The Good News

 I was reading a post which can be found here. In it the author complains about never getting any good news from atheists. I  almost felt bad for the author so I did my best to remedy the situation-

    “But there is good news, because of science we understand the mysteries of the world we live in more and more each day. Some of these discoveries help people live more productive and happy lives. Countless lives have been and more will be saved due to the progress of science. We understand the forces of nature to the point where we can predict events such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions saving lives and property. We have seen incredible progress in technology which ironically, helps technology progress. We can answer many questions man has wondered about ever since he was able to ask the question. Yes, the good news is we are solving all the mysteries that mankind used to attribute to things like gods riding chariots across the sky. As we have solved these mysteries, and there are a countless number of them, none of the answers so far has been magic did it, or god did it. I suppose it would depend on if you have some odd need to believe a deity who allows the innocent to suffer and die every second of every day yet claims to have a deep love for us. It is bad news if you think a god wants you to pray to him/her/it when those prayers are pointless due to the fact your god has already made a 'plan' which can not and will not be altered. And it is indeed bad news if you had hopes that a nice mansion and a brand new car were awaiting you just past the heavenly gates a few moments after your death. If any of those applies in your case then it is no wonder you never hear any good news from atheists. I have trouble being troubled about it, to be honest.”

Picture An Atheist

    I met a gentleman named Daniel while at the American Atheist convention. He asked to take a picture of my shirt. I gave him permission to do so and we struck up a bit of conversation about his project. Daniel told me about the many interesting shirts people had been wearing and how he had been collecting pictures of them. i suggested he post them on-line so others could enjoy his efforts. It turns out Daniel has a real life and it keeps him pretty busy. I could relate to his situation, real life is always screwing up my internet endeavors too.
    Since Daniel didn't really have time or a place to post his work I made another suggestion. I could post them for him. He agreed and told me he didn't need to be given credit for his work.
    To give credit where it is due the following examples of expression recorded from the Reason Rally and the American Atheist convention were taken by Daniel and sent to me. If anyone is pictured here and wishes it be removed simply contact me. I doubt that will be an issue because, like I said, the photographer made a habit of asking permission to take these photographs.
  Anyone who couldn't make it to either of the above mentioned events can now get an idea of what was in style.
   If a picture is worth a thousand words this is probably the longest blog you will ever see me post....
 Thanks for your efforts Daniel and it was nice to meet you....

 

That's me

                                              

Atheist X

Something changed on March 24th 2012.

 You probably didn't feel the earth move but the world changed much like the moving of a mountain. There was a rally in DC. 20,000+ people came together in the rain to validate disbelief. Please do not assume the lack of belief to be negative and English scholars please STFU about my use of the word disbelief.
 Disbelief brought people together, lots of people. The importance of this event has not yet been recognized. In a sense I am playing prophet while I write this but my inspiration does not come from divine sources, it comes from observation and intelligence.
 We sent a message to the government, to the news outlets, and to our fellow Americans. Atheist was a common word that day and no one suffered by hearing it unless they deserved it. David Silverman showed he is an able leader of the American Atheists and the numerous other groups who looked past the past to join in the rally showed free-thinkers truly can lead by example.
  It rained on the crowd, they did not care. Americans who came for no other reason than to see the nations capitol suddenly found themselves surrounded by people who had no god...and nothing happened. If there was ever an example of how much nothing can change something, this was it.
 As I walked among the crowd and talked to the people who had gathered a few things struck me. The event was like a rock concert without the drama and foolishness.Whole families sat in the rain listening to the speakers or talking amongst themselves oblivious to nature's effect.
  The nonbelievers came in all ages, sizes, and ethnicity be damned there were no differences here to create imagined barriers and keep like-minded people apart.
    Even though we have seen a tremendous growth in people who call themselves atheist, it has only just begun.
  While the  Four Horseman of Atheism"-Richard Dawkins, Daniel C. Dennett, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens should be given credit for what they have done to bring atheism into the light, the torch has now passed. With the torch passed it was the 'little people' who fanned the flame into a bonfire in Washington DC.
  Bloggers, vloggers, podcasters and activists have become the atheist X factor, the force that has encouraged the nonbeliever to stand up and say so in public. The Four Horsemen slammed the word atheist on the table and atheist X, comprised of bloggers, vloggers, activists, and podcasters took it and ran into the streets. "You are not alone!" they have cried over and over. The atheist who felt isolated and alone was alone no longer.
   It is one thing to become an atheist, it is quite another to be able to talk about it freely amongst others.I don't think those who are trying to use religion to control others and implement laws based on belief in fictional people and stories counted on the X factor. They didn't count on those who had no fear to rally for atheism. Now the boulder has been pushed over the cliff, the genie has been let out of the bottle and the bottle has been broken, it can not be replaced even if someone dared to try. Atheism is the elephant in the room no one can walk around.
   The Reason Rally was an historic event. I believe as time passes it will be remembered as the beginning of serious change in our country.
 I'd like to give credit to the X factor atheist, those who do not care about numbers, shirt sales, or profit for what they have done. A value can not be put upon their work, you can not buy change it is earned by those who want it.
  
