A Polemic Against Atheism
A polemic, for those who have forgotten its meaning, is an attack. In this I will set forward none of my views, but instead impugn those of others. A common tactic used by many to attack religion, will now be turned to attack the attackers.
A man can never be reasoned out of any position which he never reasoned himself into. Thus is the root of all evil in today’s America: the doctrines of unreason yet made more insidious by masquerading as reason. At the head of these forces is the force of Atheism. This is not meant to soothe the hearts of disbelief, or to call someone to faith. I will not mince word with those who would advance the putrid banner of nihilism under the cover of a cannonade of so-called reason. Atheism as a metaphysic comes to us in a variety of forms: Music, T.V, so called “American Culture”. Atheism, first and foremost, is a religion. All forms of extremist atheism, whether they are Objectivism, Marxism, or any other ism, make metaphysical claims. These claims are never challenged nor questioned. Atheism as a religion has Ten Commandments.
They are:
1) Man consists of nothing more than atoms, hence he has no essence
2) Man should therefore seek Paradise on Earth
3) Reality must be what we see in front of us
4) Religious faith is bad; but faith in fellow man good
5) We must be the judge of whether God is righteous or not
6) Eschatology in religion bad; eschatology in science good
7) Ethical judgments cannot be made; all is relative
8) The Universe is an accident
9) Evolution can never be questioned. Prophet Darwin is unassailable
10) Faith is a stupidity, and faith must be taken as “belief in something you cannot see.”
Are they not patently absurd?
It now possible to move about in United States and hear nothing of God and nothing of his message, and therefore the forthcoming generation is cursed with ignorance. Atheism has become a dominant ideal inside the “academy”. Plato is surely rolling over in his grave. The other practices, such as “Spiritualism”, or Buddhism, smack of a true disbelief, and these offer no real substitute to Western Judeo-Christianity, and represent another facet of the Anti-Theism Crusade. These belief systems gain ascendancy in the West due to a desire to rebel, nothing more. People no longer search for merit in a religion, but are simply and pathetically clawing for something different.
Atheism is at the root of all these ideas, an unreasoned and endemic disease only cured by reason. On the side of a belief in a creator are men of reason: Locke, Leibniz, Newton, Einstein, Pascal, Descartes, Galileo, Plato, and every man, nearly ever man who has brought the light of knowledge to bear against the dark cloak of ignorance.
Francis Bacon defined the cause of Atheism in “One Atheism”:
“Lastly, this I dare affirm in knowledge of nature, that a little natural philosophy, and the first entrance into it, doth dispose the opinion to atheism. But on the other side, much natural philosophy, and wading deep into it, will bring men’s minds to religion.”
On the other side, resting in Atheism, lie the works of Nietzsche, Sartre and others. Let us simply ask ourselves, which group of men has produced more? What cultures, movements, sciences, and other great things has atheism produced? Other than Communism and millions of deaths, quite a bit of nothing. Absolutely nothing that can be in its totality declared a positive.
Thus is proven true Christ’s expression, “By your fruits you shall know them.” This was spoken by Jesus Christ, the first pragmatist, who knew that ideas have consequences. If capitalism, democracy, law and much of European history are the fruits of Christianity and Theism then what are the fruits of Atheism. Is it rotten? Is this fruit of Atheism putrid to the nose and bitter to the tongue? Then let us take an axe to this tree! Today we must consign it to the flames!
A man can never be reasoned out of any position which he never reasoned himself into. Thus is the root of all evil in today’s America: the doctrines of unreason yet made more insidious by masquerading as reason. At the head of these forces is the force of Atheism. This is not meant to soothe the hearts of disbelief, or to call someone to faith. I will not mince word with those who would advance the putrid banner of nihilism under the cover of a cannonade of so-called reason. Atheism as a metaphysic comes to us in a variety of forms: Music, T.V, so called “American Culture”. Atheism, first and foremost, is a religion. All forms of extremist atheism, whether they are Objectivism, Marxism, or any other ism, make metaphysical claims. These claims are never challenged nor questioned. Atheism as a religion has Ten Commandments.
