the-christian-atheist-blog

[the-christian-atheist-blog]

Atheism Has A Problem

I posted on Black Lives Matter and immediately lost about 30 followers. No debate, no pissing match, no controversial opinion has ever lost me that many followers. The problem here is that this wasn’t a debate, a pissing match, or a controversial opinion. It was a post about a social necessity. I responded to the “all lives matter” crowd. And I was naive to think that the stereotypes about atheists weren’t true. Atheists are cis, white males with neck beards and fedoras they say. This I thought was attempt at insult, a distraction from our challenges to religion. Unfortunately, I found out that the stereotype contains a truth: atheists are predominantly white males. 

Given that, I’m suggesting something controversial, but this doesn’t make it any less true. White atheists are not sympathetic to minority social movements. I am not saying you’re racist. Neither am I saying that you help proliferate prejudice and discrimination of minorities. What I am saying is that you’re disconnected from the reality Black Americans face; you’re disconnected from the realities Latino Americans face. I am a Latino American. I suggested in the post that perhaps that’s why I can identify with BLM. I get it. Police don’t racially profile you. You don’t have glass ceilings. Your name can’t disqualify you from getting a job. But some things atheists should be better than the average religious person at are relating to people, empathy, and a capacity to sympathize with the hardships of other people. Just because you don’t understand BLM doesn’t mean it’s wrong.

Or maybe the issue is that you think so called social justice has no place in atheism. Again, you show that you’re disconnected. It’s easier for some of you to break away from your own traditions. It’s much harder for minorities to part ways with the masters. In other words, it’s harder for us to break away from literal centuries of discrimination and oppression stemming from “the white man’s religion.” Our cultures were infiltrated, erased, and reconstructed in accordance to the colonialist’s image. We were given a suitable identity; we were given a system of morals, which stemmed from a religion they handed down to us. This religion was, to their minds, truer than our religions; their god realer than any of ours; their rituals more potent, their book better written, and their way of life more valid. A lot of us risk being disowned by our own family; we risk becoming homeless; we risk being physically threatened. 

So there’s no doubt in my mind that social issues have a place in atheism. Feminism likewise has its place. The notion that atheism has a woman problem is very real, but this mass unfollowing showed me that atheism also has a minority problem. Atheism’s identity, like philosophy’s and like religion’s, is Eurocentric. Its face is a white man’s face; its voice a white man’s voice. One look at the Four Horsemen or any of the prominent atheists that followed them–Michael Shermer, Lawrence Krauss, Sean Carroll, Jerry A. Coyne, A.C. Grayling, Stephen Law–shows this to be true. The Black voice, the Latino voice, the voice of any non-white is secondary or entirely nonexistent. Atheism should not have taken in the dirty laundry of the religions it primarily opposes. We should not have adopted Christianity’s colonialism, Judaism’s group identity, Hinduism’s class hierarchy, or Islam’s patriarchy. Yet here we are!

If any more of you want to unfollow, feel free to do so. I’m a minority; I’m an atheist. I have proven myself as capable, if not, more capable than some of my white male counterparts. I do not need your validation. I don’t need your recognition or seal of approval. In short, if you don’t recognize the social ills adopted by atheists, I don’t need you.

[the-christian-atheist-blog]

can you list some things that would help you believe that Christ is the Messiah?

I only need one. Irrefutable evidence.

[the-christian-atheist-blog]

Christianity, Atheism, Belief

I was once a Christian, and although I was young I remember that the best part was of Christianity was that it gave me a clear reason to live. It made me believe that there is something devine out there that makes life into something beyond what it is.

As an atheist finding reason to live when you know that the world is clean cut can be hard. There are no rewards waiting for you. There are no spirits, ghosts, monsters, etc.

Instead of living for a god, I live for making life better. I throw myself into feminism, speciesism, homophobia, etc. These causes are my reasons to live. Perhaps that is why I am so adamant about defending my beliefs.

[the-christian-atheist-blog]

I've been following one of your discussions with another here (or, rather, an argument). He stated that you don't have any facts to prove that a god does not exist. Why didn't you respond that you don't have to prove that a god doesn't exist? The burden of proof is on the person making a positive assertion. From reading, I understand that you believe there is no, but isn't it unnecessary to argue this point as your opponent has failed to provide any foundation for the existence of a deity?

