Date: Wed, 19 Apr 2000 09:16:48 -0500 From: Mike <owensmk@earthlink.net> To: questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Atheists Manifesto Message-ID: <38FDBFD0.C65C9482@earthlink.net> References: <004001bfa9c2$5a4e6560$5a5d0418@vista1.sdca.home.com>
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If this is a sterling example of an atheist (people who are too lazy to check their spelling when engaging in an informed(?) discussion) I would run to religion by default. Thankfully I am already there---one of those uneducated, provincial Christians, as the author would have it, with a masters degree in chemical engineering. Could someone please open a "gratuitous-dogma@freebsd.org" for posts like this. I doubt that anybody joined this list to be beleaguered by such spurious, half-baked blather. FreeBSD, I believe, is the topic here. However, I would, for our budding athiest's sake, like to close with a quote from Charles Darwin's "Origin of Species:" There is grandeur in this view of life with its several powers having been originally breathed by the Creator into a few forms or into one; and that, while this planet has gone cycling on, according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms, most beautiful and most wonderful, have been and are being evolved. Anonymous Athiest wrote: > > This is document has not been run through a spell checker or edited > properly. The text isn't what's important. The message is what's > important. Feel free to run this through a spell checker before > redistributing the message. If you agree with what is said here, please > distribute it further. If you do not agree, at least consider what is being > said with an open mind. > > The Athiest's Manifesto > > We live in a world full of Gods. Many different cultures have many > different Gods. There are two classes of Gods. The Gods of the past, which > usually come in groups, which were generally used to explain things that the > people did not understand. From the roaming patterns of buffalo, to > lightning and echos, people have made up stories to explain things they did > not understand, because ignorance of a subject leads to fear of it. Lack of > knowlege can be frightening. Still, the people of today look back at these > anchient religions and call them "myths". They chuckle when they think of > the ignorance required to believe that the sun is a God's Chariot. > > This brings us to the Gods of the present. Today's religions are commonly > Monotheistic, relying on the belief of a single all powerful God. Today's > Gods usually provide us with two messages. One is a social code which lays > out a model of society for people to abide by. The other is a explination > of the fundamental questions which people tend to ask. "Where did we come > from ?" "Why are we here ?" and "What happens when we die ?". None of > these questions can be answered to anyone's true satisfaction. Ignorance > creates insecurity, therefore the people need to find a way to fill in this > gap in their knowlege. The most common religion in the world today is > Christianity and it's derivitives (Catholicism, Mormon, Islam, etc). > Christianity provides the social code, and it also fills in the gaps in our > knowlege, explaining the answers to these questions via the written and > translated stories of people who lived 2000 years ago. > > What kind of people existed 2000 years ago ? By our standards today, they > were ignorant, violent, socially obtuse, and worse. They treated women as > objects, and slavery for both sex and labor was common. The people of this > era were far less advanced than the Greeks, who's beliefs we laugh at today. > And yet, some how, the words, stories, and beliefs of these people are taken > as absolute fact by millions of people all over the world today. > Christianity speaks of Jesus of Nazerith, the Christ, the son of God, who > was born of a virgin, and walked about the people of the time and performed > miracles and preached the word of God. Because of the historical impact of > the man referred to, one can hardly deny that a man named Jesus of Nazerith > exists, however, in order to believe the rest of his tale, you must take the > word of ignorant people of the past as fact with no proof, evidence, or > other information. This is commonly referred to as "blind faith". > > Millions of people choose to dedicate hours, days, and years of their life > worshipping this Christian God. They are so certain that these people of > the past, whom they probably aren't even decended from, are speaking the > truth, that they are willing to devote their entire lives to this "story". > They believe in a God, who in the past performed many many miracles, but for > some reason has decided to discontinue his supernatural behaviors. God no > longer comes to earth and speaks with men, as he did in the past. > > Why is it people are blind to the fact that they are emulating the same > behaviors they criticize the Greeks, American Indians, and others for ? How > can anyone honestly take this 2000 year old story as fact, with no evidence, > and devote thier entire lives to it ? I would like to put forth my theory > on that subject. > > As we've estabished, the people of today have the same types of > insecurities that need "explaining". The fear of death has made men invent > the world of spirituality. The idea that when one dies, that is the end; > that one's bones go into the ground and decompose, is too frightening or > depressing to people. So instead, they have to believe that some part of > them is immortal. That they can always live on in some form or another. I > call this an emotional crutch. It's a way of dealing with one's > insecurities about our lives. It makes