Debunking Jesus?

Debunking Jesus?

MORALITY AND ATHEISM

A frequent comment thrown in the face of atheists, especially new declared ones, by Christians* (most Muslims would behead an atheist) is that “atheists are immoral,” that atheists cannot be moral or good people without the moral guidance of the Bible and its protagonist, God. One I have heard recently is that atheists (myself included) are nihilistic.

*(I reference Christians more because they are the largest theological (and political) force in this country and the ones who wish to establish a theocracy in the US)

Nihilism refers to a “total rejection of established laws and institutions,” as well as to “the total rejection of all religious and moral principles,” and atheists definitely do not reject “established laws & institutions” (unless said laws & institutions promote a religion or god to the detriment of others, see the 1^st Amendment) nor deny moral principles.

As a philosophy, nihilism refers to the “denial of all real existence,” and “nothingness;” again, atheists do not deny existence.

Morality is the set of principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad.

Is slavery moral? What about child molestation? Murder? In both the Bible and the Qur'an, all are allowed, justified, and even endorsed (God freed the Israelites from slavery under the Egyptians then instructed them on keeping slaves).

In the past 2000 years through to today, much of our morality is dictated by religions, like Christianity. Religious morality, into which many of us are born, serves only the purpose the particular deity, and offers obedience as a major virtue and vice in disobedience (former helps to get one to heaven and the latter to Hell). In Richard Dawkin's book, “The God Delusion,” he mentions the Zeitgeist, the spirit of the times. In our modern times, our Zeitgeist has morals that include racial and gender equality;

however, just 100 years ago, the Zeitgeist had no such equality for ethnic peoples or women. The changes in these morals happened over time through the efforts of human beings who fought, and died, to make it happen; no god came from Heaven to help make those changes.

Today, however, atheists are standing up and saying, “We are moral, too. In fact, we are more moral than either God or Allah.” How do we get to make those claims? Because in the Torah, the New Testament of the Bible, and the Qur'an, God/Allah show a staggering array of immorality, from murdering millions of people in a Flood to endorsing slavery, rape, torture, and genocide. And today, we have seen just as many atrocities committed by religious people – child molestation by church leaders, beheadings & whippings of people – while neither God nor Allah bother to stop anything. Why? Do they not care? Can they help yet are unable or unwilling? Then why are they called god?

In his book, “Moral Minds,” Mark D. Hauser states “Based on studies of moral judgments in a wide range of cultures, atheists and agnostics are perfectly capable of distinguishing between morally permissible and forbidden actions.”

Phil Zuckerman, of Pitzer College, writing in the December 2009 issue of “Sociology Compass,” (Vol. 3, Issue 6) presented several studies showing that atheists were “less prejudiced, anti-semtitic, racist, dogmatic, ethnocentric, close-minded and authoritarian.” Those same studies as well as similar ones showed that “non-religious people were more altruistic and supportive of gender equality and gay rights;” ‘only 2% of prisoners in U.S. jails are atheists;” and “murder and violent crime rates are higher in highly religious countries than in more secular countries,” (ex. Pakistan versus Iceland), whereas “murder and violent crime rates are higher in highly religious U.S. states than in less religious U.S. states” (ex. Mississippi versus Vermont).

Many Christians, especially ones who consider themselves conservative, ask, and sometimes demand, atheists be quiet, keep their “beliefs” (atheism is NOT a belief; it’s the lack of belief in any god) to themselves. To that, we atheists say, “NO, we will not.”

As Penn Jillette, a self-described hard-care atheist, states in his book, “God, NO!” just as Christians and other theists feel 'morally obligated to say what they think, so “Atheists are also morally obligated to tell the truth as we see it.”

All told, why should anyone outsource their morals from a 2,000 year old book that contains a god who bans shellfish instead of slavery and murders children?

As a world famous theoretical physicist named Albert Einstein once said, “I am convinced that a consciousness of the primary importance of moral principles for the betterment and ennoblement of life does not need the idea of a law-giver who works on the basis of reward and punishment.”

You do not need religion to have morals. If you can't determine right from wrong, then you lack empathy, not religion.

A Tale of 2 Closets

A TALE OF TWO CLOSETS by Reid B.

One might say I am "just a poor boy from a poor family," however my life has not been a "Bohemian Rhapsody" in any manner.

I was actually born to a middle-class, blue-collar man and his junior-in-college wife on a cold January day some 50 years ago.

Like every person on this planet, we are born into the religion of our families; some atheists are born into families that lack belief. I was born into a Christian family; although, a family of two denominations of Christianity: Lutheran and Methodist.

I have always been on a journey of both self-discovery and becoming more knowledgeable than I was yesterday. The key to both of those has been honesty and acceptance of facts in evidence.

Honesty and acceptance of facts helped me declare to my mom one late fall day in my junior year of high school that I am gay. And now, those same qualities helped me, finally, realize and declare, on this late winter day some 35 years later, that I am an atheist.

