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BS proof of God's existence
Argument From Belief
Consider this
All religions are the same: religion is basically guilt, with different holidays. Cathy Ladman
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The more I look at religion, the more I dislike it and what it does to the world and its people. This blog will help you understand why religion is something you shouldn't accept as a good thing in our lives. Above all, don't respect religious beliefs when their practitioners refuse to respect you.
I found the following comment left on an atheist video, and am about to go to bed with a smile on my face as a result: I believe in fuck all how does that grab you, you preaching fuckers? ha haSometimes one sentence says far more than a whole page ever could!
Atheists have a problem, and it's a problem we are not addressing very successfully. It's the fact (and I do mean fact) that atheists have been responsible for the death of millions and millions and millions of people. Three of the worst mass murderers in modern history have been atheists: Josef Stalin (USSR), Mao Zedong (China) and Pol Pot (Cambodia). How do we answer the charge that, historically, more deaths can be attributed to these 'atheist regimes' than to all the religiously-motivated conflicts in history? In my book I have a short chapter called 'Killing for Atheism', which I will repeat here, word for word: Killing for Atheism The Problem?Christians have, throughout history, persecuted other religions. The Crusades and the Inquisition are the most visible evidence of the Holy Wars against Jews and Muslims, but there are many other examples. If you bring up that point with a Christian, chances are you'll get the names Stalin, Mao and Pol Pot thrown back at you, as examples of atheists who ruthlessly persecuted the religious communities of their countries. Millions died because of their actions. And, yes, they were atheists. But they were also socialists, Marxists, and, most important of all, communists. Karl Marx himself said that atheism 'has no longer any meaning' and 'socialism as such no longer needs this mediation'. These three men were therefore following a political system in which atheism was meaningless. It was not the prime motivation for their actions. Communism teaches that individual property ownership is evil. Religions, by their very nature, gather in places of worship, often at the largest and most conspicuous landmark in their town or village. They have property, money and influence in the communities they serve. Communism specifically demands that such power and possessions be taken away. Communism also rejects the hierarchy of the class system, while religion embodies such a hierarchical system. Again, it is no surprise that organised religion was a prime target for communist dictators. But we should recognise that in their time these men removed all obstructions in their path, not merely religious ones. It was communism, not atheism, which was their prime motivation. Stalin, Mao and Pol Pot possessed a complete hatred of anyone opposed to their communist ideals. Those who dared to challenge communism were simply removed. They were atheists, certainly, but like most atheists this fact meant little to them. That they did not believe in God was something they had in common, but equally all three men had dark hair. Nobody is suggesting that hair colour fuelled their genocidal tendencies. The driving force for their persecution of religion was communism. It was also the driving force for their persecution of all land-owners, political opponents, intellectuals, and dissenters. Their motivation was not atheism, it was communism. Always remember that atheism is an absence of belief in any god. The reason that atheists are hard to categorise is that an absence of something is not easily defined. I have an absence of purple shirts in my wardrobe, but that doesn't mean I have much in common with you if this is something you 'share' with me. If I ever commit a crime, it is to be hoped you would not believe that I am some kind of despicable a-purplist. This extreme form of communism no longer exists in the world, even in China where communism is still in power. We should not deny that Stalin, Mao and Pol Pot were evil, genocidal, power-hungry dictators. Nor should we lie about their atheism. But their despicable actions were motivated by communism, not by atheism. The very founder of communism, Karl Marx, rejected the need for atheism. We should not be overly concerned that Christians point to Stalin, Mao and Pol Pot as being examples of 'evil atheists', any more than these three men were 'evil non-blondes'. What motivates the actions of these killers, the root cause of their behaviour, what drove them to execute millions of people, was a misguided but absolute belief in a political system called communism. It was communism, not atheism, which motivated these men, undoubtedly, so that's that, end of argument, right? Wrong. The key to one of the most serious issues faced by atheists today is the fact (and again I use that word fact) that although these men did not wipe out millions of lives because they were atheists, being atheists did not seem to do anything to stop them. Think about that for a moment. Think of all the videos you've seen on YouTube where atheists extol the virtues of being free of the belief in God. How marvelous it is to be a freethinker, to not have our morals dictated to us by an ancient religious text. We unconsciously, and sometimes deliberately, set ourselves up as something better, 'higher' than the religious communities, and the Christian or Muslim speakers we see on YouTube, or elsewhere. You are all fools, we tell them. You are all deluded. Christians and Muslims in history killed so many millions, all in the name of their God, but we are atheists. We can develop our own morals and... oh yeah, being atheist did nothing to stop the massacres in the Soviet Union, China and Cambodia. Even if communism was the driving force, where was atheism when it was needed, to put the brakes on, to stop the killing? How dare we, as atheists, claim to