Subject: [AthofSV] Fwd: Atheism for Dummies W.I.P.

From: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 3 Apr 2007 02:04:57 EDT

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Subject: Atheism for Dummies W.I.P.
From: [email-masked]
To: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 30 Mar 2007 08:18:38 EDT

This writing  isn't intended to destroy the beliefs of the die  hard 
believer, that is probably well beyond my ability and their determination,  anyway. 
This is only intended to clarify some inaccurate beliefs about  atheism. 
 I find it very irritating when a 'true believer' defines atheism in  the 
manner expressed by most of the Sunday Morning TV Hell, fire and  damnation, 
Bible waving, stage stomping preachers. (do people really send  these guys money?) 
Clearly it serves their purpose to find a devil or devils and  guess what? 
Atheism makes a good stereotypical demon. They make many examples of  'evil' 
atheists like Stalin, Pol-Pot and Hitler (who, by the way wasn't an  atheist) 
along with a whole heard of nasty commie pinkos. Demonizing  is a basic part of 
Judeo/Christianity. Religions need something to praise, and  something to 
demonize. This stereotype couldn't be more wrong, although it's  certainly serves 
the cause of many Christian fundamentalists.
  Atheism is morally neutral, being neither 'good' nor 'bad'. Atheism  simply 
means: A=without Theism. That's it, nothing more is stated, none, zero,  zip, 
zilch, nada! Agnostic is the same: A=without gnosticism (knowledge) I'm  well 
aware that older editions of the Merriam Webster dictionary did define  
atheism as evil and unholy, but that's since been corrected. Webster, I  
understand, was a fundamentalist, so it's not surprising. 
   I paraphrase the following great quotation, pardon any errors: 
                                                      
                                       I  submit that we are both atheists,
                                        When you understand why you reject 
all the other gods,
                                        You'll understand why I reject yours. 
 
Christians and probably most other religions don't acknowledge the fact  that 
their religion isn't the only one, and in the case of Judeo/ Christianity  
that it is a carbon copy of several previous religions, including Mithraism and  
several sun gods. Christians are taught to ignore all the many other gods. 
But  that's another issue beyond this rant.
 
  Atheism and morality. It's fascinating that atheism is deemed  immoral by 
'believers' who all but ignore the many thousands of religious  pedophiles and 
embezzlers who are successfully prosecuted every year. This is  covered up by 
denying they are 'real' Christians'! The FFRF publishes thousands  of 
newspaper articles each year confirming the numbers. If anything confirms the  
validity of atheism it's the fact that Christianity is a moral, if not a fiscal  
failure. If Christians are presumed to be 'moral' then it must be assumed to be  
for a purpose. The obvious purpose must be a reward or a punishment. Believers  
tell me that without a 'moral compass' we'd all be a bunch of wild 
unrestrained  criminals committing all sorts of illegal and immoral deeds. This tells me 
that  the believers are only religious for self serving and selfish 
interests.  Atheists seem to find morality a sufficient reward in and of itself, here 
and  now rather than after death. Are you really sure there is a heavenly 
reward for  those who simply have to 'say' they believe? You'd never buy a used car 
on this  basis. The fact that the prison population is only 1% atheists and 
86%  Christian, must indicate something
    Many, if not most, atheists like myself, were raised as  Christians, 
although my parents, (mother Catholic, father Christian) decided to  leave my 
beliefs to myself........Thank God, for  that!      (Hey, it's a common expression 
with  virtually no meaning.) I understand that practically everyone is the 
religion of  their parents, and while this is understandable, it's also 
illogical. What if  your parents are WRONG? Just because they are YOUR parents, 
doesn't mean they  have any better insight into the mysticism of religion anymore 
than anyone else  on earth. Culture is a strong emotion. 
   God by default and/or ignorance: Believers, in an attempt to  argue their 
case for the existence of a god, will point to trees and bugs  and rocks as 
confirmation that it had to be god that did 'it' (but never  disease, as all 
'bad' things are blamed on the devil.)  When asked who  created their god, you're 
apt to receive a blank stare, usually with the comment  that 'God always was' 
and with no other evidence than 'faith'  
 
   The god fervor factor: The religious fervor factor is  mathematically 
defined as faith divided by evidence: F/E. 
Where there is strong faith and little or no evidence we have strong  
religion. When this is taken to the extreme, we get suicidal terrorists, heavens  
gate cultists and branch Davidians, not to mention snake handlers and poison  
drinkers. As faith diminishes and evidence increases, the F/E factor begins to  
approach 1, the number of atheists increase dramatically. The only logical  
conclusion is that as little 'faith' and as much 'evidence' as possible, is the  
answer. Obviously an F/E ratio of zero is the most desirable.
 
 Religious dogma. Humans are 'joiners' in general and tend to become  
affiliated with something they consider good, or right. The same with politics.  The 
problem is the dogma may change, but by then, the affiliation is just too  
comfortable for the follower to change. I found the social aspects of religion  
hard to abandon even after I had abandoned all supernatural beliefs. I  found 
it hard to tell those sweet old ladies I no longer believed in their  god....
.
 
