Humanist Network
“A” Doesn’t mean Assholes
While chatting with some friends, I heard “Arthur Jacket” debating with Christians about the existence of god in Luneta Park. Arthur is one of the atheists who frequently stopover Luneta Park to engage on debates.
He was asking the poor fellow if god has a penis. WHAT??? He was also asking if what part of the brain is use to feel god’s existence, the right hemisphere or the left hemisphere. These kinds of arguments are... well...is good for laughs, but I do not think any educated atheist will swoop that low. Gosh, this is very amateurish. It will turn atheism into a circus and atheists as clowns.
There are other instances that some atheists throw bad questions. Most “practical” atheist seems to rely more on the issue of “to see is to believe”. That is the problem with practical atheism.
There is this certain fellow in Luneta who loves to joke around when engaging in debates. “Nasaaan na ang diyos na yan? Iharap mo sa akin at sesenelasin ko!” (Show me this god of yours and I will slap it with my sandals!). For 7 years, his argument always starts and ends with that phrase. There is nothing wrong with that if the discussion is not that intellectually conferred but there are times for telling funny stories and times to get serious about something. When some atheists rely on jokes, it gives an impression that the atheist’s position is not to be taken seriously.
I have seen many articles from different Christian apologists about the so-called “modern atheism” and it seems they all have one thing in common. They all agree that atheists are becoming too war-like. Now here’s an example from the book “The New Atheism”. "Anyone who reads its literature or debates its leaders finds that modern anti-theism is fueled by such ignoble motives as bitterness, rage, and hatred. Its spokesmen manifest an angry spirit which rages first against God and then (because they cannot confront God directly) against those who dare believe in Him.” (p. 27). To be quite honest, there are some factors why most Christians feel this way to atheism.
Speaking of atheism and anti-theism, in the BBC docufilm, Atheism – A History of Disbelief, British philosopher Colin McGinn has given the difference between anti-theism and atheism. Atheism is about not believing in a god while anti-theism is more about the opposition to theism. Well…let see, as an atheist I don’t believe in a god – that’s the end of the story. I also criticized religion. That makes me an anti-theist. To be more specific, my arguments against Christianity (for example) reflect the anti-theists side of myself. That is not about atheism. An atheist really does not care about it – remember, he does not believe that a god exist so why bother. Anti-theism in the other hand is more concern on the effect of religion.
Most Filipino atheists (or other Western atheists) think that religion criticism is a part of the atheist’s package. In recent books that became available to the market about atheism, we find a lot of them having articles about the ill effect of religion (notable are Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchen and Sam Harris). Most atheists nowadays use these arguments. Come on guys…does these arguments prove that god doesn’t exist?
So what if you critized our religion? Does your fume about our church prove that our god does not exist? Maybe you just building a stawman argument? Maybe you just can’t understand our church because you are being made a fool by the Holy Spirit.
I found a book that tackled this issue and even called them as bad or feeble arguments against god. The book was Atheism Explained: From Folly to Philosophy written by David Ramsey Steele.
It was really a very interesting subject matter because I committed some of these follies. Yep, GUILTY AS CHARGED!
One of the most common mistakes is to believe that religion is the number one cause of mayhem in this planet. The argument seems to be very convincing, but sad to say…it is really an empty argument. You see, religion might be guilty but there are other belief systems who share the same crime. A good example is ideology. War in ideology can also bring havoc to society. The cold war was not from religion issue. The Bay of Pig incident that nearly plunge the United State into nuclear war was not religious…so does the prevailing war with the NPA here in the Philippines.
How about those suicide bombers? Well… religion is not their only motivation. According from the studies done by Robert Pape, there are other beliefs that may prompt a bomber other than Islam. Suicide terrorism can also be cause by political issue. Their hate with the Jews for occupying the Gaza and West Bank and the extreme hatred in American imperialism can be a cause. Look at the Tamil Tigers…They are not doing it for the Hindu cause. In the Philippines for example, the MILF issue can also be considered political and territorial (they want to have an independent state of Mindanao). Oh sure…you may say that their religion stimulate them to be separatists, but even without religion, certain group of people can still be motivated by territorial concern (just look at what happened in the American Civil War).
The prevailing issue that I have found so far, here in the Philippines is the extreme resentment of some atheists to anything that is religious. Yep…the anger is so much that atheists themselves become as close-minded as the average theists are. Religion does not always represent the delusional and not all believers are morons, stupid and half-wits. Remember, a believer discovered the Big Bang and Genetics. We also own much of our philosophies from believers. Art and Humanities have been some of the great products of churches.