have found something so much better than religion if, in being atheists, we have to admit that such atrocities are possible? The Answer? Atheists don't believe in 'nothing', but as atheists we are able choose those things which are important to us. An atheist is simply someone who has no belief in any god. Everything else is of our own making, our own choice, and our own design. We choose our morality. Whether we are pro-choice or pro-life, either can be a valid stance for an atheist, unless religion is part of the decision process. An atheist's sexual preferences are his or her own, and no priest or pope, bishop or book is able to take away that freedom. Moral dilemmas for an atheist involve making the same decisions as those made by theists, but religious rules and laws play no part in that process. And yet, atheists can choose cruelty, vice, corruption, and yes, genocide, if they wish. Lacking belief in God doesn't stop them doing that. Why would it? How could it? It didn't stop Stalin, or Mao, or Pol Pot. But these were evil men, corrupt to the core, in positions of power which allowed them to rule unobstructed, unchallenged. Absolute power corrupts absolutely was never more true than on the modern world stage, where industry and technology cranked up the pace of change in several key areas: weapons, communications and transport. In the twentieth century, corrupt leaders could kill faster, easier, and on much larger scales than ever before. If tanks and machine guns had been around in the time of the Crusades, and the world's population had been ten times greater, who can honestly believe that fewer people would have died at the hands of the armies of Christendom than were killed on the orders of Stalin in the Soviet Union? If all the governments in all the world were led by men calling themselves 'Christian', would wars end? We only have to mention the words 'Catholic' and 'Protestant' to know that that is something not reflected in the pages of history, where those of different sects and creeds have fought each other fiercely and often. Islamic history tells a similar story, of Muslims killing other Muslims. Those who pin the 'greatest mass murderers in history' label onto atheists do so without any concern for context and the realities of history. More people died because, of course, more people were alive in the first place. As the world's population grows, so does the potential for larger and larger death tolls. But the same is true for deaths caused by famine, or earthquake - where more people live, more people will die. As the weapons of war grew more and more potent, it became possible to destroy entire cities with a single bomb. Maybe I should note that, so far, only one country has dropped those bombs in anger, and it was not one calling itself an atheist nation. Atheists should not be too comfortable about this situation. We haven't made our case very well, and we make it worse by looking back to history and accusing Christians of their wars and their atrocities. Is there any wonder that Christians turn the same arguments back on us? Never forget that holy wars and persecutions were started by human beings, people in positions of power. Religion was simply the banner under which they marched, the excuse they needed to rally the people. Similarly, the massacres by the (atheist) communist dictators were also carried out by human beings. Again, these were the people in positions of power, who were corrupted by that power. Their cause was a different one, communism, but it was still a powerful force, one which, as with the holy wars, led to the deaths of many, many people. Maybe now is the time for us to stop accusing those long-dead villains from history, both religious and atheist, and admit that we are able to see their mistakes and learn from them. This is why the study of history is so important. We can explore the minds of the past and try to ensure that the same terrible things never happen again. Sadly, and the old cliche reminds us by the simple fact it is now a cliche, history has a tendency to repeat itself. We certainly need to push one of the major qualities of atheism: the ability to think and learn freely, openly and honestly from the mistakes of the past, and refuse to make the same mistakes again. Religion does not have such an advantage. It remains fixed, unchanging, unbending, dogmatic, tied to its holy texts, bound to the words and wishes of its God. The atheists of 21st century western society in no way reflect the mindset of 20th century eastern communist dictatorships, but compare 21st century Islam to any of the previous 1500 years of Muslim history and you will find little progress and a great deal to be cause for concern. I quoted a chapter from my book, and I will recall its closing sentence and change it so that I can refer to all wars, to all persecution, terrorism, death and destruction carried out by political leaders, whether small-scale or on a national or international stage: What motivates the actions of these killers, the root cause of their behaviour, what drove them to execute millions of people, was a misguided and absolute belief that they were right, that everyone else was wrong, and that because they held the reigns of power they had the right, and the might, to wipe out any and all opposition.When the people in power become corrupt, it doesn't matter if they believe in God or not. They are all human, and where opinions differ there will always be conflict. Where belief systems are at odds with one another there will always be wars. Theist or atheist, with God or without, the most deadly threats to human life are the people most responsible for its safety - the people in power.
One of the videos which prompted me to write this essay Footnote:: The above video is typical of religious propaganda exaggerating the truth and mixing in an unhealthy dose of lies. Although my essay explains that we should no longer use the 'your religion did this or that' style of argument, outright lying and misrepresentation by those seeking to discredit atheists as a whole certainly needs to be addressed:
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