Recently, on ‘s LJ, the subject of atheism as a religion came up. This is something I’ve been trying to clarify for a while now (ever since I read I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist).

Saying “I believe in a god” does not make you relgious.
Saying “I don’t believe in a god,” likewise, does not make you religious.

Religion and theism rely on faith: belief without evidence. Or, sometimes, when your god tests your faith, despite the evidence.

Quick aside. This reminds me of when RPGs use the term “faith” in fantastic/magical cultures where the gods make their presence known by direct acts of divine intervention. In this case, the people of the world do not have faith, they have devotion. Evidence exists for the gods’ existence. If you don’t believe in god–right after he made a miracle occur–then you are exactly what the Bible calls you: a fool.

George Orwell predicted the co-oping of words for political purposes. Changing the definition of the word to your own political advantage. Not everyone does this intentionally and not everyone is familiar with the technique. An unrelated example is when the Bush Administration has changed the definitions of “torture” and “terrorist.” (They also tried to include “the unborn” under child abuse laws. A very clever–if unethical–strategy.)

Recently, the religious right has tried to put atheism under the same umbrella as religion. Let me explain why this is a catalogical mistake.

Just saying “I believe in a god” does not make you religious. Yes, it makes you theistic, but not religious. You know the folks who believe in a god but don’t go to church, don’t participate in rituals, don’t eat the flesh and drink the blood and all the rest of that? Yeah, they’re not religious; they’re theists. They believe in at least one god.

This is important because the religious right uses the word “religious” when they should be using the word “theist.” They do this to bolster their numbers. “90% of Americans are religious!” No, not at all. Many of those folks don’t belong to churches, don’t attend services, don’t identify with a specific religion at all. They believe in something, but they don’t know what it is. In fact, if you start defining terms, most of them define themselves as agnostic: “I don’t know if there is a deity, but…”

A religion is a philosophy: a collation of statements about the nature of reality, morality and ethics that invokes the existence of a divine presence. Not all philosophies require a god for their statements of truth, but a philosophy that does is a religion. For example, one could not call the philosophy of Nietzche a religion because it does not include a belief in a god. Now, some can point at many philosophers (Nietzche, Ayn Rand, etc.) who have a cult of personality following, but none of those people believe in the divine powers of their devotion; they just blindly and obediently follow everything their leader says. This does not make a cult of personality a religion; it makes it a cult of personality. Sometimes dangerous, sometimes benign… just like religions. Sometimes dangerous, sometimes benign.

The reason the Catholics have a creed (Latin: “we believe”) is because a religion is also a social institution that teaches its followers the correct belief system. Religions tell you, “This is our god, this is how you worship it, this is what sacrifices it demands, this is its laws.” If you don’t believe in those things, you are not a member of that religion. Sure, the followers of a particular religion can debate the details, but there aren’t many Christians out there debating the divinity of Jesus. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be Christians.

Atheism is a simple statement: “I believe in no gods.” Saying that does not tell you how to act. It doesn’t tell you really anything about the universe… except the lack of gods. Going from “I don’t believe in a god” to any other moral statement is a leap even Morpheus (from The Matrix) couldn’t make.

Saying “I believe in a god” does not make you a Catholic, a Jew, a Hindu, a Muslim, a Neopagan, a Discordian, or anything else. What you believe about that god is what defines your religion.

Saying “I believe there are no gods” does not make you a Nazi, a Communist, a physicist, a bio-engineer or anything else. All of those philosophies are built on statements that have nothing to do with the existence of gods.

So, don’t believe the hype. Don’t allow the meme to change what you are or what you believe.

The language is interesting…

1. The organizaiton has no statement of faith.
2. The organization has no routine worship service.
3. A religion–recognized by the state government–must provide open and free services. The Church certainly does not provide that.

More info behind the link.

Obama talking to The Advocate.

I’ve heard this many, many times. Despite the fact “Christian” is the leading faith in the country, despite the fact the dollar bill says “In God We Trust,” despite the fact you can’t get elected to public office unless you are a Christian (if you disagree, ask Mitt Romney about that), and despite the fact that the President of the United States (Bush, Sr.) said atheists don’t deserve to be citizens: “This is one country under God.”

There’s a “coming out” movement for atheists in America and it’s hitting some very angry resistance. I understand the resistance. You can hear that resistance here.