The burden of proof response is, to my mind, a lazy response. It’s not simply that there’s no evidence for the Christian view or more generally, the theist view. It’s not as easy as pointing out that none of their arguments are convincing, that the Ontological, Fine Tuning, Transcendental, Moral, Kalam and Leibnizian Cosmological, and Teleological Arguments don’t hold water. It’s not as simple as saying that the absence or lack of evidence for a deity implies the nonexistence of a deity. All of that is true! There is, however, more that can be said. 

Can we account for the origin of the universe without a god? Can we account for the origin of life without a god? Can we explain the formation of the Earth without a god? If we can, then why not offer those explanations? Why allow the believer to think they have a narrative monopoly, that they, in other words, have a monopoly on how these stories are told? It is imperative that atheists start telling stories, stories rooted in truth and fact rather than myth, embellishment and falsehoods. I’m not going to stand idly by while theists continue to preach their myths as truth. I’m going to replace those myths with stories that are more fulfilling, but more importantly, true. 

So though it’s true that my opponent has failed to provide a foundation for the existence of a god, that doesn’t mean that I must also fail to provide grounds for coming to the conclusion that there are no gods. The onus does belong to him, but after five years of debating theists, I’ve found that it is better to take their burden and send it crashing onto them. Nothing is more convincing, more capable of inspiring doubt than facts presented in way that completely debases the beliefs one’s opponent holds dear. Couple that with style, sound argumentation, and wit, and you’re sure to keep them awake at night wondering if they’re wrong. I’m pretty sure it has crossed his mind because in my experience, the ol’ “you can’t shake my faith” proclamation is only made by someone trying to convince themselves that they’re faith hasn’t met a challenge.

[the-christian-atheist-blog]

Are you still the only Australian atheist who has ever been anti-Christianity, anti-conservatism, and therefore a stalker that will definitely get sued and put in jail for three years and not have the case against you laughed out of court?

Wut....

[the-christian-atheist-blog]

What you’re saying is completely ignoring the fact that religions, eg, christianity, have a book that defines what people are supposed to believe, how they’re supposed to act and the things they’re supposed to say. This book that dictates these things has a huge claim of being ‘ultimate truth’ around it. Like the bible genuinely says hateful and hurtful things and dictates that people who believe the bible to be divine truth, need to agree with these hateful and hurtful things.

Over the years, yes society has evolved in way that has forced theology to progress. Eg, society is accepting of homosexuality, and along with that evolution people have manipulated classic theology to be interpreted so christianity can justify also being accepting of gays. But the bible itself hasn’t changed, the hateful and harmful ideologies are still there.

My logic didn’t say anything about all chrisitans ascribing to the same theologies, you’ve made that up. I said that when christians express hateful sentiments based on their belief system, they do so under the pretense that what they believe is absolute, divinely inspired truth. There’s no atheists out there saying “women are not as good at science as men because the atheist book of ultimate truth says so” why? Because we have no belief system, we have no solidarity in what we do, believe, say. We’re all just people who don’t believe in god. That’s a pretty massive distinction. Do you have any blanket opinions on people who don’t believe in the tooth fairy? Does that sound silly to ask? That’s what it sounds like when you group atheists together. But people who all believe the same thing and ascribe to the same book of rules? That you can group together. It groups itself together. That’s what holiness is all about (being set apart with others who cling to the same path).

But yeah your line about “all scientists” makes no sense in terms of what I was saying.

Also, I am a woman...I don’t know what misogyny has to do with any of this.

And yes generalisation is the only option, especially with Christianity. How is “only talking about things I know about/understand” a better option? How does that even make sense? I know and understand Christianity, I know it and understand it so will that I understand that it is so divided and varied (over 42,000 unique types of christianity, all claiming to be correct and true) that to attempt to talk about ‘chrisitanity’ as one belief system is impossible. What the hell does misogyny have to do with it? That is just one issue among hundreds that atheists take issue with in regards to christianity. I care about criticising religion because religion, when taken bake to the source material, eg: the bible, IS FUCKING MISOGYNISTIC!!! You expect me to be all like “oh well the universalists, they don’t believe in the bad parts of the bible so they’re cool” or “Oh this guy is salvation army, but he’s in a secret facebook group that promoted inclusivity so yeah the SA church is bad, but this guy is good”  - yeah no. That’s riduculous. You have to generalise. And generally speaking, Christianity, is hateful, hurtful and yes, misogynistic to boot.