   In closing Id like to say I believe there is an effect that will  most likely help atheism more than any other. The effect is called the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon. The Baader-Meinhof phenomenon occurs when a person, after having learned some (usually obscure) fact, word, phrase, or other item for the first time, encounters that item again, perhaps several times, shortly after having learned it.
  As a result of this effect the words atheist and atheism are going to be given more attention. This means the work has just begun we must keep encouraging people to come out and claim their (dis)beliefs and we must keep important terms in the public eye and ears. There is still much change to be earned.

 

Atheist Marketing

   I have long considered Jesus, his travels, and teachings to be one of the biggest marketing scams the world has ever known. The product after all has incredible worth to people and is one of  those things that never go out of style. Eternal bliss. People are killing and deceiving each other as I type this all in support of  their 'product'.
 Much like Ronald McDonald helped to make McDonalds  the leader in selling hamburgers Jesus is working as the Christian version of the McDonalds clown to sell product.

The Last McSupper

   Marketing is important and it doesn't always have to be used to victimize people. McDonalds actually gives you something for your money Jesus and Christianity gives you faith or maybe you give them faith and they give you hope...or maybe you... Oh never-mind you get my point. McDonalds food may not be great for your health but it isn't asking for you to make sure everyone else eats it. McDonalds hasn't asked  customers to kill anyone who eats at Burger King or Taco Bell. They aren't demanding a statue of Ronald McDonald be erected at the entrance of the local courthouse. And there will be no Ronald McDonald 9/11 memorial as a tribute to the victims who ate at McDonalds. Considering those points the burger chain has actually done a better job of targeting a specific audience and keeping the focus on their specific product. 
    Sure you will see a questionable commercial every so often but it is quickly dealt with by the company because they have planned ahead. Any critics are usually diffused by a intelligently worded press release. This doesn't always succeed because you never know which way an issue will run when you get the public involved. Thinking ahead does no harm and sometimes proves invaluable. It can make the difference between people relating a product with a good/positive feeling or a bad/negative one. Sometimes just the person who sends the statement makes all the difference. Human nature makes us more responsive to people who are like us. We will tend to believe someone who is a peer more than someone who is not.
  It's all about marketing. Good marketing brings attention to your product in a positive light. Good marketing can also be stirring up controversy and gaining attention through the anger and outrage of the public. The second type is risky and can result in your products decline. Sometimes the controversy over bad marketing has been so bad it takes years for the brand to come back, if it manages to at all.
 Atheism is also a product. It should be an easy sell, right? I mean, it is based on reality, we all live in a real world where we make choices based on things we can see or feelings that are supported by actual experience. There are a few problems we face when marketing atheism. One is our product doesn't promise eternal bliss. In fact it promises, nothing. Nothing happens when you die, no angel trumpets, no harps, you don't get to go up to heaven where a new car full of horny virgins awaits in front of your incredible mansion where you will reside in harmony and bliss for the rest of eternity. Sorry. All atheism offers is the real world, the one you've been living in all this time except without allowing your imagination to control some of your life. If you can admit imaginary figures are not best used to make laws, or make life choice choices then you have just bought yourself a nice new set of atheism. It  comes with a free unlimited lifetime warranty. Congratulations!
 Notice I said "a few" problems. Another one of those problems is our competition....religion. Religion (see jesus above) does make incredible promises to people. If you pray and god thinks you are worthy your prayer gets answered, if not then keep trying we never know when god may change his mind and decide it is important .You want that girl at the Quick Stop to give you her number, or you want to loose 10 lbs of fat off your ankles? Do you really need god to intervene and get your kid on the honor roll cause that dummy just isn't ever going to manage it on their own? Maybe you want to see your wife and the girl at the supermarket checkout , makeout... With god you never know it's like playing the lottery for free, all you have to do is believe. By the way if we don't believe, we are going to burn in hell forever! That's what  the marketing people tell us anyway. But if you do buy into Jesus, miracles, self affirming books, and verses taken out of context, there is a grand reward when this life ends (see car full of virgins above)
  Another competitor is often overlooked, it is the people who don't really believe but religion provides them power and wealth.The people who represent this segment of the market are probably our biggest challenge yet we often do not take their actions into consideration probably because we tend to assume the people opposed to us will do so in an obvious fashion.
 This last group waits for atheists to give them an 'in' then they capitalize on it.Anything that can be used to make atheist look bad will be used just for that. It has been done through history, it will be continue to be done in this case.
  Recently a billboard was put up that read "Slaves obey your masters" there was a picture of a black slave next to the text and below there was a reference to a biblical verse and the "year of the bible" being touted by the Pennsylvania government. It was a protest to the government supporting a book that condoned slavery and the fact it violated the separation of church and state. That was the message.
 It was quickly declared racist and less than 24 hours after being put up it was removed by vandals.
 At first this angered me. I though about the stupid people who couldn't understand the message, those morons. Then I heard some of the rational behind the racism argument.
  Blacks were upset because they are sensitive to the subject of slavery, it still bothers a lot of people. The people telling blacks they shouldn't be bothered and that the truth is sometimes hurtful, were white. I think it's pretty safe to say African Americans are not going to appreciate white people telling them when they should or shouldn't be offended about racism or slavery. It also happens that the billboards were put up in a mostly black neighborhood because the rates were cheaper. So that means a billboard was put up that blacks considered racist, white people told the black people they shouldn't be offended because it wasn't about race yet the billboard ended up  there because the, black neighborhood was the cheapest place?  Is anyone else seeing the problem with this scenario? Yea blacks might be a little sensitive to the subject of slavery because they still feel the effects of it today. Poor neighborhoods, profiling, crime and various forms of racism. Despite the fact racism has been dealt a serious blow by education, common sense and compassion, it is still around.   I know that as a white male there are many injustices done to other groups I will never be able to fully understand. Slavery is one of those. But I realize that and that helps me to 'get it'... I think.
   So we have the billboard , the deed has been done. The message was never intended to be racist.Some people are pissed, what do you do next? Shouldn't you find someone to convey your thoughts on the issue?  I would look for an African American who could see, understand, and explain my point. If people could hear a person who had just as much right as anyone else to be offended explain things they would be less likely to see it as just some white guy saying he never meant to send that message.
    The bible is really repulsive in parts, the actions that were acceptable behavior in those days make people uncomfortable when they are forced to think about them. Believers can claim verses are "taken out of context" but there was a time when those verses were not taken out of context, they were the law of the land. At what point did parts of the bible suddenly become a matter of context instead of 'gods will'? Who made the decision that the parts about slavery were taken out of context?  If you tried to say people were taking parts of the bible out of context 500 years ago you would have some serious explaining to do and I doubt you would be the next pope. There has been no directive from god informing us of the context guidelines. The reason for that is because we make religion what it is. Religion and god are man-made and continue to change according to what we accept as a society. You can see how every religion has evolved as time goes by. How would a typical christian today look to a typical christian 200 years ago? Did jesus come to earth and hand over a revision to the bible? Nope. The Christians evolved because attitudes changed. This shows me that religion is probably going to evolve itself into extinction eventually , the problem is, it is going to take a very long time.

