*** very intriguing update at bottom Nov 2019
People ask me how, or why, I am an atheist. A great question, which I don’t mind discussing at all. However, some people say “you are just agnostic.” That statement frustrates me. It may be true, in a super philosophical sense… but it is also diminishing. Even if I were, shut your pie hole. I don’t tell you what to believe, and you shan’t tell me.
(ed note. It appears you ARE telling people what to believe. It’s the very nature of this post. Geesh, you are a bully, man!)
So, I should start with some qualifiers. I never had a bad experience at church, or with religion. I grew up going to church, and it wasn’t that bad. I grew up in a Catholic church… in AZ… and never even got diddled! We know they sent most of the pedos from the East coast to NM and AZ. In fact, when I was young… I kinda enjoyed mass. Our church had a rock band, people were always super nice, and there was always free donuts.
Nothing bad or cryptic happened to me… not with god, or church. I don’t think I ever believed in god, ever, in my heart. Frankly, I suspect the same for you, and most others. Like the pledge of allegiance, I just dutifully accepted it. When I got to thinking about it, I could not see a value or reason of god. I remember talking with my friend Brian, this is at 6 or 7 or 8 years old. We were talking about who we love the most. I remember thinking and saying “God, mom, and my dad”. Then, I realized that my priorities needed adjustment. It was mom, then dad, then god. I mean, mom and dad did all the cooking and raising and working and loving.
Here comes an important point. You might say “but it is through god they can do this. god invented your mom, and god invented diapers.” Sure, but god isn’t in there wiping poo. God isn’t doing the heavy lifting there, and god didn’t get up every night at 3 am.
God? God didn’t do shit.
I know, I know, you want to say that god had a hand in all of that. Maybe, but god didn’t work 12 hour retails shifts on her feet like my mom did. God didn’t take us camping in the summer, that was dad. Do you see my logic here? This is the empirical thinking of a 7 year old. Well, it still holds up to 45 year old me today.
PT 2 – we are MORE moral.
this is a big one. People who identify as religious believe that godless folks are less moral. I can PROVE to you why that is wrong. I am godless. I do very good work in my community. I volunteer for the dog shelter (DDFL.org), teaching in under privileged schools (JA.org), the Red Cross (RedCross.org) and my county’s emergency management team. We won’t talk about how I spend my Sundays fixing shit in my community, while you spend your Sundays in church TALKING about fixing shit in your community. No, sir. My point is this, and it is really important you grasp this. Literally, please email me or comment if you don’t understand. Maybe I am mis-understanding it. Truly, this is an open dialogue. Send me almost anything on this topic and I will publish it below… especially if you try and make a well reasoned argument. If you just post ‘you are stupid and going to hell’, I may not publish it. Why, it makes your side look horrible, and that isn’t fair.
I do these good things not because I hope to get to heaven. I do not do them because god is watching. I do not do them because I may go to hell if I don’t. I do them because I feel they are right. the question to you is, what would you do if your god wasn’t watching? Integrity is what you do when no one is looking. Write that down somewhere. It’s my mantra.
*** update Nov 2019 – Atheists are smarter! Science!
“In other words, religious people tend to be less intelligent than non-religious people on average.“
I am Correct 