They are:
1) Man consists of nothing more than atoms, hence he has no essence
2) Man should therefore seek Paradise on Earth
3) Reality must be what we see in front of us
4) Religious faith is bad; but faith in fellow man good
5) We must be the judge of whether God is righteous or not
6) Eschatology in religion bad; eschatology in science good
7) Ethical judgments cannot be made; all is relative
8) The Universe is an accident
9) Evolution can never be questioned. Prophet Darwin is unassailable
10) Faith is a stupidity, and faith must be taken as “belief in something you cannot see.”
Are they not patently absurd?
It now possible to move about in United States and hear nothing of God and nothing of his message, and therefore the forthcoming generation is cursed with ignorance. Atheism has become a dominant ideal inside the “academy”. Plato is surely rolling over in his grave. The other practices, such as “Spiritualism”, or Buddhism, smack of a true disbelief, and these offer no real substitute to Western Judeo-Christianity, and represent another facet of the Anti-Theism Crusade. These belief systems gain ascendancy in the West due to a desire to rebel, nothing more. People no longer search for merit in a religion, but are simply and pathetically clawing for something different.
Atheism is at the root of all these ideas, an unreasoned and endemic disease only cured by reason. On the side of a belief in a creator are men of reason: Locke, Leibniz, Newton, Einstein, Pascal, Descartes, Galileo, Plato, and every man, nearly ever man who has brought the light of knowledge to bear against the dark cloak of ignorance.
Francis Bacon defined the cause of Atheism in “One Atheism”:
“Lastly, this I dare affirm in knowledge of nature, that a little natural philosophy, and the first entrance into it, doth dispose the opinion to atheism. But on the other side, much natural philosophy, and wading deep into it, will bring men’s minds to religion.”
On the other side, resting in Atheism, lie the works of Nietzsche, Sartre and others. Let us simply ask ourselves, which group of men has produced more? What cultures, movements, sciences, and other great things has atheism produced? Other than Communism and millions of deaths, quite a bit of nothing. Absolutely nothing that can be in its totality declared a positive.
Thus is proven true Christ’s expression, “By your fruits you shall know them.” This was spoken by Jesus Christ, the first pragmatist, who knew that ideas have consequences. If capitalism, democracy, law and much of European history are the fruits of Christianity and Theism then what are the fruits of Atheism. Is it rotten? Is this fruit of Atheism putrid to the nose and bitter to the tongue? Then let us take an axe to this tree! Today we must consign it to the flames!
posted by Brandon_T_Stanley at 3:32 AM
29 Comments:
Great piece! I`m going to link it up.
Hi Brandon,
Say, great job knocking down those big, scary imaginary strawman atheists!
Would you like some red herring with that?
Well, nobody ever taught me *those* 10 commandments at 1st Prophet Darwin Church. Maybe you have to go to 1st Church of Man Has No Essence to get them? Us crazy atheists, we have almost as many denominations as Christians.
Interesting piece Brandon. I disagree with, well, pretty much all of it but have neither the impetus nor time to bother with a full rebuttal. Therefore, I would like to take on one item in your "Ten Commandments".
"7) Ethical judgments cannot be made; all is relative"
Ethical judgments CAN be made but only within societal context. Morality is relative across cultures and circumstances and it can be no other way. I challenge you to find one sin (for lack of a better word) that is held to be wrong, without any possible exception, universally in even a small homogenous group of people. Killing another human being is wrong, right? But what about self defense, war, the death penalty. Stealing is wrong. But, what if Somali mother is stealing bread from the brutal, food hording militia to feed her starving child. Is it still wrong? I know these are tired examples but they illustrate my point well. What, in this imperfect, changing world full of diverse environments, peoples, and situations can we hold to be universally true?
As for the idea that this is a strawman argument, I see nothing wrong with using it. Its done all the time to Theists. As for Godless Ethics, this is an interesting concept and should be explored.
Hey, Brandon!
Nice satire. Some people really believe this stuff! You'll get your check in the usual way from the Darwinists.
As for Godless Ethics, this is an interesting concept and should be explored.
Actually, all ethics are godless, it is just that some of us realize it and some of us do not. Reading what Aaron has wrote is the first step in knowing this. You should definitely "explore" this concept, however, and join us on the dark side. See you there.