(not an actual cafe menu)

 Another force to contend with is ourselves.
   As atheists find themselves in the public eye, it is going to be harder not to appear as something we are not due to the subject matter.
People already make incorrect assumptions about us as it is. Atheists are baby-eaters, worship Satan, angry at god, lost those are just a few and they stem from what people have come up with on their own. Now that atheists are coming out there are going to be plenty of opportunities to mislabel us and accuse us of being some of the things most hated in society. We can not let this stop us. I know for a fact most atheists are tolerant, peace-loving people. We have differing points of view on many subjects, so what? Not having  religion as part of your life is going to result in that because there are no constraints on our thinking. We can think out of the box without worry our ideas may get us thrown into a lake of fire. I hear constantly about people complaining because what some atheist is doing makes them look bad. There are times when this can be true such as in cases where a leader was speaking on behalf of a group. And then the actions and ideas can only be attributed to that group. Hopefully people who find themselves on the public stage or speaking on behalf of others will realize the strength and effect of their actions.
   If you feel the actions of individuals are making you look bad then you have self esteem issues, it is that simple so please shut up about it. If a person who's favorite color is green goes on a killing spree and when caught says "I did it for the color green, it told me to kill!" Is that going to mean anyone can assume people who like green are at any moment going to start hacking people up? I don't think so, but I've been wrong before. I like blue by the way, people who like blue are cool. it's the only exception to the rule.
  To wrap it up, I think it's time we started looking at the way atheism is presented. Mainly to limit the opportunities others have to make it into a monster they created with rhetoric and propaganda. We can't avoid some sensitive issues but we should act in ways that show an awareness of people's feelings.
 There is hope for us yet, after all McDonalds removed Ronald from all their marketing (except the Ronald McDonald House)  because the public had outgrown it. Why shouldn't jesus go for the same reason?

