I find very often in my talks with Christians that they feel like their “beliefs” should grant them some benefit. Christians want to be rewarded for their “faith”. They are shrewd businessmen where everything is for sale, even their most cherished belief system.
It is this mentality which often prompts them to ask me the question “What does Atheism have to offer over Christianity?” As if the fact that your belief is “true” is not all the benefit you should need. A part of me hates to even answer this question, because it is so ridiculous. The only thing a logical mind should need is “truth”. No other rewards need be granted by a certain idea other than its probability.
However, I am going to answer this question for the simple reason that I have a very good answer for it. Atheism offers so much over Christianity. Right off the bat, Atheism offers you a reality where no one ever need be tortured for all eternity. No one need to suffer in brutal agony that never, ever ends no matter what. Isn’t that great?! Of course it is; and if you don’t think that it’s great, then you are a psychopath. Because only a psychopath would want another person to be tortured forever and ever, and if you’re not a psychopath, the fact that it’s not actually true should make you very, VERY happy!
- Atheism offers freedom from retardation.
Atheism also eliminates your sins better than Jesus ever dreamed of. Atheism immediately washes away every “sin” you have ever committed in the past, and every “sin” you will ever commit in the future. And with that wonderful gift, it also takes away all of your shame. No longer do you have to be ashamed of who you are! No longer do you have to feel guilty for every little thing you do or say or think!
There is a curious guy on Twitter who calls himself Kat24k. He spends a great deal of his time tweeting Bible verses. I’m not sure what this guy does for a living, but whatever it is, he has plenty of time to copy and paste Bible verses all day long, every day. I have NO idea who he is tweeting to. Surely there can’t be anyone who wants to sit there and look at this guy’s Bible verse tweets all day. I mean if they did, why not just read the Bible themselves? But anyway, he is constantly telling me that I need to “repent”. That if I will just ask this magical sky wizard for forgiveness, then I won’t have to be tortured for eternity.
In fact, today he comes on my blog and leaves this comment:
“hey its your gaurdian angel. just thought i would drop you a good wish and hope your still with us. im still here on twitter if you want to repent and come back into the fold. the magical ghost still talks to me about you. im always watching and waiting for you to ask forgiveness . see you soon. god bless. the door is still open for you.”
Isn’t that creepy? Like I need this motherfucker’s forgiveness for anything. This guy literally believes that a magical ghost called “the holy ghost” talks to him about me. In fact, when asked why he believes the Bible is true, he responded it was because the ghost told him it was true. This is clearly bat shit, bonkers crazy and the fact that MOST of the American public doesn’t see this type of thing as bat shit crazy is measure for alarm.
My response to Kat24k was this.
“Hey Kat,
I’m sure you’re a “nice” dude in real life (you know, despite the fact that you support torture and the horrible acts of the God of the bible) but I just don’t understand how a sane, rational human being can not think a magical ghosts talking to them is bat shit crazy.
I don’t require forgiveness for anything. I haven’t done anything wrong. I’m sorry that you feel like such a loser that you need someone to forgive you for just being human, but I don’t feel that way. I am what I am and I am unashamed.
Fuck anyone who tells me I should be ashamed of who I am, and that includes you my friend.”
And that’s the way I truly feel. I’ve made mistakes in my life just like anyone else, but they weren’t because I was born flawed and sinful. I made them because as a human being I have limited information, and when you don’t have all the information, you often do retarded things. But those retarded things are just a part of who I am. I own every mistake I’ve ever made. Every one of those mistakes is part of me. They are not something I am ashamed of because they ARE me. To be ashamed of them I would have to be ashamed of who I am. And I’m not ashamed of who I am. At all.
So another huge benefit of Atheism is a greater appreciation for yourself. You no longer have to be ashamed of yourself. You no longer have to feel guilty about who you are. Believe me, it’s such a beautiful thing to truly be guilt free.
