RANT: So Why is it So Bad not to Believe in God?
So what if I don't believe in god
The last week has been a nightmare. While my Google Plus stream comprises mostly atheists, my facebook stream has a variety of people, comprising mainly believers in one religion or the other. As an atheist, I find people believing in virgin births as ludicrous as I would find people who believed that the Greek pantheon of gods was alive and well and living on Asguard. I have always had a sharp divide between fiction and fact, and religion is no exception. So when I am constantly forced to read what I regard as utter nonsense, it raises my ire after a while. The way I counter this (and many atheists do counter this) is to laugh at jokes which are at the expense of Christianity.
A typical day in a superstitious world
Today I was walking from my house to the shops. It’s about a thirty minute walk and about ten minutes in, a lady stopped and asked me if I wanted a ride. I said yes with delight and got into the car. I kid you not. Her first words after I got in were “Do you believe in Jesus?”
“No, I’m a hardcore atheist.”
And after that there was no stopping her. The blood of the lamb had saved her, she said. She had a personal experience with Jesus, she said. It was very much like the one that Paul of Tarsus had, she said. Her god provided her with everything she needed, she said. She grabbed my hand and assured me that she would pray for me. And so it went. Thankfully the ride was less than 2 or 3 minutes, and when I got out of the car, I breathed a sigh of relief.
Earlier today, someone I care about told me a story about my late brother, how he walked into two different churches, attacked the pastor, and how each pastor had said words like ‘Let the blood of Jesus clean this man,’ and how my brother had frozen and floated in the air, totally pinned down by the blood of Jesus. Or some such tripe. The time period was mid-70s, and I was told that two independent witnesses confirmed this, therefore it must be true. Does it not occur to the people who spread this type of nonsense that it is absolutely and utterly impossible for that type of event to occur? Where is their commons sense? What happened to their ability to analyse and evaluate whether something is true? I just don’t get it.
How anyone with two brain cells can believe this junk is completely and utterly beyond me, but they do, and because there are so many people in the world who believe in six armed gods, virgin Marys, seventy virgins waiting for sex, and laws of attraction that magically convert one’s thoughts into reality, I am doomed to meet it at some point most days of my life.
Humour and atheism
So to counter this onslaught I post atheist jokes, articles that expose religion for what it is (a pile of ancient myths with no foundation in reality), and more. I wonder if anyone today realized how close I was to screaming at these people and telling them to take their deluded belief systems and get out of my life. Yet society tells us we have to be polite. I battle to be polite when people start telling me stories about the Illuminati (they don’t exist), how an angel came to visit them the previous evening (they really do need to see a mental health practitioner), or how the local pastor raised someone from the dead (I kid you not).
Again, my weapon against the irrationality is humour, science, and knowledge. They are the only weapons I have. I will go mad if I have to consistently be forced to listen to stuff that I know to be complete and utter nonsense. There is no polite way for me to say this.
So why are you so desperate to convince me of your god?
I don’t harm anyone. I have never committed a criminal act. I mind my own business, and I don’t try to convert anyone to my own point of view. Why then, does it appear to be so awful that I don’t believe in gods? I am certainly in good company in my belief systems as most of the world’s leading inventors and scientists are atheists. Why does it bug Christians so much? Why do they constantly force me to discuss the topic? Why won’t they just leave my posts be? I don’t go to their stream to counter what they say about their particular belief system so why do they come to mine? Is my lack of belief in a mystic god so threatening to them?
I suspect that there is a sort of desperation to believing in god, as if believers cling to it because their lives are so awful that they would collapse if there was no hope of a supernatural being who would sweep away their woes. I often wonder if they fight atheism because they would rather be deluded and have hope, than face harsh reality. I can think of no other reason why these people are so desperate to convert me to their belief system. The bottom line is that people who are secure in their knowledge have no need to convince others.
In younger years, before Christian fundamentalism joined mainstream, it was considered impolite to talk about religion. I still think it is. Some of us find it offensive, and I very definitely do.
Rant over.
Jesus never existed
The Christian Delusion...
Addendum
If you go to the comments below, you will not find a single comment made by a religious person that addresses the topic of this 'rant.' The question is "Why is it so bad to be an atheist." Instead, every single religious person is attempting to prove that Jesus Christ is real or they're praying for me, or some such nonsense. They appear to be incapable of focusing on the topic. Like Pavlov's dogs, their behaviour is unthinking and automatic: propagate their religion. I rest my case.
