atheostic

[atheostic]

[atheostic]

"For those who believe in God, most of the big questions are answered. But for those of us who can't readily accept the God formula, the big answers don't remain stone-written. We adjust to new conditions and discoveries. We are pliable. Love need not be a command nor faith a dictum."

― Charles Bukowski

#charles bukowski #atheist quotes #quotable quotes #quote of the day #religion #god of abraham #god of israel

[atheostic]

[atheostic]

The Egyptian Book of the Dead: A guidebook for the underworld

#Youtube #book of the dead #ancient egypt #ted ed #youtube videos #anubis #the underworld #afterlife #mortality #egyptian mythology #mythology

[atheostic]

If you’re a secular atheist and praying you’re probably doing atheism wrong.

#prayer #praying #pew research center #judaism #Christianity #buddhism #islam #Muslims #christians #buddhists #mormon #jehovah's witnesses #catholicism #protestant #hindus #hinduism #atheists #Religion

[atheostic]

[atheostic]

#trigger warning

[atheostic]

It really creeps me out when pastors are like "If God weren't real then it'd be okay to torture innocent babies for fun" because this implies that

a) It's okay to torture guilty (???) babies for fun

b) it's okay to torture innocent babies if it's not just for fun

c) they feel the compulsion to torture babies and the only thing stopping them is their belief in a god

#religious leaders #religion #christianity #abrahamic religions #pastor #minister #priest

[atheostic]

1. Just to be clear, I do appreciate you taking the time to discuss things in a civil and thought-out fashion.

It’s clear you put time and effort into your response, so thank you.  

2. What other atheists have said and done is in no way related to what I say and do.

Atheism is not a religion or movement. It is simply the withholding of belief in any deities. The only thing all atheists are guaranteed to have in common is that they don’t believe in any gods. 

We have no dogma, no manifesto, and no leader. As such, you cannot assume that what one atheist believes is what the atheist standing right beside them believes.

It would be like saying “Well, this one person who doesn’t believe in Bigfoot talks this way about my belief in Bigfoot, so all people who don’t believe in Bigfoot think the same way regarding XYZ”.

3. Atheists are not required to be reverential of anything related to religion. 

We’re not members of the club, we don’t need to follow its rules.

To me, the Bible/Torah/Qu’ran/the Eddas/etc have the same status as The Epic of Gilgamesh, 1001 Arabian Nights, or an anthology of Grimm fairytales. 

It’s just an old book. And I, therefore, treat it as such.

When I talk about a passage I see it as literary criticism of a work of fiction.

4. ...I’m talking in religious terms because I’m discussing theology and because I’m talking to religious people.

As someone with a formal background in linguistics, literature, storytelling, and communication, I know that to communicate effectively with someone you should adapt your language usage to fit what they understand best. 

Know your audience, if you will. So I speak in the language of my audience.

Additionally, it’s not possible to have a conversation about theology without using religious terminology. 

It also has the added bonus of showing the reader that I’m educated enough on the subject to be taken seriously; I’m not just some yahoo talking out my ass about things I don’t know the first thing about.

I point out absurd things in various religious texts and ask believers how they reconcile the absurd things claimed as truth in their religious texts with, y’know, reality, because I’m trying to get people to think critically about why they believe what they believe and whether they should continue to hold those beliefs.

Whether they change their minds is entirely up to them, and I don’t begrudge anyone who chooses to continue being *insert religious denomination here* so long as they genuinely take the time to consider why they believe what they do.

I hope fellow atheists do the exact same thing regarding their own beliefs, because critical thinking and self-reflection are important skills to exercise regularly.

However, as the only belief atheists are guaranteed to have in common is “I don’t believe any gods exist”, talking to the atheist community at large regarding their beliefs is kinda nigh impossible.

2. How I respond to someone’s response depends on how they responded to my question; if they took my question seriously and answered politely and in good faith, I try to respond in kind.

In fact, I try to be polite either way, because it often highlights how the person is being unreasonably and unnecessarily aggressive. I usually only turn nasty after a couple of exchanges if the person is still calling me names for no reason.

3. Make no mistake -- all other religions have just as silly (and horrific) stuff as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam do, including atheist religions. 

I tend to stick to Abrahamic texts because 

a) Abrahamism is the religious branch which affects me most directly.

b) Abrahamism is the most powerful branch of world religions (mostly due to Christianity and Islam, as outside Israel Judaism is typically a minority).

c) The modern non-Abrahamic religions I know well (e.g. Quimbanda & Santería) are tiny minorities -- and persecuted ones at that. 

I try to not go after already-persecuted minorities unless they’re coming after someone else, both because it’s not cool to go after the already-powerless and because I know what it’s like to be a persecuted religious minority. 