The proof is in the pudding. Let one of you oh-so-clever athiests speak to Brandon's demonstrable claims regarding what theism has produced in science, art, music, education and governmentin the western world. Education is a prime example... The concept of education for the masses didn't exist in the western world before Christianity. Nearly every school and university in the United States was founded under Christian auspices before about the 1850's. Even after the land grant universities and public schools were created the idea of ousting God and religion was unheard of. And today - you are going to tell me that our schools and universities are producing better educated citizens - that's laughable.
So, what "good" has atheism brought to the western world?
Hey!
I’m an atheist, but i’ve never seen that drivel before. I certainly don’t belong to any religion.
Calling atheism a religion is like saying anyone who doesn’t believe in Santa Claus is in a religion.
And I don’t “choose” not to believe in God any more than anyone else “chooses” not to believe in the Tooth Fairy or anything else. You just know it’s dumb, and you forget about it.
I couldn’t force myself to “believe” in God any more that I could force myself to “believe” in any other thing I know doesn’t exist.
I don’t use the Santa and Tooth Fairy examples out of disrespect, but only to explain that one doesn’t “choose” to believe something.
Is there any argument that could convince you that the Easter Bunny exists? No. In the same way, there is nothing that could convince me that God exists.
I don’t go around preaching atheism to people or trying to convert them. I figure I’m surrounded by people who believe in God, and while they are otherwise intelligent people, I just won’t mention it, cause it doesn’t matter anyway. In the same way I wouldn’t step into a classroom of First Graders and announce, “There is no Santa! Your parents leave the presents!” I wouldn’t announce that there isn’t a God because it just tends to upset people that won’t change their minds anyway.
I made up a word: I’m an “Apathist.” I don’t care if there is a God or not. It doesn’t matter if there is a God or not because things would be the same either way. If there IS a God, it has always been that way, and nothing is going to change no matter who wins the argument, and if there ISN’T a God, it has always been that way and things are going to be the same no matter who wins the argument.
As far as right and wrong is concerned, you should be nice to people, try not to be annoying, and do the best you can. I don’t need a thick book written by a bunch of dead guys to tell me that. The Ten Commandments (out of the bible) make sense. Just about everything Jesus said makes sense. A lot of what Buddha said makes sense. People should be good to each other not because some Magic Bearded Dude in the sky is watching over you, but because it is right to be good to one another.
Let one of you oh-so-clever athiests speak to Brandon's demonstrable claims regarding what theism has produced in science, art, music, education and governmentin the western world.
Well, StaticNoise, I don't know how clever I am, but as a deacon of the Church of Darwin I'll do my best to speak to these claims. In the first place, most atheists don't deny that religion can be, and has been, a positive force for society.
Nearly every school and university in the United States was founded under Christian auspices before about the 1850's.
So what? Nearly all Americans before 1850 were (at least nominally) Christians, so you might as well say that "Christians ate more than anyone else in America". True but vacuous, unless you can demonstrate that Christians founded more schools per capita than atheists, ceteris paribus.
And today - you are going to tell me that our schools and universities are producing better educated citizens - that's laughable.
Whether or not today's citizens are better-educated is difficult to define. The average students today certainly learn less Latin than they did, say, in 1850. But they learn a lot more about evolution, and the age of the Earth. And that's not due to Christians- in fact, many Christians today are fighting science tooth and nail. But you know that, don't you?
"So, what "good" has atheism brought to the western world?"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_atheists
Aside from a large number of succesful and worthy authors, scholars, philosophers,entertainers, artists, leaders and scientists? Nothing at all.
In regards to Brandon perhaps you will mature to a more intelligent position when you grow older rather than blind rhetoric that various other foolish people have told you. Atheists are not evil space monsters, neither are Theists all saints by any stretch. Once you start paying attention to the real world rather than the naive fantasies put forward by talking heads then perhaps you will look back at this article with the same embarrisment I feel for you and this is coming from somebody with strong religious beliefs not and Atheist.
Quote: "Morality is relative across cultures and circumstances and it can be no other way. I challenge you to find one sin (for lack of a better word) that is held to be wrong, without any possible exception, universally in even a small homogenous group of people."
What about positive morality? Killing someone might not always be a sin. But is it always good to save an innocent person from death if it costs you nothing in return? If a child is about to be hit by a car, and you have the ability to save him at no cost to your own life, is it always morally right to save him? Conversely, is it always wrong to not save him? I would say yes, to both. Does that mean there is absolute morality, beyond any cultural circumstances? It would seem so.
