From The Members: Contributor – Shaherah

Why is race so important when it comes to religion and being an atheist? Well, let me show you why I think it is:

Bid slaves to be submissive to their masters and to give satisfaction in every respect …(Titus 2:9)

Slaves, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing the Lord. (Colossians 3:22)

Slaves, be obedient to those who are your earthly masters, with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart, as to Christ …(Ephesians 6:5)

Let all who are under the yoke of slavery regard their masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be defamed. (1 Timothy 6)

Blacks were forced into this religion by slavery. Their mental and physical abuse was endorsed by this wicked philosophy of evil men. Most people don’t know these verses are there, because they don’t read the bible. They spend their entire lives “studying” the same book one passage at a time, and conveniently skip over these parts (mainly guided by preachers at churches)

I urge all people, especially black people, to actually read the bible and study what they believe in. You’ll see what you’re actually worshiping…a philosophy of evil men, based on an immoral mythical character that endorsed the slavery of your ancestors.

- Shaherah

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‘Black Atheists’ is Considered Segregation: O’RLY?!

I am the owner of this blog and it’s been 3 years since I started it, and when starting a blog like this brings along a lot of attention. It’s nothing that I cannot handle but there’s one thing that I must address. I am not segregating my race. I’ve been asked: “Why are you segregating a race and atheism?” 3 or so times on the Facebook page and once on here and it’s quite interesting. I have addressed this question before but it’s not doing any justice if it’s being drowned by the many posts on the Facebook page.

No way am I being racists or dividing atheism. Those who’ve asked this should try to understand what I mean by Black Atheists. Black Atheists means that there are not that many of us; if it is, they’re not coming out about it. It’s so rare to find another Black atheist that some people feel alone; I know I did. Even though as a whole, atheists are minority, it’s even more so clear among the African American community.

Being a Christian in a Black family of Baptists may not be any more different from a white family but I believe that Blacks have more to lose. I’ve lost friends to coming out about their atheism. They came out to their family, their family went to church and told the congregation, the congregation then told everyone else, and then that person end up being killed, banished, or they could no longer associate themselves with me.

My brother came out to our family about his atheism and they gasped in terror and then told him that he needs to read the bible more. Told him, that if he doesn’t change his mind, that he’ll be doomed to a life of anguish and misfortunes. My brother has since then contemplated suicide, and alienated himself from the few friends he had. They didn’t understand, either. Black Atheists means that those who are able to, those who are strong enough to be, to accept themselves who they are, will know that they are not alone. There are more of us than first realized. Every so often I come across someone saying, “I thought I was the only one, I’ve felt so alone and none of my friends of family understand! They just tell me to go read the bible”. Black Atheists is around for that reason.

This page may say Black Atheists, but I’m not discriminatory towards anyone who wants to join or take part. This blog, the Facebook page exists to help those who need empowerment. To see it as anything other than that just tells me how small-minded a person can be.

We’ll never get past segregating one another if this continues!

All I have to say is it’s been here for a long time and as long as there are humans on this earth, history books in the schools, or someone who only see things in black and white, there will be segregation.

Let’s just put it this way, BET (Black Entertainment Television), NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), TheRoot.com, and the like; why do you think they exist? Just think about it and when you come up with an answer, leave a comment.

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Blame The Atheists for the Connecticut Massacre

We all know how some religious people claim they are all for god, but they constantly create lies; and this massacre is no exception. Ignorance use the “No True Christian loophole. “No True Christian™ would have done that, so he must have been a Satan worshiping atheist.” If this isn’t a prime example of Christians pointing fingers for anything bad that happens, regardless of reality, then I don’t know what is.

Since Adam seems to have been a fairly regular churchgoer, Jesus’ hands were tied. Well, nailed down actually; that automatically makes him an atheist because god didn’t stop him.

Apparently, Jesus calls people home when it is their time – and, he doesn’t care who gets hurt in the process. To say, “this was all a part of god’s plan.” or, “it was their time to leave this planet” is a pile of bullshit! To say that taking god out of the schools is the reason a psycho killed his mother at home and then went to the school to kill innocent children is absurd! This is not the time to be keeping score, whether you’re theist or atheist. To say that atheists can kill whomever they want, whenever they want because they lack a moral compass is idiotic. It’s that we don’t need a moral compass from a book of fairy-tales to be good in this world.