When it comes to Judaism, I don’t want to erase Judaism’s claim to the original texts nor be Christian-centric when the text doesn’t apply to just them, so when the question applies to Judaism as well I include it in the question too. 

4. The fact that the goalposts can be moved, as you say, means people aren’t worshipping the deity in their holy book; they’re worshipping their own personal god idea.

And that’s fine. 

But they can’t then claim to be a “Bible-believing Christian” or whatever if they don’t believe what’s in the damn Bible.

5. The fact that the goalposts can be moved, as you say, means the religion in question cannot be the word of a deity or inspired by a deity, because if it were the goalposts couldn’t be moved.

Anti-theism/religionism Mythconceptions

“Anti-theists/religionists want to force people to stop being religious”

To be fair and keep it 100, yes, I’m sure there are some. Every large group of people inevitably has its share of idiots. 

However, I have yet to hear of any anti-theists/religionists who feel that way.

My personal experience has been that what theists/religionists call “forcing people to stop being religious” is actually “keep people from forcing their religion on others”.

We want people to stop being theists/religious, yes. 

But of their own volition.

No ideal worth holding should have to be imposed on others. 

People should hold it or reject it based on its merit alone.

I may be 100% against religion, but I would fight tooth and nail if someone was not being allowed to practice their religion in a way that didn’t affect others. 

E.g. I’m 100% outright banning turbans, hijabs, and/or burkas. 

To stop wearing it needs to be a personal choice, not a choice by the government or done out of fear of being accosted by some bigoted idiot while in public.

I’m 100% against pulling off someone’s religious clothing/symbols, be it a hijabi’s headscarf, a Sikh’s turban, a Christian crucifix necklace, or whatever else. If I were to see a hijabi’s headscarf being pulled off, I’d immediately offer them whatever I had on hand to help them cover up. 

[atheostic]

Atheist Book Recs

Christianity Is Not Great: How Faith Fails by Hector Avalos (Foreword), John W. Loftus (Editor)

In this new anthology critiquing Christianity, John Loftus-a former minister and now a leading atheist-has brought together an outstanding group of respected scholars who focus on the harms caused by the world's leading religion. The contributors begin by dissecting the many problematic aspects of religious faith generally. They repeatedly demonstrate that, with faith as a foundation, almost anything can be believed or denied. And almost any horrific deed can be committed. The authors then take a good hard look at many of the most important political, institutional, scientific, social, and moral harms committed in the name of Christianity. These range from the historical persecutions of the Inquisition and witch hunts to the current health hazards of faith healing. Finally, the authors answer three common Christian retorts to criticisms from nonbelievers: (1) that atheists cannot judge a harmful action without an objective moral standard; (2) that atheists need faith to solve the world's problems; and (3) that atheists cannot live a good life without faith. Loftus and the contributors generally conclude that, given both the well-documented historical record and ongoing problems raised by the faith, Christianity decisively fails empirical tests of its usefulness to humanity.

#book recommendations #book recs #christianity #religion #atheist books #book reccs #book rec

[atheostic]

We are here to unlearn the teachings of the church, state, and our educational system. We are here to drink beer. We are here to kill war. We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us.

Charles Bukowsky

#charles bukowski #quotable quotes #Quote of the Day #Religion #atheist quotes #atheism #Christianity

[atheostic]

Famous Atheists

Victor Ambartsumian (1908-1996)

Soviet Armenian astrophysicist.

#religion #atheism #did you know #famous atheists #armenian atheists #famous people #atheists

[atheostic]

#Jesus Christ #jesus of nazareth #god of israel #god of abraham #the bible #christians #Christianity #religion #pew research center #did you know

[atheostic]

"With measurement errors negated, what remains is the real and exciting possibility we have misunderstood the universe"

#news article #the universe #science #science article #james webb telescope #universe expansion

[atheostic]

This kind of thing is why I say that it matters that there are still 7 states in the US that have it in their lawbooks that atheists can't run for office.

Because if it's in the lawbooks, it can still be invoked.

#united states #american politics #american law #abortion rights #abortion bans #atheism #human rights #christianity #abrahamic religions #religion

[atheostic]

He literally led them in forming the union in the first place, he's the union leader, not the boss!

so if demons are sticklers for contracts, demand high payment for their services, and have firm/specific rules regarding summoning rituals (aka the hiring process & availability of their labor)—what i'm hearing is demons are fully unionized

#satan #christianity #religion #unions #labour rights #abrahamic religions

[atheostic]

Is man merely a mistake of God’s? Or God merely a mistake of man?

Friedrich Nietzsche

#atheist quotes #friedrich nietzsche #quotable quotes #Quote of the Day