Why Do You Atheists Care What We Think?

Why? Because we love you. Seriously. Or more correctly, because we care about humanity in general. We care about how people are treated and whether or not their rights are being trampled on. We care about the education of our children and the science that may help them to live longer, healthier lives.

So what does that have to do with the beliefs of others? The beliefs of others often limit or deny rights to others for no valid reason, but simply because of religious dogma.

How much have gay and lesbian individuals suffered because of people applying biblical edicts against homosexuality? We continue today to deny them access to marriage, because of a belief in this ancient "Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve" concept.

How many people will die because of AIDS and how many teens will be burdened with unwanted pregnancies because of religious intervention to stop the use of contraception and the spreading of lies about its effectiveness?

How many people of good character are denied jobs or the opportunity to hold public office because of unfounded beliefs that atheists are immoral?

How many children will be lied to about evolution in order to protect the doctrine of biblical creation; a doctrine in capable of defending itself? How much will science suffer because of the backwards thinking related to evolution and how much will society suffer because research related to this topic and others like stem cell research are underfunded in order to cater to particular religious beliefs?

As atheists and humanists we have to stand up against injustice and its source, so we fight back against the religious beliefs that support this kind of unfair treatment.

If you simply believed in a god and didn't try to impose your particular religious beliefs on the rest of us, we would probably not have an issue, although we might wish you thought otherwise about religion. But unfortunately, your beliefs inform your actions - you can't help it. So when you vote or support a cause, the religious viewpoint is always a part of it. That is why we care about what you think, because what you think translates into what you do. And what you do is often unjust and dangerous to the rest of us.

Narcissistic God

Narcissism
Narcissism is the pattern of characteristics and behaviors which involve infatuation and obsession with one's self to the exclusion of others and the egotistic and ruthless pursuit of one's gratification, dominance and ambition. (Source:wikipedia)

Sound familiar. Just browse through the old testament. A quick review of the ten commandments will show that God is obsessed with being worshipped. A review of the Pentateuch shows several instances of God either conducting or condoning rape and murder, particularly when it interferes with his wishes.

God kills almost the entire population of the planet, including plants and animals that couldn't possibly do anything 'sinful'.

God sends several plagues down on Egypt including killing all of the first born (again including innocent animals) so that the Pharoah will set 'His chosen people' free. But all through the old testament God doesn't seem to have a problem with 'His chosen people' having slaves!

All throughout Leviticus, God is obsessed with useless ritual animal sacrifice in 'His' name.

In Deuteronomy, God says that you should kill your family members if they try to get you to worship another god. Apparently God believes in other gods, otherwise, why would he be worried?

It goes on and on and on all throughout the Old Testament. Then, in the New Testament (Matthew 5:17 - 5:19), Jesus states "...Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled". He clearly indicates that the old law is still valid. Same god, same rules.

According to the New Testament, we who do not believe are condemned to eternal punishment (Matthew 25:46). Infinite punishment for finite crimes.

Consider a person that gave their time, money, and energy to help people as much as they could; who never drank, smoked, took drugs, swore, killed, stole, or any other negative activity. This person would be condemned to eternal punishment while a rapist, murderer, or pedophile needs only to truly repent and accept Jesus to gain entry to heaven and eternal bliss.

How could anyone even consider worshipping a so-called god like this?

But this is the god of the Old and New Testaments! And he is worshipped by billions!

If you want to believe in a god, fine, no problem. But don't make it a god as cruel and sadistic as the one described in the Bible.

A Good God - Don't Make Me Laugh

You can tell the character of a person by what he says and does. At least that's all we have to go on because we can't tell what is in someone's mind. So we base our opinion on the "goodness" of a person by how he/she treats others in word and deed.

So if we try to determine the biblical god's character from his word and deed, we should just examine his actions in the Bible. I know that their will be objections to this such as 'mere humans do not have the right to judge God' or ' this is taken out of context'. Well, I disagree. The only way to distinguish between the different versions of gods that are proclaimed by various religions and determine which one to follow (if any) would be to examine what they are supposed to have said and done. The one that appears to be the most fair, just, loving, and consistent is probably the more likely candidate for worship (assuming you believe any of them).

Let's look at just a couple of items from the Old Testament for now since this represents the foundational root for the god of three of the major religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam).

Deuteronomy, Chapter 23:
23:1 He that is wounded in the stones, or hath his privy member cut off, shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD.

23:2 A bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to his tenth generation shall he not enter into the congregation of the LORD.

This is from the King James Version of the Bible and is supposedly the word of God. I don't know how you could justify saying that this is taken out of context. Apparently, anyone who is injured or blemished in any way is unfit to be in God's company. That seems totally rational and fair doesn't it? By no fault of your own you become injured and lose your testicles or penis and now God has no interest in you.

If your mother and father conceived you out of wedlock, then you and all of your children, grandchildren, greatgrandchildren, etc. are 'barred from the congregation of the Lord'. That seems fair, too doesn't it? Again through no fault of your own, you are punished. And even if you get married and have children and keep them from being born 'bastards', they still get punished.

