and her adventures in Atheism
Posts tagged controversial
Poll: Do Motivations Matter?
Nov 19th
We need more love in the world. There is so much acidity, bad blood, inequality, bigotry, hatred, poverty, hunger, suffering, and sorrow all around us. Each of us could improve the situation by helping someone in need or promoting peace and love.
But what about those who do these things for religious or superstitious motivations?
Jack believes God is asking him to donate groceries to a food bank.
Rhoda has been taught that good Mormons should give to charity and volunteer their time.
Quinn is afraid of being cast into hell because he didn’t help the poor (Matthew 25:31-46 [show] "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'
"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' Then they also will answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?' Then he will answer them, saying, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." (ESV)
).
Sam’s psychic told him that good fortune would come to him if he first gave a large sum of money to a homeless shelter.
Lola founded an international charity to provide water for the poor because she wants to lead thousands of souls to Jesus.
What about the good these people are doing? Do their motivations taint the effects of their charity and dedication? Is service done for wrong or religious reasons less of a service?
As long as you do the right thing, love others, and help the poor and needy, does it matter what your motivations are in the long run?
Loading ...Coming Out Godless: What Was Your First Step?
Sep 25th
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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Militant Atheism
Jun 28th
According to the common usage of this phrase, I am a “Militant Atheist”. Here’s why:
- I speak out publicly about my critical view of religion and spiritual belief.
- I maintain an atheist blog. le gasp.
- I will engage theists in discussion and debate about theology.
- I vehemently support the separation of church and state.
- I love science so much, I’d have its babies.
- I use sarcasm and ridicule to illustrate why I think certain things are, indeed, ridiculous.
- The most violent thing I’ve done in the name of godlessness is to gleefully throw a bible into the recycling bin.
Why is this a bad thing? Why should I be quiet simply because I lack faith in mythological creatures? Why do we give religious people a free pass to express their loud, evangelistic points of view and then shy away from expressing our own thoughts?
The word “militant” should not be assigned to someone like me who at worst is loudly expressing opinions and ridiculing the irrational.In the words of twitter user @HHeliBebcnof:
A militant Christian blows up abortion clinics; a militant Muslim hijacks airplanes; a militant atheist argues with people.
-@HHeliBebcnof (Science Man), 13-1-2010 15:36:52
I don’t stone you for being a Christian/Jewish/Hindu/Wiccan. I won’t burn you at the stake for being a witch. I will never kill in order to please a lack of deity. My lack of spiritual belief doesn’t make me want to hurt you. My lack of belief doesn’t tell me to bomb a building or damn someone to eternal torture. If I ever do something violent, it’s because I’m an ass–not because some imaginary friend would like it.
The term “militant atheism” needs to be utterly rejected by skeptics and atheists everywhere. If anything, call us Proud Atheists or Pain-In-Your-Ass Atheists. But don’t call a peaceful, intelligent movement a name that equates it with acts of violence, hatred, and bigotry. It’s easy to slander your opponents–to poison the well in order to make yourself the good guy. But cheap shots don’t make for a winning argument.
Check out a discussion on this topic at deconversion.org. Watch two great videos about “militant atheism” after the cut!
Joe the Plumber’s 15 minutes and 59 seconds
May 5th
Joe (Samuel Wurzelbacher), please stop touring, writing, doing interviews, and basically ramming your bigoted, uneducated nonsense all over the media. I can’t believe anyone gives this guy the time of day anymore, but at least it’s fodder for serious *headdesk* and *facepalm* moments.
Check out what he says to Christianity Today in one of their little “timely” interviews to appear current. Too bad their version of “current” is months too late.
On gay marriage:
I personally still think it’s wrong. People don’t understand the dictionary—it’s called queer. Queer means strange and unusual. It’s not like a slur, like you would call a white person a honky or something like that. You know, God is pretty explicit in what we’re supposed to do—what man and woman are for. Now, at the same time, we’re supposed to love everybody and accept people, and preach against the sins. I’ve had some friends that are actually homosexual. And, I mean, they know where I stand, and they know that I wouldn’t have them anywhere near my children. But at the same time, they’re people, and they’re going to do their thing. [emphasis added]
This whitewashed bigot really cracks me up. Read the two bold parts next to each other and explain to me how in the hell the actions in the latter fit the statement in the former. That’s right; they don’t. Typical.
Oh, and note how his interviewer Pulliam just skips from topic to topic without challenging him on any of his poisonous ignorance. Perhaps the interview had to be edited to avoid “controversy” or perhaps she didn’t find his drivel as offensive to the brain as most of the folks in the comments did. Or if we’re lucky, perhaps she secretly wanted him to hang himself with his terrible views dangling out in public like that. That actually worked.
On politics:
…I think that all needs to be taken out of the federal level and give it back to the states. We’ve lost our American history. Every state has “In God we trust” or “With God’s help” in their constitution. God is recognized as, if you will, America’s religion.
JTP seems to love the new US motto “In God We Trust” which was adopted in 1956. I suppose he wouldn’t support the historical motto, “E pluribus unum” (“from many, one”) since he’s all about the individual states and no central government to keep the unity for which we fought so hard in the Civil War. And I didn’t even mention the Deist Founding Fathers (not Christian).
I like Sarah Palin a lot, actually. I just don’t know if that’s where God’s leading her. I just know the Republican Party’s done its best to blackball her. I don’t know what her agenda is. If she ran, would I vote for her? Absolutely.
Meet the poster boy for voter ignorance. Follow JTP and you don’t even have to know what the candidate plans or stands for! No critical thinking–as easy as American Pie!
When politicians start talking about being a Christian, I just worry, because a lot of them don’t really follow through. I like to see real action in that area. … I would love to hear our leaders actually check with God before he does stuff.
Wait, wait. He wants them to check with God before God does stuff? Don’t move a finger, God! They need to check with you first!
But seriously, I’d rather they check with reliable resources and use their reasoning skills, experience, and education before making decisions, thanks. Talking to their imaginary friends aren’t what I call admirable qualities. I know, I know, it’s a freethought daydream.
Many of the comments are silly, hilarious, or simply bear repeating, so after the cut I’m going to quote some of my favorites.
More >
