Pat Robertson, and American televangelist, has come out and said some pretty ignorant, hateful things in his time. For example (this one is so ignorant it's actually funny):
"The feminist agenda is not about equal rights for women. It is about a socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians." - 1992 (Wikiquotes).
The frightening part is that to remain on television, he must be earning money and hence some people actually follow this utter dribble he spouts forth, which doesn't bode well for [certain subsets of poorly educated, older, white, American] society.
In recent events, some random psychopath picked up a gun, went into a Sikh temple and shot a bunch of people.
While most people would say (inside the USA) "That guy was possibly influenced by the Batman shootings, and is a random psychopath" (outside USA) "This is more evidence as to why there should be tighter gun control laws in the US", Pat Robertson has gone for the hate and blame game approach. See his dribble on the shooting incident here: http://www.examiner.com/video/pat-robertson-blames-atheists-for-sikh-temple-shooting
“What is it? Is it satanic? Is it some spiritual thing, people who are atheists, they hate God, they hate the expression of God? And they are angry with the world, angry with themselves, angry with society and they take it out on innocent people who are worshiping God.”
In retort, one author put it so beautifully: "For the record, atheists neither love nor hate god, for the simple reason that god does not exist.".
(http://www.examiner.com/article/pat-robertson-blames-atheists-for-sikh-temple-massacre?cid=rss )
I think I love this guy (no, no- not Robertson- the other guy). Blunt, sees it like it is, and recognises a total arsehat when he sees one.
Robertson's diatribe against athiests is clearly ill-informed, and shbows more evidence in support of the theory that extreme conservatives have lower intelligence (
http://www.livescience.com/18132-intelligence-social-conservatism-racism.html).
It could be a matter of not having the educational opportunities, though, so we've been here before, but will say it again. Atheism is not a hatred of a God, deity or theology. It is an absence of belief.
Let's provide some context, and compare it to something he may be able to comprehend:
Compare unicorns to ponies. A child may believe in and love unicorns, or believe in and love ponies. Chances are, though, they have seen, and possibly touched a pony, as it is not a figment of their imagination. When you grow up and learn the difference between real and imaginary, most rational people don't start to hate unicorns or resent anyone who ever led them to believe they might be real.
Showing posts with label atheism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label atheism. Show all posts
Thursday, 9 August 2012
Monday, 25 June 2012
Thoughts on "Afterlife": A Thinking Athiest Documentary
A few months ago a neighbour engaged me in conversation about some obscure "healing" practices such as reiki which she had recently tried. I tried to be understanding, and respect that people have the right to blow their income on pointless crap if they wanted to, and simply stated that no, I'd never tried it because I didn't believe in it.
This managed to devolve into a lecture about my general lack of faith and how she pitied me, and found my lack of spirituality very sad. Practicing much self restraint, I managed not to snort with laughter, tell her to go fuck herself, describe the extent of my lack of "faith" in her overall intelligence, or have any other such honest reaction.
This incident, and so many like it I've experienced in my life was reflected so well in the words of Laci Green in the newly released video Afterlife (Available at http://youtu.be/eeMoOJpvUlU ).
Green talks of how she has had people tell her that her life must be depressing because she is an atheist. I have also had similar experiences: pitiful stares, outraged people who feel they need to "save" me on the spot, offers to pray for me... etc ad nauseum.
While there is absolutely no evidence that there is a "heaven", reincarnation or afterlife of any sort, it seems so much easier for people to accept than that I could be content with the idea that one day I will die, and my body or ashes will rot, be eaten, fertilise a tree or something similarly banal that they would readily accept if it were their cat/ dog/ roadkill they just hit.
"But you can't possibly believe we just DIE, and that's IT?!" I have often been asked. Actually yes, I can and do. The machine which is the body ceases to function, as with every other living organism, and as cell life ceases, so do we.
I think it is one of the central reasons for religion as a whole to have been created. We, as humans, have constructed this whole system of stories and "logic" around our own self importance in the universe to deal with the fear of death and the unknown. A "happy fantasy", as Afterlife puts it.
What most resonated with me about Afterlife was the following segment by AronRa, which reflects many of the themes I have blogged about, and what motivates me to write:
The worst aspect of western monotheism is their system of judgement, where in it doesn't matter how good or bad you were in life, you won't be judged according to your deeds the way you should be. It doesn't matter what an evil selfish, sadistic, bigoted victimiser you were in life; all sins can be forgiven if you but believe.
In being an atheist, some argue that I am only accountable to myself, and this somehow should make me a careless hedonist. What I don't have as an atheist are all the excuses that someone will always love me, someone will forgive everything I do in the future, and that what I do now, while alive, is but a blip in my own existence- I can enjoy "heaven" later.
This does not motivate me to murder or exploit for fear of a deity's impending judgement or consequences, but realise that everyone contributes to the world in a small way, if not by contributing something positive, as a minimum we can not impede thigns by absorbing energy in harming others; that I have to make things happen in my own life, rather than avoiding chances and praying that all will be peachy or taken care of by some greater being after I die.
