The Gaytheist Agenda

Every so often I check out Fundies Say the Darndest Things. What I find there is both amusing and astounding. Yes, Virginia, people do still think like this in 2009. (Warning: Not edited for content, spelling, language, etc. Many of these comments are offensive. )

Quote# 68841

An test prohibiting atheists in public office is no more discriminatory than the clauses restricting the Presidency to natural born citizens, restricting other offices only to citizens of the country, or clauses establishing ages well above that of legal majority to attain to high office. The people have determined that they wish to be served in public office by citizens with enough age to have matured to some wisdom. A related qualification stating that such public servants must believe in God differs little in substance, since in essence it is a qualification requiring people to have a rational view of the reality of creation and divine governance of the affairs of mankind, and a future state of rewards and punishments for all men. In this sense, it is like requiring a oath upon taking office or providing testimony in Court. An atheist is obviously incapable of taking such an oath since they cannot make such a promise to a deity they do not believe in.

Furthermore, serving in public office is not a right, but a privilege. As a privilege, it is very rationally subjected to reasonable qualifcations.

Scripture tells us atheists are fools. Can a free people not deny public office to fools?

Heliand, Free Republic

Quote# 68798

Look, one way or another, you’re all wicked and filthy. Squatting around in full lotus position is a display of depravity and self-centeredness. Christ did not preach “end suffering.” Suffering is GOOD. It leads people to God. If everyone were Buddhists, concerned with worldly things, concerned with ending suffering, then this world would be of Satan. Suffering is necessary to bring God’s elect into the gates of heaven.

As for the rest of you, I hope you; Jews, Atheists, Catholics, Lutherans, Buddhists, Jains, Hindus…

Enjoy the flames!

God Bless.

MessianicServant , Fstdt

Quote# 68799

I wish God would send me back in time so that I could drown Buddha in the Genghis River. It’d be worth it, because it would prevent him from misleading so many people into atheism.

MessianicServant, Fstdt

Quote# 68795

[In response to the new anti gay bill in Uganda]

It’s a sad state of affairs, when African legislators have more common sense than the West.

I hope this law goes worldwide.

Toby T, Y!A

Quote# 68766

Regardless of what the media may say, Focus on the Family has no interest in promoting hatred toward homosexuals or any other group of our fellow human beings. We have not supported, and will never support, legislation aimed at depriving them of their basic constitutional rights — rights they share with every citizen.

[Later in the very same post…]

The effort to redefine the family, qualify for adoption, promote the homosexual lifestyle in the schools, etc., are objectives with which I disagree. And I will oppose them when the issues are raised. Does that make me a hatemonger? I think not.

Concerning the passage of Amendment 2 here in Colorado (which would have prohibited ordinances and legislation creating “special rights” for homosexuals, equating them with those needing civil rights protection), let me explain why we strongly favored that legislation. To understand our position, you must know that many Christians also feel they have been victimized by society’s hostility to traditional religious views.

…

How would you and your homosexual companions feel if we, as Christians, began lobbying for special, protected legal status? How would you react if we asserted that we should be given a job and shielded from termination just because we are Christians? I can predict that you would fight such ordinances tooth and nail. Why?

James Dobson, Focus on the Family

Quote# 68747

[Hate mail to Richard Dawkins]

From John Doe:

Dawkins, you and your atheist friends cannot win. America WILL become a Christian Republic even if we have to write a whole new constitution. Millions of us are dedicated to this righteous cause. We will suceed. And then we will invade godless countries like “Great” Britain and kill all of your heathens. First we need to take care of things at home and in the Middle East but we will get around to Europe. You Godless freaks will die but then you will roast in hell for infinite time. Goodbye you loser.

“John Doe”, RichardDawkins.net

Quote# 68721

Christmas is Christian - if you are not prepared to respect it then ruddy well get lost and have the guts to invent your own festivity. And please don’t come the pc garbage about Christians turning the other cheek. How very convenient for you! Christians have always been for righteousness and justice. So keep pushing pc brigage, keep pushing - but just remember, what goes around comes around. And your immoral filth will not go unnoticed. And you can read that anyway you like. It’s time for a counter revolution: BRING BACK MORALITY (that’s right, the dreaded ‘M’ word) TO ENGLAND!!! We Christians made this country. We made Europe. We gave you civlisation and you puke all over it. And you know what you can do with your cowardly snide comments about Christian hypocrisy and all the rest of it. At least we believe in something. The snide merchants? Total nihilists without either the guts or the brass to stand up for what they really want: narcisistic anarchy. What a bunch of wimps!!