us feel important, like we're > something more than a street sweeper, or garbage collector. We're all > immortal souls with a much more glorious future ahead of us. This emotional > crutch helps many people get through the day with a little self esteem and > hope, and I don't begrudge them their crutch. What I do disagree with is > the ignorance, but I would not be one to demand that others give up their > emotional crutches in the name of enlightenment. I believe that enforcing > your beliefs on another person, especially beliefs based solely on blind > faith, to be the highest crime one human can do to another, short of taking > their life. > > So if we, the atheist, are going to allow the street sweeper to believe, > and we're going to choose not to believe, then what is the problem ? What > is the purpose of this manefesto ? I believe that atheists are condemned by > the majority of the population. Those of us who are secure enough in our > own existance, and who feel that the 70 plus or minus 5 years on this earth > is all we have, are treated like unholy fools. Those who will be punished > in the afterlife. Those who are infected with this mental epidemic tend to > react to the atheist in one of several ways. One way is to try to convert > or convince the atheist that the 2000 year old story is true, and that the > atheist needs to change his/her ways, lest they face eternal hellfire. The > second way is to simply exclude and disassociate from the atheist, perhaps > making comments about the "poor" soul to other believers. > > You'll notice I referred to religion as a mental epidemic. Many believers > take this as an insult. I label religion such, because of certain behaviors > that today's "evolved" religions have. > > (1) Questioning the religion's validity, asking for proof, expressing > skepticism, etc, are all considered to be "sins" or crimes under the > religion. In other words, independant, logical, unbiased thought are not > allowed. Back in the earlier times when the followers were a little more > "rabid" people were burned to death for expressing such ideas. > > (2) Religion is taught to children at a VERY young age. Basically, from > kindergarden to adulthood, a believing parent is supposed to enroll the > child in some kind of religous program like Sunday School. The reason for > this is to expose the child to religion at an early age, before rational > logical thought develops. This way, the child grows up with religion, so > that any thoughts, ideas, concepts of atheism or disbelief are completely > alien to them. An analigous example would be Hitler's Youth. Hitler also > knew this concept well. If you wish to spread an idea, and have it safe > from independant or radical thought, ingrain it in the children before they > can reason. Today's religions have it down to a science, with songs, > videos, and activities designed to make the child a believer before they > truly even understand what God is. If people waited until age 13-15 before > introducing religion to their children, so that the children could > rationally decide if this was what they wanted to believe, religion would > not be such a wide spread epidemic. > > (3) Religions instruct their people to attempt to convert (or in some > radical cases, kill) any disbelievers. The kinder, more passive religions > will simply ask their congregation to bring new people into the church every > week. Once a person visits the church once or twice, the church has them > added to their mailing and phone lists. They attempt to get the person to > regularly attend. Then they attempt to get the person to participate in a > ritual, such as baptism or confession. These are relatively benign > activities, and usually can only trap the weak minded. The more "active" > religions send people out to visit your home. They want to come in and talk > to you about god and convince you that the 2000 year old story is true > (because they say it is). They run commercials, and give your free > literature or free copies of the bible. They'll do anything to convert you > to their way. Why ? Because their religion specifies it. > > (4) Religion requires that you disbelieve anything scientific that might > possibly contradict the religion. We've all seen and heard religous people > sit and argue about how the entire sciences of Biology, Genetics, and > Physics are just plain wrong, because the 2000 year old story contradicts > it. > > (5) Religion covers every base. No matter what kind of argument or > evidence you can bring up to attempt to contradict religion, the believer > can always simply make up a little story or "possibility" of how God, using > his supernatural powers, can simply have "made it that way". Take for > instance the Dinosaurs. Either they didn't exist, and the bones "are really > from contemporary animals, which are being fitted together incorrectly to > look like a creature that never existed", or "God put those bones down > there." No one knows why. Or how about how we are all decended from Adam > and Eve ? Adam and Eve must not have truely been human, or mankind would > have died from inbred genetic diseases (insufficeient gene pool), after the > first couple hundred generations. And how did those people in the bible > live for hundreds of years ? Were the laws of physics and the nature of > human biology that different back then ? Religion fields these questions > with ease. "God made it that way". "It's all part of God's plan". > > Beyond the grievences I have as an atheist living in a belief based > society, I also have grievences as a human being. I have a personal care > and interest in the well-being of my species. I would like to see mankind > reach out into space, establish colonies on