There are so many more benefits to Atheism that I’ll have to write future blog entries just to keep this one from getting too long. Perhaps some of you could list your own “benefits” in the comments. However, I want to end with this, many Christians seem to hang on to Christianity merely for the “benefit” of having an afterlife. The fear of death is just so great that they refuse to believe this life is it for them. It is just too hard to accept. So instead of accepting this, they choose to believe in things that, deep down inside, they really know are probably bullshit.
But here is the thing. Atheism does NOT take away the afterlife. You can’t take away something that was never there to begin with. And if their IS an afterlife, then being an Atheist doesn’t take it away in that case either. It’ll still be there when you die regardless of whether you were an Atheist or not.
You can also be an Atheist and hope for an afterlife. Shit, I hope like CRAZY that there is an afterlife. I hope I’m like God in it and can do all the shit I wanted to do in this life but never got the chance. That would be awesome. I hope for that shit worse than I hope I win the lottery next week.
But there is a big difference between hope and faith. Hope all you want. Hope is great. Hope keeps me going. Hope is healthy. But when your hope turns into delusions of “belief”, you are not really being benefited by it.
I’m not an atheist, moreso of an areligionist. I used to be a Christian, and then gradually I made my way out of that, thankfully. One benefit that I love about not being Christian is that I don’t have to worry about every person I encounter being “saved.” I don’t have to worry about my friends or family going to hell just because they didn’t submit to Jesus as Lord. *cringe* I also like not having to worry where my thoughts are coming from – if they’re my sinful self’s, God’s, or the devil’s, lol.
If you have time, check out the books Self-Aware Universe, Physics of the Soul, Science and the Akashic Field, and/or The Holographic Universe. All are books that use science to speculate about an afterlife – maybe to give you a bit more hope
Hi Lindsey and welcome,
Could you explain what an “areligionist” is for me? I did a google for it but didn’t come up with much.
I have not actually read any of the books you mentioned but I have watched many youtube videos about these subjects and seen a few documentaries as well.
I’m fairly familiar with all the concepts, at least enough to passably discuss them. So feel free to add your thoughts on these concepts.
I have plenty of hope. It’s just that hope and faith are very different things. People often say one when they mean the other, even though these two things are nothing a like.
My life is full of hope and wonder and joy. But I do appreciate your want for me to have more. Sincerely.
Dusty,
Another great blog! I simply cannot stress to theists enough that just because their Jesus candy (or Mohammed candy, or Joseph Smith candy, or Buddha candy, or L. Ron Candy, etc) seems so much sweeter than no candy at all, this DOES NOT make their religious woo true. As a young child, believing in Santa is generally more favored than not…AND FOR THE SAME REASON!
Though dying will suck, no doubt, I can accept my finite existence. In fact, I prefer my finite existence over the bible’s version of eternal life. Obviously I do not like the “Hell” half. But I do not like the “Heaven” half either. Eternal worship, day and night, even in its “blissful” setting, would undoubtedly suck ass. Christians argue that “you would be so awed by god’s presence, that eternal worship would be voluntary.” Well, what if I’m not easily awed? Or what if my awe only lasted a trillion years? What the hell am I going to do with the eternity that I still have yet to even begin? After another trillion years, when I have nothing new to learn or experience, I would be BEGGING for oblivion. God would simply say, “But WHY? The party just started!”
Doesn’t that sound ridiculous? But that is certainly the biblical heaven. Even reincarnation, as cool as it initially sounds, does not provide ME with eternal life. After all, I don’t remember any past lives. Knowing all this helps me deal with my impending death. I was dead for an eternity before I was born, and I remember no pain or discomfort, so I have no reason to believe that the eternity after my death will be any different.
I had a theist tell me that I would believe in god if I’d have had the same prophetic dreams he had. I immediately quit talking to him. I will not debate with someone who is (1) a schizophrenic; or (2) a blatant liar. Why? It’s not just because I can’t win with these people….it’s also because I want them to stay stupid so that, in the end, these are all that’s left and everyone can clearly see why to stay the fuck away from religion.
