance of any god. If like you say Richard Dawkins has mad this statement, not only is he a sinner, he is also someone who does not know what atheism means.
Christians don't call Muslims atheists, vice versa.
You guys aren't atheists either, apparently the atheist horde look to Dawkins as a God. Guess what your god sucks, go to youtube and you'll be able to see him make a complete idiot of himself, numerous times.
Shaun: you said, "shame on her for marrying an atheist"
Replace "atheist" with "nigger".
You don't see the bigotry?
I'm finished commenting on this post.
I'll be back to read some of your other stuff Beast. However I am going to post about this conversation (probably sometime within the next twelve hours; after I get out of work).
Ungodly Cynic
PS. I deleted that last comment cause I screwed up inserting the link.
Larro, atheism is sin, in one of it's it's purest forms. There's no bigotry in what I said. Would I be a bigot if I said "shame on you for marrying a rapist", would that make me a bigot?
Shaun, so you compare me and all of atheists to rapists? You are one fucked up individual. If anybody needs help it is certainly you.
I hope you think your god can forgive you for such hate-filled derision.
This is why people like you need to be stopped from spreading your venomous rhetoric and influencing the public. Because if this cancerous bullshit you spew becomes commonplace then this country will never be free.
Climbing Mount Improbable
I didn't say atheists are comparable to rapists, I was just trying to explain to you with a word that will be easier to make sense of, they way you tried to explain with the term "nigger". Are you saying all atheists are blacks?
you claim to live a nice, happy life, but obviously you have no peace whatsoever, you read what I write and blow a few gaskets everyday. It's quite apparent from the way you've got 3 short postings right there. Each one a small burst of steam.
Another thing, which "country" are you referring to? Atheism is a disease that the world suffers from, not just one country, another glaring example of your narrow-mindedness, thinking I'm only addressing one country. I'm not even in the U.S.
Lastly, I don't hate you, or any other atheist, I don't love them the way I should, but there's definitely no hate. If I were stuck on island with you, I would share my food.
Atheism is a disease? Fuck, the last I heard, we have a problem with Islamofacism, Christian fundamentalist, etc.
Atheism as a disease? Give me a fucking break!
Of course, you don't see it cos you've got it.
I would share my food with you, too.
Not because my invisible friend might be watching from the clouds.
Because it would be the decent, moral thing to do.
"There is nothing so pure as the kindness of an atheist"
Shaun, old buddy, old pal.
Obviously I need to type slower so you'll understand.
You may not call Muslims, Hindus, Bhuddists, Mormons, B'hai, etc, etc. "Athiests" directly. But you do believe they are not worshiping the right god -- or the right way, correct? And they will rot in hell because of it, correct? And they feel the same way about you and your kind, correct?
You don't believe in their god (despite apologists who try to gloss over the gaps). To the other religions you are a heathen and as good as an atheist, right?
Can you explain the difference to me?
BTW, Dawkins (like Hitchens) is an entertaining writer who says a lot of goofy crap (kinda like your posts).
I find him entertaining, but a god? Hardly.
Stop applying your superstitions to other's point of view.
(sorry about the delete -- these things ought to have spell check)
Yes, in a way all non Christians are Atheists too, but still not by the dictionary definition. Understand what I was trying to say now? And yes, Muslins, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs(not Bhais), all have the right to their opinion. But the point is, I argue my opinion, only, and I give reason, logic, science, everything for my opinion, while the rest sis mum, and a minuscule little fraction choose to make a god out of Dakwins. You'll find Dawkins only entertaining when there's a question he can't answer, which you'll find happens quite often when he's dealing with religion, and his stupendously ridiculous worship of Darwin's theory of evolution. I can understand why atheists will refuse to even try and address the many discrepancies that are present in the theory of evolution. I, on the other hand question the bible every time I read it, and I always find an answer, except for a very small number of things, maybe 3. But that's enough for me. The theory of evolution has a lot more flaws, there are numerous top 10 lists on the internet. But of course, you'll make it a point never to find one. If you find a properly written list of things wrong with the bible, Please let me know, and I will show you why it's rubbish. So now you know why I have the confidence to say that non Christians have the right to their wrong opinion.
And BTW, which one of my post is goofy crap? maybe you fell like that because there's no other way to make sense of atheism. Well, what the theists says must be crap.
Shaun, my friend, I must say that I am not an atheist because of biblical inconsistency or the bad science of the Torah or the rampant sexism of the epistles of Paul. You don't need me to point these out.
I have read the lists of Evolution Theory gaps. I assume that, as an intelligent person, you have or will do the same with your holy book.
But I am an "unbeliever" because the whole concept simply doesn't make sense.
I have never met (throughout many churches I've attended) a god I could respect. It -- god -- always seems imbued with humankind's worst qualities : Anger, Jealousy, etc.
I could go on with my de-conversion story, but not here.
Try me at fredthepig@yahoo.com
I am enjoying the conversation.
Sorry about bringing up the past:
Shaun; "I didn't say atheists are comparable to rapists, I was just trying to explain to you with a word that will be easier to make sense of, they way you tried to explain with the term "nigger". Are you saying all atheists are blacks?"
Bull fucking shit. Yes you did compare atheists to rapists. Asshole. I also see you fucking pussy-footed around in this comment. Trying to soften what you said. Explicitly trying to avoid the fact that you are a fucking real-deal bigot.