other planets and systems. > Become something more than the proverbial 2 day mold on a piece of bread > (before it is thrown out), before conditions in our solar system change and > erase us from existance. Truthfully, everyone should care about mankind's > development. The problem is this. The religions are "anti-science" in many > respects. There are many things, like cloning, which we should not do > because that is God's territory. "Playing God" is not allowed. Add that to > the fact that many of man's best minds, people who could be possible > Einsteins of certain fields, are robbed of their potential because they are > infected with this mental disease. If John Doe grows up believing that > evolution, biology and genetics are in conflict with his religion, he > certainly wouldn't excersize the possibility that maybe he would have become > one of the best Geneticists in the history of the science. Not only that, > but those who don't believe, and wish to advance mankind's knowlege are > restrained by the believers. They are forced to move at a slow enough pace > so that the religions can readjust, reevaluate, and reinterpret the words of > their religion so that they don't reach a point in which they cannot explain > how their religion can be true with science showing the oppisite. Then > there are such fanatics who spend every waking hour worshiping God, to the > point which they're throwing away the most valuable thing they own. Life. > Real life, here on earth. One only has so much time. If one spends all of > that time trying to get ahead on the "next" life, they are throwing this > life away, and not contributing to the society and species as a whole. > Religion is a serious drain on mankind's most important resources, manpower > and time. And no matter how much science proves that the world is 4 billion > years old and not 15,000 years old, and that the universe was formed through > the mixing and spreading of elements, and not by the wave of a magic wand, > and no matter how many times scientists try to show that life on earth was > formed by the interactions of nucleic acids (and it still is every day), > it's absolutely impossible to convince a believer that the simplest answer > is the correct answer. The world is as it seems. There is no second world, > second life, greater power, or magic that makes it all possible. And it's > sad, because we need every one of those believers with us, here on earth, > helping out, not praying in some church or temple in front of some clown in > a suit or fancy religious outfit. > > I am an atheist. I live in a world full of people, blind to their own > ignorance, dedicated to a 2000 year old story written by people who's > intellect doesn't even compare to an 8th grader. I have to live with these > people, respect thier beliefs, and endure their constant attempts to convert > me into one of their ilk. I have to watch as millions of man-years go down > the drain, wasted away in foolishness. I watch as other atheists have to > hide their beliefs, to avoid being condemned by the believers and ostrasized > from society. But as I'm watching, I'm waiting. I see with every > generation, more and more people are simply "going through the motions". > They take part in the process, but they don't really believe in it. They > simply do what is expected of them. Soon, they reach a certain age or time > in their life in which they no longer attend the church, but they "still > believe". They don't pray anymore but they "still believe". They go about > living their real lives, pretending to themselves and others that they > believe. These are a kind of "Casual Christians". This behavior shows the > deterioration of the true believers as a whole. A pattern author Frank > Herbert referred to as "rot at the core". As parents become more and more > lax about their own religious patterns, they begin to spare their children > the foolishness of church and Sunday School. Slowly the religious base of > mankind is deteriorating. People are giving less and less credability to > the 2000 year old story, as they grow up in a world of computers, cloning, > genetic therapy, and microbiology. It's only a matter of time until, > hopefully, enough of us break free of this mental disease and begin to live > life for the here and now and not to please some imaginary God in order to > gain entrance to some fantasy land. I am not alone. Talking privately with > many others of my generation, I know I'm not the only one who thinks > religious people are foolish. While most will tell an adult they believe in > God, it's simply because they don't want to experience the social punishment > of being a disbeliever. So we watch and wait. Wait for the world to wake > up from this 2000 year old dream. Some day people will look back on > Christianity the same way people look back at Zeus and Apollo. They'll ask > how a people who've mastered genetics, computers, atomic physics, etc, can > possibly believe in such childish nonsense. The answer is, most of us > don't, we're just afraid to admit it, because we've seen what kind of > violence the rabid religious can bring forth when their beliefs are > threatened. So rather than rising against religion and preaching against > it, we watch and wait for it to die of apathy. If we're wrong, we'll be > condemned to hell for all eternity. If the religious are wrong, then > they'll have thrown away the single most valuable thing they possess. Their > life. I am an atheist. This is my manifesto. It is the first step in > curing the disease. > > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org > with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message
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