September 30th, 2009
And here’s why:
Psalm 14:1-3 KJV says: “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”
If I save someone’s life, it is good; I prove Yahweh wrong. Furthermore, if I save a life and God chooses not to, then am I not better than a god who does not save lives when it is able?
If you object saying,”Yahweh is using you to do his works,” then Yahweh is using me to do good. So I am doing good. Which means Yahweh is wrong.
Or am I wrong? Let me know in the comments.
god, the bible | 
11 Comments »
September 25th, 2009
photo © DerrickT
The delightful and thoughtful @hyumen documented the beginning of a long journey on her blog.
Well, I did it. I told my family that I am an atheist. Sort of.
After posting the results of the “Do you believe in God?” CNN poll (which strongly favored “No” at the time of its closing), a discussion about doubting God’s existence broke out on her Facebook page. Two family members joined her in vocalizing those doubts, while another, a theist, spoke back about why God is truly there.
The good news is that at least a part of my family knows how I feel now. We all know what the bad news is. I will have to hear the hellfire and brimstone sermonettes at every turn, as will my nephew and daughter. However, the family doesn’t know there are several more in the family who have yet to come out of the atheist closet. The holidays this year should be very interesting.
Make sure to check out her blog and support her as she navigates this family situation.
As the aphorism goes, “Everyone is coming from somewhere”. Some atheists were raised without religion and faith; others live in areas that are unwelcoming to the non-religious.
For all of you atheists who had to come out of the proverbial closet as non-believers: What steps did it take to be completely public and honest about your identity? Was it a confession to one individual at a time or perhaps a more public approach like @hyumen’s? Were the people around you welcoming and understanding of you or did they evangelize and debate? How long were you “in the closet” before coming out godless?
Cast your vote:
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christianity, god, religion, society | 14 Comments »
August 22nd, 2009
Remember all those posts about God being a douchebag? I’ve been discussing God with a friend of mine who suggested the following argument (which I will probably muddle, since I’m summarizing from memory). I’d love to hear your responses!
So what if God is an asshole? Even if God did order the slaughter of humans in the Old Testament, condone slavery, and send souls to everlasting torture in hell… that’s totally within his rights! After all, if this truly is an infinite being in size, power, and so forth, God is not subject to the morality he gave humankind. Nor does it truly matter if we live or die because we’re just specks–less than specks–to his infinite All. Our souls are like eternal beings; the body doesn’t matter if it’s all about eternity, so the suffering we feel on earth and the resentment for experiencing it is meaningless in the face of the eternal life of the soul and the ultimate power and all-knowing will of God.
I may have sped through her ideas, but do you get the gist of what she’s saying? And what would you say in response to this sort of argument? Does God get a free pass because he’s just so damn big? Should we really have a problem with an all-powerful deity that does whatever it wants with its creation?
christianity, god, religion, the bible | 18 Comments »
July 22nd, 2009
Photo © Jim Kuhn
I suppose I’m a bit of an atheist cliché. I have expressed on numerous occasions my distaste for the Judeo-Christian god as depicted in the Bible. (check out why God’s justice is anti-American and God is immoral). But if we don’t speak up about the inconsistencies we observe, they might go un-recognized by those who seek the truth. So in the name of critical thinking, I’ll continue to challenge the Get Out of Jail Free card often handed to God even when our own reasoning indicates he’s in violation of the most basic standards of morality.
So, what about torture? This topic has been the focus of a steady buzz in past months, but only recently have I had much personal interaction with the topic.
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christianity, god, politics | 4 Comments »
