Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Another Angry Atheist Sounds Off

Every once in a while, I bounce around to some of the more frequented atheist blogs and find a gem to opine on. This time around, it's the Atheist Oasis blog, formerly known as God Is For Suckers!


The poster was a guy called Ray G., and his post about the recent theater shooting in Colorado is pretty typical. He is unhappy that survivors of the incident give God credit for their survival. Ray here hates the idea that survivors of a truly horrible act would give credit to the idea of a god that Ray detests. Ray is truly offended when others don't kow-tow to the notion that our lives, in fact, our very existence, are just products of pure dumb luck.


That's nothing new, but I'd like to take on a couple of his points as examples of flawed atheist logic.


Ray posted this about Jennifer Seeger, one of the survivors:

“I have no idea why he didn’t shoot me,” she said.  Fortunately, Seeger got out of the theater safely.

Later, she told her mother, “Mom, god saved me.  God still loves me.”
Ray commented:
"When I read that quote, my heart broke.  It’s made up of only eight words, but they tell a sad story."
"For some reason, Jennifer Seeger doubted that god still loved her. It seems at one time, she was confident that he loved her, but not anymore. We don’t know why, but that’s not important.  Perhaps she’d even reached the conclusion, for whatever reason, that god had stopped loving her."
That's the point, Ray... you don't know what was going on in that girl's life. Maybe she was rebelling against her parents, or getting into trouble. God allows the world He made to be run by the people to whom He gave dominion over it, and like any good parent, He seeks opportunities to pull some good out of all the evil we throw into it. I wouldn't expect an unbeliever to understand this.
Ray says later:
"I was raised to worship and fear the same god worshiped and feared by these people.  Hardly a day goes by when I am not told or in some way made aware of the claim that I should still be worshiping this god, and that I am somehow morally deficient because I don’t.  To those of us who do not believe in gods, or perhaps worship other deities, this story of human slaughter is supposed to be an example of Yahweh’s love and mercy.  We’re supposed to see in this what a great and powerful god he really is."
Or perhaps this is supposed to be an example of how imperfect we humans really are, and what a farcical notion moral relativity is.

In his harsh criticism of survivor Pierce O'Farrill, Ray G. tries a walk-back by pointing out:

"I’m not criticizing O’Farrill personally.  I’m criticizing his interpretation of events..."
But later, Ray made this judgemental comment:

"That is perverse. It’s especially perverse coming from a religion that claims to be all about those other things — you know, love and peace and humility. There is no humility there. It is, whether James O’Farrill and Brad Strait and Jennifer Seeger are aware of it or not, an expression of breathtaking arrogance. I would go so far as to call it a kind of narcissism."

So, Ray, Pierce O'Farrill, along with Brad Strait and Jennifer Seeger are just arrogant narcissists? Is that the compassion and understanding we can expect from atheists?

I'm afraid the answer is a huge "yes".

Ray G. began his conclusion by posting:

"Silent and invisible looks a whole lot like … nothing.  And this extremely malleable god, who can be whatever you need him to be at any given moment, looks a whole lot like wishful thinking.  A god who can be whatever you need him to be is really nothing at all."
Yet one of the biggest arguments that atheists have against the existence of God is the idea that God ISN'T what atheists want Him to be: an eternal cosmic Santa Claus. How's that for irony?

By the way, Ray, the physical forces that govern our universe are for the most part silent and invisible. Their existence has been discovered and measured by those who chose to believe in those forces when others called them crazy. There's a big hint for you.
And Ray finished with this:
Below are the names of the people some Christians believe were not good enough for the Judeo-Christian god to save (Or at least, Ray assumes this much).  The ripples of pain and devastation sent out by each of these losses are immeasurable.  As far as I’m concerned, any god who could have prevented their deaths but did not is a monster."  (List of names followed)
So, Ray, is God a bigger monster than James Holmes? Who was it that actually walked into a theater with an AK-47?
Are the people who elected Hitler into power bigger monsters than Der Fuerher himself?
Nobody heard James Holmes quoting scripture as he was shooting. By all appearances, Mr. Holmes may not have any god belief. Is God a monster for letting an atheist kill 12 innocent people?
Is God a monster for letting atheist Mao Zedong send 40 million people to die growing bad crops?

God said there were grave consequences for not following a few simple commandments. Is God a monster for not behaving like a Universal Gepetto and just playing with us like mindless puppets? Ray, are you suggesting God is evil for allowing the existence of free will?
You think God enjoys when innocents suffer?
We have the moral imperative to seek out opportunities and prevent disasters like the theater shooting. If we're going to sit on our butts and expect God to fix every problem BEFORE it happens, like the premise behind the movie "Minority Report", we're nothing but perpetual babies. We wouldn't need rules at all, because God would always be there to fix the bad before it happened.
THAT is the God atheists like Ray G. would believe in.

Monday, July 30, 2012

Another Brilliant Example of Atheist Logic

Atheist on the internet said:

"Science does not recognize gods so everyone is an atheist. Some people pretend that there is god, because it comforts them, but their wish think and blind faith don't affect reality."

This is simply too funny. Science, the ultimate authority in everything, claims I don't believe in God. Well, I believe in something, or someone, so what is it I believe in?

This guy claims I "pretend". Pretending implies I'm making stuff up that I know isn't true. Basically, this genius is calling all believers, including religious leaders like the Dalai Lama, Ghandi, the Pope, and Billy Graham a bunch of liars.

Lying is a willful attempt at deception. Billy Graham believes in God. This atheist has yet to prove Billy Graham is willfully deceiving people. The same goes for the Pope, the Dalai Lama, and Ghandi.