John, Halton, Daily Mail

Quote# 68714

[Gays] mock but they are jealous! Keep that in mind. We, the heteros can have babies….they can only molest them. If ever a “gay gene” was found….well then…kiss those babies good-bye…hello Dr. Tiller! Those babies would be aborted so fast it would make your head spin.

Morgana, Free Republic

Quote# 68599

((A thread about boycotting Jewish stores during Christmas))

Exactly. If the jew has to tell you “Merry Christmas” to close the deal, they will say it. In fact the Talmud openly encourages such deceptive behavior.

This was the same behavior they exhibited in Inquisition-era Spain when they would publically go to Catholic Mass but continue to sacrifice Christian children during Passover for their matzo recipes and other satanic uses.

Caicus, Stormfront

Quote# 68580

god did not make you gay dumbass, he made you in his image, the devil made you gay which made me sin cause i have hate in my heart for fags
and the bible says no gays will be in heaven
and the bable says gays should die

uhh, Topix

Quote# 68476

No skeptic, to my knowledge, ever made a major scientific discovery or advanced the welfare of others. Typically they sit by the side of the road with a sign that reads “You’re Wrong” so that every passerby, whether an Einstein, Gandhi, Newton, or Darwin, can gain the benefit of their illuminated skepticism.

Deepak Chopra, Huffington Post

Quote# 68434

Very offended by the recent advertisement. How dare they suggest we celebrate what we want? This is a Christian nation.

Anonymous, Stand For Christmas’ GAP comments

Quote# 68433

It should be merry CHRISTMAS or nothing else.. if other holidays are that important get a date for them and celebrate them on their special date. I dont like to see Christmas watered down with throwing in every other celebration in the world, how would people like it if we started taking over their celebrations and calling them something else! Ha then we would really hear screams and protests!

Nancy Bell, One Million Moms on Facebook

Someone decides to abstain from something because it’s not in line with their religious beliefs. That’s commonplace. But in this case it’s a Wiccan teenager sitting out Christmas songs.

Fifteen-year-old Katarina Keen won’t sing along to “Silent Night” or “Listen to the Stars,” two Christian songs planned for her choir’s upcoming Christmas concert at Borger High School. But she will sing “Jingle Bells” and “A Carol in Winter.”

Katarina and her family are Wiccan.
…..
While their Christian peers in Borger celebrate Christmas, the Keens are preparing for one of eight Wiccan holidays, the Yule, in celebration of the winter solstice Dec. 21.

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“Choral music has its roots in the church. In order to teach it accurately, you have to teach it from whence it came,” Miller said. “I teach the foundation or the building blocks so these students can go out with a well-rounded foundation in choral music.”
…..

Teaching the children about religious/church music and having them perform it are two completely different things. But considering what I discovered about Miller via Mojoey I’m not surprised he can’t tell the difference.

Of course the comments below the story are very telling. Where are the usual defenders of Religious Freedom? Oh, that’s right. Religious Freedom in this nation applies only to Christians.

 

Absolutely beautiful. By Frank Schaeffer , via The Brad Blog.

Woe to you American Christians! You say I’m the “son of God” and yet you bully the defenseless in my name.

Do you understand the parable of the Good Samaritan?

Let me refresh your memory…
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In case you missed the point of that parable as I’m quoted as telling it in the book of Luke it was that the theologically correct evangelical born-again “saved” passed by on the other side of the road when confronted with a human being in need. It was the “unsaved” theologically incorrect foreigner, today’s equivalent of your atheists or Muslims or gay men and women, the unloved and the outcast, who stopped and did my Father’s will and took care of the injured man.

Put it another way: Did you miss the point when I said that those who come to me saying “Lord, Lord we followed you and believed correctly” are the very ones that I will cast out of the Kingdom of Heaven, since they did not care for the least of these, the downtrodden, the poor and the oppressed?

