atheismfuckyeah:

Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson: How Liberal Women Are Building a Shameless Society

Wow, dude. Way to be slut shaming, degrading, bigoted, sex shaming misogynist. To the goddamned extreme. 

Fuck you and the religion you rode in on.

~Mooglets

(Source: danielatfullpower)

Anonymous asked: When and why did you convert to atheism? I'm not one of the douchebags you usually get in your ask box, I'm actually curious and would like to read about it.

Hi Anonymous! Thanks for not being rude. :) Sorry that it took a while to get back to you; I’ve just started university, so I’ve been pretty busy and I wanted to give you a thought out response.

“Convert to” isn’t terminology that one would use to describe a lack of faith since Atheism is the absence of a belief system. “Deconversion” is generally the accepted term, I think.

My Christian dad and non-religious mother never pushed their views on me when I was young. Conversely, my grandmother would ask me to read Bible passages, go to church, and repeat prayers. I ended up sometimes going to church with her to make her happy, but I was never comfortable with it, nor was I comfortable repeating prayers or reading the Bible.

I started to think critically when I was considering Santa Claus. At the age of three, I questioned his ability to travel around the world with flying reindeer. By four, I noticed that less fortunate children than me in my town and in poorer countries didn’t receive any or as many gifts as children born into more affluent families. If Santa was real, why did he give children toys based on their families’ income? Why was it that a bad, rich kid would get more toys than a good but poor one?

I carried this critical lens with me when I considered the question of god. If he’s good and all-powerful, why are there people living in extreme poverty? He seems to concentrate all of his efforts on the affluent congregation of first world churches. While I understand the value of humility, it puts me off when people thank god for this or that because they’re not considering what god is NOT doing if he exists and is actively intervening in human affairs. God helps someone get a promotion, doesn’t help people starving. God helps an actor win an award, ignores genocide. God helps someone find their keys, ignores entire countries wrought by draught or flooding.

Look at the percentage of people living on less than $2 a day in our world, which correlates to my example that god only cares about people who have enough money.

Many argue that god is an all-powerful, compassionate god whose hallmark is unconditional love of every human on earth, yet he sat back and watched the following, which are only a small percentage of the atrocities in this world, and did nothing:

• each baby die of malnutrition
• each horrific death by one of countless fatal diseases
• each violent rape that the 1.8 million rape victims in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have suffered
• each city be laid to waste by natural disasters

And this doesn’t even include any of the barbaric acts committed in the name of god.

If anyone could explain how it’s possible to have a god who loves everyone but makes a conscious decision to not eliminate these horrors, please do.

Besides all that, I also only believe things that I have a reason to believe. There are no more credible reasons to believe in a god than there are to believe in mermaids or leprechauns. ‘Holy’ texts such as the Bible are collections of stories written and curated by multiple human authors over hundreds of years, and are completely unreliable outside of the realm of literary critique. If acceptance into an afterlife required faith in god, why wouldn’t he make it abundantly clear, without a shadow of a doubt, that he existed?

TL;DR version: Never believed in a god because it doesn’t make sense.

vondode:

The Second City does it’s version of Rick Perry. Great, and true stuff. 

Good stuff. Rick Perry really shot himself in the foot with that ad of his. 

Video description:

It’s hard to tell exactly what he was on about in much of this.

Honestly, if kids “observed’ Christmas any harder in schools than they already do, they would be elves. And liberals don’t hate religion, we’re too busy drum circling, same sex marrying, and not owning guns to bother. 

So what was he talking about? He was talking about trying to break double digits in Iowa. And since he’s sitting on a big pile of money from people who once thought he was going to be president, it’ll be fun to see him thrash about as his campaign gasps for air. 

But Rick Perry and all other heathen-haters take note: atheists and agnostics are 20 percent of the population and growing—more than African-Americans or Latinos. Add in gays, lesbians, bi and transgender folks, and you not only have a substantial voting block, you have a fucking awesome party. Lezzdoit. 

cheattowin:

I’m Rick Perry, and I’m a fucking bigot.

My thoughts exactly. That snide remark at gays was pretty fucking disgusting.

There is no issue with kids celebrating Christmas. There is no issue with kids praying. What there is an issue with is the idea of imposing religion on others in a place such as a school. Religion does not belong in the public education system or any other government institution for that matter. That goes for all religions.