Kim
I just kind of made up the word
Atheist doesn’t quite fit me because I believe in a broader reality than the one we empirically know, but I don’t identify with or approve of many major religious groups. If atheist is used to mean that I don’t believe in the god of the Bible or Koran, than I am an atheist. I’m opposed to religion and what it’s done to contribute to the harm of our world and of people psychologically. I think we should all calmly and logically search for the answers ourselves rather than have someone tell us what to think, which is why even though I don’t call myself an atheist, I identify more closely with them than any religious people, and I always enjoy the work they are doing to try to get people to wake up out of their religious stupor.
I think more than anything, even if you don’t draw any conclusions from quantum or any other cutting edge experimentation, learning about it at least opens your mind into thinking more outside the 3-D material world paradigm.
It’s been several years since I’ve read those books I listed, and I can’t remember enough to hold much of an engaging discussion. =/ I know that in them, the basics of quantum mechanics are explained. One thing in particular I remember is how the presence of an observer is tied in with the behavior of electrons (as demonstrated by scientific experiment). This leads to a discussion on how consciousness is the builder of reality, and even when our physical body dies, this conscious observer/energy still exists. The authors of those books explain much more clearly and eloquently. I feel that I’m just bringing up a point and then doing some hand waving to get to one of the conclusions. Plus, one of the authors has a PhD in physics. I’ve only taken one undergrad class in quantum theory
What I love about exploring that stuff is that it’s all just possibility. There’s no one telling you that you have to believe it or have faith and believe in it. And if you do incorporate it into a belief system as I have somewhat, then there is no moral code or imperative attached to it like with a religion. You just go on living the best life you can and developing your own morals to live by. And there’s no need to evangelize as you would with a religion.
I’m glad you enjoy and make the most of your life, and it’s just so silly to think that there are Christians out there mourning for how much worse off atheists are, hehe.
Love the graphic.
I don’t exactly know what I am, but I hope for an afterlife, and I do tend to think there is more than this existence here.
To Kim,
A friend and I were talking the other day about how boring it would be in heaven if it was like the Chrstians say. Prasing God all day long, every day, forever. I mean Chruch is boring enough itself just one hour a week. Having to do that shit forever would litterally be hell.
I also completely agree with your comments on reincarnation. Even if you are reincarnated, you won’t remember the life you’re living now in your next life, so in essence you really aren’t even you anymore.
And you said in your last paragraph what I’ve been saying. There is no reason to have a reasonable debate with someone who is unreasonable. If it’s public I just mock them and if it’s private I just stop talking to them. Time is too valuable to waste.
To Lindsey,
I consider myself an athiest but I also believe in a broader reality than we emperically know. I think most athiest do. Our 5 senses are so limited and the tiny amount of information our brains can process is such a tiny piece of the whole that reality is deffinetly way out of our grasp.
I think the experiment you might be talking about is the “double slit” experiment. I am also facinated by all these concepts you have mentioned and have studied them in pretty good detail. I love quantum physics and believe that the current string theory is the most probable answer we have yet as to “reality”.
I also am familiar with the holographic universe “theory” and also believe it is very probable to be correct.
I also agree with your last paragraph. I dunno, you seem like an athiest to me =) At least what I would consider an athiest. I didn’t read anything I disagree with.
To Annette,
Welcome to the blog. I’m with you. I hope there is a “good” after life (and not a bad one), but at the same time I don’t “believe” because I don’t have enough evidence to come to that conclusion.
Lindsey,
I watched a really neat documentary a couple of years ago titled “What the Bleep Do We Know?”. If that documentary has the same concepts as what you are referring to, I say good for you (because that video was SO AWESOME!!!). It mainly covered psychology and a bit of quantum mechanics, but the ultimate observer concept was definitely covered at the end. Interesting stuff, no doubt.
Kim
“Atheism offers freedom from retardation” sums it up quite well. Great article!