I know that Chrisitians will say ' but that's the Old Testament. Things are different now'. Bull! This is the same God as the one in the New Testament. Did He change? I don't think so, not if you believe that He is perfect and has ultimate knowledge as we have been taught. Face it, if you believe the Bible is the word of God then you have to accept that God has a thing about keeping your 'manhood' intact. If you don't believe this is the nature of God, then why do you believe any of the rest of it?

This is the first of what I plan to be several posts that demonstrate the character of the Biblical god. Think about it and wear a steel cup at all times.

Why are we here? - Part III

Just to follow up on an issue related to our supposed 'Perfect God'.

Consider the end result of the whole process described in the bible.

1. God creates universe and man.
2. God destroys mankind, plants, animals (except for Noah and company).
3. God and man continue to kill, maim, rape, etc... until Jesus comes back.
4. Jesus comes back. All the saved go to heaven. All the rest go to eternal damnation.
5. God and the saved spend eternity together.

Create it all, gather some back, destroy it all. What's the point? Why cause all of that suffering? God's Great Plan!

What plan could possibly justify all of the destruction? Why would God need any of this if He is perfect? He didn't do it for us, we didn't exist in the first place!

Now what? Start it all over again?

Lunacy.

Why are we here? - Part 2

Let’s give God the benefit of the doubt and assume that He doesn’t need us. That leaves the “want” issue. Why would a perfect God want us? Why create the universe and perhaps more importantly, why create a human being capable of noticing? What psychological need do we fulfill? Perhaps it’s ego.

Let’s just start with a very small selection from Exodus 20. Three of the 10 commandments have to do with god.

20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
20:5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
20:7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

I think that one can see from these passages that God has an ego problem. He doesn’t say “Don’t rape, don’t molest, don’t abuse”. No. Instead of adding these to the list of things not to do, like murder and adultery, He is more concerned with praise and respect for Himself. So much so, that he will be such a just God and punish not only the unbelievers, but their children, grand-children, and great-grandchildren. He not only has an ego problem, but is clearly not a fair and just God. Does this sound like a God? Not to me. But maybe this isn’t God’s word here. Maybe this is just the way that man recorded the incident - with a little embellishment for effect! But then that would mean the Bible isn’t the true word of God. Hmm….

More later.

Why are we here? - God is imperfect.

God
The Being perfect in power, wisdom, and goodness who is worshiped as creator and ruler of the universe.
Perfect
Being entirely without fault or defect.
Complete
Having all necessary parts, elements, or steps.
Just
Acting or being in conformity with what is morally upright or good.

When I was younger, I was taught that God, the god of the Bible, was complete, perfect, and just. That He was omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent.

So, why are we here?

If God is perfect and complete then He is self-sufficient. He is in need of nothing. There is nothing that He needs to complete Himself. He does not need food or shelter or companionship. To add anything to a perfect “anything” makes it imperfect. So if God doesn’t need us, He must want us. But “wanting” is a form of need. It is not a physical need, but it is a need nonetheless. It is a psychology need. I want something because it fulfils some sort of emotional need. If only I could have ‘x’, then I would be happy. Would a god have emotional needs? Not a perfect god. “Wants”, i.e., “emotional needs” indicate a defect, a sense of dissatisfaction to some degree. But, how could a perfect being be dissatisfied? Being perfect would imply being psychologically perfect as well. Such a being should be contented with existence as it is.

There should be no need or desire in a perfect god. So why are we here? I submit that if, for the sake of discussion, we assume that God exists, then we are here because God either needed us or wanted us. In either case, this would mean that God is imperfect. But if He is imperfect, then he is not a god.

Scalia is clueless

From the Wall Street Journal:

Justice Antonin Scalia disputed the premise behind the lawsuit, telling Mr. Eliasberg that it was unfair to view the cross merely as a Christian symbol.

"The cross is the most common symbol of the resting place of the dead," he said. "What would you have them erect? Some conglomerate of a cross, a Star of David, and you know, a Muslim half moon and star?"

"I have been in Jewish cemeteries. There is never a cross on a tombstone of a Jew," Mr. Eliasberg said. "So it is the most common symbol to honor Christians."

"I don't think you can leap from that to the conclusion that the only war dead that that cross honors are the Christian war dead," Justice Scalia said. "I think that's an outrageous conclusion."

Scalia is clueless. He thinks that families of veterans with non-Christian backgrounds would be honored by the cross? Would he like us to honor him after his death with a Muslim, Hindu, or Buddhist religious symbol on his grave, or perhaps Scientology? And what about atheists? I don't think Pat Tillman would feel honored with the cross. Once again Scalia shows either his arrogance or stupidity with regard to religion. As long as it's his religious beliefs that are intruding on others, that's ok, but let it work the other way and suddenly he gets offended. He should be impeached, but unfortunately I don't think you can impeach a Supreme Court Justice just for incompetence.