And finally another thing you said that makes zero sense is “if you’re an exited christian/secular christian/christian atheist, why don’t you just talk about christianity, since you have experience with it?“ .....well uh, I do only talk about christianity....have you even looked at my blog? Jesus Christ!

like, okay. imagine if i compiled every misogynistic thing an atheist has ever said, and i said “look! this is what atheists believe! atheists are misogynists and atheism is inherently misogynistic!” atheists would be literally foaming at the mouth to say “that’s not true!” “not all atheists!” “don’t generalize!” so why is it okay for you to do to religious people? you have no idea what an individual member of any religion believes, you don’t know what the widely accepted interpretation of certain texts is, you don’t even know if that text is in use. have members of that religion talked about misogynistic elements of that religion? almost certainly, yes. are you listening to them? almost certainly not. 

[the-christian-atheist-blog]

Because when religious people do and say bad things they do so while claiming it’s absolute truth, divine truth. Some atheists are idiots, and idiots say shitty things. But even the most educated religious people say horrible hateful things because, in spite of their intelligence, they are bound to this “truth” that requires hate from them.

Ps. It's also not an atheists job to investigate every individual theists personal interpretation of their belief system. There are tens of thousands of variations. Generalisation is the only option.

like, okay. imagine if i compiled every misogynistic thing an atheist has ever said, and i said “look! this is what atheists believe! atheists are misogynists and atheism is inherently misogynistic!” atheists would be literally foaming at the mouth to say “that’s not true!” “not all atheists!” “don’t generalize!” so why is it okay for you to do to religious people? you have no idea what an individual member of any religion believes, you don’t know what the widely accepted interpretation of certain texts is, you don’t even know if that text is in use. have members of that religion talked about misogynistic elements of that religion? almost certainly, yes. are you listening to them? almost certainly not. 

[the-christian-atheist-blog]

Nothing says good parenting like telling your kids they’ll burn for eternity unless they adopt and practice your basis for morality

[the-christian-atheist-blog]

Terrible things Christians have done to atheists.

So another blog, which is obsessed with atheists and making us out to be terrible people has created a list of the worst things Atheists have said to/about Christians. You can check it out here. It wont take you long to realise the list is basically a compilation of superficial, trite interactions between theists and atheists. One of their examples is a poem written by an atheist and how they feel about christians…yes, really, a poem. A fucking poem. OMG!!!!!! HOW DARE US ATHEISTS WRITE POEMS!!!

Anyhow…I thought the list was a cute idea and I thought it would be fun to compare their list to some of the things christians have done to atheists over the years. Turns out they prefer to murder and abuse atheists rather than just write poems or simply ‘say stuff’ about us. Nope, they go a whole lot further….

1. Christian murders atheist roommate….because he’s an atheist…

“On October 18, 2004, Arthur Shelton, a self described Christian and Eagle Scout, murdered his friend and roommate, Larry Hooper, because Hooper didn’t believe in God. “

(Source)

2. Christian kid murders atheist friend.

“Friends and family described Nadler as “deeply religious” and prone to loud discussions when faced with people who didn’t share his beliefs. Doyle likewise was said to be argumentative, they said, but the two boys remained close.”

(Source)

3. Christian beats up disabled man because he’s an atheist.

“Laura Reid, 49, was visiting the victim in his home, and at one point she asked him if he believed in God, police told the station. The man jokingly replied he didn’t. Reid became so enraged by his answer that she allegedly picked up his metal cane and beat him over the head and body. She then robbed him.”

(Source)

4. Christian engages in illegal vandalism in response to atheist billboard.

“Looks like this theist was too busy during Christmas to find time to commit a misdemeanor, so vandalizing an atheist holiday billboard with the words “GOD’S NOT DEAD” had to be put off until the new year.”