Did you get it when I said that the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to the humble, and the outcasts; those who mourn and to the poor in spirit? Gay couples are who are being denied their civil rights are such as these. What are you doing to defend them?
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Who will qualify for calling themselves my sons and daughters: The meek who mourn or the proud who say: “Lord, I thank you that I’m not like these gay men and women and these illegal immigrants, and these lazy poor people who deserve no health care and these Muslims?”
You hypocrites! Don’t you get it?

You say you take everything in the Bible seriously and yet you ignore all the many verses about divorce and somehow paper that over because a majority of America buys into divorce now and you don’t want to lose your congregations. And half your pastors and religious leaders are divorced and remarried. But you stick it to gay men and women because they are a minority and easy to pick on! Why wax moralistic about one thing you call sin (though I have no problem with divorce per se) and yet stick it to a minority?
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You judgmental holy rollers are like banks always making a mistake in their own favor! Why do religious so-called conservative Americans always pick on the little guy, the disenfranchised, blacks, Hispanics, immigrants, pregnant women, gay people? I’ll tell you why!

Because you are bullies!

You are the Pharisees passing by on the other side of the road, those who are so sure you’re saved because of some nonsense that you believe in my name.
…..

Wrong!

You American Christians utterly defaced the name of Christianity with your racism, your slavery and your bigotry against women. And now you’re doing it again in your war against gay men and women and in your war against the poor who have no health care. Some of you even have had it as part of your wicked program to reestablish the Biblical law demanding death to gay people that I clearly showed must be broken by the greater law of love. Well, as you judge so you will be judged. Good luck with that!

…..

You hypocrites and liars! You say you’re preaching my gospel when my gospel never was about correct belief or correct behavior. My gospel was about not judging others, making room for everyone at the table, loving your neighbor as you love yourself. If gay men and women are your enemy then, as you know, I commanded you to love them! And if they are asking to be allowed to marry I commanded you to give to him who asks of you! Besides, you don’t own America. This is a democracy and yours is just one opinion.

How did it come to this?
…..
You are like the Pharisees I used to know and who strained out the least gnat of others’ so-called misbehavior while turning a blind eye to their own wickedness, hypocrisy and lies. Remember my sayings about taking the beam out of your own eye before removing the speck from your brother’s?

Quit worrying about gay people and start to worry about your so-called churches, those ash heaps of stinking bigotry and hate. The way you hate your first black president is all I need to know about you. So stop worrying about other people’s “sins” and start worrying about all the lies you are telling your children in my name!
…..

Do you really think I’m on the side of those who hate the “other”?

You are killing me again!

The point is to have a chance to sanctify love in every generation.

If I walked here on Earth again with you, you’d kill me again, just as you are going to kill all that is good in my name, just as some of you are praying for the death of your president who you even call “Anti-Christ.”

Let me tell you who is Anti-Christ: Christian “saved” America. Depart from me!

Please come up with a new name for whatever you are. Drop the word “Christ” out of your name. You’ve destroyed my reputation.

The Arkansas Society of Freethinkers put in a request, as it did last year, to have a Winter Solstice display at the State Capitol. As was the case previously their application was denied.

Two weeks ago we reported on the efforts of the Arkansas Society of Freethinkers to put up a winter solstice display on the grounds of the state Capitol. Their application had been denied the previous year because the secretary of state’s office said it was not clear on the type of display to be erected. This year, the group submitted a detailed description along with a website, complete with pictures, showing exactly what they had in mind. Their request was, once again, denied.

The reason? Tod Billings, founding member and president of ASF, isn’t so sure. The letter the organization received from Charlie Daniels’ office simply said their request had been denied and offered no further explanation.
…..
Natasha Naragon, the public affairs coordinator for the secretary of state’s office, said the request was denied because the “tone” of the display was “not consistent with the holiday tone that our office is striving to create on the Capitol grounds during the holiday season.”

When asked what “holiday tone” meant, Naragon said, “You can look at the other decorations that we have on the grounds. That’s clearly what we’ve determined to be appropriate in the holiday tone that we are striving to create. This display, as explained to us, does not fit in with our holiday decorations.” The displays typical have included lights, a Nativity scene maintained by an independent organization and Christmas trees.