To Kim,
Thats a great documentary. I’ve done a decent amount of research into the topics it discussed and it all definitely bares consideration. I’m really open minded to these concepts. Like I always say, I don’t care what the “truth” is, I just want to know; and looking into Science and Quantum physics for the answers may not explain everything perfectly, but it certainly will get you miles closer than religion ever could.
To Nhu,
Thanks for the kind words. I should make bumper stickers that say that.
I hope more than anything that there ISN’T a god because that would imply that he is sadistic bastard. And if somehow some religioutard can prove without a doubt that god exists, then I want to bring the bastard up on charges of cruelty and neglect, among other things. Sexist psychopath. I would like someone to explain to me how it is that women all across the world accept Jesus Christ into their hearts, get baptized, forgiven of all sin to be Born Again clean in the lord, and still have massive cramps and total pain in childbirth and still believe. Wasn’t that the punishment of original sin? And weren’t women and men created equal before the original sin? Still second class citizens in all religions no matter how dedicated they are. I honestly believe that is the purpose of religion – to control people’s property and keep women in their place – under rule and subjugation of men.
A relationship with god is like a relationship with an abusive husband. In order to be treated kindly you have to do everything that he says, and even then you get your ass kicked – but he loves you and that’s why he punishes you. As far as following a religion, fear is the basic tool of recruitment. Manipulation is the basic tool of management and control. Stockholm Syndrome anyone? I fear and love my captor. How sick is that?
Want to know what is great about being an Atheist? I choose to be a good person and actually feel compassion for living things of my own volition. I don’t do it out of fear, or in expectation of great rewards. This makes my kindness all the more worthwhile – because it comes from my heart, not my fear or duty. I also accept the fact that I am human and make mistakes. I am human – and part of the world’s evolution – the greatest part – because I am aware of the fragility of life and the world, and of the responsibility that awareness entails. That is what makes being a human the greatest thing. If I hurt someone I answer to that person and try to make amends – to them – not an invisible man or a stranger in a booth. I was born without that which does not exist – sin. I choose to either do wrong, or do right. And unless I have some kind of mental or physical issue that I am incapable of overcoming, I am responsible for my actions. Me. No demons, no spirits, me. So when someone comes to me and says I have to believe in Jesus Christ or whatever the Deity du jour is, otherwise I will burn in hell, I’ll have to say “Pass the freaking sunblock”.
Keep up the good work, Dusty.
Yours in Reason
Liz
I really like this particular blog post. With the exception of “on fire, holy roller” Christians, I really feel the reason this country has so many Christians is predominately due to apathy. It’s just easier to believe the Bible and follow its rules. Ironically, if you’re not a psychopath, the same moral code would inevitably be naturally instilled in most people, but the Bible conveniently lays it all out for you. Bottom line, people are lazy and just don’t care enough to intellectualize for themselves. I don’t hate ignorant people because they don’t have all the information to make rational decisions, but it’s the WILLFULLY ignorant that our poisoning our society.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention my benefit of atheism (or in my case agnosticism). It’s pretty much exactly what you said. I grew up with constant fear that I might sin and die before I could repent. Worse still was the fear of my Dad going to hell and suffering for eternity (particularly by himself as he was the only non-religious person in my entire family). Not to mention the fear of demons, which is a heavy if not abusive belief to instill in a child. I liken it to telling your child if he or she’s not good the boogie man will come and get them. When I finally admitted to myself I didn’t believe anymore, I felt more relief than I can verbally describe. It’s truly liberating to realize that you don’t know and probably never will, and I’m thankful everyday that I don’t have to run a mental checklist to make sure I’m staying within those invisible religious lines.
Hi Liz,
Thank you for your post. Very well put. I’m with you. If heaven and God are as described in the bible, I don’t want anything to do with either. Pass me the sun block too. Getting anally stimulated by a pitchfork sounds a lot better than having to be around Christians forever.
To Brandine,
I agree with everything you said, and I’m glad to finally write a blog entry you actually like =)
I shared the fear of my father going to hell, and tried on many desperate attempts to reach him. I thought he was so stupid for being an atheist. It made me not respect him very much. I really feel like Christianity robbed me of a relationship with my father. That is one of the many reason I want to burn these motherfuckers to the ground.