© 2015 Tessa Schlesinger
Comments
I enjoyed reading this. There's nothing at all bad with not believing in God. It's a choice you've made, and you're hurting no one with that choice.
Tess,
I don't think people have a problem with you being an atheist as much as they have a problem with you being a smart ass.
Tessa.....I am pleased to meet you. I enjoyed this hub and respect your honesty and authenticity. It is refreshing to encounter an individual who speaks up to defend their rights and freedoms despite all the ludicrous backlash.
I won't take up a lot of space at this moment, but from what I can glean from this hub and your hub on the nonsense of "Law of Attraction," you and I have much in common. We have similar experiences and backgrounds...not to mention we're Boomer sisters (I'm older than you...DRAT!)
I will be visiting your site more often. I did not comment on your Law of Attraction hub because my computer was having some sort of tantrum or seizure....and I had to spend some time with it in therapy.....LOL. I shall return. Again, I find your work fascinating. Paula
"Science cannot explain anything do do with the mind" stands with other such profound pronouncements as "The sun circles the earth", "Heavier than air flight is impossible", "We can never break the sound barrier" and many more.
There is something science may never explain: how so many apparently intelligent people can be so dumb about certain things.
Tess
this hub is ABOUT religion. See?
Tess
by posting on religious forums we are all inviting comments and putting forward our ideas about religion. Can you really then say you don't join in discussions about religion?
That's okay, Tess. In hypershort terms. The universe is purely mathematical, and therefore purely mental. The soul (mind) is in essence 0 and therefore infinity as well. Inversion of zero leads to the generation of all numbers up to infinity, providing the context for the whole universe to unfold. Everything takes place in the singularity.
It's perfectly explained in the God series of the Illuminati. A few of my articles contain a link to the first book in which everything is explained that mainstream cannot explain.
Wow, buildreps, you have just got everybody pigeonholed, don't you? Amazing! You should write abook or something. Speak for yourself and stop cherry picking what you want to believe about people.
All Abrahamists have just a slightly higher consciousness than animals. You cannot be intelligent and believe in a deity that created the Universe, because who created the deity in the first place. It's a philosophical deadlock with just one escape - there is no creator, but creationists cannot comprehend this simple truth. They need a kind of 'father' watching over them, punishing them with eternal fire or rewarding them with eternal heaven.
Atheists on the other hand are pure materialists, intellectuals with zero intuition, who don't comprehend the mind and worship the senses and the incomplete materialistic scientific paradigm. Science cannot explain anything that has to do with mind and soul. And of course do atheists not believe in the soul (or the mind) as something that doesn't require a body, because atheist believe that the mind arises from dead matter. How this works is never explained by any atheist.
So in my humble opinion both sides - Abrahamists and Atheists - both don't comprehend just a fraction of reality.
Oz has thousands of atheists hanging around IN HIS HEAD! I think it is all he can think about.
Really, Oztinato ? You have thousands of atheist hubbers invading the posts of the godsoaked to leave comments?
Liar.
Tess
you admit to both ranting and vendettas therefore it is hard to talk about this.
There are thousands of atheist hubbers here trying to convert others to their way of thinking including yourself.
Cherry picking bad examples of alleged religious failures of the distant past or present proves nothing.
Ceegen - Why would you be "out to get you" in the first place? Why would we think that? Why are you protesting our impression of you?
And BTW, Gravity is still a "theory" AND a law. But that is not to say that we won't find a way to change gravity someday.
Morality is something that we CAN change, and we can change it at will. So there is still hope for you.
It's not about any of that, about how nice people can be. You can be a nice person, and still be a sinner. But as soon as you mention to someone that such and such is a sin, suddenly you're their enemy?
I'm not trying to be anyone's enemy. I'm just a messenger. Don't shoot the messenger. (Kappa -- Memes give bonus internets points).
I'm just saying, perhaps morality is something we can't change, like the laws of gravity. A fixed standard or something that does not change with time.
I don't hate anyone, I still sin even when I'm not trying. It's a constant battle to stay civil with some people, you know? Think I'm crazy or whatever all you want, I say God bless you anyway. I don't wish you curses, but blessings.
I can't allow myself to believe that any of you are my enemy, because I believe that is a deception. Please don't think I mean to insult or argue, I'm just stating an opinion. We have a disagreement, yes, about a lot of things. I don't think that makes me crazy, but if so... I may be crazy, but I'm the peaceful kind of crazy. I'm not out to get you.
I respect your rights I will not speak to you again as your wish. Thank you for allowing me to speak.