Whether Adam Lanza was Christian or atheist is irrelevant. I don’t see how it matters unless he had a manifesto related to either Christianity or atheism. For example, Anders Brevic was a Christian killer. My hunch is this guy was just your run-of-the-mill psycho who went hard off the deep end. He killed 20 kids, his mom and then himself! I only see the guns blazing and I don’t think they’re either Christian or Atheist. It doesn’t matter what the man was, it happened. Why do people have to put denominations onto things that happen? Was Hurricane Katrina Christian or Atheist? It doesn’t matter, it happened!
We should be thinking of the kids, not the murderer. Their parents are going through hell now, and we hear nothing about them. Imagine, just for a minute, how you would feel if you lost a loved one, suddenly. Went off to school in the morning, dead by that night. Empty bedrooms, toys around the house, no laughter, no one chasing the dog around.

Nothing can really be said that we haven’t all said before.  It’s heart wrenching that we have to keep repeating these events; like a surreal bad nightmare. Whatever the cause, whether mental or ideological, it’s the human condition and it seems that we have no way to control it.  If it hadn’t happened with this person at this time, it would just happen with someone else on a different day.  I wish I had reasons to be more optimistic.

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Undercover Atheist

Being a undercover atheist can sometimes be the most annoying thing ever, but it is a annoyance that I must deal with if I plan to have any piece of mind. Now when I say undercover atheist, I am not referring to a nonbeliever who pretends to be a christian just to see what goes on inside the church, I have more of a life than that (hopefully I didn’t offend anyone if that is something that you partake in). I am referring to the fact that I hide my true beliefs in order to keep drama down with friends and issues with my family at bay.

My family is very religious. I have always wanted to tell them of my disbelief in our supreme, righteous, all knowing daddy (AKA god) but I fear what the consequences of that might be. I NEED MY FAMILY! I need to be able to talk to them constantly. I need to be able to attend family dinners and not have everyone treat me as if I am a step child. So I hide how I truly feel about religion in order to protect myself from losing any love from my family. I go to church with them sometimes, listen to them pray, and I will even give them a dollar or two for the “building fund that never seems to add anything to building.” Thats about as far as I will go though.

Now I know most of you are probably saying that, “I should not have to hide my true self from my family. They should love me know matter what I believe in.” Well that is true but you must also remember that this is religion that we are talking about. Religion has a way of making parents kill their children, preachers butt fucking little boys, countries going to war and killing millions, etc, etc!! My family might be understanding and love me anyway, but that is a risk that I am not willing to take. I would much rather sacrifice being a open atheist rather than be without my family. That might change one day in the future but at this current point in time, that is how I am.

When it comes to my friends, I tend to be a little more vocal about my beliefs but I hardly just tell people that I’m a atheist. Friends are easy to replace and I tend to surround myself with people who are not judgmental. I’m a geek and I love science so the people I hang with are usually the same way. I do have a few however, that are stupidly religious (Is stupidly a word? Like someone please tell me as I’m to lazy to google it). If you say one bad thing about the bible, they get all offended. Yesterday, I said “fuck you preacher, talking about come to church on time and your ass be late for every church event there is,”on twitter. My ex girlfriend (notice I said ex) got so offended, that she went on a big rant about how I was going to hell. My reply to her of course was that “I love the heat” LOL.

So that is my “Undercover Atheist” life in a nutshell. Now for all of you who are going to call me weak and a hypocrite, take this into consideration. Imagine you are a young man who just graduated from college. You are going to the Air Force in April but you have little money on hand and a ton of bills to pay. You are the victim of a crapy economy so finding steady work is hard to come by until you leave in April. The last thing you need is to be fighting with family and friends when you seriously need their help. Well if that alters your opinion of the situation, know that that is my current state. I really need all of my bridges intact.

If you are going through something similar, please share.

Rodney

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Religion and Politics

Religion has been a huge annoyance for me, especially when it comes to how it shapes politics. In recent years, there have been struggles to gain grounds in civil issues such as gay marriage, abortion, porn, etc. Most of these issues are hindered because religion says that they are wrong but don’t we have something called the Separation of Church and State?

People usually shape their political views based off of many things, religion being one of them. This creates issues seeing that everyone does not have the same religious beliefs and if you are reading this; you probably are an atheist like me. According to the great book of fairytales (The Bible), gays are an abomination and are bound for hell. It also declares that marriage is between a man and a woman. This makes Christians biased towards allowing gay marriage. They believe that since the Bible says that marriage is between a man and a woman, then two people of the same sex should not be allowed to marry.

Lets take a look at abortion. According to the bible, god knew us when we were still in the womb (laugh hysterically). This brought about the phrase “life begins at conception.” What wonderful crap is that to hear? I was alive when my dad (excuse the language) shot me into my mom’s vagina. I was a full-grown person then with all inalienable rights under the U.S. Constitution!……… That has to be one of the dumbest things I have ever heard. Well due to the bible, we have all of these anti-abortion laws being created.