   The arguments that best serve God just happen to be the same  ones that 
best serve the Gurus, ayatollahs and  preachers.

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---

From: "Mark W. Thomas" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 3 Apr 2007 07:05:25 -0700

(for those who don't get attachments)

-----Original Message-----
From: [email-masked] [mailto:[email-masked]]
Sent: Friday, March 30, 2007 5:19 AM
To: [email-masked]
Subject: Atheism for Dummies W.I.P.

This writing  isn't intended to destroy the beliefs of the die hard
believer, that is probably well beyond my ability and their determination,
anyway. This is only intended to clarify some inaccurate beliefs about
atheism.
 I find it very irritating when a 'true believer' defines atheism in the
manner expressed by most of the Sunday Morning TV Hell, fire and damnation,
Bible waving, stage stomping preachers. (do people really send these guys
money?) Clearly it serves their purpose to find a devil or devils and guess
what? Atheism makes a good stereotypical demon. They make many examples of
'evil' atheists like Stalin, Pol-Pot and Hitler (who, by the way wasn't an
atheist) along with a whole heard of nasty commie pinkos. Demonizing is a
basic part of Judeo/Christianity. Religions need something to praise, and
something to demonize. This stereotype couldn't be more wrong, although it's
certainly serves the cause of many Christian fundamentalists.
  Atheism is morally neutral, being neither 'good' nor 'bad'. Atheism simply
means: A=without Theism. That's it, nothing more is stated, none, zero, zip,
zilch, nada! Agnostic is the same: A=without gnosticism (knowledge) I'm well
aware that older editions of the Merriam Webster dictionary did define
atheism as evil and unholy, but that's since been corrected. Webster, I
understand, was a fundamentalist, so it's not surprising.
   I paraphrase the following great quotation, pardon any errors:

Christians and probably most other religions don't acknowledge the fact that
their religion isn't the only one, and in the case of Judeo/ Christianity
that it is a carbon copy of several previous religions, including Mithraism
and several sun gods. Christians are taught to ignore all the many other
gods. But that's another issue beyond this rant.
  Atheism and morality. It's fascinating that atheism is deemed immoral by
'believers' who all but ignore the many thousands of religious pedophiles
and embezzlers who are successfully prosecuted every year. This is covered
up by denying they are 'real' Christians'! The FFRF publishes thousands of
newspaper articles each year confirming the numbers. If anything confirms
the validity of atheism it's the fact that Christianity is a moral, if not a
fiscal failure. If Christians are presumed to be 'moral' then it must be
assumed to be for a purpose. The obvious purpose must be a reward or a
punishment. Believers tell me that without a 'moral compass' we'd all be a
bunch of wild unrestrained criminals committing all sorts of illegal and
immoral deeds. This tells me that the believers are only religious for self
serving and selfish interests. Atheists seem to find morality a sufficient
reward in and of itself, here and now rather than after death. Are you
really sure there is a heavenly reward for those who simply have to 'say'
they believe? You'd never buy a used car on this basis. The fact that the
prison population is only 1% atheists and 86% Christian, must indicate
something
    Many, if not most, atheists like myself, were raised as Christians,
although my parents, (mother Catholic, father Christian) decided to leave my
beliefs to myself........Thank God, for that!      (Hey, it's a common
expression with virtually no meaning.) I understand that practically
everyone is the religion of their parents, and while this is understandable,
it's also illogical. What if your parents are WRONG? Just because they are
YOUR parents, doesn't mean they have any better insight into the mysticism
of religion anymore than anyone else on earth. Culture is a strong emotion.
   God by default and/or ignorance: Believers, in an attempt to argue their
case for the existence of a god, will point to trees and bugs and rocks as
confirmation that it had to be god that did 'it' (but never disease, as all
'bad' things are blamed on the devil.)  When asked who created their god,
you're apt to receive a blank stare, usually with the comment that 'God
always was' and with no other evidence than 'faith'

   The god fervor factor: The religious fervor factor is mathematically
defined as faith divided by evidence: F/E.
Where there is strong faith and little or no evidence we have strong
religion. When this is taken to the extreme, we get suicidal terrorists,
heavens gate cultists and branch Davidians, not to mention snake handlers
and poison drinkers. As faith diminishes and evidence increases, the F/E
factor begins to approach 1, the number of atheists increase dramatically.
The only logical conclusion is that as little 'faith' and as much 'evidence'
as possible, is the answer. Obviously an F/E ratio of zero is the most
desirable.

 Religious dogma. Humans are 'joiners' in general and tend to become
affiliated with something they consider good, or right. The same with
politics. The problem is the dogma may change, but by then, the affiliation
is just too comfortable for the follower to change. I found the social
aspects of religion hard to abandon even after I had abandoned all
supernatural beliefs. I found it hard to tell those sweet old ladies I no
longer believed in their god....
.