Chances are the fact that the proposal was from a freethinker (aka atheist) group was enough to get it nixed. But more disturbingly what Naragon seems to be saying in her statement is that only Christian holiday decorations are considered appropriate (Christmas lights, Christmas Nativity scenes, Christmas trees…). I don’t see mention of decorations for any other groups.

Does Naragon not realize Winter Solstice is a holiday, and an ancient one at that? Winter Solistice is a holiday celebrated by many people including Neo-Pagans, Buddhists, atheists, and others.

I don’t imagine Naragon or those for whom she speaks know that the display they’re shutting out of the State Capitol is much of what Christmas was co-opted from in the first place. Precious few Christians know about the full roots of their own religion.

So my opinion? The answer is “both”. The refusal to permit the Winter Solstice display is grounded in both bigotry and ignorance, which all too often go together.

 

God has apparently been in contact with one of his more ardent followers and has once again given the order to kill. Proud Atheists received a very graphic and detailed threat to him and his family.

What can you say about something like that? I only hope the authorities take appropriate action (the FBI has been notified) before the individual is able to follow through on his threat. An innocent family is clearly at risk.

 

Once again atheist signs are at the center of a controversy. Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers began advertising on DART buses on the first of August . The ads were removed just three days later with DART officials claiming they never should have gone up.

…..
“Drivers said people weren’t getting on buses or getting off the buses because of it,” said advertising director Kirstin Baer-Harding. “So with all the calls, it wasn’t something we wanted.”

The signs came down on Aug. 4. Baer-Harding said they never should have gone up.
…..

Iowa Governor Chet Culver chimed in on the matter;

“I was disturbed, personally, by the advertisement and I can understand why other Iowans were also disturbed by the message that it sent,” Culver said.

So what was this heinous ad that caused people so much distress that they were refusing to board buses, that they were calling DART to lodge complaints, that the governor himself was “disturbed”? Get your children out of the room, take any heart medications you require and view it yourself…

The ad acknowledges the existence of atheists, tells them there are others like them out there, and gives them information so they can contact those like-minded others. Why is that so offensive to religious people? Churches advertise all the time, so why shouldn’t atheist groups be able to?

My personal theory is that they like it when atheists are isolated, unaware that there are others like them, unable to associate with other non-believers, and therefore quiet about the fact that they don’t believe. If they don’t hear or see us, we don’t exist in their minds. And if we don’t exist, we can’t do them any harm. It’s oppression, plain and simple.

The joke is on them though. The Iowa ads are back, and thanks to all of the controversy IAF is enjoying a surge in membership. Their group has more than doubled in size so far, and may continue to grow in the coming days. It appears oppression and intolerance don’t always pay off.

Final Score
Intolerant religious people: 0
Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers: 125+

 

So says Reverend Ted Pike. And if a certifiable certified Reverend says it then it must be true, right?

After the pro-hate bill victory in the Senate July 16, I hoped against hope to find (or contrive) a way to induce President Obama to veto the arms/hate bill. Conflict between the President’s will versus that of the House of Representatives in regard to further purchase of F-22 fighters seemed to hold such promise. That hope faded in discussion I had Friday with the office of Democrat Rep. Earl Blumenauer from my district. His staffer told me that despite a 389-22 vote in the House last month in favor of adding 7 to 12 Raptors to the arms bill, House Democrat leadership is now moving rapidly to abandon such support. They will unite with the Senate to strip further F-22s, determined to present Obama with an arms/hate bill package in no danger of veto.
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We need to help make the hate law unenforceable by resisting and disobeying inevitable government edicts (particularly as precedents from liberal courts) to limit free speech. This will require willingness to suffer for the cause of truth and freedom. To help empower such courage we must continue widespread education against hate laws (such as exists at www.truthtellers.org). We must publicize as widely as possible the fact that a cabal of liberal Jewish supremacists is behind all hate laws worldwide. These, Rabbi Daniel Lapin, says are in “relentless attack on evangelical Christians.” Only through encountering massive public resistance and exposure will ADL/B’nai B’rith (organized world Jewry) be slowed on their fast track to world dominion.