Rep. (D) Monique Davis to atheist Rob Sherman: `It’s dangerous for our children to even know that your philosophy exists!’

Essentially, an atheist was testifying  in the General Assembly before the House State Government Administration Committee about the government giving money to a local church. Rep. Davis shouted at him, not only telling him he was a danger to children, but that he “had no right” to be there. “You believe in nothing!”

This is the voice of a very angry undercurrent in America. A strain of religious anger/hatred/fear that wants to hurt. That wants to silence. And it’s understandable. If you read their book, it tells them to hate. It tells them to fear. It tells them to commit violence.

More importantly, this very angry voice holds public office. Most people can’t hear it; that’s because the voice isn’t directed at them. When it’s directed at you, it’s a little easier to hear.

Now, most folks will say one of two things. The first, “This woman doesn’t represent mainstream Christianity.” The second, “Not all Christians feel this way.” Let me address both.

First, if she doesn’t represent mainstream Christianity, how did she get elected? How do her compatriots–who use the same voice–get elected?

Second, she is mainstream Christianity. She’s following what her book tells her to do. The book tells her that only a fool doesn’t believe in God. The book tells her that we’re all tools of Satan, trying to keep her from Heaven. In fact, if her book is right, she’s right. She should keep us from her children. We are endangering their souls. It’s a logical conclusion… if her book is right.

Third, if you are a Christian, and you believe in Heaven and Hell, then you should agree with her. Anyone who doesn’t accept Christ as their savior is the enemy, endangering your soul. And the book has very explicit instructions for handling the unfaithful. 

If you’re a Christian, and it’s your book, and the book is the word of god, you’d better do what your god tells you to do. He punishes you for ignoring his rules. He punishes you forever.

Just like he’s going to punish all the Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, and everyone else who hasn’t “heard his word.”

And that’s me. I’m going to Eternal Punishment. Big, flaming pitchforks shoved up my ass. Forever.

So, you’d better tell me to shut up. Better tell me to get out of the country. Better label me as “dangerous.” Because if you listen to me, you’ll be right next to me. 

Flaming pitchfork shoved up your ass. Forever.

(paraphrased from an original by

amanofhats

)

Hillary says: “I think given all we have heard and seen, [Wright] would not have been my pastor.”

John says: “I think given all we have heard and seen, Bill would not have been my husband.”

I may not end up voting for any Democrat or Republican, but here’s one of the many reasons I didn’t vote for Bill and I won’t vote for Hillary.

Not because of the issue, but because of the blatant lying.

Thanks to nikchick for the headsup.

In lieu of the Wesboro Baptist Church announcing their demonstration outside Heath Ledger’s funeral, I thought I should make something clear.

He’s right. God hates fags. Says so right in the God Book. You can check it out here.

If JHVH/Christ is your God and the Bible is His Word, you can’t ignore some of His Word. You’ve got to follow all of it. Cherry picking the good parts and ditching the parts you don’t like? That’s not kosher.

It’s God. He doesn’t misspeak. He doesn’t make mistakes. Everything is intentional.

Again: if you are a Christian (don’t matter what flavor) or a Jew (again, don’t matter what flavor), the Bible is the WORD OF GOD. Otherwise, it’s just a book of ideas written in the Bronze Age by humans who were makin’ shit up.

And if you believe that, you belong on this side of the fence. Otherwise, you’re standing on the same side as this guy:

I am no longer endorsing Ron Paul.

House Resolution 847:

(1) recognizes the Christian faith as one of the great religions of the world;

(2) expresses continued support for Christians in the United States and worldwide;

(3) acknowledges the international religious and historical importance of Christmas and the Christian faith;(4) acknowledges and supports the role played by Christians and Christianity in the founding of the United States and in the formation of the western civilization;
(5) rejects bigotry and persecution directed against Christians, both in the United States and worldwide; and
6) expresses its deepest respect to American Christians and Christians throughout the world.

Unless Congress does the same for every other religion in the world, we’ve just given favoritism to one religion over another.

Fucking idiots.

CNN — California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger plans to sue the federal government over its decision not to allow a California plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, he announced Thursday.

“It’s another example of the administration’s failure to treat global warming with the seriousness that it actually demands,” the governor said at a news conference Thursday.

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When the country’s most prominent Republican tells the Republican President to fuck off, that should tell you something.