Cogito, ergo Atheist.

(Source: lettherebecramp)

firstyoueatthebaklava asked: Just to ask, why do you think all religious beliefs are "ridiculous?" I'm a Catholic, and I don't find other religious beliefs to be so. I also /don't/ think that Agnosticism and Atheism are ridiculous, because every faith is possible. Atheism is just as much of a faith as all others are, as it puts stock in the belief of something- in Atheism's case, that there is no God. You have a right to believe whatever you want about other religions, but it's arrogant to call faith "ridiculous."

Thanks for the question. First of all, if you are a Catholic, then you shouldn’t believe that all faiths are possible. Catholics are supposed to believe that only the Catholic faith is true (along with a few other Christian denominations that follow apostolic succession and believe in transubstantiation). According to Catholic doctrine, all other people will burn in hell for all eternity. Well I think that’s ridiculous. It’s one of the first reasons I left Catholicism behind.

Next- by the definitions of words, atheism is not a faith. Faith means “believe in something without proof.” It doesn’t take any faith to NOT believe in something. I don’t need to assert that there is no god, just as I need not assert that there is no friendly flying purple dragon. Would you say that you and I are both members of the “no friendly dragons religion?” Of course not. But if someone DID believe in friendly purple dragons, I would say, “That’s ridiculous.”

i-ambic:

cogitoergoatheist:

…

I don’t hate religion because it’s always being jammed down my throat. I hate it because it is false. I hate it because it is illogical. I hate religion because it is anti-science. I hate it because it moves humanity backwards.

…

-Jon

… The original post, I think, is mixing up religion itself and the establishments that perpetuate it.

There is no difference. An “establishment” is nothing but a bunch of words on paper, which is the same thing a religion is, and it’s all run by PEOPLE.

My religion (and for the sake of this post I won’t specify which it is, because that isn’t the point) is about love. It’s about reaching out to people, supporting each other, and trying to do good in the world. I would like you to tell me, with a straight face, how packing lunches for children whose families can’t afford food or sending mosquito nets overseas to fight malaria “moves humanity backwards.” I would like you to tell me how providing a place for people who have nowhere else to go is illogical. Or how telling a person that someone loves them, unconditionally even, is false.

Does your unspecified religion have a god? Did the god tell you to do these things? Are you doing them because you’ve been told to? To earn a reward? To get to heaven? OR- are you doing these things because they are good things to do to help people in need, and if you were in their position, you would want somebody to help you. None of those acts you mentioned are moving humanity backwards. I don’t have a problem with any of those acts. I have a problem if you say that you only do them because your religion told you to, and you wouldn’t do them if you didn’t have religion. Would you really tell me with a straight face that you’d stop helping people if you weren’t in that particular religion? WE DON’T NEED RELIGION TO TELL US TO DO GOOD THINGS.

(I would also like to point out that religion is not inherently anti-science. The Dalai Lama has said that if the theology of Buddhism turns out to contradict scientific discoveries, then the theology needs to be rethought. I’m paraphrasing here because I can’t find the exact quote, but just for example.)

If only Christians would take a tip from the Dalai Lama.

D) Please, I mean please, do not interpret this as me trying to force religion onto you. I’m not. What I’m trying to do is explain why, when people say they hate religion, it makes me sad and a little angry. If you don’t want religion in your life, that’s perfectly fine with me. If you don’t want religion in your politics, I will help you fight to get it out. But please don’t judge all religion by what some people do with it.

-Rin

I appreciate your civility, I don’t fell like you’re forcing me, and I truly appreciate your good works to move humanity forwards. I just ask that you consider the source of of your motivation. Is it a god? Or is it your human capacity for empathy?