Generally speaking, the atheist philosophy of
life is unthinkable to the religious and vice
versa. All the fuss is down to the fact that
religion is fashion. Any god is an artifact
of fashion. Over the years, religions come and
religions go along with human empires and civilisations.
Atheism is for those who transcend the facile
whims of fashion and trends. Religions change.
Atheism is forever the same concept. Can religions,
which vary enormously depending on time and
culture, really be grounded in absolute truth?
For many religion is a comfort. Religion is
the playpen of the mind. The religious are loath
to break out of that playpen and venture out
into the real world.
To a child who has never left the playpen the
concept of the real world may be terrifying.
But once you have experienced the real world,
the playpen would seem limiting and, well, childish.
Yet within the playpen the occupants are happy
and they beseech you to join them. People in
different playpens tell you that their own playpen
is the best and that their teddy bear is King.
They may even insist that if you do not believe
their particular teddy bear is King then Teddy
will be displeased and will make you spend all
eternity being bullied by scary monsters. The
occupants of the playpens tell you that you
will only be allowed into the Big Theme Park
in the Sky if you join
their playpen,
and
not the myriad other playpens out
there.
By an amazing coincidence, occupants invariably
prefer the playpen they've always been in from
as far back as they can remember. They tell
you their Teddy is King and that all the other
Teddies are false kings. Then you visit another
playpen and its occupants tell you that their
own Teddy is King, and that all the other Teddies
are false kings. And so it goes on, for room
after room. And it seems that only they who
are outside of the playpens seem to think this
is all a bit odd.
What does the atheist do? Does he submit to
a life in a playpen, which is pleasant in a
way. If so, which playpen does he choose? Or
does he build his own playpen and make his own
teddy bear and believe his own teddy is King?
Or maybe he should keep out of the playpens
and lead a possibly more troubled, but ultimately
more fulfilled life, even if he doesn't have
a teddy to cuddle and call King.
Add your comment to this page
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| From: |
Waterman | Subject: | 2002-05-20 05:53:56 |
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clone | Subject: | 2002-05-21 16:52:53 |
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| From: |
David | Subject: | 2002-10-10 20:02:48 |
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| From: |
david again | Subject: | 2002-10-11 16:47:20 |
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| From: |
dave | Subject: | 2002-11-16 10:48:26 |
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Eduardo | Subject: | 2003-02-04 19:51:38 |
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Wu Li | Subject: | 2003-02-24 00:53:31 |
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Vince | Subject: | 2003-05-29 02:54:49 |
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Danielle | Subject: | 2003-06-08 18:34:02 |
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cosmicstargoat | Subject: | 2003-08-16 22:24:36 |
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cosmicstargoat | Subject: | 2003-08-16 22:28:43 |
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wowlfie | Subject: | 2003-08-22 14:56:54 |
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Mmmm Logic | Subject: | 2003-08-30 22:45:53 |
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Mike | Subject: | 2003-09-07 01:21:39 |
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Salvatore Del Mundo | Subject: | 2003-12-24 21:16:24 |
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si | Subject: | 2004-09-30 02:23:42 |
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The Vampire LOGOS | Subject: | 2005-01-06 13:27:16 |
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Ramtin | Subject: | 2005-11-15 20:36:32 |
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Tom | Subject: | 2006-09-13 05:54:37 |
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amir | Subject: | 2006-11-07 08:46:32 |
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kenny Harman | Subject: | 2007-09-23 13:14:10 |
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help: how to add your comment Page hits: 9572
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On the talkback comments
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I will discuss atheism and sex, but first:..
In reply to waterman:
Unlike you, atheists are descended from
people of legitimate parenthood :)
In reply to clone:
You surmise that the discussion is a waste
of time: I suppose that substituting reasoned
discussion with an amusingly hysterical
attack is a perfectly efficient use of
oxygen and not "mental masturbation"
at all! Please mop up your brain-ejaculations
on your way out.
In reply to david:
Most atheists do not
claim to know for sure a God/Gods does/do
not exist, because this is impossible
to know 100%, as you point out. You cannot
prove Father Christmas does not exist
100% either for the same reasons. The
assumption that something probably does
not exist if there is no evidence that
it does exist is superior IMHO to the
assumption made by religious people that
something does exist even though there
is no evidence. Atheism is about saying:
show me evidence: by default I will not
believe anything based on blind faith
alone. Atheism is not about excluding
the possibility that there *might* be
a god(s) or other supernatural beings
out there. There may be anything out there.
An infinity of possibilities exists. Any
possibility has an infinitesimal chance
of being real. Only evidence can get us
close to distinguishing truth from fiction.
The second point you make is that atheism
"really turns the women off".
I have never known an intelligent woman
to be turned off by atheism (unless you
bore them with the subject I suppose),
but I know a few that are turned off by
religion. Most religions are not exactly
sexy: look at the austere views on sex
of the Christian and Islam creeds. (Yawn!)
But if you want to shag air-head bimbos
(arguably a fun sport) then all you have
to do is spout some bullshit about your
"spirituality". Tell her your
moon is ascending into the house of Sagittarius,
or alternatively act all sensitive and
gay (not being prejudiced, many women
are instinctively drawn to men who act
- or are - gay) and spin her some heartfelt
bullshit about how utterly "spiritual"
you are. Take her to one side and "confess"
how every morning you pray to God, Allah,
Jesus, Zeus, Aliens, Hindu Elephant gods,
Neptune and Satan because one god alone
is not enough to quench your irrepressible
spiritual thirst. Many women are vulnerable
to this kind of bullshit and if you target
dippy women you can't possibly fail. Happy
hunting!
There is a point behind my jokes: not
falling for bullshit is what being an
atheist is all about.
In reply to dave:
I am an atheist and yet I love Christmas!
One of my greatest fears is that whining
politically correct types will kill Christmas
because it offends muslims, or some such.
Sod that!
Actually your question about atheists
celebrating Christmas is ironic, because
in the past some purist Christians actually
refused to celebrate Christmas! This is
because Christmas is based on an ancient
Pagan festival, which helps to explain
why Christmas is so much fun and is generally
out of synch with the rather dry and serious
Bible. Christians have hijacked Christmas
for their own ends. Incidentally, Easter
is also based on a Pagan tradition, how
many Easter Bunnies or Easter eggs do
you see in the Bible? As I say, the fun
bits are Pagan! It is one of the tragedies
of life that paganism was driven out by
such a dull religion as Christianity.
Having said that, things may get much
worse. Due largely to ongoing population
explosions of ethnics, Islam seems to
be driving out Christianity. Imagine the
whole world going Taleban. What a laff
that would be... NOT! Flippantly, I predict
that in the distant future a westernised
form of Islam will emerge which will find
a way to celebrate the ancient Pagan tradition
of Christmas. Lets hope it does not incorporate
Bin Laden in a sleigh pulled by red nosed
camels.
Thanks for the talkbacks so far
- Jim
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See also two articles sent in by Ken Stuckas
Fundamentalist Christianity's
fight for survival
Entropy In Evolution
You might also care to have a quick look at
a page I maintain for the Internet Chess Club
Atheists and Agnostics group, although
it may not make much sense to you. It is
here.
Jim
