Category: religion

1 Because I am an atheist: OleanderTea, a really, truly gumpy bunny

June 27, 2012
by Crommunist
· Because I Am An Atheist · blog

Today’s contribution was submitted as a comment by OleanderTea, a really, truly grumpy bunny

I know I won’t get to see my deceased spouse in a magical “someplace” after I die.

I honestly believe it to be true, but it is also heartbreaking.

My belief that there is no “eternal life” reminds me to be a useful, compassionate, kind, fun, wacky, helpful, and amusing person while I am here, so that my legacy is one that people remember fondly.

(Sorry about the rain on the parade. Umbrella, anyone?)

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0 Because I’m an atheist: Adam Lee

June 26, 2012
by Crommunist
· Because I Am An Atheist · blog

Today’s contribution comes from Adam Lee, from Daylight Atheism

Because I am an atheist…

…I don’t have to spend my energy justifying the unjustifiable.

As I’ve written before, I can imagine how I could have been a religious person. A different roll of the dice, a few chance encounters that happened differently – there are possible worlds where I became a believer rather than an atheist. I could have become seriously interested in the Jewish heritage I inherited from one side of my family, or the Roman Catholic tradition I’m descended from on the other. I could imagine worlds where I became a member of a mainline Protestant denomination, or an evangelical Christian in the emerging church.

And the funny thing is, I like to think that it wouldn’t have made that much difference. I’m fairly certain that the religious me would still care about equality, would still value social justice, would still think of the world as spectacular and beautiful, would still want to bring about as much goodness as it was in his power to do. It would have taken a much harder shove, a much more improbable chain of coincidences, to send me down the path of one of those more distant possible worlds where I ended up as an anti-choice advocate, or a believer in the imminent apocalypse, or a young-earth creationist. … Continue Reading

3 Because I am an atheist: Richard Carrier

June 25, 2012
by Crommunist
· Because I Am An Atheist · blog

Today’s contribution comes from fellow FTBorg Dr. Richard Carrier

Because I am an atheist…

When I realized I was an atheist, I realized we needed godless and non-supernatural answers to important philosophical questions that have usually been assumed to have a godly, or supernatural, or wooish answer, or otherwise swept under the rug as if we didn’t need to answer them. But we do. Not only does it become the Achilles heel of atheism when we don’t have satisfying or even plausible answers to them. But in each and every case we actually need at least a good working hypothesis, because we constantly act on the assumption that we do. Our every decision is based on assuming answers to every one. So I got busy answering these questions, in a way and manner I had never done before. Which culminated in my first book, Sense and Goodness without God. … Continue Reading

22 Suicide of an entirely different form

June 21, 2012
by Crommunist
· blog · Catholic church · forces of stupid · news · religion

The Catholic Church says that they’re opposed to suicide. They say they’re very angry about it and those advocating it should cut it the fuck out:

The Catholic archbishop of Vancouver is calling on the provincial government to appeal a landmark B.C. Supreme Court decision Friday that struck down the law that makes physician-assisted death illegal in Canada. Friday’s decision to strike down the law against euthanasia “sadly reflects a distorted view of equality rights that emphasizes autonomy over human dignity and the value of life,” said Roman Catholic Archbishop J. Michael Miller, in a statement.

“True liberty means the freedom to live one’s life secure in the knowledge that those who care for us are in dedicated to the service of life, not the taking of life.” Miller then urged the government to appeal what he called an “extremely flawed and dangerous ruling.”

As a side note, we should definitely explore the feasibility of attaching some sort of dynamo to George Orwell’s grave, because the “Freedom is Slavery” line from a repressive organization like the Roman Catholic Church trying to dictate to the rest of us what “true liberty” means could probably inspire enough spins out of the old boy to generate a few million megawatt hours.

But back to the topic at hand. I don’t think the Catholic Church is actually opposed to suicide. I’m not talking about their fetishization of martyrs – the apologetics that allows them to side-step that bit of seeming hypocrisy is not exactly that difficult to figure out. No, I think the Catholic Church is opposed to everyone’s suicide except their own: … Continue Reading

0 Because I am an Atheist: myatheistlife

June 20, 2012
by Crommunist
· Because I Am An Atheist · blog

Today’s contribution was submitted as a comment by reader and blogger myatheistlife

Because I am an atheist…

…today I did what I did yesterday, and the day before, and the week before and the month before and the year before. In fact, being an atheist has not changed my life. I still pay my bills, work hard to be able to afford vacation and health care. I do handyman work around my house and walk my dog. Because I’m an atheist my life really has not changed…

Although…

I no longer thing a god is responsible for my hard work. I no longer think that praying for people is useful, I’d rather simply give them a helping hand. When bad things happen I know I’m just a statistic, not the victim of a vengeful god. When times are tough I know that I can’t count on help from a skydaddy… I have to take care of it myself just like I always had to do.. but now I get to take credit for fixing it.

I am no different than your cousin, brother, or friend… except that I don’t pray. Instead I do. I don’t say ‘why me?’ I say ‘damn, not again!’ I am responsible for my life… all of it. The good and the bad. I’m proud of both of them, they are me.

