I can see very often people writing about their beliefs here (muslims mostly) So that 'inspired me' to write this post. Thanks in advance to all these people.
I'm atheist but I'm a very "curious cat" and I like to talk about religion. I've read and heard more than once, the passages about Jesus Christ, Muhammad and Moses. I know the Bible pretty well (my family is Catholic, and I was raised as Catholic when I was a kid), I've also read several lines and passages from the Qur'an and, of course, I know the Torah as well ('Old Testament' for Catholics). I find all these old 'holy books' a very interesting reading because their texts are laden with symbolism.
Why am I saying all these? Well, every time I talk about religion with religious people, there is always a point where someone ask me to read one of these holy books mentioned above... So I always have to mention that I already did, and that I know pretty well how does it feel to believe in God, because I was raised as Catholic and I truly believed when I was a kid. So right after they ask me that, I always feel like asking if they have ever read something about atheism, agnosticism, or any other philosophy or theory that differs from theirs (Nietzsche, Voltaire, Bakunin, Sartre, Hitchens, Dawkins, Krauss...)
I never ask that because, well... I'm afraid I know the answer. For this reason I want to share here just a couple of very small paragraphs (not very extensive because I don't want to make a 'hard to read' blog) from the last book I read, the bestseller 'God is not great' by Christopher Hitchens. He was a brilliant english author, literary critic, journalist and self called 'antitheist':
“Our belief is not a belief. Our principles are not a faith. We do not rely solely upon science and reason, because these are necessary rather than sufficient factors, but we distrust anything that contradicts science or outrages reason. We may differ on many things, but what we respect is free inquiry, openmindedness, and the pursuit of ideas for their own sake.” ~Christopher Hitchens, from: "God is Not Great".----
“One must state it plainly. Religion comes from the period of human prehistory where nobody—not even the mighty Democritus who concluded that all matter was made from atoms—had the smallest idea what was going on. It comes from the bawling and fearful infancy of our species, and is a babyish attempt to meet our inescapable demand for knowledge (as well as for comfort, reassurance and other infantile needs). Today the least educated of my children knows much more about the natural order than any of the founders of religion, and one would like to think—though the connection is not a fully demonstrable one—that this is why they seem so uninterested in sending fellow humans to hell.” ~Christopher Hitchens, from: "God is Not Great".
And here another couple of small paragraphs from a Richard Dawkins' essay (preeminent scientist, ethologist, evolutionary biologist and writer)
"As Einstein said, 'If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed. ' Michael Shermer, In The Science of Good and Evil, calls it a debate stopper. If you agree that, in the absence of God, you would 'commit robbery, rape, and murder', you reveal yourself as an immoral person, 'and we would be well advised to steer a wide course around you'. If, on the other hand, you admit that you would continue to be a good person even when not under divine surveillance, you have fatally undermined your claim that God is necessary for us to be good." ~Richard Dawkins, from: "The God Delusion".
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"Many religious people find it hard to imagine how, without religion, one can be good, or would even want to be good.”
"I prefer to say that I believe in people, and people, when given the right encouragement to think for themselves about all the information now available, very often turn out not to believe in God and to lead fulfilled and satisfied—indeed, liberated—lives." ~Richard Dawkins, from: "The God Delusion".
Thanks for reading.
Comments
I want to link a book on the topic, somebody help me how I would do that.
Vision, the word 'atheist' comes from French 'athéiste' and from Greek 'atheos'. The prefix 'a' means 'without' and theos "a god". So 'atheist' means 'without god', 'denying the gods' 'godless', 'ungodly' or just 'No God'. So you can't call yourself 'atheist' if you believe in a god, divine superior force or whatever you call it.
Then there are the agnostics, that's someone who neither believes nor disbelieves in the existence of God. (it's like 'god might exist, or it might not, nobody knows')
Another thing is if you believe in your own idea of God (it happens to many people) but you don't follow or believe in any religious standard. Why not? That's just to be a 'theist', who is just someone who believes that God exists, no matter if that person follows a religion, a doctrine or nothing at all but your own 'instict'.