Good post. Well said.
Hey, Dusty,
I wondered when would be a good time to arrange for a
“Fuckfest” with your wife, mother, daughter and sister?They really need to see my rod and then they would know what they are all missing by settling for your
little pin dick.
Hi Jeff,
I think you might have posted this under the wrong blog entry. It’s all good though.
First off, although I do live in Mississippi, despite the stereotype, I have never fucked my mother or sister (and I don’t have any kids). However, You are welcome to schedule and fuck any of them at any time you please. As we live in a free country and women are not property, if they choose to fuck you they are more then welcome to do so. That’s not really something you should be asking me about though. You’ll need to take it up with them personally.
As for my dick, I’m happy to report it is slightly above the national average according to Wikipedia, but only slightly.
If there are any more questions I can answer for you feel free to let me know.
First I’ll explain my name. It is my First Initial put in front of the first four letters of my last name. My Family hates that. Ok I love how you represent atheism. My family is a big sect of religious zealots. That’s mainly why they hate me. Because when I was 8 I started to think freely. I would frequently ask questions like “Who is God?” or “Did god make dinosaurs?” and pretty much any question involving god as a topic. I kept getting told it is that way because god made it so. blah blah blah. I kept asking because that answer didn’t quench my little brains thirst. So around the time I turned 9 I figured the one thing that ultimately turned me into an atheist. If god loves the world and everyone in it then why do people suffer? Of course I was told they suffer because they don’t love God back. But i called Bullshit on that. That was my question reworded as an answer and that didn’t make sense. So I figured there wasn’t a God and that if there isn’t a god why should I be burdened with a lack of knowledge by limiting my thought? So here I am 18 and enjoying your atheism blog and still being the only atheist (apart from my uncle in California, but my family denies his existence even though I talk to him regularly.)
Enjoyed Your arguments and facts,
David
Some say, religion helps people to cope with death. Well, this partly is true, of course. Take for instance how some politicians “cope” with sending some of their own people into possible death, and commanding them to bring certain and terrible death for many. As Bill Maher put it: “Maybe a president who didn’t believe our soldiers were going to heaven might be a little less willing to get them killed.”
But when my catholic great-grandmother died (she was the only remaining religious person in my family – I live in east Germany), she suddenly “lost her faith”, or rather the reality of her coming (natural) death at the age of 93 finally kicked out her psychological barriers that kept her pretending towards herself to really still believe in the bs she was raised once as a little kid to believe in. My grandparents always had thought she’d just peacefully pass away, believing her silly religion. But, for the last two weeks or so, she started to doubt everything. A wee bit too late, considering how restricted she lead her life. :/
This morning I realized something else. My mother (not religious) usually defends religious people by saying their belief helps them cope with death. Well, this morning, I realized this: if religion was good because it might help cope with death, then misanthropy must be even much better! Because if you truthfully hate every human being (best including yourself), then what could help more coping with death? In fact, you might even reverse your feelings, and sadness turns into relief etc. So, next time someone defends his beliefs with this issue, I will have a suggestion that by logical argument should let them “convert” instantly.
Hey FalkJ,
Welcome. Good points. The thing is, being an atheist doesn’t stop me from hoping there’s an after life. I hope very much that there is something else beyond this. It’s certainly possible. In a million years, if humans are still around, who knows what type of technology we might have. We might be able to reach back in time and suck out the consciousness at death and upload it into the main frame.
After all, the most important known resource in the universe is “knowledge”, and it’s not unthinkable that future generations might “mine” knowledge just like we mine gold and silver these days. The experiences of human life is one of the greatest sources of knowledge there is.
However, while I hope this is true, it’s a far cray from faith. I have no faith in it. I hope it will happen but I don’t “believe” it will, because I’ve seen no evidence of it.
