Angry Atheist
I updated my Facebook status today. I had something running through my mind and wanted to post it so I could have it in words. This is what it said:
It is wild presumption to posit that there is an intelligent being in charge of the universe. It is arrogance to assume that your definition of that being is the right one. It is supreme egotism to presume that if such a being exists it would care about you at all, let alone think you important to its plans.
I don't think this is overly abrasive. Much of what I post is fairly innocuous with a few confrontational jabs thrown in when my feathers get ruffled. This particular comment has three points, and I can defend them all. Here's my reasoning explained:
Facebook Affirmations, Vol. VI
In my news feed on Facebook I will be served a daily dose of Christian affirmations from friends. In this series of posts, which I call "Facebook Affirmations™," I will post and discuss some of these gems. Here's the affirmation for today:
Satan plugged my pipes.
Special Rights?
I speak out quite a bit on the subject of same-sex marriage and LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) rights. I speak out because I feel very strongly that individuals and/or groups of people shouldn't be discriminated against. You don't have to be gay to fight for gay rights any more than you would have had to be a woman to fight for women's suffrage or an African-American to stand for racial equality. You merely have to recognize that there's a very outspoken and powerful movement among Conservative Christians and homophobes in this country who wish to ensure that LGBT people are kept in closets. These are the same detestable people who got all up-in-arms about the repeal of Don't Ask; Don't Tell (never mind that regardless of whether people were asking/telling, there were still homosexuals serving in the military all along).
Whatsoever Ye Ask
s a Christian I believed that my prayers were not only heard by god but that my prayers were important enough to initiate action. As with any Christian, my basis for believing this was not grounded in reality but in scripture:
John 14:12,13
Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
Clearly, the quotes attributed to Jesus define prayer as a sort of tangible, telepathic request which (in Jesus’ name) will be heard and granted if the person praying has even the slightest bit of real faith. Jesus describes the amount of faith necessary in Matthew 17:20 as a mustard seed (long considered the smallest seed). That's not a whole lot of faith, by anyone's standards. However, if this amount of faith is attainable why aren't more prayers answers and more miracles performed/observed? The answers to these questions don't come easy (to a rational mind) but I'll detail the Christian thought process -- or, at least, the thought process as I understood it while I was a Christian -- and give my best answer.
Good Enough For Me, Part II
n a previous post I discussed the "good enough" mentality that most Christians have regarding their faith and the infallibility of the scriptures. That post aimed broadly at the Christian faith overall but there's a sinister implementation of this mentality I'd like to address now. This post pertains to the "good enough" mentality regarding the Theory of Evolution.
"If any monkey pick up his cross and follow me..."
Above is a Christian parody of the Descent of Man illustration from a fairly well-written Revelife article on the Christian misunderstandings of evolution. You may want to take a minute and read it. This post will still be here when you get back.
Jon Willis
"Yes, I've read the Bible; it's why I'm an atheist."
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