Anyway.. world is full of 'labels' for everything. Just believe (or not) what you feel like, no matter what anybody might say.
About congratulating religious events to religious people when you're not a religious person yourslef, well, as Evangelina very well said, that's just a question of being polite. I've many religious friends, so I get that for them it's important even if for me it means nothing. Many times people here says 'god bless you' after or before saying 'good bye' in a conversation. For a religious people that's the normal and polite thing so I just take it as a 'pet phrase' and I don't really mind.
Hey Estanis! I'm a serious cat many times! hehe
Thanks for sharing your opinion too. The way of living the religion in our country is becoming more "moderate" and open now (I hope the new Pope Francis keeps in this new 'line' too), and most of Catholics I know here share your same thoughts. That's a good thing :)
Thanks a heap for your comment Evangelina! I understand pretty well all what you mean :)
Yeah, that 'fear' is terrible, and would be better to talk about 'love' instead... But well, as you probably know, that fear of God's wrath comes from the very begining of religion. The Old Testament/Torah and Qu'ran are load of passages where lot of misfortunes are attributed to the wrath of God. Why is that? Well, in times where civilizations began to develop and governments to impose its rules, most of people didn't really pay much attention if another guy told them not to eat pork meat because it was infected because of a pork disease (even if that guy was self-proclaimed emperor or whatever). But if a superior force called God, who was able to destroy everything with terrible plagues, earthquarkes or floods, tells these people not to eat pork because it was bad and he'd be super mad at you if you do... then oviously these people paid more attention... And it was also a very good way to spread news easily.
So, the problem comes when you try to follow 'word by word' standards made thousands of years ago in a very specific moment where the historical context was so different from nowadays. It's just nonsense. And as you very well said Evangelina, it's also even craziest when believers interpret these very old texts in their own benefict without even wondering the context in which it was written.
Thank you Eric, you know I always LOVE your comments and the way you explain yourself :)
I know when someone is going through bad times in their lifes, it's normal that you look for a 'life-guard' to grab. It helps lot of people to overcome depression or difficult moments. So, of course, I respect whatever that helps someone to 'survive' or that makes their lifes easier to endure.
In my personal experience, when I realized that there wasn't any 'life-guard' to grab in difficult moments (I was like 13 years old) It was kind of hard at the begining, but then I learnt to accept life as it comes, to stand up when I fall down and keep fighting because nobody is gonna do it for you, and you can't allow yourself to waste any minute of your life... because for an atheist, there is just 1 life and you have to enjoy it and live it to the fullest, being a good person who others will remind with lot of affection once you pass away.
O.K. I'll try to put myself at your level. I am a christian, or catholic as you told me once, but for me There's one only God for everyone, you can call Him Jesus, Buddah, Allah, or even Law of attraction. I'd say I have my own personal beliefs about religion and I try even to balance it with science or my own vision of the universe, surely some books helped me to think this way.
By other hand, it's sad for me using the religion by a few governments nowadays to 'control' their citizens like if they were a flock of sheep, but the saddest thing is that this dictatorship we European and mostly Spanish know well centuries ago with the Holy Inquisition, is still alive in this century.
Btw, be careful, curiosity killed the cat hahaha... Thanks Mary for sharing these interesting paragraphs and your thoughts. Good job! :)
Mary, it's good to see you finally get up off your butt and post this one. I knew you had it in you and it's been long overdue. Nice work.:)
You know where I stand on the whole "God argument agenda". I'm a recovering drunk who's found that nothing short of a spiritual awakening was sufficient in restoring me to sanity. That spiritual awakening eventually included the G.O.D. word. In other words, when I jump out of a perfectly good airplane today, I make sure there's a well packed parachute included in the scenario.:)
With that being said, my personal beliefs say one must fully investigate both sides of an argument before making an informed decision. Although "I know which side of the toast my bread is buttered on", I'm always willing to try different types of butter. Thank you for the suggestions and I'm looking forward to reading more from the likes of Dawkins and Hitchens.
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