Thursday 30 May 2013

Evangelising

Following my last post, one of my Twitter followers blogged about "evangelical atheists".

He provided no obvious comment function on his post, so I'll paste the meat of his post here (I'm assuming that he had no objections to what is, technically,  a breach of copyright. If he has, I'll happily fix it).

His post comes in four paragraphs. The first is just introduction.

The second us rendered irrelevant because he asserts that the discussion of evil acts by christians is nothing to do with their faith because they are not "christian" acts. Since christianity is supposed to be an all-pervading concept, a life, not just a set of rules, then every act by any individual claiming to be christian is relevant to a discussion of christianity. That includes everything from the church-sanctioned genocide of the Crusades, through the deliberate lies told about contraceptives,  all the way down to a christian motorist flipping the bird when another driver cuts him up.

The third paragraph can be ignored because it is factually incorrect, working from a basis that all humans are "naturally evil". I am atheist, yet my head teacher recently praised me for the personal integrity I display, as well as the moral example I set for my students. My sons, both raised as atheists, and continuing to be atheist by their personal choices, have both been praised by their teachers as "outstanding young men", and my youngest was chosen to represent his school by laying a wreath at the last Remembrance Day ceremony.

The third paragraph is more interesting, do I'll address it point by point, and folk can, if they wish respond in the comments below.

I believe there is hope and salvation for mankind.
Salvation from what?

This is why I carry the Christian message.
 Why the christian message? There is as much peace in the Koran, or in Buddhism.

My primary question to this relatively new breed of evangelical Atheists is “Why? What’s your reason?” 
Because I expect people to take responsibility for their own actions, and not to pressure others into swallowing demonstrable falsehoods through an existential guilt-trip.

You believe there’s nothing beyond this life.
Wrong.

No hope.
Wrong.

No justice.
Wrong. Who told you all these things?

Your message is nothing if not against the Christian message.
Damn straight.

No matter what your world view, why would you object to someone else having a life-sustaining hope grounded in faith and reason that leads a person to live their life with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control? 
I don't, and I know of no atheist that does. However, christianity is a faith built on guilt and hypocrisy. Some people do find those things, and give credit to christianity, but many other people find the same things in any other faith. Or fishing.

Which of these fruits is giving you indigestion?
None, if they were the true and only fruits of christianity.

However, they are not. When christians restrict their message to those specific good things,  then maybe they wouldn't drive thinking atheists to be so vocal.

However, dedicated christians also...

● Condemn people to "hell" for their sexuality.
● Teach children Creationism as fact, and openly persecute teachers for teaching evolution in Science lessons.
● Actively shelter fellow christians who have perpetrated sexual acts on children.
● Murdered medical professionals for working in abortion clinics.
● Picketed funerals of soldiers with banners gloating over their families' losses.
● Blamed natural disasters like hurricanes on tolerance of homosexuality.
● Arrived in Haiti, immediately after the earthquake of 2010, and, when people had no food, shelter, clean water or medical facilities, all they handed out were bibles.
● Bomb bars because they are used by the wrong kind of christians.
● Deliberately tell people that condoms *cause* disease.
● Campaign *against* ecological policies because "god gave us these resources to use".

...etc.

In fact, christians spend a large part of their time disagreeing over what a "christian" actually is, or what a "proper" christian believes, and even what is written in their "infallible" holy book.

Every atheist agrees what atheism means, and every (thinking) atheist agrees on the consequence of atheism; responsibility for one's own actions and legacy. It's a sad fact that christians are less likely to be members of organisations that work for the future well-being of the planet, or to pursue careers that result in the betterment of humanity, such as the medical or environmental sciences.

I am in no way claiming that atheists are perfect, far from it, but at least we take responsibility for our own failings. To paraphrase their own bible; before they look to the speck in the eye of atheism, there are a few christian planks that need sorting out.




Saturday 25 May 2013

Believers

Just a short one:

Why do Believers expect special treatment, purely on the grounds of their belief? 

  • They expect to have their opinions listened to over secular voices.
  • They expect their opinions to shape government policy without being subject to the democeatic process.
  • They expect legal protection for acts that contravene Human Rights legislation
  • They demand that those who question their faith be banned from doing so in law, whilst simultaneously attacking the questioners.
  • They expect non-Believers to provide evidence for their claims, yet expect their own claims to be accepted without quedtion.
So; why?


Friday 10 May 2013

Innocent?

What happened to "innocent until proven guilty"?

In a civilised nation, the authorities have to prove you broke the law, you don't have to prove your innocence.

The Office of Defense Trade Controls Compliance emailed Mr Wilson a document demanding the designs be "removed from public access" until he could prove he had not broken laws governing shipping weapons overseas by putting the files online and letting people outside the US download them.*

Never mind the issues surrounding the fake scare over printing a gun, the way the USG are dealing with the issue is unquestionably wrong, especially in a country that is a signatory of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights.

Sort it out, America.


*http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22478310