It's debatable whether the existence of absolute morality is the result of some kind of essense imparted by God, or whether it's a result of Darwinian survival instinct. It's not a good argument for God, either way.
My experience with atheists is that they have simply not searched hard enough for the truth. They haven't seriously searched for the answers to the most important questions of life. They are generally immature and dislike the idea of God, because of the way the church represents Him. They still believe in their flawless ability to reason. Atheists are Modernists. They think that by applying their reason to reality, they can make the world a better place, and live a better life.
The thing Atheists have failed to acknowledge is that we live in a Postmodern world. The Modern Era ended with World War I and II, as a whole generation of them realized that humans are small, insignificant, fractured creatures, whose lofty ideal of reason is nothing more than a straw man. Faced with the void of emptiness before them, but not wanting to turn back to God, they are nothing. They have nothing...no God, and no mind.
Atheists think that Theists are backwards and superstitious, while you cling to a worldview that was shown to be inconsistent and unlivable 70 years ago. Theism is at least a consistent, livable philosophy. The way I see it is that you can move from inconsistent atheism to nihilism, or you can retreat to a philosophy that has worked for all ages in the past.
Pascal said it's more reasonable to believe in God than not to believe in him. You have to bet your life on one or the other. If you choose God, and he doesn't exist, you have lost nothing. If you choose atheism, and God does exist, you have lost everything.
If a child is about to be hit by a car, and you have the ability to save him at no cost to your own life, is it always morally right to save him? Conversely, is it always wrong to not save him? I would say yes, to both. Does that mean there is absolute morality, beyond any cultural circumstances? It would seem so.
You have given an example and then answered it how YOU would answer it, and now assume of course that everyone would answer it the same way.
While a group of soldiers might be bashing in the skulls of children, do you think they would stop what they were doing to save a child from being run over? There are examples of such atrocities in history, and i'm sure those men slept fine that very same night. It is all relative, no matter how scary and how disorganized that may seem to you.
Is it morally reprehensible to torture? These days the answer seems to be, "It depends". Those torturing others during the Inquisition were fine with destroying a body as long as it saved a soul -- the ultimate love of your fellow man... no?
Is it wrong to rape 11 year old girls? The Japanese were fine with it in WWII -- to find out more about such atrocities read up on "Japanese Comfort Camps".
For every instance you say it is morally right or morally wrong, there are others who will disagree.
That said, -I- agree with you, because of the time and place I live in.
. Does that mean there is absolute morality, beyond any cultural circumstances?
A resounding NO is your answer. No matter how vehemently you protest it.
My experience with atheists is that they have simply not searched hard enough for the truth.
Some Atheists are always searching for the truth. Some are fine going on with their lives without thinking twice about it. Many Christians are the same way... believe and forget, no search for the truth -- blind faith, "I was born a Christian and that's just what I believe". Show me some hard evidence and I will be the most devout Christian since Paul. Until then, it is not possible to just believe... like it's some switch we turn on or off.
The way I see it is that you can move from inconsistent atheism to nihilism, or you can retreat to a philosophy that has worked for all ages in the past.
This whole inconsistency thing really bothers you, doesn't it? You really need to get used to it, it is how the world works. We are surrounded by chaos, with very few things under our control. Scary, yes, and yet you can deal with it without turning to ancient mythology for comfort. Prayer, holy symbols, God, are all simply rain dances to bring the uncontrolled under the illusion of control. Try just being afraid...
A little exercise from one seeker of truth to another, ask yourself this...
If you had been born 3000 years ago in Eastern Asia, what would you believe?
As for Pascal, from Terry Pratchett's book, Hogfather:
This is very similar to the suggestion put forward by the Quirmian philosopher Ventre, who said, "Possibly the gods exist, and possibly they do not. So why not believe in them in any case? If it's all true you'll go to a lovely place when you die, and if it isn't then you've lost nothing, right?" When he died he woke up in a circle of gods holding nasty-looking sticks and one of them said, "We're going to show you what we think of Mr Clever Dick in these parts..."
May your God carry a smaller stick.
