Whenever I speak to a believer about their holy text, I always seem to get the same answers when I bring up the inconsistencies within, or that fact that the Old Testament is rife with murder, rape, and genocide. What is it about this text that makes it holy or even the Word of God?
I was perusing social media and came across a tweet that caught my. attention. Mostly, I see a lot of what I’d refer to as drivel there, but this tweet had me pause. It was overtly outlandish, just someone’s opinion about the state of religion in America today. It was just 2 simple sentences, one of which I may actually agree with, the other, I thought was just plain silly.
Is it okay to say that there’s nothing wrong with being an atheist? I know that may sound silly to my readers but I’m exhausted reading stories, and even on social media that there must be something wrong with us that we “deny God”. I’m not an atheist that condemns religious belief; In fact, I support religious freedom 100%, but that also includes those of us that are non-believers.
Believers are enchanted somehow when they find a scientist that affirms their delusions. It’s not very common, as most scientists are not actually believers so finding someone that has become an apologist and uses the same old debunked arguments atheists have had to respond to for decades.
Why do people seem to need religion? I would call that a question of the ages. Of course, if we ask anyone who is a believer, whether they are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, etc., they may have a variety of answers to the question. Overall, I think it’s more of a tradition. Their parents, grandparents, and even before were that religious and it is simply something they were taught as small children to accept.
I’ve always been interested as to why believers, some at least, consider atheism just another religion. It’s clear that we have no supernatural beliefs, so what is it these theists are looking at that make them want to call atheists religious? I think it may be that the definition of religion is much broader than just a belief in gods, it also has to do with an specific interest people may have. Like atheism.
I’ve been thinking for a while about hosting a podcast. I like the idea as when I first came online, I was a host on a popular show called “Chill Girls in Pink Corvettes”. We had a lot of fun and if you don’t understand the reference, at the time, there was a lot of feminists complaing about certain colors for boys versus girls. Also that, if you were a woman that disagreed with anything they said, you were a “Chill Girl”.
Atheists always point to the Christian holy text as a book of stories and myths that although may have some view on morality, in fact are just that, no different than Grimms Fairy Tales. Of course there are Christians that too do not necessarily take every story in the Old Testament as being truth, but merely a metaphor. If only they’d look at their New Testament the same way.
I know there are a lot of people that are still afraid, today, to be known as an atheist. I’ve heard the stories; People losing family and friends (I’ve actually lost a long time friend), even losing a job, or if not the job, the much deserved promotion at work. It’s concerning that in the 21st century, there are still those bigoted toward people that are simply non-believers.
When I write about atheism, especially my own experience, it’s not to convince anyone of any faith that they should give up what they believe and deconvert to atheism. The real reason is because it’s important for those that are believers that may read this blog to understand that essentially, atheists are no different they they are. I’m unsure how many of those come here and read because I rarely, if ever, receive any comments on any posts from a believer.
consskeptemp.wordpress.com 