Wow! I just outed myself to you. And guess what? The world did not end, the sky did not fall, nor has any bearded man come by to chastise me or banish me to an eternity of “torment, fire and brimstone” for not believing in his existence.

Why am I an atheist? Another question would be "why did it take me so long to declare it?"

An answer to both questions is the partial purpose of this article. The other purpose of this article is to let other gay atheists in the area know that “you are not alone.”

Atheism, from the Greek word 'atheos,' is defined as the lack of belief, or the rejection of belief, in the existence of any deity. At one point in Greek history, even Socrates was accused of being an atheist (though this accusation was probably more politically-motivated than theologically-motivated). In ancient Roman, early Christians were persecuted as atheists because they worshiped a different god than those officially sanctioned and worshiped by the government.

On this "pale blue dot" (to quote Carl Sagan), aka Earth, at least 5,000 deities, from Allah to YHWH, are worshiped today. And within each faith system, there exists several denominations. If any god existed, there would be no need for any Bibles, Qur'ans, Torahs, etc., as that deity would speak for itself and we all would know, and hear, it.

Throughout the many decades since I was born, I have traveled the gambit of religious experiences: Mormonism, agnosticism, fundamental evangelicalism (thanks to my first partner), Hinduism, and Wicca (they worship a pantheon of gods as well as revere nature). All in all, no god, nor its illegitimate child (think about it), ever physically appeared in my life to help me with anything, nor stop me from doing anything. I did every great thing, good thing, and not-so-good thing ALL by myself.

I have come to realize that I do not need religion in order to be good or moral. In fact, my morality is the only thing keeping me from starting a religion and exploiting your gullibility for profit, just like L. Ron Hubbard or Joseph Smith.

Now I am sure I will hear from some folks telling me that because I am an atheist, I'm therefore (somehow, ipso facto) immoral, filthy, or, perhaps, at best, a hedonist (or even, worse still, a libertine). Before writing those comments and sending them to me, ask yourself if those were not the same (or similar) words thrown at you merely for coming out as gay or lesbian or trans-gender.

Hopefully this article will encourage you to read the Bible from cover to cover, without study guides or any spin to it. Sometime between the talking snake, God kill children in Egypt (Exodus 12:29) or God commands Abraham to kill his own son as proof of Abraham's fealty to God, and when Jesus tells people to hate their mothers and fathers (Luke 14:26), you will become an atheist. [NOTE: OR, you could just say, “...and Jesus telling...”]

For more info, please read books by Bertrand Russell, Robert Ingersoll, Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, George Smith, or Dave Steele (among many others), and/or listen to podcasts by former ministers, like Matt Dillahunty, Ryan Bell, or Seth Andrews. I will also answer all questions and comments at A.Gay.Atheist@gmail.com

Wait A Minute--Let's Hear From Some Actual Police Officers Before We Rush To Judgment

Wait A Minute--Let's Hear From Some Actual Police Officers Before We Rush To Judgment

Disillusioned in 2014

I made the following comment to this article on the Liberal America website regarding the reply of someone bashing Carl Gibson for his letter to the Democratic Party.

Amazing! Do you all hear yourselves? You sound like your parents. And this reply, by Anonamly, sounded more like "I'm older than you and I have nothing to learn from a younger person." Arrogance and hubris on the part of an old(er) Dem Party who not only distanced themselves from the POTUS, they also failed to reach out to voters like me nor the "Millennials." I never once saw any advertisements on tv, nor heard any on the radio, praising the POTUS for his hard work, extolling the good things happening now (job growth, stock market, millions of folks helped by the ACA, etc), supporting the plans of his, and especially any ads encouraging and urging the Democrats (young and older) to vote for the Democratic candidates.
Carl communicates to the established, and entrenched, elders of the party his, as well as others, disillusionment with the party and how it fails to make its followers care about voting let alone encouraging them to vote.

If the leadership (and you all) cannot handle criticism of the way the Party handled this past election and accept responsibility for the losses in these mid-term elections, the way it communicates to all of the Citizens of the country, and changes itself for the better, then do not expect anyone, let alone me or the Millennials, to vote Democrat in 2016.

Here is Carl's letter:
http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/26822-focus-open-letter-to-democrats-from-a-disillusioned-young-voter

Here is the link to the letter on L A's website:
http://www.liberalamerica.org/2014/11/09/responding-to-the-shallow-open-letter-to-democrats-from-a-disillusioned-voter/

http://aattp.org/a-retired-navy-officer-rips-tea-party-terrorist-behind-reward-for-capture-of-obama-facebook-page/

Bernie Sanders Exposes The Republican Fraud Behind Voter ID Laws Via New GAO Report

Bernie Sanders Exposes The Republican Fraud Behind Voter ID Laws Via New GAO Report