The epicenter of such liberal Jewish attack on Christian civilization is the state of Israel. Israel is a nation founded on theft, repression, and terror (See, Israel: Founded on Terror). Despite its claim to democracy, it is one of the most repressive speech crime regimes in the world. In 1920 Christians constituted 20% of the inhabitants of Palestine. Now, as a result of decades of official harassment and discrimination as well as “anti-missionary” laws criminalizing even casual conversations about Christ with Jews, only 2% of Israelis are Christians. The Israeli government continues to look the other way as Messianic Christian Jews in Israel suffer constant harassment, discrimination and even violence, especially from ultra-Orthodox zealots (See website of Lura Maimon Beckford). Knesset continues to propose even stricter speech crime laws against Christians.

As the official PR representative of Israel and organized world Jewry, ADL has been spectacularly successful in bringing Israeli-style speech crime laws to the western industrialized world. With great pride and boldness, ADL took credit last week for its pivotal role in originating and passing the Hate Crimes Prevention Act.
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Instead, last week, 4,000 evangelicals descended on Congress. They went not to protest the Israeli-style hate law designed to end their freedom but, rather, to support a nation that makes Christians into speech criminals. Led by Pastor John Hagee, hordes of evangelicals visited every Congressional office encouraging even greater funding and approval of the anti-Christ regime that persecutes their brethren.

How many times must it be repeated that SB909 only addresses violent crimes, not speech. And why have none of the hand-wringers uttered a peep about Ireland’s new “Blasphemy law” that does penalize speech? Oh yeah, that’s because it restricts freedom of speech against religion. As usual they’re all for freedom–so long as it’s for them and nobody else.

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Several weeks before hate bill passage, Dr. James Dobson wearily admonished Americans to stop fighting the hate bill and just pray, waiting for the pendulum to swing back to the right. (Listen to Focus on the Family’s James Dobson betray efforts to fight the Hate Bill: Click Here to LISTEN ; Click Here to DOWNLOAD [6 min, 4.2 MB, right click and save target as]) Actually, because Jewish supremacism wants to destroy and enslave Christian/conservatives, the present “turn to the left” to which Dobson referred is actually a left turn into the steel gates of an international concentration camp with the clink of its padlock fastened behind us. The direction to the left in which we are now hurtling is part of the same Talmudic/Kabbalistic conspiracy that incited Jewish takeover of Russia in 1917. (See, Jewish Activists Created Communism ) In all its forms, Jewish-inspired Communism has killed more than 100 million, including millions of Christians. If ADL/B’nai B’rith and organized world Jewry are successful in uniting the world under its control, such atrocities will be repeated and probably even exceeded across a blood-stained planet. (Watch, Ted Pike’s Zionism and Christianity: Unholy Alliance) Revelation 18:2 tells us that the garments of the Great Harlot, Israel, are drenched with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. (See, Israel: On the Way to Empire in the Mideast ) ADL/B’nai B’rith represents an unbroken chain of anti-Christian/Gentile hatred and desire for revenge going back to those who crucified Jesus, the Pharisees. As the Book of Acts relates, ADL’s forefathers did their best to destroy the infant church in the first century AD. ADL wants to finish the job tomorrow, under its false messiah, the one-world ruler, Anti-Christ.
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My laws, is there anything that can’t be accomplished by the Vast Jewish Conspiracy?

 

This is a thought provoking piece by Reverend Dr. Jerry S. Maneker, whose blog A Christian Voice for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Rights has recently been added to my blogroll.

Fred Phelps and his group of haters are toothless tigers who aren’t worth mentioning, so I’m not even going to mention them, save to use them as but one example of the well known Social Psychological finding that when anyone discriminates against a given minority group, he/she usually discriminates against one or more other minority groups as well.

After years of focusing on gays and lesbians with its protests, the Westboro Baptist Church has a new target — the Jewish community.
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So, most people who discriminate against Gay people are also likely to discriminate against one or more other minority groups, such as Jews, African Americans, immigrants, etc.

Therefore, it is not only hypocritical but self-defeating for any person in a minority group to discriminate against any other minority group, for to do so aligns him/herself with those who at the drop of a hat can, and likely will, turn around and discriminate against him/her! So, it’s pathetic when an African American minister, Gregory Daniels, states: “If the KKK opposes gay marriage, I would ride with them.”