If there is to be hope for the United States to progress, people like Rick Perry must be voted out entirely. Secular politics is the only way to improve life for all. Laws should be written to protect people of all races, genders and sexual orientations based on concrete evidence and forward thinking. They cannot be based on handpicked lines from a bronze age text.

Anonymous asked: Are you saying that the salvation army and all other christians should be violent and cruel if they're going to be christian? That would be a pretty fucked up world...

No, everyone should be peaceful and kind. Part of that is accepting everyone and knowing that you cannot handpick asinine rules from a hate-riddled book to shop out under the guise of morals or family values. 

My point was also that those who continually cite Leviticus for their hatred and intolerance make absolutely no sense whatsoever because they entirely ignore all other rules in that chapter.  

Anonymous asked: Don't you think that maybe it's bad to tell people not to donate to salvation army? They are a christian charity, they're just following what the Bible teaches them. People might not like it, but salvation army are basing it off the laws they believe in. Isn't it better that people in need get help from them at all? Who cares what they believe?

There are plenty of deserving secular charities. Just because one religious charity doesn’t get supported, it doesn’t mean that there will be less money overall in the charity system. 

What frustrates me with the “they’re not bad, they’re just following what the Bible teaches them” kind of responses is that most Christians do not follow what their holy book teaches them, yet many will incessantly condemn gays regardless. Yes, Leviticus mentions homosexuality being a sin. It also says that any person who curses their father or mother must be killed. It says those who have flat noses or are blind or lame cannot go to an altar of god. Stubborn children are to be stoned. Rape victims must marry their rapist. Those who work on Sunday must be put to death. Any food from the sea without fins or scales is an abomination to eat, and wearing clothing of different fabrics is as well. 

The absurd laws you find in that chapter of the Bible go on and on, yet I do not see any of them posted on the Salvation Army’s website, nor do I see the average Christian following them. If one believes their holy book is so precious and divinely inspired, why would they skip most rules (but cite Leviticus in every anti-gay debate)? You simply cannot pick and choose what verses to follow if you’re going to call yourself a Christian and claim the Bible is law. 

It is not law. It does not even make any kind of coherent sense. It was written many, many years ago by men living out in a desert with absolutely no concept of the world or how it works, and it clearly shows now. How could one possibly reference the Bible as proof or evidence of anything, especially how people today, almost in the year 2012, must live?

Other than all that, it’s just a rotten move to judge others and treat them unfairly, particularly when you are a charity and your supposed mission is to help all in need. I’ve heard of the Salvation Army denying services to members of the LGBT community before, but even if they didn’t, their view on homosexuality that is written up on their website is a terrible thing to say. It’s like stating, “poor people aren’t inherently bad, it’s just not good that they choose to be poor. We might help them out, but they sure are disgusting.”

Thanks for letting me submit. I really do want to help. I dont get your point about all the divine beings over the years, or with the Egyptian God. People stopped following these ones for a reason, why is it that Christianity is the top religion in all the world? There wouldnt be that many Christians if there wasn’t anything to it. That many people can’t be “missing a brain” as you seem to beleive. This is one of the many reasons why i know its the correct and true religion, it’s something you just feel too, I’ve felt God the love He has for us all, yes all of us, even you. And besides, any other top religion (or even small one) is just an interpretation of our true God. A decrease in His miracles, thats easy. Your right, we have progressed over the years. We have become smarter and smarter and have been able to do things more for ourselves now and for our fellow man then ever before. We dont need God’s help as much as we used to and He wants us to be self sufficient. We should be helping ourselves and eachother. That’s why this “incredibly amazing earth” as you put it is the way it is now. You have God to thank. If you think your happy now, ok, but i swear to you your missing out. How can you truely appreciate this beautiful earth by thinking it just happened to grow like that magically all by itself? Isn’t the thought of it being put here for us by One with such a deep love for us so amazing? Doesnt it make you feel worthless without that? Think about it, the earth is EXACTLY where it should be for us to live. Any closer or further from where it is, we would never live. And how can you really, and i mean really feel true love when it’s a poweful and beautiful thing that comes from God Himself? I dont understand how anyone could be happy and content without Gods love in their life. Nothing I said was cruel, I dont know how you distorted it that way. I told you i wanted to help and thats what I meant to do. Atheists are always so angry and feel like their owed something, and you came across that way. I have no high horse, but it sounds like you do. Anyhow, again this isnt meant to be mean, I want to show people how great life can really be. Btw, I’m being anonymous again because I know if i give my name, people will come and harrass me because as I said above, atheists are very angry people, i know from experience. They’ve dealt with trauma in some way, or they only saw the bad side of religion. I can see how someone could become an atheist, but like I already said, there is always hope and it is never too late.

