God- version a.123abc

     Atheists and believers have a habit of equating religion with god, and that is not accurate. If you are going to consider god then you need to be specific in defining the term. People often tell me I hate god. I can't hate what isn't there. What I hate is the idea of god created by religion.  When people say you can't know god they are correct. No one can know god because we have no evidence god even exists. What religion does is present an artist's rendering of god.
   It would be like me asking you to draw me a picture of the 3rd planet from the star I was pointing at in the night sky. You would know only the very basics. It is a planet,so it is probably round. What else would you know? Nothing. You wouldn't even know for sure if there is a third planet orbiting that star. So it would be impossible to go any further and know you were correct. 
  You could go into detail and claim it has one large ocean. It also has creatures that can live both on land and breath underwater. The trees grow to the height of skyscrapers. you could say the days last a month and the sun is the color green in the sky. You could claim anything you want, the most important things to remember are all the attributes you give this planet would come from what you know about living on earth and they are all made up, you couldn't even call them educated guesses.
  The bible stories are the science fiction stories of that time. These days we have Star Wars. Back then they had angels, beasts with multiple heads, turning water into wine and knocking women up with out having intercourse. The authors of the bible were The Steven Speilburgs and George Lucas' of their time.When they imagined the end of times they thought of famine, disease, hordes of locus covering the land, and earthquakes. Those were the things that were scary to them. Those were the things that they had night mares about. If you were to write about what was going to happen during the rapture would you say a horde of locus is going to swarm across America and eat us? Probably not. It would be more like the earth is going to have climate change and turn into an uninhabitable sphere of floating ice, if you were the scientific type. The younger generation might say the internet will become sentient and enslave humanity.  The bible is science fiction before science had had a chance to catch up. Now science has passed up religion and is well on its way to destroying it all together accept for the sentimental few who just can't give up the old ways. (see people who still use record players, or commodore 64 enthusiasts)
   I think Atheists have been going about it the wrong way for the most part (from what I've seen) We shouldn't be debating if a god (or gods) exist, we should be discussing it. There is no way for us to know one way or the other. If people want to believe in god they should realize they must believe in something created from no actual knowledge except that it is the he/she/it/them that created the universe. That's all, you can not give any other characteristics because they are unknown.
This is where religion comes in and this is where we need to concentrate our efforts. We need to make sure believers know we do not consider god and religion as the same thing, they are not interchangeable. They define god according to their bible,book or imagination . We don't define god the same way. I think many if not most Atheists do not consider this when speaking to or debating believers. I'm sure most know what I'm talking about though, they just dont use the argument against believers. It would give people a far different impression if Atheists were to say "You know I'm not sure, there could be a god." which any reasonable person would have to admit simply because we don't know everything. You can claim to know there is no possibility of a god no matter what. If you do believe this then please stay away from me because I can't stand stupid people who think they know everything and feel the need to show it off, they annoy the hell out of me. you can't even explain to them why you think they suck cause there is no way for the concept to break through the stupid.
 
     A believer will be more open to discussion if you find some common ground. Tell the you can not completely dismiss the possibility of some type of creator.Then you can make them own their god who in most cases is a bi-polar dick. The reason he is a dick is because mankind as a whole is a bi-polar dick too. Maybe you should refrain from calling their god bi-polar or a dick (use your judgment) but most religious people who are intelligent will admit there are aspects of their religions god they are not quite sure of. Bring up the way their god allows so many people to starve to death. Do those people deserve that terrible suffering? Why would a god as described in their bible do that? To say god's it's god's plan doesn't make any sense couldn't god have found another more humane way to kill people if he must kill them? The bible itself is a contradiction why would god allow it to be so vague? If we go after the man made version of god and cause people to question it using common sense it may work better than simply walking up and saying "I'm an Atheist, there is no god" that tends to shut down any further constructive discussion. This isn't a show of uncertainty or a weakening of position, it is a way of smarter interaction with believers. Not everyone is going to be able to pull it off and it isn't a silver bullet but it may work better than what we are doing now.
 The last piece of advice- Never get into a debate with anyone as to whether god exists or not. You can't win because, like I said it is unknowable at this point. Make sure you know what god you are debating about. Once you lock the person on the religious side into a certain man made version of god you can easily come out on top using common sense.

  I'd like to thank Frank Apisa for the inspiration and assistance in forming these thoughts without laying any of the blame for them upon him