One wonders Daniels’ mind-set regarding this bigotry when, after this infamous statement of his, “he did get a provocative letter, he concedes, from a black woman. ‘What do you think they gonna do to you,’ she asked, ‘after the ride?’” She understood the dynamics behind bigotry, particularly bigotry that entails aligning oneself with one’s own enemies!
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Unfortunately, minority group members who advocate discrimination against Gay people, such as fighting against same-sex marriage, are chumps who are aligning themselves with those who are merely using them for their own hateful purposes, and once they perceive that they can no longer gain traction or mileage out of discriminating against Gay people, will likely turn around and express their venom against their former allies, and/or another minority group whom they feel it is safe to persecute.
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Mormons, Black Americans, Latino Americans, etc. You are being manipulated by the RRRW. They only want your money and votes to further their anti-gay agenda. Realize that once you’re no longer a useful tool to them they’ll dump you like yesterday’s trash and talk filth about you as they always have–though some of them have never stopped. They have never been and never will be your friends. But you can choose whether or not you want to be their pawns and take others down in the process.

So, particularly if you are a member of a minority group who seeks to deprive Gay people of any civil right, just recognize that you are aligning yourself with those who at a moment’s notice can and will likely turn on you, and who would almost certainly not want you associating with their family.
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Enjoy the entire post (including many embedded links). And many kudos to Reverend Maneker who truly gets it.

 

Bloggers and Website owners have access to the search requests that led people to their sites. Most of them are mundane. Some can be highly amusing, while others are bizarre or even downright disturbing. Here’s a sampling of the less-ordinary requests I’ve received over the past few months:

 
This one shows up quite a bit;

search.aol.com margaret hoover. nude pics.

As does this one;

search.yahoo.com is margaret hoover a lesbian 11-30

I’ll state yet again that to the best of my knowledge Margaret Hoover is not a lesbian. Furthermore I will never be posting nude pictures of her, even if such pictures exist.

 

search.yahoo.com HAWAII AND THE CURRENT GAY AGENDA APRIL 2009 1-20

I wasn’t aware the Gay Agenda was that specific.

 

www.google.com Explain your views on why the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) defends free speech for racists, sexists, homophobes and oth

Trying to get Google to do your homework again?

 

aim.search.aol.com Why do people hate atheist?

Ignorance, bigotry, stereotypes, miscellaneous other reasons. Take your pick.

 

aim.search.aol.com sexual abominations in christianity

I think you’re looking for this site.

 

search.live.com people against the lgbt

Those would be “bigots”.

 

www.google.co.uk bdsm nom 1-10

Yes, enduring their twaddle is a form of masochism.

 

www.google.co.uk sex with religious 11-20

It’s not for me but if that’s what you’re into who am I to judge?

 

www.google.com mormon sex positions 1-10

Missionary, missionary, missionary and missionary.

 

www.google.com what to wear to Donaldson alabama prison visitation 21-30

www.google.com barf task force 1-10

Huh?

 

www.google.com Can you give me one reason against marriage equality for gays and lesbians that does not involve a biblical quote. 1-10

Nothing that isn’t a fabrication out of whole cloth or a distortion of actual facts.

 

search.yahoo.com buy “i hate gays” t shirts 11-30

www.google.co.uk HOW TO KILL BOYS THAT ARE GAY 1-10

No comment.

 

While atheists are often derided for their positions on faith and religion, they generally have clue as to what they’re discussing. While we’re all born atheists we’re often indoctrinated into a religion, sometimes from infancy, usually by childhood. Accordingly the average atheist is a former theist and has a working knowledge of faith and at least one religion. (I myself was an atheist until around age 8, was indoctrinated into Christianity, and returned to atheism 20 years later.) Their positions on faith/religion, and on people of faith/religion, are at least based on some knowledge of both.

