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The Godless Generation: Of God and Bugs

religiousragings:

thegodlessgeneration:

Imagine Mr. Smith is in his yard and overhears two small bugs having a discussion as to the existence of Mr. Smith. One bug has the gaul to swear upon the honor of all bugs that he had examined the question of Mr. Smith’s existence to the best of his ability and had come to the conclusion that no man by the name of Mr. Smith had ever lived. 

Now imagine Mr. Smith flying into a fit of rage, crushing the atheist bug beneath his shoe and screaming, “I will teach you, blasphemous wretch, that Mr. Smith is a diabolical fact!” 

What then are we supposed to think of a God who opens the artillery of heaven upon one of his own children for simply expressing an honest thought? 

- adapted from R.G. Ingersoll

Or more specifically, imagine Mr. Smith picking up the bug, tearing off it’s legs, and torturing for the rest of it’s existence simply because the bug dared to doubt, and then saying that it was the bug’s choice to receive this kind of punishment.

If I were Mr. Smith, I’d just bend down, pick up both bugs, put my face to theirs, say, “Hello, there,”  smile, put the bugs down on a nice juicy flower or something, and then go on my way.

Either that, or I’d capture them and take them to a university to study them, screaming, “HEY!  TALKING BUGS!”

I’m thinking the later!

Filed under christianity christian religion god atheism agnostic faith

15 notes

The - I was a former #atheist - ploy

anotheratheist:

#god #jesus

-

Every so often, you run into a religious person who employs this line on you. They claim they were an atheist but then, they saw the light (or whatever). There’s a moment of awkwardness that follows this clumsy attempt to build a rapport.

Here’s why it doesn’t work.

  • First, there isn’t any commonly-held doctrines to atheism. You can’t presume your former reasons not to have Jesus in your life are the same as mine. Jumping straight in and assuming I was in a similar state to you is, well, inane. At least ask me why I’m an atheist.
  • Second, there’s a difference between being an atheist and non-religious.  Being an atheist is an actual position taken towards the evidence for gods. Many “former atheists” I’ve encountered were simply non-religious for a time. They were indifferent to the claims by religion- they didn’t take an atheist position. It was far too apathetic. But they’re still primed for belief- they are exposed often and regularly to religious influences.

These conversion stories are pretty basic fare for Christians. And I appreciate that from such a perspective, anyone who hasn’t adopted a formal religious stance is clumped into the big atheist set. It must sound kind of exciting, hearing these tales of conversion of atheists. But it doesn’t work like this. Real atheists don’t get converted to Christianity by listening to your faith and convictions.

If you want to convert atheist, then the only thing that will work is valid evidence that your beliefs can be substantiated. We’ve all heard the Jesus speech before. We’ve all been witnessed to, we’ve all been prayed for. You need to stump with evidence.

This.

Filed under atheist atheism religion jesus

46 notes

Atheists read the Bible differently than they read any other book. When a Bible sits open before them, they forget all grammatical constructs like metaphor, idiom, hyperbole, similes, and personification. They become temporarily incapable of comprehending the difference between imperative and narrative statements. They ignore context in every form: textual, cultural, and historical.

This dysfunction of the atheist’s mental capabilities is completely intentional. Subconsciously, and maybe even consciously, the atheist knows that if he or she reads the Bible the same as any other book, it would not only challenge the atheist’s deeply held beliefs, but it would demand an investigation into its claims. Most atheists are terrified at the prospect of discovering that what the Bible says might actually be true.

This is a fundamental difference between Christians and atheists. Christians are not afraid to research and try to dig into the very core of the atheists’ beliefs. But most atheists are terrified of giving the Holy Scriptures the same treatment.

(via badp)

Now this is some comedy gold.

(via socialistictendencies)

Someone sat down and seriously wrote this? I mean, their intention was to be serious? As a former Christian and now free-thinking, skeptical atheist, I most certainly research *everything* written in the Bible. And I have come to the conclusion that it is the most contradictory, error-riddled, fictitious pile of rubbish I have ever had the misfortune of having to read several dozen times as a “child of God” while growing up.

(via socialistictendencies-archive)

Filed under atheism Bible grammar religion language Christianity

82 notes

9/11 was not a christian tragedy, it was a human tragedy.

blogvader:

I marvel at the illogical manner in which Christians have exploited the 9/11 incident to make war on their religious enemies in the world, largely because, if a god was out there answering prayers that day, then presumably it answered the prayers of Muslim extremists, not Christians.

I guess expecting Jesus to put down his margarita and remote control is asking too much, hmm?

This is where I am left scratching my head. Christians are all over putting up a cross to show that “God” cared but apparently only *after* the fact. Where was “he” before the attack?

(Source: abaldwin360)

Filed under 9/11 War on Terror Terrorism Christian Jesus Christ Religion Atheism Islam Muslim Atheist

58 notes

The Atheist That Hates: Things I've learned from Twitter and #atheist

hatefulatheist:

- People are way too amused by the idea of an Atheist named Christian.

- People don’t understand that Atheists are not devil worshippers/Satan/demons.

- People like to talk about Tyler the Creator a lot (rapper) simply because he’s Atheist.

- People often have to express shock and disbelief at…

I still frequent Twitter. I just don’t read it as much as I used to (at least the #atheist and #atheism timelines).

Filed under Random Personal Self Religion Atheist Atheism American Atheism Christian Twitter Christianity