You would think that it is easy to come to a consensus with these issues but religion has completely screwed us here. We have Separations of Church and State for a reason! Government is made to be secular so that religion will not influence our politics/laws. If they ban abortions, it should not be because it was influenced by religion. I do not believe in the bible and I do not feel that I should have to follow laws that are created by it. Religion has to stay out of our politics. I don’t want to live by the fucking Bible and I’m sure most you don’t want to either.

You may ask why did I write this article? Well the answer is simple; I lost a friend (well it turns out that he wasn’t a friend) because of religion and politics. We were debating over abortions on Facebook and his stances were all based off of religion. I made a statement asking him how would he feel if his fiancée was raped and became pregnant; How would he feel about abortions then? He went ape shit (Although I made it clear that it was hypothetical question). I wanted him to see how forcing his religious beliefs can effect people. This eventually led to him ending our friendship. You can read part of the debate below.

Rodney Seay What about the liberties of gays? What about the liberties of women? What about the liberties of a lot of people. This is not the time to stay divided. Things like this are not

helping us as a country.
about an hour ago · Like · 1

Rodney Seay We are acting like liberals are the only problem. That is not true. Its BOTH parties. Actions like this are going to do nothing but start another Civil War
about an hour ago · Like · 1

Brennan M. White I’ll ignore the first one, because the basis of the political perception is in the origin of homosexuality.

What liberties are women having taken away?
about an hour ago via mobile · Like

Rodney Seay Requiring women to get a ultra sound before an abortion with no medical reason to do it but because you want them to stop having abortions is one. And there is no way you can ignore the first one.
about an hour ago · Like · 1

Rodney Seay That is just one thing, I don’t want this to get out of control so you know.
about an hour ago · Like

Brennan M. White Addressing the first one is going simply going to end in a stale mate, as will many of the others. I view homosexuality as a sexual perversion. Sure, they are happy.. So are pedophiles. So are polygamists. Both are against the law.

As far as abortion…See More
about an hour ago via mobile · Edited · Like

Leah Lawless homosexuality is not a sexual perversion. or a medical condition. or a psychological problem.

im sad you lumped pedophilia in the same category. being molested and having consensual sex is not the same thing.

im also sad you cant think of a reason wh…See More
about an hour ago · Edited · Like

Brennan M. White So since when does a bad situation for one person justify taking a human life?
about an hour ago · Like

Rodney Seay A embryo is not a baby. We are extremely bad about forcing RELIGIOUS views on others. And and being gay is not a sexual perversion. Its the way people are. So lets say that your fiancee was raped and becomes pregnant (Which I hope NEVER HAPPENS, Just using it as a example). Do you want her to carry that baby? Do you think she wants to carry that baby?
about an hour ago · Like · 1

Brennan M. White My mom had my baby brother even though her life was in danger. Are you saying that he shouldn’t be here?
about an hour ago · Like

Leah Lawless taking a woman’s right to chose is like saying she isnt competent enough to make a decision about her body.

and no one is going to tell me what to do with it.

have you never heard of a situation where it would kill BOTH the mother and baby for her to have it?
about an hour ago · Like

Brennan M. White Rodney Seay that was a horribly inappropriate comment
about an hour ago · Like

Rodney Seay That was her choice, not someone else’s
about an hour ago · Like · 1

Rodney Seay How, I put in quotations so that you know it was a example.
59 minutes ago · Like

Rodney Seay I really didn’t mean anything by that but I wanted to show you the point
59 minutes ago · Like · 1

Brennan M. White Nah man.. that crossed the line. I would keep the baby, but you and I are no longer friends.
58 minutes ago · Like

Brennan M. White If you would have said that in person, this would have led to a fight.
57 minutes ago · Like

Rodney Seay Ok man. I see that when it comes to you and the people you love, it is completely different?
57 minutes ago · Like

Brennan M. White I have always been happy about the fact that you and I could disagree and still be cool
57 minutes ago · Like

Leah Lawless haha. wow. you let a comment interfere with friendship? wow
57 minutes ago · Unlike · 1

Rodney Seay See that is what I mean, you had no problem if that was someone else, but when it is someone that you LOVE, it is a huge problem. Right.
57 minutes ago · Like

Brennan M. White No. We would DEFINITELY keep the baby. But you, as my “friend” should never even speak such a thing man.. thats my future wife
56 minutes ago · Like

Brennan M. White You expect me to consider that situation and not be upset?
56 minutes ago · Like

Rodney.

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Google is Better Than Jesus Anyway….

