There is a great opportunity being missed here. The fact is that Atheism actually is included in its entirety in the 9/11 museum: Atheism has no principles and it has no icon; Atheism is a void. So every empty space in the museum - I haven't been there, but all museums have some empty space - reflects Atheism principles to their fullest. Were I running the museum, I would put a plaque on a dust ball or some other reflection of nothing in particular, with "Atheism" stamped on it. Problem solved.
There have been a couple of discussions of the content of Atheism lately, by Atheists. Here is one that has been going 'round the web:
A commenter named Laddymac comes clean on Atheism at crossexamined.orgAnd over at Massimo's place:
“[To] all my Atheist friends.
Let us stop sugar coating it. I know, it’s hard to come out and be blunt with the friendly Theists who frequent sites like this. However in your efforts to “play nice” and “be civil” you actually do them a great disservice.
We are Atheists. We believe that the Universe is a great uncaused, random accident. All life in the Universe past and future are the results of random chance acting on itself. While we acknowledge concepts like morality, politeness, civility seem to exist, we know they do not. Our highly evolved brains imagine that these things have a cause or a use, and they have in the past, they’ve allowed life to continue on this planet for a short blip of time. But make no mistake: all our dreams, loves, opinions, and desires are figments of our primordial imagination. They are fleeting electrical signals that fire across our synapses for a moment in time. They served some purpose in the past. They got us here. That’s it. All human achievement and plans for the future are the result of some ancient, evolved brain and accompanying chemical reactions that once served a survival purpose. Ex: I’ll marry and nurture children because my genes demand reproduction, I’ll create because creativity served a survival advantage to my ancient ape ancestors, I’ll build cities and laws because this allowed my ape grandfather time and peace to reproduce and protect his genes. My only directive is to obey my genes. Eat, sleep, reproduce, die. That is our bible.
We deride the Theists for having created myths and holy books. We imagine ourselves superior. But we too imagine there are reasons to obey laws, be polite, protect the weak etc. Rubbish. We are nurturing a new religion, one where we imagine that such conventions have any basis in reality. Have they allowed life to exist? Absolutely. But who cares? Outside of my greedy little gene’s need to reproduce, there is nothing in my world that stops me from killing you and reproducing with your wife. Only the fear that I might be incarcerated and thus be deprived of the opportunity to do the same with the next guy’s wife stops me. Some of my Atheist friends have fooled themselves into acting like the general population. They live in suburban homes, drive Toyota Camrys, attend school plays. But underneath they know the truth. They are a bag of DNA whose only purpose is to make more of themselves. So be nice if you want. Be involved, have polite conversations, be a model citizen. Just be aware that while technically an Atheist, you are an inferior one. You’re just a little bit less evolved, that’s all. When you are ready to join me, let me know, I’ll be reproducing with your wife.
I know it’s not PC to speak so bluntly about the ramifications of our beliefs, but in our discussions with Theists we sometimes tip toe around what we really know to be factual. Maybe it’s time we Atheists were a little more truthful and let the chips fall where they may. At least that’s what my genes are telling me to say.”
"In fact, pretty much the only social issues that ought to unite every atheist are the separation of Church and State and the rights of unbelievers. Not even a defense of science and critical thinking are really “atheist” causes, since there is a good number of atheists who buy into all sorts of woo (just not the particular woo featuring a white bearded male who sits high in the sky and spends a lot of time watching people’s sexual habits) — trust me, I know a number of them."Disregard the cardboard cartoon of theism which Massimo predictably uses, and notice instead the restriction of the principled part of Atheism: solely those that benefit Atheists. Period. Nothing more. There is nothing more to Atheism, according to Massimo.
But going further down into the comments, there is this:
Sean ShermanMarch 14, 2014 2:59 PMIndeed; Atheism is a Void. But a void is easily backfilled. Frequently with trash.
I was always under the impression that the atheist community and atheist activism are what people are talking about rather than atheism. Nothing follows from atheism, not even church and state separation issues. And the first two terms could be about virtually anything.
[All emphasis above is added]
Confirming the Atheist Void is hard for most Atheists; but some eventually admit to it.
Read the hate filled rants regarding abortion in the same thread: they MUST have abortion, and any amount of mental twisting and crumpling will be endured in order to have it.
6 comments:
According to the law of common sense:
"What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander."
Eat with my wife, sleep with my wife, reproduce with my wife, AND you will certainly DIE WITH MY WIFE!
And when I go to court, I will argue that:
My only directive is to obey my genes. I was merely acting in accordance with the highest law of natural selection and random mutations. I can only "pray" that I get a jury of my atheist peers.
Let's all sing together as a collective:
"What A Wonderful MORAL World That Would Be!"
My only directive is to obey my genes. Eat, sleep, reproduce, die. That is our bible.
Isn't he lucky that there are so many stupid people who are slaves to a non-existent entity's morality, like myself, else I might not constrain myself against obeying my genes and breaking into his house to expedite the last item of his list.
I will be honest, I get the feeling that was someone - NOT an Atheist - spelling out the actual position of an honest atheist.
As is known here, most atheists are unwilling to go quite that far. In other words, their atheism is a means to an end, not an end in itself. They want what they want and they will do and say whatever they have to in order to make that happen. If they thought magic worked, they'd be magicians.
As soon as atheism takes them to its logical conclusion, they jump ship, invoking random 'reasons' for not taking the final step.
Thing is, they're not atheists because it's a logical progression, a result of reason. Atheism and skepticism, like their assumed moral and intellectual superiority, is their starting point. You can't reason them out of something that is not the result of reason.
As has been mentioned elsewhere here, they're driven by ego and emotion to assume whatever stance they want. But that brings us to my point: this 'Laddymac' is a poser. His language describing himself is too filled with contempt to be an atheist's statement - NONE of them would describe any part of what they were doing in terms like 'my greedy little gene's need...' - and they would certainly not say 'reproducing with your wife', as it's just not their style. It actually goes *too* far.
They are too filled with pride to describe anything but the Other in such terms. The Other takes a few rounds with another man's wife. The Other is greedy, contemptible. Turning this language on himself reveals Laddymac as a fake atheist - he's whatever he is, but make no mistake, this is an attack on atheists.
Mind you, it's an accurate description of the end result of complete corruption, of atheism taken to its logical extreme. But as I said, atheists are NOT logical and while they will cheerfully insist the rest of us step off into the abyss, they themselves are not, and never have been, subject to the same things they intend to force on us.
We Atheists believe we are all animals,with complex brains.So infanticide as is practiced in the animal kingdom and by our fellow Atheist brethren of North Korea is perfectly acceptable.Provided that the reasons for killing our offspring are consistent with those in the animal kingdom.Such as,killing our young who are born with defects,over food competition and sexual conflict.
And for those who doubt or are ashamed that North Korea is the largest Atheist nation in the world,check these links:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-15258878
http://www.north-korea-travel.com/population-of-north-korea.html
http://www.thearda.com/internationaldata/countries/Country_123_1.asp
Steven, that is very perceptive, and I tend to agree, after giving it some thought.
But that begs the next step: what sort of theist would write that?
And after some more thought it occurs to me: someone who writes dialog from varying viewpoints; a genuine author of some sort, one who has turned their own corrosive style back onto them.
Interesting. They won't catch on, though.
Steven,
My brief foray into the Patheos region showed exactly the "jump ship" mentality, even among the more polite. Only one of them engaged me with anything more than simple questions (they'd never been challenged, it seems), and he fizzled without much engagement. Another one insulated me, then claimed Ad Hominem and bailed almost immediately.
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