This past Sunday, a man walked into a gurdwara (Sikh temple) in Oak Creek, Wisconsin and opened fire with a 9 mm pistol, killing six people and wounding four others. After a firefight with police, he turned his weapon on himself and committed suicide. I learned of this story days after it happened, as I was far away from any news sources. As a result, there is really very little for me to contribute that hasn’t already been highlighted by countless others. I will briefly summarize my thoughts as best I can.
Category: religion
15 Oak Creek – some thoughts
6 I am a non-Prophet!
So yesterday I had to heroically jump in to save Russell Glasser who was stranded without Non-Prophets Podcast co-hosts. For an hour, I chopped it up with him and a handful of others:
Incidentally, if you want to read my takedown of the Black Atheists of Atlanta, you can read it here. Please be sure to read the follow-up as well.
I will have more thoughts on the Wisconsin temple shooting later today.
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0 Because I am an atheist: Shaun
Today’s contribution is an alternative take on the question, submitted via e-mail by Shaun, who blogs at PolySkeptic
…I don’t think that there is anything that can be derived from being an atheist per se. I do not believe that I do anything because I’m an atheist, but I am an atheist and polyamorous because I am a skeptic.
I am a skeptic primarily. I have always been an atheist, but when I started trying to apply skepticism to as many aspects of my beliefs, actions, etc it changed what I did and how I think. Being skeptical was the start to becoming a better person.
So, because I’m a skeptic (or at least because I try and apply skepticism to my life), I try to question my own assumptions and try to listen to others when my experience is insufficient. I try to believe as may true things, and reject as many unsupported things, as I can. I care about what is true, and find criticism to be a powerful and important tool. … Continue Reading
3 Because I am an atheist: scottplumer
Today’s contribution was submitted as a comment by reader scotplumer:
…I don’t pray for people who are in dire straights, I do stuff for them. A friend of mine has melanoma (which now is in remission). While many of his friends and family prayed for him, my wife and I made him and his family dinner and took it to them. I also helped him fixing some things around the house he was too weak to take care of himself. I changed the battery in his van, replaced the CPU fan in his computer, and a few other things.
I don’t say this to gloat, or to show how wonderful I am. I say it because I know praying doesn’t do a damn thing, but it makes some people feel good. What I did was a burden, financially (we paid for the meal and the car battery) and on our time. It didn’t make us feel good, but it accomplished something. I like to think that it also contributed to his recovery, since some of the stressors in his life were lifted, so he could focus more on his health. So far, so good!
Consider submitting your own statement, by e-mail or as a comment!
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0 Because I am an atheist: Benjamin Stonier
Today’s contribution was submitted via e-mail by Benjamin Stonier
It’s really hard to sum up what being an atheist means to me. I’ve never really locked into a label like this before. Even when I was nominally Christian, I wouldn’t go out of my way to call myself that. I wouldn’t pick a denomination, though I attended many. I guess being an atheist has meant to me both enlightenment and sadness, though more of the former, unlike so many who tell their tales.
I’m an atheist because I try to think critically and skeptically – but because I am an atheist, I think critically and skeptically. Discarding the notion of a deity was the change in the way I think. Everything has simple factual merits, and we should make our decisions based on this. It’s let me toss the last vestiges of cultural oppositions to things like being against trans people changing their sex on their passports, being against gay marriage, or being against equal treatment regardless of differences. … Continue Reading
4 Because I am an atheist: Mano Singham
Today’s contribution comes from fellow FTBorg Mano Singham:
…I experience a tremendous feeling of intellectual liberation. For many years I struggled to reconcile my scientific understanding of the world with the constraints imposed by believing in a god. When I tentatively tried out the ‘What if there is no god?” hypothesis, I experienced a sense of freedom so profound that I knew immediately that there was no going back. Now I feel free to go wherever my mind takes me and explore any idea without the sense that there are some questions whose answers will remain forever inscrutable. There are no “Stop! No Entry” signs in the intellectual road map of an atheist. The highways are wide open and call out for adventure.
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3 Because I am an atheist: James Croft
Today’s contribution comes from James Croft, vice-chair of the Humanist Community at Harvard.