The average theist, on the other hand, cannot recall not being a theist. Since they were indoctrinated into religion from infancy or early childhood they can’t remember their early months/years as a non-believer and presume that believing in god(s) is the natural state of being. Even the rare few who came to faith late in life become, for lack of a better word, “godphuqt”. And rather like any convert to something new (or ex-smokers, ex-drinkers, new vegans, etc) they are both zealous and utterly incapable of seeing that theirs is only one viewpoint in a sea of millions. When they try to imagine why people are atheists or what it is like to be an atheist their distinct lack of insight and empathy shows.

In Atheism: A Cost/Benefit Analysis Randal Rauser attempts to prove the superiority of faith and Christianity to atheism. In doing so he proves, like so many others, that he hasn’t the slightest idea what atheism and atheists truly are. All he has are his faulty notions, rife with stereotypes.

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And there is no requirement to give to the poor. If the Christian kept the hundreds (or thousands) of dollars that she spends every month in tithes, in no time she too could have a new Samsung LED TV sparkling in her living room.Now that’s the good life!
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No, in atheism there is no requirement to give to the poor. However many atheists, myself included, do give to the poor, and the homeless, and the hungry, and others. We don’t do it because some god is telling us to, because it’s the latest “drive” by our church, or because we’re being shamed into it by our peers. We do it because helping those in need is the right thing to do, and also something we hope others would do if we were in need. You know, that Ethic of Reciprocity thing.

But like the “Don’t pay for sixty days” ads for that new Samsung TV, atheism also has a cost that eventually comes due. And you start paying it once you begin to realize that, according to atheism, we came from nothing, by nothing, and for nothing. For the shallow atheist, that “for nothing” promises to liberate (no obligations!). But the thoughtful atheist understands that “for nothing” means that there is no meaning or purpose to life. And the repercussions of that are staggering indeed.

This paragraph presents several errors. First: Atheists don’t believe in gods, period. The only thing anyone can say with certainty about an atheist is that the atheist doesn’t believe in gods. Anything else is pure speculation if not outright lying. “I am an atheist” tells you nothing whatsoever about the person’s position on abiogenesis, evolution, world politics or anything else.

And the oft cited claim that life is meaningless for atheists? That comes from ignorance and lack of empathy combined. There’s plenty of meaning in life, and if you can’t find any beyond worshiping your particular deity then you’re the one I pity.

 
Rauser then goes on to analyze Timothy Treadwell, aka Grizzly Man, and film maker Werner Herzog . Of course to Rauser Treadwell’s problem was that he spent too much time surfing and lolling about on the California beaches and too little time with God. Therefore he sought “spiritual purpose” with the bears. Rauser makes no mention (and probably didn’t delve deep enough) to notice Treadwell’s untreated mental illness, which is a significant factor in the matter. But who cares about such petty things when you can pretend God will fix everything?

Herzog, being an atheist (and not having a mental illness), didn’t see the bears from the same perspective that Treadwell did. He didn’t see any “humanity” in them. He even commented on the fact that nature simply exists, and it doesn’t care about us. So Rauser decides that’s a blanket condemnation against atheists and atheism because reality is too hard to take. He wraps up with this paragraph:

And so in Herzog’s view the universe is one big blank stare. All that Treadwell had to look forward to was being food for bears. All we have to look foward to is being food for worms. Nothing we do has any objective value or meaning.

Reality check:
*The universe is quite lovely and full of wonders but so far there are no signs of life in it besides ourselves . Pretending there is “something out there” may be comforting but it’s no different than a child having an imaginary friend or a blankie to soothe him.
*If you spend several months per year roaming among the bears don’t be surprised if you get eaten by one of them. That doesn’t mean it was your “purpose”, it is simply a statistical probability.
*We are all going to become worm food. Pretending there’s some fabulous afterlife doesn’t change anything and only devalues this life. Live this life to the fullest because it’s the only one we have.
*Everything we do has value and meaning; aiding the poor, learning a new skill, going to work or just relaxing and enjoying a good book . The notion, however, that there must be “objective” or extrinsic value ascribed to it is false. Why should anybody need a mystical deity or even another person to ascribe meaning to their deeds, their life or their existence? Look inside, not outside, for meaning.

 
Ultimate lesson to be learned: If you want to know what atheists believe/think, ask them. If you have no clue what atheists believe/think, don’t spend an entire page pontificating about it. You only show how ignorant and apathetic you are.