If you will remember, I have said that I am also an anti-theist especially when it comes to Christianity and the Bible. That’s because I find Christianity quite far-flung from the ethics that it want to express. I also resent the violation of the separation of church and state and I find some biblical teaching quite repulsive. Again, that is not about atheism. However, that does not mean that I will destroy Christian icons nor rip the Bible in front of a crowded park. That is not atheism. That is a street sideshow. How about pissing on some Jesus’ pictures, or vandalizing churches? GOSH! Are you still convinced that these activities represent atheism?
As an atheist, you pride yourself for being rational, logical and scientific. So is pissing on Jesus’ face a sign of rationality? I think this is a sign of immaturity. An atheist does not have that kind of agenda. I am an atheist because I don’t believe in the existence of a god, PERIOD! Speaking of agenda, I wrote this blog to tell to the world why I do not believe in a god or gods, but I’m not goading others. I created a group so people like me can share ideas but not to provoke detestation and willful devastation. We make dialogues to believers to establish certain points, but that is for intellectual discussion not to cuss them and their belief system. Creating an agenda is a different matter. We create an agenda for non-believers to do a certain action, actions that will benefit both the non-believer and the society in which he is included. We act against discrimination. We act in opposition to the violation of the separation of church and state. We act against politicians who seem to give more importance to the church than to the general welfare of the public. We act to the enrichment of education through secular means. We act to the promotion of science. We act against the division produce by ecclesiastical interpretations. However, we do not act to spread destruction, damnation and doom. We are not promoting vandalism or irrational, emotional hatred against the church and religion. Let see…I am promoting Secular Humanism in the Philippines as an alternative to communism so non-theists will have a voice – that is my agenda. To promote mutual respect and admiration to society even if they do not have any god-belief – that is my evolution from atheism.
The “A” in atheism doesn’t mean anarchism, anti-law and to think of a better word “an asshole”. We are not a bunch of social misfits, deviants and misanthropes whose disbelief has grow to total hatred to culture and society. We are not narrow-minded meathead or biased faultfinders who cannot even see something beautiful in this society. Loathing is not the fruit of atheism. We are always reminded that atheism has brought “thinking” back in our brain, but thinking does not mean irrational cynicism. We must now show the world, that after retaining our “thinking ability” we as atheist are now challenging ourselves on using it properly.
John the Atheist
He was asking the poor fellow if god has a penis. WHAT??? He was also asking if what part of the brain is use to feel god’s existence, the right hemisphere or the left hemisphere. These kinds of arguments are... well...is good for laughs, but I do not think any educated atheist will swoop that low. Gosh, this is very amateurish. It will turn atheism into a circus and atheists as clowns.
There are other instances that some atheists throw bad questions. Most “practical” atheist seems to rely more on the issue of “to see is to believe”. That is the problem with practical atheism.
There is this certain fellow in Luneta who loves to joke around when engaging in debates. “Nasaaan na ang diyos na yan? Iharap mo sa akin at sesenelasin ko!” (Show me this god of yours and I will slap it with my sandals!). For 7 years, his argument always starts and ends with that phrase. There is nothing wrong with that if the discussion is not that intellectually conferred but there are times for telling funny stories and times to get serious about something. When some atheists rely on jokes, it gives an impression that the atheist’s position is not to be taken seriously.
I have seen many articles from different Christian apologists about the so-called “modern atheism” and it seems they all have one thing in common. They all agree that atheists are becoming too war-like. Now here’s an example from the book “The New Atheism”. "Anyone who reads its literature or debates its leaders finds that modern anti-theism is fueled by such ignoble motives as bitterness, rage, and hatred. Its spokesmen manifest an angry spirit which rages first against God and then (because they cannot confront God directly) against those who dare believe in Him.” (p. 27). To be quite honest, there are some factors why most Christians feel this way to atheism.
Speaking of atheism and anti-theism, in the BBC docufilm, Atheism – A History of Disbelief, British philosopher Colin McGinn has given the difference between anti-theism and atheism. Atheism is about not believing in a god while anti-theism is more about the opposition to theism. Well…let see, as an atheist I don’t believe in a god – that’s the end of the story. I also criticized religion. That makes me an anti-theist. To be more specific, my arguments against Christianity (for example) reflect the anti-theists side of myself. That is not about atheism. An atheist really does not care about it – remember, he does not believe that a god exist so why bother. Anti-theism in the other hand is more concern on the effect of religion.