[b]My experience with atheists is that they have simply not searched hard enough for the truth.[b/]
What the hell does this mean? How do you know it is not you that "has not searched enough for the truth". Is it because I disagree with you ergo I must be wrong.
In this hand I have a book, written by men, upon whose word is the only evidence that it is divine. A literal reading of this book says the world is 6000 years old.
On the other I have a rock which tests to be millions of years old, and light from stars that must have started 100s of millions of years ago.
Conclusions: one of 3 choices.
1) The book is wrong.
2) Don't take all the book literally. OK which bits? How do you tell? Shall we get Galileo's opinion (Hey Pope- any chance of a apology, not just a pardon).
3) The rock is conspiring with the star light.
Hi Brandon! This was a really entertaining read. It's pretty much proof-positive you have no idea what you're talking about, but entertaining all the same.
Anon, Pascal's wager is busted long ago. If God exists, and he wants people to believe in him, you think he'll be fooled by someone playing the odds and saying they believe in him just in case he exists? That's not the same as really believing, you know.
Amen Brandon, socialists have done nothing but be a hinderance to life. I count our over forty million dead innocents from abortion as an evil so wicked that judgement is coming soon for the entire world. Communism killed one hundred million abortion has killed even more worldwide. Children of disobedience the coming wrath will be even more terrible without a relationship with God. He is our comforter in time of trouble. Look for him while he may yet be found.
Alnot -
Socialism? Abortion? Communism? No relationship with God?
Well, 1 out of 4 isn't bad.
I'm thinking that maybe you are confused on what is the definition of an Atheist. We lack a belief in any god or gods. Period.
For instance, some Atheists are okay with abortion, some against it, and some fall in the middle of the two extremes. I for one am against it unless the mother's life is in danger, and even then it should be left up to the mother on whether or not she decides to sacrifice her life for that of the child.
But you don't care about the definition, do you? Lump everything into one pile and call it an Atheist. Christians sure are good at creating demons.
I think its all been covered quite nicely by my godless chums.
An atheist does not believe in the existence of god or gods. You are only one god away from atheism. We simply rejected the last one too. As for your claim that atheists don't look enough for the truth. It so happens that I used to be a Christian and left the faith after reading the bible thoroughly. Until then I was an apatheist (great word whoever coined it). The grotesque brutality of the old testament and the inconsistencies of the new testament simply seemed to be a poor guide on how to lead ones life.
The brutalities of the old testament are understandable, but I personally have no desire to return to that kind of world and if you do then I think you must be an idiot.
And how can a book be the divine truth when it contradicts itself as in the new testament.
An American friend told me once that in his debating classes a controversial topic was chosen and both groups had to justify their position (one on either side obviously) using the bible. On no case did they find a topic they couldn't find oppposing arguements for.
The whole planet will never get along, with our power and money hierarchies anyway.
Reminds me of kids in the school yard arguing over whether father christmas is real or not and one of them gets punched in the arm! But with "adults" its much more of a dangerous game.
I am the adult who tells them that it doesnt really matter that Johnny thinks that father xmas is real and the Jimmy doesn't, as long as they aren't beating each other up and as long as they help others to realise that they shouldnt argue and fight over it, otherwise all the kids in the playground will fight until they get sent home. Instead of enjoying the freedom to run around in the playground enjoying the air and the games they get to play and laughs they get to have.
Hypothetical: two people, one is an atheist the other is a Christian.
The atheist goes through life respecting the rights and beliefs of other people, for he adheres to the maxim “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” even though he is an atheist.
The Christian on the other hand goes through life committing all kinds crimes against people and property, after all he is only human.
On their deathbed the atheist knows he has lead a good life and accepts his time has come.
For the Christian, he knows he has committed “sins” throughout his life and repents them.
Assuming that God and heaven/hell exist then, what will be their fate?
Will the so-called Christian be welcomed into heaven because he repented at the last moment and the atheist sent to hell?
Will the so-called Christian be welcomed into heaven because he repented at the last moment and the atheist sent to hell?
If the answer is "yes", then that's a religion I want no part of.
"1) Man consists of nothing more than atoms, hence he has no essence
"
You have to define what "essence" even means before claiming its existence or non-existence. Clearly that would be reasonable, would it not?