The point is, atheism does not rule out the possibility of an afterlife, and it certainly doesn’t rule out hoping for one. What it does do is eliminate the needs to believe in fairy tales just to make yourself feel better. Believing in fairy tales is not beneficial to you. It makes you gullible. It hurts our society, and the quicker we end this stupidity the better all humanity will be.
Love the Bill Maher quote. He has really stepped up his game as of late. I’m a fan.
Dusty,
I am an atheist of about 7 months. I am 15 years old going on 16. when I announced to my family and friends of my church youth group that I didn’t believe in God anymore, I got a lot of hate from most of them. They didn’t understand me, and often ostracized me. Now everyone is finally accepting me, but what I really have trouble with is my girlfriend. She is also a Christian from my youth group. She is okay with the fact that I’m an atheist, but she feels the constant need to convert me. I have told her time and time that I will not. But the other day, I was talking to her, and a question came to me. I asked her “Would Heaven be the same to you if you lived there while everyone you loved and cared about(including me, of course) burned in Hell forever?” She said yes. It shocked me at first, but this kind of brainwashing has to stop. I wish I could explain it to her…but why would anyone want to live in paradise while their family was being tortured and there was nothing they could do about it? and why call it heaven? it would be worse than hell…I love your videos and your site, just wanted to put this out there. Hope you can help or shed some light on this for me. Thanks.
Hey Bubble and welcome,
I was debating a preacher one time in his church, and I asked him the exact same question. I said “Don’t you HOPE that Christianity is not true. Because if it’s true that means people will be tortured for eternity. Doesn’t any reasonable, sane human being have to at least hope that it’s not true? For the sake of their fellow man. Because if it’s true it is just so terrible. What if it was one of your sons burning in hell forever? Would you be OK with that?”
And he didn’t hesitate, he said “I wouldn’t have a problem with it. If that’s Gods will.”
And I was surprised at how quickly and easy it was for him to answer. Like he would rather be right and have his own son tortured for eternity than be wrong and have him not.
I found out later, after I had left, he confided in someone else that he felt bad about giving that answer. But that’s how powerful the cult is. They are so terrified about being tortured forever that they will sell out their own family, in their minds, just to avoid questioning the faith and risk being punished themselves.
It’s a mass cowardice.
Best advice I can give you is to hang in there. You will be surprised how many people will be leaving the Christian cult in the coming years. The internet has changed things completely and the end is near for that cult. You are a trend setter. Many will follow you.
Don’t be surprised if your girlfriend doesn’t change her mind before it’s all said and done. And if she doesn’t, there are plenty of cool atheist chicks out there =)
Thanks again Dusty. That helps a lot. I talked to the youth pastor today about my “walk with Christ” (everyone seems to think that I’m just lost, and that I need guidance to help me be faithful again. haha) and he could not completely answer that same question without using the “God works in mysterious ways” bullshit. I told him that I also had hope that there was an afterlife. But after saying this, I realized something. Would an afterlife really be that great? I mean, living forever just sounds exhausting, and it really would be worthless. Have you ever played a video game where you could enter all the cheats in? and you could do whatever the fuck you wanted? It will eventually bore the shit out of you. I think that living a full life of happiness would be infinitely valuable. So I actually don’t really know whether to hope for an afterlife or not. What do you think?
Hey Bubble,
Yeah, me and my friends have been through the “Lost” thing before. My best friends mom still thinks he is just “lost” and is going to come back.
In the old days they could use the fear of death to keep people from questioning, and if the fear of death didn’t work then they used actual death. But eventually as we civilized more it became unlawful to kill those that question the church, so they needed a new control device to keep Christians from listening to those that question.
So they began to spread the meme that anyone who questioned is just “lost” and was not to be listened to. Basically they put that label on you to discredit everything you say before you even say it. No matter how much evidence you present, no matter what logical reasoning you present, they can just ignore it all because “You’re Lost”.
It’s their way of shunning you and your ideas from their community. It’s a form of viral protection. Christianity is a mental virus, and so is atheism. And when the virus of atheism takes over the virus of Christianity in your mind, then you are now capable of infecting others, and changing them.