(Source)

5. Another Christian murdering an atheist (for being an atheist)…

“Later Braxton told police detectives the victim on the sofa was “a shrine from God,” and that her victim had been shot in the eye for “not believing in her God.”Braxton told police the body had been there for two or three days.”

(Source)

6. Christian store owner imposes illegal ban on atheists from his store (because they don’t believe in god).

“He saw a presentation that he took offense at: Brother Sam Singleton, Atheist Evangelist, doing a satirical send-up of a Pentecostal revival meeting. And he put a sign on the door to his shop, reading, quote, “Skepticon is NOT Welcomed To My Christian Business.”

(Source)

7. Christian mother abuses son because he is an atheist.

(Source)

8. Christian group openly advocates for the murder of atheists.

“i say kill them all and let them see for themselves that there is God”

“To ALL ATHEIEST DIE AN GO TO HELL HAHA IF I COULD ID SHOOT ALL OF YOU IN THE HEAD WITH A 12GUAGE”

“Shoot em. At least we know where they’re going, waste of oxygen”

(Source)

9. Christians illegally vandalise Atheist owned adopt-a-highway stretch.

“That’s right: Two weeks was all it took before people were so disturbed by the thought of atheists picking up drive-by litter (possibly discarded aerosol cans, etc.), that they took measures into their own hands — and vandalized county property in what can be best-described as juvenile love notes to Jesus.”

(Source)

10. Christians send death threats to atheist author, he has to cancel a speaking engagement.

(Source) (Source)

[the-christian-atheist-blog]

In the hopes of changing gods supposedly perfect plan which they trust completely.

One of the questions that led to my conclusion.

[the-christian-atheist-blog]

My little cousins new favourite game is 'Edward Scissorhands'. The game is literally just him standing there with his arms out looking sad. He loves it.

#edward scissorhands

[the-christian-atheist-blog]

Fuck!

So the subject outline came out for uni and the introductory task for Liturgy may be a bit of a problem….

“Recall a recent experience of Christian worship in as much detail as possible. Record you recollections in note form and /or by drawing.”

So, now I either have to go to church, or lie. fuckfuckfuck.

[the-christian-atheist-blog]

It's etymology.

Gnosis = knowledge. Technically all atheists AND theists are agnostic. Because of an inability to prove there is or is not a god, nobody from either side can realistically make a knowledge claim.

Tj, how would you define atheism? My history professor and I have different definitions. He thinks that atheism is a positive assertion that a god does not exist, and that is true for some, but I say that atheism is simply a lack of belief in god.

You are correct. Your professor is not.

[the-christian-atheist-blog]

Did they actually get this piano sound out of a microkorg? Cause that's pretty cool.

Darth Vader Piano lesson #2 Mackelmore #samelove #darthvader #starwars #lessons #christophercallan

[the-christian-atheist-blog]

Christianity

I track the Christianity tag here on tumblr and I���ve noticed that lately a lot of atheists and non Christians are using the Christianity tag to spread their non Christian beliefs. Yes, you are free to do what you please but you’re just being flat out rude. I, personally, use that tag to look at encouraging bible verses and quotes relating to Christianity and I feel that that’s what a lot of other Christians who use that tag, use it for. I’m Christian, and I’m not changing my beliefs just because of your little tumblr posts. So please, knock it off.

[the-christian-atheist-blog]

I’ve recently come to realize that the relationship many religious people have with God is an abusive one. According to their bible, God supposedly gave them anything, but then they screwed it up - now they must spend their entire lives trying to make up for it. Constantly trying to win back his forgiveness, apologizing and consulting with him for the majority of their decisions. If they mess up, they are sent to hell for all eternity. Where they must pay for their sins (which only exist because people you don’t even know, messed up). But don’t worry! God still loves you.

@atheistt (via atheistt)

[the-christian-atheist-blog]

Haha "secondhand embarrassment induced coma." Excellent.

tumblr: protect girls at all costs!!!!!!!!!!! u____u

*rape epidemic in europe by muslim men who’ve never seen women without burqas*

tumblr: stop islamophobia u___u