"2) Man should therefore seek Paradise on Earth"
Atheism is a lack of belief in a deity; it does not make any implications about what man should or should not do. Surely a reasonable person such as yourself would know this.
"3) Reality must be what we see in front of us"
Please explain how we can come to know anything beyond our perception. Surely it would be reasonable to back up such an implication, would it not?
"4) Religious faith is bad; but faith in fellow man good"
Atheism is a lack of belief in a deity; it doesn't make any implications about the goodness or badness of faith, nor does it make any claims about faith in "fellow man".
"5) We must be the judge of whether God is righteous or not"
Atheism is a lack of belief in a deity; it doesn't make any claims about how we should judge any god concepts.
"6) Eschatology in religion bad; eschatology in science good"
Atheism is a lack of belief in a deity; it doesn't make any such normative claims.
"7) Ethical judgments cannot be made; all is relative"
Atheism is a lack of belief in a deity; it doesn't make any claims about morality. In fact, I know several atheists who are also moral objectivists. Further, moral relativity does not imply that moral judgements cannot be made; only that there is no absolute rightness or wrongness. A reasonable person such as yourself is truly already aware of this.
"8) The Universe is an accident"
Atheism is a lack of belief in a deity; it makes no claim about how the universe was created -- but again, undoubtedly a reasonable person such as yourself is clearly aware of this.
"9) Evolution can never be questioned. Prophet Darwin is unassailable"
Atheism is a lack of belief in a deity; it makes no claims about the origins or processes of life.
"10) Faith is a stupidity, and faith must be taken as “belief in something you cannot see.”"
Atheism is a lack of belief in a deity; it makes no claims about faith.
Perhaps you should re-evaluate what the word "reasonable" means.
"Mom, how many buildings have atheists crashed planes into?"
"Kid, that's a good question."
Well, that's quite the polemic. However, it's also an example of the major drawback of a lot of Christian argument; it's designed not to persuade, but to reassure. It wouldn't convince anyone who wasn't already convinced, because the arguments suck. But that's OK...the arguments don't have to be good, because the intended audience isn't looking for good arguments, they just need something that sounds sorta intellectual-like. Just so they can feel good about themselves for believing this stuff.
For my own pleasure, and my own pleasure alone, I want to respond, but it's a long piece, and any exhaustive response would be longer still, so I'm just going to limit myself to what the author describes as the ten 'commandments' of atheism. Ready to have your mind blown? Let's go!
1) Man consists of nothing more than atoms, hence he has no essence
OK, I'm not really sure how B follows from A. Man DOES consist of nothing but atoms, but what does that have to do with what sort of essence he has? It's a lot like saying "Scrambled eggs consist of nothing but atoms, therefore they cannot be delicious."
2) Man should therefore seek Paradise on Earth
Well, yeah. You really want to say that it's 'patently absurd' that we should try to make the world a better place? Sorry, I won't be joining you out on THAT limb!
3) Reality must be what we see in front of us
This is a bad rap that Christians are always trying to pin on atheists; that we only believe in what we can see. And it's really just an attempt at distraction. Atheists like to have reasons for the things we believe, but whenever we ask Christians why they believe all the silly things they do, they can't come up with ANYTHING good. "The Bible/God says so" or "Because I have faith." So, to change the subject, they claim that atheists only believe what they can see, and then trot out hokey arguments like "What about wind? You can't see that, right? What about Abraham Lincoln, you believe HE'S real, right?" Like I said, it's just a distraction. Atheists believe lots of things, but we don't believe in just ANYthing. We expect a reason.
By the way, I'm not saying Christians have no reason at all for what they believe...just that they'll never admit to what the REAL reasons are.
4) Religious faith is bad; but faith in fellow man good
Again, what's wrong with faith in your fellow man? I'm quite happy to let you be on the other side of the fence from me on that one! And religious faith always seems to me like a shortcut for lazy people.
5) We must be the judge of whether God is righteous or not
Seems to me that this is something Christians are guilty of, not atheists. I've never met a Christian who was able to make up his mind about whether God IS good, or whether God DEFINES good. Can't have it both ways. If God defines good, then the whole concept of 'good' is meaningless...it's just mindless obedience. But if God IS good, it means that there's a higher standard of good and evil that God Himself can be evaluated by. Remember that: every time you say "God is good" you're judging Him! By your own standards of what good is!