If you need a god crutch that is your problem.. please don’t bother me with it. I’m quite fine all by my lonesome, and I’m doing well, thank you very much.

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51 Changing my tune

June 19, 2012
by Crommunist
· blog · psychology · retractions · science · secularism

Oh neat! It’s time for one of my rare (but fun) retractions!

Last Monday, I put the boots to James Croft for a conversation we had over Twitter. To summarize, I thought that his advocacy for increasing the use of song as part of humanist gatherings was a) offputting, and b) dangerous. A, because there are a lot of people who identify as humanist after fleeing religion, and that adding secular hymns to humanist functions was going to make those people intensely uncomfortable and unwelcome. B, because the function of liturgical music is to make messaging more palatable by bypassing the rational parts of the brain, and that rationality is what makes humanism more than just “religion for atheists”.

James took his time in responding, but when he did, he kicked my ass: … Continue Reading

5 Because I am an atheist: Timid Atheist

June 19, 2012
by Crommunist
· Because I Am An Atheist · blog

Today’s contribution comes from the Timid Atheist, who was luckily not so timid that she couldn’t e-mail.

Because I am an atheist…

…I am a better person and a better mother.

I accepted my atheism about a year and a half ago. Which came about via my search in regards to feminism. Since then I’ve learned more about atheism, humanism, feminism and LGBT activism than I ever thought possible. I’m still learning to be a better person, but I’ve come a long way from how I use to be. And I’ve donated more to worthy causes in the past year and a half than I have my entire life. And I did it because I wanted to not because I felt guilted into it by my “faith.”

I have more patience for my child and I have better responses to her questions than ever before. And I’m so glad this happened before she experienced puberty so I can be there for her when all of the really difficult personal things happen. While my daughter doesn’t know that I”m an atheist yet, she knows that things are a bit different for me in regards to how I view god and the bible and she is okay with that.

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25 The new coolest part of my job…

June 18, 2012
by Crommunist
· blog · Blogmeta · feminism · movie · secularism

…is that I get invited to participate in stuff like this:

For those of you who somehow managed to miss it on the other FTBlogs, yesterday a group of us, along with Rebecca Watson of Skepchick, convened online to host the first (and, judging by the response from the other folks, not the last) Google+ hangout forum. We were discussing, among other things, sexual harassment at skepty/athie conferences like The Amazing Meeting, and specifically the piss-poor way in which DJ Grothe of JREF was handling the issue.

It practically goes without saying that I enjoyed the shit out of myself.

I said it jokingly, but I was serious in my self-appraisal as someone who was more or less a dispassionate third-party observer. I don’t really have a dog in this fight – I wasn’t ever planning on going to TAM, and it had nothing to do with any kind of sexual harassment policy. It just doesn’t really interest me a great deal – the stuff that I care about doesn’t really fall under TAM’s umbrella, and unless the JREF decides to suddenly adopt a radically different mission in life, I don’t see that changing. This isn’t a criticism – TAM should keep doing what has apparently been a very successful event – it just means that I don’t really care either way if TAM succeeds. I’ve therefore intentionally stayed out of the discussion, because I don’t really have that much to contribute besides saying “I agree with Stephanie Zvan” until my vocal chords are hoarse.

That being said, I did have two main points that I wished to contribute to the discussion around this issue: … Continue Reading

5 Because I am an atheist: Hank Fox

June 18, 2012
by Crommunist
· Because I Am An Atheist · blog

Today’s contribution comes from the incomparable Hank Fox, author of Blue Collar Atheist.

Because I am an atheist…

…I understand that the real world is the real world.

That means I know that praying — wishing, whining, begging, whatever you want to call it — doesn’t work. What works is doing it yourself. Hard work by PEOPLE.

You learn, plan, think, and DO for all the best results in life. Not every plan works out, but when you compare the people who plan and work to those who depend on fate, or luck, or prayers to a supposedly benevolent god, those who depend on their own efforts manage to make good stuff happen a lot more often. Those who sit back in learned helplessness, who believe their best hope is for some outside supernatural agency to swoop in and solve every problem, they suffer whatever fate happenstance dishes out to them.

Yes, there are plenty of unpredictable things that will enter our lives, but that happens to everybody. What doesn’t happen to everybody is voluntary good planning. In fact, it doesn’t happen at all unless we DO it. … Continue Reading

1 Because I am an atheist: M

June 14, 2012
by Crommunist
· Because I Am An Atheist · blog

This post was submitted via e-mail by M.

Because I am an atheist…

…I know that justice will be done by human hands, or by none at all.

There is no celestial Eye to see a Wrong inflicted; there is no divine Judge adjudicating the balance of fortunes and cruelties; there is no deific Hand to intervene in the mechanical operation of the Universe in order to ensure just desserts for ethical or unethical behavior; there is no heavenly Realm in which there is a post-necrotic reward or punishment for what was not redeemed in life.

Justice by human hands, or none at all. … Continue Reading

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