Also tess an example , the mailman delivers your mail do you stone him for bringing you a bill, a check of large money, or just a kind card that says somebody cares about you ?
No you would not, because he is just a transport of messages, it would be strange if he took it upon himself to deliver and read
Your letter and say do this and do that , do not even listen to the composer of the letter.
You would then start to wonder who is this person telling me what to do with my personal letters.
This is my buisness and it is.
So is your acceptance and rejection of the letters of God.
There are delivers of his word but their are counterfeit messengers as well doing and saying the wrong things to confuse people up to the end.
First again you still do not understand, the word christian had been abused, just like in an abused relationship , people are mentally
Abused, I do not claim all religion is good , because God himself says they will be judge by their own works , neaning yes hypocrisy, hatred, war will be their activities and the end their fall. True I agree with you.
But you can not label everyone the same as saying christians , because there exist ginuine followers who live and apply scriptures and live by the law of love.
Just because some one has never seen one does not mean they do not exist.
They do ! so we can not call men bad or all women based on bad conduct of a bad woman or man.
We would not want people to treat us wrong based on anothers mistreatment in any relationship.
I believe we are to be sure and clear of truth
To seek it and be open to accept what is right , not stoning it because of anothers experience.
First again you still do not understand, the word christian had been abused, just like in an abused relationship , people are mentally
Abused, I do not claim all religion is good , because God himself says they will be judge by their own works , neaning yes hypocrisy, hatred, war will be their activities and the end their fall. True I agree with you.
But you can not label everyone the same as saying christians , because there exist ginuine followers who live and apply scriptures and live by the law of love.
Just because some one has never seen one does not mean they do not exist.
They do ! so we can not call men bad or all women based on bad conduct of a bad woman or man.
We would not want people to treat us wrong based on anothers mistreatment in any relationship.
I believe we are to be sure and clear of truth
To seek it and be open to accept what is right , not stoning it because of anothers experience.
Well I do not think of it this way , what you call nonsense is real to you , I do not feel it is nonsense to me. You speak from your mental understanding , I speak from mine, yet I do not call you names, I do not say you speak nonsense a judgment word
a unfairly used. No one can make anyone do anything. I can not make you believe me and my convictions or views I only can share as you share. But I do not stone you for yours.
Maybe others in other religions do , but that is not scriptual , it is not loving and it is not necessary. For God Almighty does not force love on anyone. He himself would appear if he needed to make this clear.
But it is not that he will continue to be silent.
Actually, Kiss and Tales, I agree with you: many religious people are very nice. So are almost all non-believers.
But whether or not you are nice, religion is still utter nonsense. If it makes you feel better and you don't try to shove it down other folks throats or put your beliefs into government, I'm fine with that. I do feel sorry that you live in such a deluded state, but if you are happy and don't annoy other people, good for you.
But here you are, injecting your godsoaked nonsense into someone else's life. Is that nice?
While you talk in general I never shout from a pulpit, I do not believe in all religions, but you slap that title on all people, like saying all men do wrong based on others .
Your complaint is valid but not according to the truth. I like people but I do not label all people bad because of others misusing their powers and rights. Sad to know there are people that are unfair like this.it has nothing to do with religion if you are a fair person
Where is the proof of that.
Tess, you are right on top of the atheist/theist argument! Thank you! Yes, we do have more brains, knowledge, education, and more EVERYTHING! All they have - ALL they have is that ONE musty, outrageously horrid book that they carry around and probably masturbate to.
Don't worry, Kiss and Tales: atheism isn't a disease and you can't catch it except by using your brain.
As to Ceegen, yeah, sure, it was atheist revolutions.
How people stay this ignorant is beyond my ability to understand.
What I find is even though there are Atheist beliefs , they seem to lack fellow feeling, consideration of others feelings
And opinions, if you do not believe in God
Believe in human kindness, talk to people the way you want to be treated , name calling (nuts ) is insensitive and dogmatic,
If this is what Atheist is about I never want to be one. Sad.
Ceegen, do you actually believe all the nonsense you just typed out? No, we don't have to capitalize gulag or the inquisition, or redefine murder. You are just typing words.
Religion is defined as a set of beliefs. Not, as you say, based on "facts". Yes, some actual facts are used, but the same happens in fiction all the time. Do you believe Spiderman lives in New York City? Why not? NYC is a fact!
Someon named Nebuchadnezzar may have actually existed, but the rumors stories about him may be fiction. Just like the stories about NYC.
So where is factual heaven? The garden of eden? Hell? Why are there no predictions in the bible about telephones, indoor plumbing, tv?