Glad to hear back from you! I understand that you want to help, and I’d love to help you too.

My point about the divine beings over the years is that there has been a pattern of countless deities that have risen and fallen. If you interviewed a Viking, they would profess their belief in Odin and Thor for all the same reasons — How can all vikings be wrong? It’s very easy to dismiss these beliefs as silly because they’re so foreign to ours, but imagine that you’re an alien looking into the world: these two belief systems would seem fairly on par in plausibility.

While Christianity is the largest religion, popular opinion does not infer correctness. There are around 2.1 billion Christians, and 1.6 billion Muslims. Does that mean that you would consider the belief that Mohammed is god’s final prophet, because 1.6 billion people can’t all be wrong? Furthermore, Islam is growing at a faster rate than Christianity. Does that mean that Christianity will be incorrect soon after 2050?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claims_to_be_the_fastest-growing_religion#World_Christian_Database

I don’t believe that religious people are without brains; I want everyone to use theirs to arrive to a rational conclusion as to their beliefs.

Your “feeling” of god is most likely linked to humans predisposition to the belief in a higher power that came through thousands of years of natural selection and evolution.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article6823229.ece
Furthermore, if you look to any belief system, you will find people who have had “personal relationships” with their higher power. I’m not calling them liars, I’m simply stating that this connection you feel is common for any religion (monotheist, polytheist, pantheist) at any point in history.

You speak of god’s love, but you also speak of him adopting a laissez-faire attitude when it comes to humanity, because we can take care of things. However, there is still extreme evils in the world such as earthquakes, war, disease, and famine. This will be the first point that I will absolutely require an explanation for to accept that your god exists and he is good. It comes from a philosopher by the name of Epicurus:

Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?
Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing?
Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing?
Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing?
Then why call him God?

While you insist that I’m missing out on the magic of what I consider fantasy, I must let you know that for every new and overjoyed Christian, there is a happy atheist. My fiancé abandoned his Christian faith and he has become much happier as he understands the world on a completely different level. We already covered how atheists can be happy, so we won’t go into that. I will say, though, that I have an immense appreciation for the beauty of this world and do not assume I don’t. The pure wonder and amazement I feel about how everything came to be and how I was so very lucky to be part of it, even for just a tiny, insignificant amount of time in history, astounds me. I personally believe that one who thinks they never truly die and instead lives happily ever after in heaven can’t appreciate the life we have as much as someone who believes this life is all we’ve got. I find that it degrades how special life is. 

Your argument for the Earth being in the right location needs a bit of clarification: The earth’s rotation is elliptical and has a variation of about 5 million kilometres from the sun. While our location is ideal, it’s certainly not a difficult one to place; scientists have discovered 54 planets that are in our “habitable zone”, and as a percentage of the universe, the distance we can see is infinitesimal.
http://www.ufo-blogger.com/2011/02/alien-planets-nasa-kepler-telescope.html

I do not believe that your god is a loving god. I believe he is jealous, wrathful, and cruel. Going to try and keep this short, so if you respond, I’ll write up a paragraph withBible verses illustrating my points. 

Now, the claws come out:
I assert that what you said was cruel and continues to be because you devalue my life due to the fact that I don’t follow your scientifically unfounded doctrine. I have the same capacity for happiness, the same capacity to love, and the same capacity to enjoy my life to the fullest as you do. You need to try and understand how it would feel to have someone come to your page, anonymously, and say you are unhappy and your life is pointless. Please try to understand where I’m coming from.

This dovetails nicely into the next point: while you may run into many angry atheists, you will also run into many angry Christians. You will run into angry people everywhere, but you will run into angry people more often when you say things like “It must be so sad to have a life with no purpose or meaning”, as you did to me. Imagine if someone came up to you on the street and said that.
Atheists aren’t “very angry people”, it’s just that religion is a very passionate topic with hateful, unreasonable people at both ends. As a lighter way to illustrate my point, watch Richard Dawkins, famed evolutionist and atheist, read his hate mail: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZuowNcuGsc

Finally, if you’d like to stay anonymous, that’s fine, but you need to commit to considering every point I make, and please give reasonable refutations to each one. I took a while to research for this response, and I expect to receive the same courtesy in return.

PS: I can see how someone could be born into religion, but there is always hope and it is never too late.