This managed to devolve into a lecture about my general lack of faith and how she pitied me, and found my lack of spirituality very sad. Practicing much self restraint, I managed not to snort with laughter, tell her to go fuck herself, describe the extent of my lack of "faith" in her overall intelligence, or have any other such honest reaction.
This incident, and so many like it I've experienced in my life was reflected so well in the words of Laci Green in the newly released video Afterlife (Available at http://youtu.be/eeMoOJpvUlU ).
Green talks of how she has had people tell her that her life must be depressing because she is an atheist. I have also had similar experiences: pitiful stares, outraged people who feel they need to "save" me on the spot, offers to pray for me... etc ad nauseum.
While there is absolutely no evidence that there is a "heaven", reincarnation or afterlife of any sort, it seems so much easier for people to accept than that I could be content with the idea that one day I will die, and my body or ashes will rot, be eaten, fertilise a tree or something similarly banal that they would readily accept if it were their cat/ dog/ roadkill they just hit.
"But you can't possibly believe we just DIE, and that's IT?!" I have often been asked. Actually yes, I can and do. The machine which is the body ceases to function, as with every other living organism, and as cell life ceases, so do we.
I think it is one of the central reasons for religion as a whole to have been created. We, as humans, have constructed this whole system of stories and "logic" around our own self importance in the universe to deal with the fear of death and the unknown. A "happy fantasy", as Afterlife puts it.
What most resonated with me about Afterlife was the following segment by AronRa, which reflects many of the themes I have blogged about, and what motivates me to write:
The worst aspect of western monotheism is their system of judgement, where in it doesn't matter how good or bad you were in life, you won't be judged according to your deeds the way you should be. It doesn't matter what an evil selfish, sadistic, bigoted victimiser you were in life; all sins can be forgiven if you but believe.
In being an atheist, some argue that I am only accountable to myself, and this somehow should make me a careless hedonist. What I don't have as an atheist are all the excuses that someone will always love me, someone will forgive everything I do in the future, and that what I do now, while alive, is but a blip in my own existence- I can enjoy "heaven" later.
This does not motivate me to murder or exploit for fear of a deity's impending judgement or consequences, but realise that everyone contributes to the world in a small way, if not by contributing something positive, as a minimum we can not impede thigns by absorbing energy in harming others; that I have to make things happen in my own life, rather than avoiding chances and praying that all will be peachy or taken care of by some greater being after I die.
Atheists are all crazy!
Thousands of years ago there were some influential figures who claimed to be receiving or channelling messages from deities. These days, if you hear voices, you receive a prescription for anti-psychosis medication and a clinical management plan with a team of specialists.
I was reading through a psychology proposal which featured a measurement instrument, the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale 25 www.cd-risc.com , at work recently and noted the following item:
3. When there are no clear solutions to my problems, sometimes fate or God can help
People are asked to respond on a 5 point Scale from 0- not at all true to 4- true nearly all the time.
On face value you might think- sure, these seem like reasonable statements, and that any extreme answer could indicate a problem, e.g. "God/fate will always take care of things".
How many times have we heard about people trusting their gut, too?
How many times have we heard about people trusting their gut, too?
Now consider the inverse- the response of "I believe it is never true that God/ Fate will help with my problem". Hmm, what a negative response, you might think on face value. As an atheist, however, I find it amusing that people cannot cope with the fact I do not believe there is a God or in concepts like fate, and feel the need to suggest there is a problem with my sanity for it.
I accept that many people are religious and have these beliefs, but I do not personally ascribe to them. To have included such an item in a tool designed to measure people's mental state of being potentially rejects the tenet that any atheist could ever be completely sane.
It takes an incredible arrogance to assume that your beliefs or a cultural norm are RIGHT and any other beliefs are WRONG or suggestive of poor mental health. Yet it is the default position adopted by so many.
Sunday, 10 June 2012
Gay, Atheist and other marriage
There has been a lot of buzz about gay marriage lately- both in Australia and overseas. While the issue is not new, it seems to bring all the zealots out of hiding to tout their "wisdom" loudly at the rest of us.
One of the most extreme condemnations of marriage equality was recently inflicted on the world by Paul Cameron. Cameron has long been an anti-gay hate campaigner, but in a radio interview he recently summarised the extent of his bigotry, and its religious origins, as such:
"..homosexuality is the one sin, or the one habit, that is 24/7. It is homosexuality all the time... Mark my words clearly; the long term goal of the homosexual movement is to get every little boy to grab his ankles and every little girl to give it a try. They will not rest until every one of our children at least gets to try, has the opportunity and maybe is forced to at least once experience homosexual acts. There is no retreating from that, they made it very clear earlier on—now they don’t take about it—but that’s what they want, they will not be happy until they get it, marriage is just a step along the way."