Why can't god regrow missing arms and legs? No matter how much prayer is applied, faith healing is a sham.
Why do you insist that god exists at all? There is absolutely zero facts that point to a god or gods.
Why are you here trying to convince atheists that religion is "true"?
Because it is, written in the first phophesy
King James Version
Ge 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
The seed of the true God will war against the seed of satan .
This is so by polical stands .
Joh 14:30 I will not speak with you much more, for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has no hold on me.
The point is there will always be a division
based on prophesy.
The thing is who do we support?
The point of religion is based on what is true, if it were assumed that the attached holy books contain an accurate description of history. Given that much of the physical names and places in the bible are verifiable facts, it is often misunderstood that these being factual associated with miraculous events, do not make a fact any less a fact. Only the times and places do secular histories get confused with that of pagan histories, with that of biblical events.
What I mean is, it's often misunderstood that when the bible speaks of Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, it is not speaking entirely of fictional characters. The nation of Israel did go captive to Babylon, and we've found clay tablets bearing the name of Nebuchadnezzar. However miraculous the stories may seem, you can ignore that and still see that at least the history is correct.
Forget for a moment that any miracle in the bible automatically makes it null and void, as far as claims of truth is concerned, but of what is moral or good.
Crime is to government, as sin is to some standard by which we are judged. We see in the bible how entire nations of people are governed by laws, having different cultures and ideals at odds with their own. The common factor is that of law, because law is based on truth, or is supposed to be.
Fortunately we live in a world where it is illegal to kill each other, because it is universally accepted in settled societies as an illegal activity. Murder is never okay, unless you can redefine murder.
The fact is that religion has just as bad a track record, if you only look at it in terms of what powerful people in history, believed to be true. Why did we have the Crusades? The Spanish Inquisition? I mean, we have to capitalize these things, or they're technically misspelled. Why?
You also have to capitalize the word Gulag, and there is a very good reason for that. Many people of religious faith were persecuted unnecessarily, and religion in Communist countries like China or North Korea is not tolerated, continuing this pattern of persecution of thought.
When a government redefines what is considered murder, I have a problem with that. Entire populations have been wiped out, in essentially atheist revolutions.
What causes people to fight over ideas? Why can't we talk about religion and politics?
As to Oztinato: I TOLERATE and defend your right to religious freedom, but I absolutely have no respect for it. It's ludicrous and it retards scientific progress at best. It deserves no respect.
As a theist, I am allergic to people who want to share their atheist bigotry with me. It is a basic human right to tolerate and respect religious freedoms. It is as basic as respecting the cultures of other races. The identity of indigenous people is intimately tied together with their religion. By lumping all religions together as "bad" atheists are trying to destroy other cultures, races and histories: replacing it with McCulture.
I do think that for some, the desire to spread their fantasy is because they themselves harbor deep seated doubt. Getting others to spout the same nonsense helps affirm their beliefs. I think the Asch experiment is quite relevant here.
The question was to anyone it did not say just to a pacific group, the thing I notice is that people comment to argue their point of view , I just answered, your question, I also notice that people not only want to control others , because of their belief but tell others what to do , and control their actions by suggestions. Keep up havoc,
And sterring up contention. Certainly we learn by example , is this good conduct to
or is this nice to turn people against others
at your orders.
If this is a, way to win people to understand you and your said beliefs it would not win any , because kindness and consideration means more then being rude and ugly. This is for AT
Excellent hub, Tessa! Shared and read. I also watched the video about the jug of milk and it's so informative. But there definitely are people in the world who will never see through the illusion of religion. They cannot see the forest for the trees kind of people.
Don't let them bother you, just delete them. Why do they come to an atheist's hub anyway? Just to mock you. We do not deserve to be mocked. So get rid of anyone that tries to do so.
Also, you can set your comment capsule to not allow any comments if you don't approve of them. It really sends the delusional people away. I highly recommend it for every hub!
Thank you for this hub and I hope that someday we really can live in a country with Freedom from religion.
Well would it be a good thing to deny your earthy parents and say what's the big deal
I do not want to recognize you as my parents
And yet your mother and father had something to do with you being birth into the world.
They would be hurt from the heart to recieve a rejection of their sacrifice to birth you
God has done even more. But because of a situation being answered , he has not entervene, once and for all every accusation satan has made has been answered and we helped, willing or none willing.
The point is he is on our side until we disown
Him.
Yup , I Do Want To Say That The Father Of The King Of The Jews Hope For Your Soul...
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