Christians should be ashamed of marrying atheists. That's what you said. You can't retract that, asshole.
Whatever you say in future I'll never forget that you are a fucking bigot.
I just read this, sorry for the delay. Larro, as usual, cuss is all you got. I don't even remember what you're talking about, but I still know myself well enough to say that I never compared an atheist to a rapist. What are you talkin about anyway? How is it that you're always cussing, it really doesn't bother me, it's just causing your heart to work harder. Please, think of yourself next time. Really, I'm not lying it doesn't bother me, it just makes me happier, to see that all you got is cuss, kind shows that you don't have much of a point to make.
If you still want to insist I compared you to a rapist, no big deal, we're all sinners anyway. As a matter of fact, a rapist cum murderer cum theif cum (put anything here except for blasphemer)who truly repents will still go to heaven(although that will be very hard), while an atheist whoose been an angel all his/her life is going to spend the rest of eternity in the fires of hell. So you get the lousy deal again.
yeah, I did say a christian should not marry an atheist. it doesn't make sense to me. I understand love and all, you could fall in love with an atheist, that's an issue I'll only understand if I do fall in love with an atheist, but I still think a Christian should know not to marry an atheist. You wouldn't want to marry a christian wold you?
that was me, above this.
Shaun. said...
Larro, atheism is sin, in one of it's it's purest forms. There's no bigotry in what I said. Would I be a bigot if I said "shame on you for marrying a rapist", would that make me a bigot?
About your last comment: What happens between two consenting adults is absolutely none of your fucking business to begin with.
None of your business? what if 2 consenting adults wanted to break into your house and steal your piano in the middle of the night? Is it still none of your business? Many a pair of adult folk would like to know where you live then.
That's beside the point, 2 people want to marry each other, they should be able to. But it doesn't make sense to me, how could you be happy knowing the person you love is going to hell. But then again, there's that oh so powerful thing called love, which is blind(and apparently evolved from a rock), and causes you to do stupid things sometimes.
Anyway, what are you getting so worked up about? Your wife's not religious.
Actually I'll get back to you on that issue when I fall in love with an atheist. I believe I won't understand the situation until then.
Shaun, maybe he's cussing to get a rise out of you, and you always end up commenting on how he's cussing....:)
Anyway, what are you getting so worked up about? Your wife's not religious.
Let's see.......she USED to be. Maybe Larro converted her......NOT! Religion converted her. :)
Tina, don't be naive, look around at what Larro writes, he cusses cause he's angry. He called me a bigot for no reason, maybe he feels he's being bullied, I don't know.
You think religion converted her, I don't. It was Satan. I know you don't believe in Satan, which is maybe why it's so hard for you for you to understand the possibility.
Bigot;
I called you a bigot for this reason: REPLACE "ATHEIST" WITH NIGGER.
Do you not fucking get it?
It's the same fucking principle! Discrimination. GET IT!?!?
You said a Christian should be ashamed of marrying an atheist.
Say this and it means the EXACT FUCKING THING:
A white person should be ashamed to marry a nigger.
Fucking bigot!
Do you want to be an asshole all your life? Do you want to be a bigot all your life?
Let go.
Look at that, managed to roll out a barrel of profanity again. try to manipulate my words all you want larro, be as convincing to ourself as you want.
3 things, I'm not a bigot, I don't care if you think I'm one, and shame on a Christian who marries an atheist. It's like vandalizing what God gave you, marriage came from God, not from a molten rock.
yourself, I mean.
When and if I profane, you still know what the fuck I'm talking about. If it's offensive to you I really don't give a rats ass. Shove it.
You still don't fucking get it.
You have no fucking clue what civil liberty really means. THIS very fact is the REAL danger to society.
Not me fucking cussing up a storm. Because it's my fucking right to cuss and swear if I fucking choose to.
It's you being an uneducated bumpkin, bible-thumping, god-fearing Christian who thinks that everybody else had better believe the exact same fucking way you do. Or else they are going to some imaginary place to fucking suffer unimaginable pain and hardship because... after all god really does love you...
This is your belief. NOT mine. I don't believe in Satan. I don't believe in the tooth fairy. I don't believe in the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
You don't understand, because YOU believe a god is always with us. And always has been. Do you NOT understand that I can't (and refuse) to argue against that? FUCK!!!
I am more than willing to let you have that belief. No strings attached. But, here you come out and declare that it's a sin and wrong for me to hold my own in the same way. THIS IS THE ROOT OF MY FUCKING IRE.
With the very notion that it is a sin and "wrong" for me to believe what I do. You are saying you are better than me because you believe in an imaginary playmate for adults that grants you a better place in an afterlife (THAT I DON'T BELIEVE IN EITHER) than me. If you want to have this playmate then keep it to yourself, please.
You are doing a very, very good job of pissing off a rather cool and passive individual I hope you know. Yes, read through all the comments and you will find that YOU in particular really fucking piss me off. I'm even a slight bit more civil with DRD.
That's very Christian of you. What a way to spread the word of god. You are very convincing of your love for Him to inspire in me such animosity. You are doing such a splendid job of spreading the gospel. Bravo. Is there any other way you can get me pissed off?
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