Most Filipino atheists (or other Western atheists) think that religion criticism is a part of the atheist’s package. In recent books that became available to the market about atheism, we find a lot of them having articles about the ill effect of religion (notable are Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchen and Sam Harris). Most atheists nowadays use these arguments. Come on guys…does these arguments prove that god doesn’t exist?
So what if you critized our religion? Does your fume about our church prove that our god does not exist? Maybe you just building a stawman argument? Maybe you just can’t understand our church because you are being made a fool by the Holy Spirit.
I found a book that tackled this issue and even called them as bad or feeble arguments against god. The book was Atheism Explained: From Folly to Philosophy written by David Ramsey Steele.
It was really a very interesting subject matter because I committed some of these follies. Yep, GUILTY AS CHARGED!
One of the most common mistakes is to believe that religion is the number one cause of mayhem in this planet. The argument seems to be very convincing, but sad to say…it is really an empty argument. You see, religion might be guilty but there are other belief systems who share the same crime. A good example is ideology. War in ideology can also bring havoc to society. The cold war was not from religion issue. The Bay of Pig incident that nearly plunge the United State into nuclear war was not religious…so does the prevailing war with the NPA here in the Philippines.
How about those suicide bombers? Well… religion is not their only motivation. According from the studies done by Robert Pape, there are other beliefs that may prompt a bomber other than Islam. Suicide terrorism can also be cause by political issue. Their hate with the Jews for occupying the Gaza and West Bank and the extreme hatred in American imperialism can be a cause. Look at the Tamil Tigers…They are not doing it for the Hindu cause. In the Philippines for example, the MILF issue can also be considered political and territorial (they want to have an independent state of Mindanao). Oh sure…you may say that their religion stimulate them to be separatists, but even without religion, certain group of people can still be motivated by territorial concern (just look at what happened in the American Civil War).
The prevailing issue that I have found so far, here in the Philippines is the extreme resentment of some atheists to anything that is religious. Yep…the anger is so much that atheists themselves become as close-minded as the average theists are. Religion does not always represent the delusional and not all believers are morons, stupid and half-wits. Remember, a believer discovered the Big Bang and Genetics. We also own much of our philosophies from believers. Art and Humanities have been some of the great products of churches.
If you will remember, I have said that I am also an anti-theist especially when it comes to Christianity and the Bible. That’s because I find Christianity quite far-flung from the ethics that it want to express. I also resent the violation of the separation of church and state and I find some biblical teaching quite repulsive. Again, that is not about atheism. However, that does not mean that I will destroy Christian icons nor rip the Bible in front of a crowded park. That is not atheism. That is a street sideshow. How about pissing on some Jesus’ pictures, or vandalizing churches? GOSH! Are you still convinced that these activities represent atheism?
As an atheist, you pride yourself for being rational, logical and scientific. So is pissing on Jesus’ face a sign of rationality? I think this is a sign of immaturity. An atheist does not have that kind of agenda. I am an atheist because I don’t believe in the existence of a god, PERIOD! Speaking of agenda, I wrote this blog to tell to the world why I do not believe in a god or gods, but I’m not goading others. I created a group so people like me can share ideas but not to provoke detestation and willful devastation. We make dialogues to believers to establish certain points, but that is for intellectual discussion not to cuss them and their belief system. Creating an agenda is a different matter. We create an agenda for non-believers to do a certain action, actions that will benefit both the non-believer and the society in which he is included. We act against discrimination. We act in opposition to the violation of the separation of church and state. We act against politicians who seem to give more importance to the church than to the general welfare of the public. We act to the enrichment of education through secular means. We act to the promotion of science. We act against the division produce by ecclesiastical interpretations. However, we do not act to spread destruction, damnation and doom. We are not promoting vandalism or irrational, emotional hatred against the church and religion. Let see…I am promoting Secular Humanism in the Philippines as an alternative to communism so non-theists will have a voice – that is my agenda. To promote mutual respect and admiration to society even if they do not have any god-belief – that is my evolution from atheism.
The “A” in atheism doesn’t mean anarchism, anti-law and to think of a better word “an asshole”. We are not a bunch of social misfits, deviants and misanthropes whose disbelief has grow to total hatred to culture and society. We are not narrow-minded meathead or biased faultfinders who cannot even see something beautiful in this society. Loathing is not the fruit of atheism. We are always reminded that atheism has brought “thinking” back in our brain, but thinking does not mean irrational cynicism. We must now show the world, that after retaining our “thinking ability” we as atheist are now challenging ourselves on using it properly.
John the Atheist
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