Violent Islam/Peacful Muslim

      

    I have been looking into Islam an Sharia Law. As I  learned about both I realized there was a deep divide among not only Atheists but among the general  population about how to consider the two subjects. I asked Dr. Laina Farhat-Holzman, a writer and historian who formerly taught World History and Islamic Civilization at Golden Gate University in San Francisco  "Do You think in this country we should be worried about Sharia Law creeping into our existing legal system?" 

   he told  me "The only danger to our legal system would be banning free speech (that is not incitement).  Muslims have a legal arm (CAIR) that tries hard, but has not succeeded in overturning free speech. The Europeans, however, particularly the  British and French,  mistakenly thought they were fighting religious oppression when they began taking people to court for maligning religion.  It was intended to fight the holocaust deniers, but is now being used to  stifle criticism against Muslims.  European courts are now revisiting this issue."

 This is not to say we shouldn't pay attention. Our legal system may fall victim to isolated attempts at implementing Sharia  Law into our existing system. Just as we deal with creationist who try to sneak their learning plan into our school system. It's just one of those battles we must keep fighting over and over in order to keep our constitution free of unneeded and/or unfair changes. When we see an example of Sharia Law being inserted into our system as an alternative to our own legal system it must be stopped.

  When we see a judge making decisions based on their own belief system instead of applying the existing law, we must speak out against it. The biggest problem I have with Sharia Law is it combines two of the things I wholeheartedly believe should be kept separate for everyone's good. It combines religion and law into one and uses it to govern the people. As we all know this practice tends to result in unfair punishment and it often ignores the truth just as religion ignores the truth about itself. I have often wondered how believers would like it if we had a court system that was based on the same logic they use when considering religion. Sharia Law is that system and I don't want the lesson to be learned by example in the USA.

  Part 2

   Islam often called the peaceful religion. The problem is not everyone who follows this religion is peaceful. Someone tried to convince me that I was mistaken by questioning the peacefulness of Muslims. "Look at the Westboro Baptist Church. How do you think they look to people in the middle east?" 

  I would hope they look like radicals, and I would hope that they would also look like a dozen radicals, because that is what they are. A dozen people who follow the word of the bible closer than most any others. The example made me laugh out loud. It shows there are extremists in any religion, that's about it. When the number of extremists reaches the number we see in Islam I think it is fair to make certain assumptions. A friend of mine recently made a statement against Islam. He was then bombarded by Atheists who condemned him for labeling all Muslims. (the word 'muslim' was not in the statement)  Then as the comments went on he was criticized for calling all Muslims 'terrorists'. 

  I've seen this happen too many times. The intelligent Atheist turned into a blabbering moron because they make assumptions or just plain outright put words in another person's mouth. Then they proceed to rip into that person for what they claim was said. Why this happens I do not know but it is pathetic, annoying, and a complete waste of time. Instead of any discussion the author has to waste time explaining what should be obvious if people would only read the original post without twisting it like a pretzel and then bitching because they don't like the shape of it.

  The point I am making is Islam can be described as a violent religion, that is not incorrect. I think it needs to be realized that there are far more active violent Muslims than Christians and the level of their violence is alarming to me. I would think for anyone to say Islam is a peaceful religion without at the same time pointing out the violence which also stems from it is irresponsible. Just calling it peaceful and ignoring the reality is not going to change anything, it must be realized that almost daily people are blowing themselves up in order to kill others.

   Even if the fundamentalist Christians were to get into power  I doubt we would see anything like Sharia Law (at first anyways) Christians aren't saying rape and slavery are okay because the bible condones it. Radical Muslims say their violent laws are orders from their holy book and should not be questioned. Sharia law is only supposed to be applied to Muslims but how many times have we seen that not to be the case? Should we refrain from calling Cancer a deadly disease because not everyone dies from it? 

  Yes Muslims in the United States tend towards peaceful practice of their religion it would be irresponsible of me not to concede that point but we must understand there is another side to Islam and it is not peaceful, it is dangerous. It also has, by it's own admission, a desire to eliminate those who oppose them. That is a fact, we can not, and should not get angry just because someone points out the ugly side of truth.

 I don't see any reasonable person claiming anything that applies to an entire group except those people who want to dumb themselves down and make assumptions. Do we need to point out nothing is absolute after everything we say?

     Before I end I would like to address Atheists who dislike outspoken Atheists because they are "are no better than fundamentalist Christians"  getting into people's faces and demanding they are correct. There is a huge difference between the two. As long as outspoken Atheists base their arguments on things which are PROVEN TO BE TRUE they are NOTHING like the fundamentalist expecting you to just "have faith". So please stop trying to equate the two it's a lame attempt to insult people just because they don't do things the way you would. It doesn't make them wrong, it makes them different.  

  If an Atheist wants people to believe there is no possibility of any type of god,claims to know this for a fact, and expects everyone to think the same way, then they are arrogant and stupid. It still doesn't make them like a fundamentalist Christian. Our intelligence and our argument comes from realizing and admitting what we do not know and then working towards answers without any magical explanations.I hope that explains things.

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