6) Eschatology in religion bad; eschatology in science good
Okay, I'm not even sure what this one means. I was under the impression that 'eschatology' was the study of the end of the world. If I'm reading this right, you're saying that to atheists, what science says about the end of the world carries more weight than what religion says. Well, okay, but that's true about just about anything. As in point 3, this is all about having REASONS for the things we believe. Science demands reasons, Christians don't.
7) Ethical judgments cannot be made; all is relative
This one is just stupid. It's ONLY when morality is relative that judgements can be made. If someone says to you that God says you should go kill abortion doctors, then if you're a true Christian you have no basis at all to disagree. It's only if you start to think a little atheistically that you can say "Well, maybe God's not really talking to you," or "God saying so isn't a good enough reason." But as a Christian, who believes morality is absolute, you can't make judgements like that.
8) The Universe is an accident.
The universe is either planned, or unplanned. Created or not created. Designed, or not designed. Now, if it was created, it was created for a purpose. So, my challenge to you: Since you consider it 'patently absurd' that the universe is an accident, tell me what its purpose is. If you can't, then the idea that the universe is an accident must not be as patently absurd as you say.
9) Evolution can never be questioned. Prophet Darwin is unassailable
Typical Christian self-pity. Evolution is about the most questioned idea of all time, yet it survives. Sucks to be you, eh? Stop blaming others for your own failures.
10) Faith is a stupidity, and faith must be taken as “belief in something you cannot see.”
Do I detect a trace of insecurity here? Could it be that sometimes you feel guilty about believing the ludicrous things you believe, for no good reason? It's almost like, as long as you can convince yourself that atheists ALSO believe in things they cannot see, it's OK for you to do so as well. Well, it's worth repeating one more time...Atheists expect good reasons for believing in something. And we won't back off and leave you alone just because you say "But it's my faith! And you have faith too, so there!"
Now, I want to add just one other point, in reference to the list of believers vs. atheists. It's not really a fair list, is it? For most of human history, atheism was hardly an option; it just wouldn't occur to people not to believe their dominant myth. You have to ask yourself though: If alive today, how many of these people would be atheist?
I won't venture an answer to that question. But I will say that there are an awful lot of great thinkers and artists who, while paying lip service to the idea of a Creator, seemed far more concerned with the glorification of Man. Men like Albert Einstein, Thomas Jefferson, and Michelangelo.
Einstein talked of a creator. But he also said that he thought Christianity was evil and the idea of a personal God childish nonsense. Thomas Jefferson, and the other founders, built a nation around the ideal of Man's ability to govern himself and improve himself, which is what makes the notion that this is a nation founded on Christian ideals so preposterous. And Michelangelo...You really think he painted the Sistine Chapel to glorify God? He had less respect for religion than I do. Michelangelo, like all great artists, was creating a monument to his own powers of achievement. He reveled in his own creativity, and that's what people respond to when they see great art.
But put that all aside for a moment, and ask yourself this: If it's from Christianity that all this wonderful creativity springs, then...where are all the great Christian artists today? Why is Christian music derivitive pap? Why are the 'Left Behind' books cheap potboilers? Why are Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell simpering idiots? Why is 'Passion of the Christ' a tedious anti-Semitic snuff film? Why can't Christianity inspire people to genius anymore?
And with that, my dear polemicist, I take my bow...
Steve Vanden-Eykel
"Mom, how many theists rna the gulag?"
"Son, thats an even better question."
That is the dumbest comment made on atheism I have read in a long while.
Here is a piece of advice. Read up on your subject matter before you make uneducated claims about anything. Here is a start. www.wikipedia.org.
"Mom, how many theists ran the gulag?"
"Son, are you a complete moron? They were all theists. You remember that whole "Gott mit uns" thing, don't you?"
I wasn't expecting a sort of Spanish Inquisition!
By the way, Brandon was raised in a good Buddhist houshould! Tsomo would be ashamed of you.
i'm sorry to say that if you continue to write essays of this nature you have no future in publishing. and if you cannot get your facts straight, AND develop a concise argument using logic, you will make a fucking stupid lawyer.
sorry.
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