So by calling you “lost” they are branding you a leper and thus making sure you and your ideas stay quarantined from the hive.
They are also desperate these days, because the internet has caused the virus of atheism to spread at unprecedented rates and their hives of Christian churches are being eradicated from it.
Their fear is understandable. Their memes are literally dying, and even though I believe the virus of atheism is much better than the virus of Christianity, the churches obviously don’t agree with me.
By understanding exactly why they are doing what they are doing, it’s easy to not let it affect you too much.
As for an afterlife. It would seem that living forever wouldn’t be so bad as long as you don’t remember living forever. Cuz if you don’t remember it, did it really happen?
Perhaps that’s what we are. Energy that got so bored it had to forget its immortality in order to experience the joy of newness again.
Yes, the rise of atheism. It’s really exciting. I’m glad I’m young, so I can see it grow. That is…if I live long enough. I follow you on the remembrance of your existence. I will just keep on living, and if evidence of an afterlife comes up, I’ll be the first to listen. But as far as the virus of atheism, the internet has made it metaphorically waterborne, even airborne, and it still has not taken over the minds of more than 16% of America’s population. It’s great what you do for the youtube community and everything, but people need to start speaking out and advertising. Or religion could get worse…
Agreed. People need to start being more brave. That’s the whole point of what I do. I am trying to inspire people to be brave.
You’re right that we are still on the ground floor, but it’s happening very fast. It’s going to be a fun ride =)
I was talking with a friend about this very concept yesterday. It may be un-American to say, but the way to reach these people quickly is not through literature, research, and intellectual discourse. Think of the average Americans…..they know more about American Idol and Fear Factor contestants than they know of their own political and religious leaders. Memes are important, if not vital, to the spreading of information, and “atheistic” memes ARE slowly reaching the average Americans. However, most people I know personally do not like to read, and only surf the internet for movies, music, friends, shopping, and porn.
I’m not saying that they are stupid;I am not sure what they are. They’re not indifferent…they care about many topics (though one must wonder from what avenue the information they have came). They are not stupid…they usually can understand what you tell them and can, for the most part, articulate responses. They are not selfish….they ban together and help others when tragedy strikes. Are they shallow? Perhaps. When you’re taught to simply NOT think about it, that mindset’s venom tends to spill over into everything else.
So, what do we do? How do we help them break this not-thinking-about-it habit? We filter into their shallow world. Television. Music. Memes. If their interest is sparked, they WILL look into it. But at LEAST, people will realize that we actually exist. Do you realize just how many people don’t know WHAT an atheist is? (And if they do know what an atheist is, their definition is distorted.)
Hey Kim,
I share your frustration. I know you hesitate to call these people stupid, but the truth is, many of them are stupid. What can you say about people who watch American Idol obsessively but do not even understand Jr. High level science.
I don’t know what the answer is to this problem is. I make my vids in a certain way to try to reach these people. I use a lot of curse words and try to dumb these complex topics down as much as I can for the masses. That is about all I can think to do at this point.
I hate the fact that we have to dumb down the message, but I just don’t see a way to compete with religion otherwise. You have to fight stupidity with stupidity is seems. If anyone has any better ideas, I’m all ears.
If you truly have hope in what you believe in ie atheism, spend more time hyping up your ideals rather than waisting your time bashing others beliefs… All you’re doing is being a hypocrite… You don’t like Jesus for judging you for being human, yet you judge other humans for being human. So stick to what you know and leave what you don’t like alone… You don’t like it for your reasons and I respect opinions, but your facts about Christianity and some about atheism are far from correct. Bottom line, everyones scared to die regaurdless of the bull shit they say, some people turn to a god, to Jesus, to Satan, and maybe nothing at all, but that doesn’t mean anyone is right or wrong.
Honestly I don’t give a fuck if someone disagrees with me I’m just saying… Sometimes people conform to whatever to fit in but if you really wanna make a difference, do something great on your own to prove your beliefs.