http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2012/05/paul-cameron-suggests-obama-is-gay-demands-gays-be-imprisoned-before-they-rape-kids/
From a scientific standpoint, I hope that more start to speak out and discredit Cameron's ridiculous "evidence" against homosexuality soon. A good example beginning is:http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/rainbow/html/facts_cameron.html
I think the irrationality of the main arguments against these common, usually religiously based, conservative, right-wing diatribes against gay marriage was summarised beautifully, with humour and sarcasm, here: http://littlelioness.net/2009/11/12/ten-reasons-why-gay-marriage-is-wrong/
In many countries, until the 1970s (although still continuing in some), there were laws against interracial marriage, yet to those of us born in or after the 1970s, such racist views seem ridiculously outdated and almost unimaginable. In my own family, being born of white, western European descent, we have now welcomed Taiwanese, Persian and African American family members by marriage... shocking! *Gasp!*?... or- in reality, it barely gets a second thought, as it should be.
So WHY should anyone be so opposed to gay marriage? Perhaps it's Bible verses such as "Marriage by God’s design is the union of one man and one woman" (Genesis 2:18) that inspire it?
If it is for religious reasons, on the assumption that marriage "belongs" to for example Christians, then why not so vehemently oppose inter-theological unions? Or marriages of other theology groups, such as Buddhism, who do not follow a deity, or even those most evil of all folks- such as myself.... the Atheists? Or, for that matter, anyone who has ever had sex- after all, Deuteronomy 22:13-21 states that "A marriage shall only be valid if the wife is a virgin. If the wife is not a virgin, she shall be executed."
Good- yes.. let's embrace the hatred, and discourage the foundation of what most people associate marriage with these days: not the Bible, or tradition, obligations or fear of social retribution, but LOVE.
In having legislation such as the Marriage Act 1961 in Australia, Governments have bought in to being part of the arguement. Although the original design of the Act was from the dominant Christian influence on society at the time, this is not a reason to retain it in its outdated, dsicrimanatory state which does not reflect the views and needs of current Australians.
As for those like Cameron who will continue to pollute the world with their hateful rants- I'm all for people having differing opinions, but if you cannot find a logical, defensible evidence base other than ignorance and hate mongering, then ever so kindly, do shut the fuck up.
One of the most extreme condemnations of marriage equality was recently inflicted on the world by Paul Cameron. Cameron has long been an anti-gay hate campaigner, but in a radio interview he recently summarised the extent of his bigotry, and its religious origins, as such:
"..homosexuality is the one sin, or the one habit, that is 24/7. It is homosexuality all the time... Mark my words clearly; the long term goal of the homosexual movement is to get every little boy to grab his ankles and every little girl to give it a try. They will not rest until every one of our children at least gets to try, has the opportunity and maybe is forced to at least once experience homosexual acts. There is no retreating from that, they made it very clear earlier on—now they don’t take about it—but that’s what they want, they will not be happy until they get it, marriage is just a step along the way."
http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2012/05/paul-cameron-suggests-obama-is-gay-demands-gays-be-imprisoned-before-they-rape-kids/
From a scientific standpoint, I hope that more start to speak out and discredit Cameron's ridiculous "evidence" against homosexuality soon. A good example beginning is:http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/rainbow/html/facts_cameron.html
I think the irrationality of the main arguments against these common, usually religiously based, conservative, right-wing diatribes against gay marriage was summarised beautifully, with humour and sarcasm, here: http://littlelioness.net/2009/11/12/ten-reasons-why-gay-marriage-is-wrong/
In many countries, until the 1970s (although still continuing in some), there were laws against interracial marriage, yet to those of us born in or after the 1970s, such racist views seem ridiculously outdated and almost unimaginable. In my own family, being born of white, western European descent, we have now welcomed Taiwanese, Persian and African American family members by marriage... shocking! *Gasp!*?... or- in reality, it barely gets a second thought, as it should be.
So WHY should anyone be so opposed to gay marriage? Perhaps it's Bible verses such as "Marriage by God’s design is the union of one man and one woman" (Genesis 2:18) that inspire it?
If it is for religious reasons, on the assumption that marriage "belongs" to for example Christians, then why not so vehemently oppose inter-theological unions? Or marriages of other theology groups, such as Buddhism, who do not follow a deity, or even those most evil of all folks- such as myself.... the Atheists? Or, for that matter, anyone who has ever had sex- after all, Deuteronomy 22:13-21 states that "A marriage shall only be valid if the wife is a virgin. If the wife is not a virgin, she shall be executed."
Good- yes.. let's embrace the hatred, and discourage the foundation of what most people associate marriage with these days: not the Bible, or tradition, obligations or fear of social retribution, but LOVE.
In having legislation such as the Marriage Act 1961 in Australia, Governments have bought in to being part of the arguement. Although the original design of the Act was from the dominant Christian influence on society at the time, this is not a reason to retain it in its outdated, dsicrimanatory state which does not reflect the views and needs of current Australians.
As for those like Cameron who will continue to pollute the world with their hateful rants- I'm all for people having differing opinions, but if you cannot find a logical, defensible evidence base other than ignorance and hate mongering, then ever so kindly, do shut the fuck up.
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