…I know we’re in this alone, and that any change for the better in this world will be the fruit of human endeavor. There was never a eureka moment in which I realized there is no God: I was raised in a happy atheist household, and religion – except for the music, the art, and the architecture which my parents introduced me to – played no part in our lives. I only began to fully understand that other people weren’t atheists when I hit my teens, and began to have heated discussions with religious friends.
There are many things I can understand, even appreciate, about the best expressions of the religious impulse. I value narratives which frame our lives, strong moral communities where we can develop our commitment to each other, artworks which express our highest ideals, experiences of solidarity and transcendence, and I want to find ways for Humanists to enjoy these social benefits. … Continue Reading
5 I talk to Jamila Bey about “Black Folks Don’t”
This Monday I had the great privilege of appearing on Jamila Bey’s “Sex, Politics, and Religion Hour” radio show. As you may remember, I have appeared there once before, where we discussed the Supreme Court upholding the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”). This time around, we brought the topic a bit closer to ‘home’ (so far as this blog is concerned) and discussed the “Black Folks Don’t… Do Atheism” film. I was lucky enough to be invited alongside series creator Angela Tucker.
The audio from the interview is available below the fold, along with some of my own thoughts: … Continue Reading
2 Because I am an atheist: NathanDST
Today’s contribution was submitted as a comment by NathanDST, who blogs at “Occasionally, I Think“
…when my best friend, my true brother in every way that matters, suddenly collapsed at home on Monday, May 7, I didn’t pray. I took his wife to the hospital to be with him and babysat their daughter. And when he was stabilized, I looked for something to do to help him, and his family. I started communicating with our mutual employer, so his wife didn’t have to worry about that. I made sure someone was dealing with his responsibilities. When another friend of ours started a fundraiser online to help cover his medical bills, I donated what I could, and wrote a blog post to tell the world what kind of a man he is, and beg for donations.
Because I am an atheist, I couldn’t simply tell myself that he would make it, and it would all work out, so I started thinking of ways to honor him, if the worst happened (or happens, though it’s now looking good for him). I’ve been watching how his friends, family, and total strangers have responded, and my heart has swelled with pride and delight that humans are coming together to help humans, and not just relying on prayer and their god. I appreciate all the more the efforts of the hospital staff and doctors, and am pondering ways to thank and honor them. I understand how incredibly fortunate he is at how it worked out: if he hadn’t taken a half-day to watch his daughter while his wife was at a meeting, he would have been on the road coming home when it happened; if his wife hadn’t realized he wasn’t joking around almost immediately, and dialed 911; if the paramedics hadn’t been so fast in responding to the call; if modern medicine was less advanced, if the doctors weren’t so skilled, if if if . . . I understand that it’s all coincidence, and there was no plan or destiny, and I think this makes my relief so much more palpable, if that makes sense.
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16 Because I am an atheist: Heather McNamara
Today’s contribution comes from Heather McNamara, who blogs at “The McNamara Report“
…I am no longer burdened with acquiescence to the moral superiority of an entity created by men from an era that loathed my gender, my orientation, and most of all, my autonomy. I can now understand my feelings for what they really are. They are not bogeymen or sinful desires of the flesh that seek to draw me away from anyone’s true purpose or plan for me. My feelings for women are no more or less supernatural than my friends’ feelings for the opposite sex. I am free to pursue relationships, love, and sex with whomever I wish so long as I treat them well. My heart and my bedroom are now happy, restful, pleasurable places instead of battlegrounds. I can now experience the kind of love and ecstasy my friends always have without guilt or fear of having disappointed my Father.
I have learned that I’m a better, more powerful person than I thought I was. Each accomplishment, talent, and triumph for which I previously felt unworthy and attributed to the graciousness of a higher power were in fact my own. When I have overcome poverty, depression, and severe anxiety, it wasn’t because a higher power finally saw fit to have mercy on me. It was because I fought valiantly and won. With my new confidence, I feel better equipped to handle the difficult situations such as the inevitable divorce and subsequent poverty that life has thrown at me since coming out. I don’t have to wonder whether a god will see fit to help me through this one or accept bad situations as my just desserts for straying from its path. I knew I would get through these things just like I got through everything else. And I have. I’m quite capable. … Continue Reading
Crommunist 