god's unplanned plan

    I was listening to some religious programming on the radio today.... Some dude was telling a story about Peter being woke up by an angel and thinking it was a dream...."only it wasn't a dream" the host keeps telling the audience. The radio tells me it was a real angel and as the angel led Peter around doors opened by themselves as well as all kinds of other magical events.
  This all takes place just before Peter is due to be executed and the host starts talking about what he would be doing the night before if he were scheduled to be executed.....He would be praying.
 He would be praying for god to keep watch over him as he does all of us. Yep god watches over us  and protects us from harm because he loves us.....only that isn't exactly true is it? I can't tell you how many times I have heard a preacher or person talking about or asking for god to watch over someone or something in order to keep it safe and sound. And it seems to work.....until it doesn't.
  Add to the list another obviously mistaken perception and an example of religious blinders being worn.
  Now if we think about it god has a 'plan' right? This plan is not meant to be or simply can not be understood by us humans. The reasons for this are also unknown, to the best of my knowledge.
  So god knows when we are gonna bite it, but until then he watches over us to make sure we don't get killed or some event doesn't occur that would interfere with his plan? It's his plan, how could it be altered? And if it could be altered what force could be strong enough to alter it? I know religious believers would tell me I have answered this question already when I described god's plan as unknowable by us but COME ON!
  If you are a person who is religious allow me to share one small thing with you... I WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND HOW YOU CAN THINK THIS WAY AND STILL FUNCTION IN SOCIETY.
  I know that all believers are not complete idiots. I know it for a fact. The majority of the people I enjoy talking to or have respect for also have various degrees of belief in a god who can or does take an active role in people's day to day lives. But, as I said above, the disconnect between the logic they use in day to day life and the logic applied to religious belief is huge.
  I won't proclaim to have all the answers. I  don't, and I am well aware of that despite the fact SOME people say I am not. But I do have some of the answers. And from those answers I see nothing that would compel me to think there is a force watching over me judging my actions. A force that expects me to figure out the correct manner to live my life from a book that has been fucked with by so many men it reads as though it has some type VD that has driven it insane.
  This disease has progressed to far. The humane thing to do would be to provide a quick death using the best technology science can provide.

Just One Atheist

I'm going to explain some things to some people, you know who you are.
  I am outspoken most of the time. There are times/situations when my loud mouth and confrontational personality could work against my goals, I realize that. There are some people who don't agree with my style. I hear things like "oh your podcast needs editing" No, my podcast does not 'need editing' it is just as I want it to be. It is unique. When I post a video of a friend who marched at a Memorial Day parade I see comments like "oh he is just as bad as the christians, antagonizing people" No it's not the same as a christian trying to bring you to jesus with a megaphone. The christian is trying to get you to believe in something that is based on old fairy tales, lies, and hypocrisy. An Atheist, if they are doing it right, is talking about reality. If a man comes to your door and wants you to buy insurance which only covers you when an alien spacecraft blows up your house with a purple laser, on Friday the 13th, in the year 2015, if it's raining, at night, are you going to hand over your money? No, you are probably going to( I hope) tell him to get fucked and slam the door, or laugh in his face, pointing with one hand and slowly closing the door with the other. If during a flood watch a guy comes to your house and offers flood insurance and  your coverage had lapsed the day before, all you need to do is sign the paperwork. Would you take him up on it?  There is a difference when what you are offering is something that is based on reality. If you already had current flood coverage the salesmen knocking on your door  would be a bit of an inconvenience but you couldn't really be too pissed because the people who did need his coverage would be helped by his actions.
 Let me make this clear MY PROBLEM IS WITH ORGANIZED RELIGIONS THAT ARE BASED ON FANTASY, AND INSIST ON DICTATING WHAT EVERYONE CAN SAY OR DO ACCORDING TO THEIR INTERPRETATION OF THAT FANTASY.  Anyones' personal beliefs are none of my concern as long as they  DO NOT HAVE A DIRECT SAY IN HOW I LIVE OR IN GOVERNMENT.
  Every time I think about how religion and stupidity put the brakes on stem cell research it makes me sick and angry. Not only have stem cells been able to help countless people, their potential is incredible. Stem cells are used to treat numerous conditions and grow human organs. They provide new hope to those who need transplants. Religion was a major factor in the ban on stem cells. Abortion is another issue religion has stuck it's fat nose of hypocrisy into. The catholics restricting birth control. The fact that gays don't share the same rights as anyone else. This is just a small sample of the ways religion has fucked people over.
  Most people don't give a lot of thought to religion but there are some who will push theirs into the lives of others at any opportunity. Look at how many school boards have had to fend off the teaching of something  that offers nothing to help the human race. Creationism can be broken down into two words "it's magic"
     Believing that things happen by magic is not how we have achieved medical and technological advances that boggle the mind.
  Like I said at the beginning of this .....Some people don't think I should be so outspoken but I see us coming to the point where religion does not have a stranglehold on our progress and our quality of life. I think some believers see it too and it has them worried. That worry has them doing any and everything to try and stop the wave of non believers working its way to the shore, it won't work.If I can help us get to that point any quicker by stirring up waves then that is exactly what I am going to do.
  As for anyone who does not like my style and thinks I should shut up, with all due respect.......
go ______ (insert action of your choice) yourself.
  

Faith in Atheists

I have added about 300 new friends on my social network page this week. the best thing about this bit of news is ....they are almost all Atheists.
Allow me to explain this just a bit.
The friends I have added are not just a good thing to me because we are all on a crusade to kill god (although a few may be)
my new friends do not make me happy because they want to crush religion (even though a few would be happy to do so)
The reason I am happy to have these new contacts is because-They think-They consider-They question.
I have a lot of friends involved in the paranormal and I enjoy them too but as I have learned from reading, listening, and real life, I have grown into a strong skeptic.
I keep an open mind when I need to,but there are so many claims and beliefs regarding the paranormal that are easily explained by science........
It makes me sad that so many people who claim to be looking for proof of an afterlife also claim be based in science when their findings could be explained be reading a high school textbook.
Now to the religion part, without getting too deeply into a subject which causes me endless questions and debate.
Atheist need facts.
One thing that has always caused me grief in all aspects of life is the phrase "just because". The words "just because" equal the same to me as someone saying "have faith"
My Atheists friends do not play the 'have faith' game.
If any of my new friends read this I am happy to have you. Keep sharing your thoughts and what makes you laugh. I have faith in you, just because you have not let me down yet....