I believe in God. I do not "pretend", I BELIEVE GOD EXISTS.

I guess this concept escapes this atheist.

By the way, this same guy also admitted he smokes pot regularly, in fact, he grows it.

NOW I know where his "logic" comes from.



Sunday, July 29, 2012

More Funny Thoughts From an Atheist

From an Atheist posting in a Craigslist forum:

"The US Constitution was set up specifically to reject the religious from having a say in matters of governance. What the forefathers meant by this of course, is that those who suffer from magical thinking, need to sit at the kids table. The deluded can come sit at the big table with the adults when and if you get a grip on reality. In the meantime, We the People (meaning we who are capable of logic and reason) will take care of running things around here, thank you very much."

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!! Wrong!

This poor sad sack needs to read up on some history. Obviously, this kid gets all his learnin' from da internets.

I suggest reading a BOOK on the Constitution, especially where it concerns the First Amendment. It's obvious to even the average joe that the Founding Fathers protected freedom of religion because it was important to maintaining a civil society. "Ten Tortured Words" should be an easy read for this atheist.

I also wonder where Village Atheists get this crazy notion that they hold the monopoly on logic and reason, especially when few of them even know how to frame a logical argument.

On top of that, if atheists don't believe in the supernatural, why do people like this think they can "channel" the original thoughts of dead people?

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Another Brilliant Atheist Bumper Sticker

Village Atheists love to go out of their way to offend believers. Here's an offering from the Losing My Religion website:


The tired old "God doesn't exist because there are starving children" argument. Looks like atheists are still suffering from a lack of new material.

The webmasters of Losing My Religion will gladly sell you one of these bumper stickers, which you can put on your car, and use to make all those silly Christians real mad.

OR...

If the webmasters are truly concerned about starving children, they could donate the proceeds from the bumper stickers to UNICEF. What a novel idea!

Here's an even better idea. Donate the money you would have spent on the bumper sticker to your favorite charity. Then you money is guaranteed to do somebody some good somewhere, instead of being wasted on an empty gesture of useless symbolism.

You see, Village Atheists, I do care about you!

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Atheist Intolerance 101

An Atheist on the Internet griped:

"In this country, at this time, anyone running for public office must profess to believe in magic and invisible beings, or they have no chance of being elected. Once in office they must keep the believers that elected them happy, (or they won't have a job for long), so they make decisions based on that, rather than what is fairest for all concerned."

So is this guy suggesting religious believers holding elected office are all fakes? Or can't he fathom that a believer in public office would have his decisions affected by the faith that shapes his personal morals?

"That is the main complaint I have, but little things like them postponing the Rose Parade, or not being able to hard alcohol on Sunday (in Oregon), making ME say so help me god, in court, having your motto on our money, (if it said in Pixies we trust, you would understand)"

Gee, pal, sorry if traditions like postponing the Rose Parade get you in such a lather. And you can drink on Sundays at home in dry states, you just can't buy on Sunday. And as far as the money goes, most transactions are handled with debit cards, so stop fretting about that legal tender. By the way, The "pixies" argument is hackneyed and deserving of being tossed on the same garbage heap as the "Fire Breathing Dragon in My Garage" argument.

"But the worst thing that religious beliefs do is divide people. Religion divides families, communities even counties."

You know what else divides people? Intolerance and disrespect for beliefs that are different than yours.

"Religion is a hate machine, it cause groups of people to hate or at least mistrust other groups of people who have different beliefs."

Hatefully written, Mr. Finger-Pointer.

"Do I need to keep going or do you get the picture?"

 Nope. I've seen plenty. Thanks!



Monday, July 2, 2012

Atheists and Their Nutty Assumptions

Taken from a religion forum on the internet:

"If there were any truth to any religions, surely the gods would have imparted at least SOME knowledge to humans beyond the little they were aware of. Instead, 99% of the knowledge that's been acquired during the entire existence of humans has been acquired during the past 150 years, with the adoption of the modern scientific method."

First of all, what is this person qualifiying as "knowledge"? Just scientific advancement? And how was God supposed to impart the theories of Quantum Physics to ancient people?

"No religious "knowledge" has contributed one iota to the development of humans; quite the opposite. And still, as we gain this knowledge through science, religion fights tooth and nail against it."

This is simply stupid. Western civilization, which advanced technologically faster than any other society, had Christianity at its core. If this atheist's banter were even remotely true, the people of France and Germany should still be living in log cabins and cooking their food over open fires. Why do so many atheists labor under such inane delusions? Yet, they're all over the internet, calling believers idiots, and backing up their claims with dumb comments that are obviously false.

"Since religion is such a detriment to humans, why is it still around? Are we just in an in-between phase, or is it here to stay?"

If religion were "such a detriment to humans", the Dark Ages should never have ended. The fact is, Christians and Muslims preserved, protected, and made use of the knowledge that was collected, helping propel Western Society into a new age of Renaissance and Enlightenment.

It would really help if bantering atheists like this would try reading a book every once in a while.

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Atheists, What's With the Condescension?

Whenever I log onto a website or a forum where Atheists are commenting on religion or religious believers, I am struck by the overwhelming condescension of Atheists in their posts.

If I were to take their word for it, Atheists would have me believing that all religious believers are drooling, bucktoothed, redneck morons who had religion beaten into them as children.

The question is, why?

Where did this cartoonish impression of religion come from? TV? Movies? Pop culture?

Why do people who claim to be the "mature, logical ones" spread such obvious lies passed about as blanket statements?

Or do Atheists really believe all they post on the internet?

I'm convinced most of them DO believe what they post on the internet.

So much for "maturity" and "logic".