The same, alas, is not true of organized religion. A bunch of right wing Christianists (when Atlas Juggs blogger Pam Geller is involved, you know it’s batshit crazy Christianists) chummed for Islamist extremist in Garland, Texas. They got their wish — a couple of ISIS wanna-bes tried to crash their party, and got shot down for their trouble by the cops waiting in ambush.
At this point I’m completely puzzled as to why atheism has a bad name in America. The number of atheists who’ve blown themselves (and others) up in defense of their faith is… uhm…. zero. The number of atheists who’ve engaged in or attempted mass shootings in defense of their faith remains… uhm… zero. The number of atheists who’ve used their faith as an excuse to conquer other nations remains… erm… zero. The number of atheist pedophiles who’ve had their crimes covered up by their faith remains… erm… zero. The same cannot be said of virtually every organized religion on this planet, almost all of which have been used as excuses for conquests, bombings, shootings, pedophilia, slavery, genocide, or worse at some point in time.
— Badtux the Irreligious Penguin
Here’s why I think atheism is so “confronting” (as they say here) to so many people that it gets such high negative ratings. Atheists are saying “The Supernatural God view that you base your entire life upon is false. Therefore, you are a delusional idiot. You’ve spent your existence walking around with your head up your arse.” Most atheists (aside from the Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens types) are not so in-your-face to the misguided doG-botherers. But at some level, even if they don’t think it through clearly, atheists are mocking the religious fools. So they hate us.
And don’t forget — the thinkers amongst the atheist-haters will counter that Stalin, Mao and other communists did not believe in god, and look how many millions of people they killed! But most people who are creeped out by atheism don’t think it through that far. They just KNOW that we’re wrong and they’re right. Just like the KNOW there’s a Big Guy with a Long White Beard up there who’s going to punish us with unimaginable pain if we’re bad. Which is the only thing that keeps the church-goers from running amok they way they darkly desire to.
The only people in this society who ask me what my religion is are schizophrenics. Australia is a highly secular society, so sane people don’t give a crap what my creed is. Religious obsession and faith-based antagonism is common amongst the mentally disturbed. (Which is part of the reason I gave up believing in a god-concept. The bollocks that the loonies said was not terribly far removed from what the devout spouted. I decided they’re all nucking futs.)
Most nurses that I’ve observed in that situation try to wiggle out of the question when it’s put to them. I tell the patients “I believe in science.” That shuts about half of ’em down. It’s not as direct as saying “I’m an atheist.” They don’t have a good follow-up rant against science. If they persist in demanding “Are you an atheist?” I simply reply “Yes, I am.” I don’t get into theological debates or try to talk them into atheism. Most just let it drop, because they know there’s no point in crashing dogma against a solid rock. The ones who do rage on that I’m going to hell, etc, I just smile at bemusedly. No point being bothered by the words of a crazy person, eh?
LikeLike
Well said, sir.
LikeLike
I think another reason Bukko is that many religious people believe an individual can only be “moral” if that morality is based on religion. There was, some time ago on Daily Kos, a post that basically made that point.
A large number of very thoughtful replies pointed out to the poster how an atheist can live a moral life without religion/god/dogma.
I’m not going to try and find that and link it but if anyone is interested the atheist point of view was very well presented and defended.
LikeLike
From The Notebooks of Lazarus Long:
“The most preposterous notion that Homo sapiens has ever dreamed up is that the Lord God of Creation, Shaper and Ruler of all the Universes, wants the saccharine adoration of His creatures, can be swayed by their prayers, and becomes petulant if He does not receive this flattery. Yet this absurd fantasy, without a shred of evidence to bolster it, pays all the expenses of the oldest, largest, and least productive industry in all history.”
Some other examples:
Natural laws have no pity
Secrecy is the beginning of tyranny
LikeLike