Bible Verses You Won’t Read in Church

Jesus kills children

“Behold,I will cast her into a bed,and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation,except they repent of their deeds. And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.” (Revelation 2:22-23)

Kill enemies while others watch

“But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and kill them in front of me.” (Luke 19:27)

Hate people

“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26)

Divide and conquer

“I have come to set the world on fire, and I wish it were already burning! 50 I have a terrible baptism of suffering ahead of me, and I am under a heavy burden until it is accomplished. 51 Do you think I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I have come to divide people against each other! 52 From now on families will be split apart, three in favor of me, and two against—or two in favor and three against.53‘Father will be divided against son and son against father; mother against daughter and daughter against mother; and mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

Kill all who don’t believe/heaven for people who die for the sky god

“Then a third angel followed them, shouting, “Anyone who worships the beast and his statue or who accepts his mark on the forehead or on the hand 10 must drink the wine of God’s anger. It has been poured full strength into God’s cup of wrath. And they will be tormented with fire and burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and the Lamb. 11 The smoke of their torment will rise forever and ever, and they will have no relief day or night, for they have worshiped the beast and his statue and have accepted the mark of his name.” 12 This means that God’s holy people must endure persecution patiently, obeying his commands and maintaining their faith in Jesus. 13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this down: Blessed are those who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, they are blessed indeed, for they will rest from their hard work; for their good deeds follow them!” (Revelation 14:9-13)

Die for him from war and not peace

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. 37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:34-39)

Mutilate yourself

“You have heard that it was said, ‘you shall not commit adultery’; 28 but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 “If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 “If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell. (Matthew 5:27-29)

Burn non-believers

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.  If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away an withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. (John 15:5-6)

Judgmentally bitch and moan at non believers

“Then Jesus began to denounce the towns where he had done so many of his miracles, because they hadn’t repented of their sins and turned to God. 21 “What sorrow awaits you, Korazin and Bethsaida! For if the miracles I did in you had been done in wicked Tyre and Sidon, their people would have repented of their sins long ago, clothing themselves in burlap and throwing ashes on their heads to show their remorse. 22 I tell you, Tyre and Sidon will be better off on judgment day than you. 23 “And you people of Capernaum, will you be honored in heaven? No, you will go down to the place of the dead. For if the miracles I did for you had been done in wicked Sodom, it would still be here today. 24 I tell you, even Sodom will be better off on judgment day than you.” ~jesus (Matthew 11:20-24)

If you’re a Christian, you can do no wrong-doing

Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. (Romans 8:33)

Leaders of god? Go ahead, judge away!

“The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment.”  (1 Corinthians 2:15)

Cry-baby jesus hates all green life

“Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. 14 Then he said to the tree, ’May no one ever eat fruit from you again.’ And his disciples heard him say it.” (Mark 11:13-14)

Racism is okay as long as it’s in the bible

These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: ‘Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel.’ (Matthew 10:5-6)

Jesus: “I didn’t come down here to free slaves, screw them!”

“That servant who knows his master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows.  But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.”  (Luke 12:47-48)

Hate the world

“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. (1 John 2:15-17)

Irrational jesus is irrational

“If you do something wrong with your eye or hand, cut/pluck it off.” (Matthew 5:29-30).

“Marrying a divorced woman is adultery.” (Matthew 5:32)

“Don’t plan for the future.” (Matthew 6:34)

“Don’t save money.” (Matthew 6:19-20)

“Don’t become wealthy.” (Mark 10:21-25)

“Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.” (Luke 12:33)

“Don’t work to obtain food.” (John 6:27)

“Don’t have sexual urges.” (Matthew 5:28)

“Make people want to persecute you.” (Matthew 5:11)

“If someone steals from you, don’t try to get it back.” (Luke 6:30)

“If someone hits you, invite them to do it again.” (Matthew 5:39)

“If you lose a lawsuit, give more than the judgment.” (Matthew 5:40)

“If someone forces you to walk a mile, walk two miles.” (Matthew 5:41)

“If anyone asks you for anything, give it to them without question.” (Matthew 5:42)

You’re a fool regardless

“Whoever calls somebody a “fool” shall be in danger of hell fire.” (Matthew 5:22),

& Yet jesus called people fools himself

 “You fools and blind men! Which is more important, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold?” (Matthew 23:17)

God is going to hell as well:

“But God said unto him, [Thou] fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee.” In other words, Jesus says that he who says “thou fool” shall be in danger of hell fire, and then God says “Thou fool”. So, God is in danger of hell fire!” (Luke 12:20)

Steal our free-will? What free-will? You’re considered a sinner for just about every. little. thing.

‘‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.” (Romans 14:11)

“By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear.” (Isaiah 45:23)

“That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth” (Philippians 2:10)

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I have no moral code…

Moral Code: A written, formal, and consistent set of moral rules, accepted by a person or by a group of people.

Well but of course I don’t have one, I’m not religious for one. Even much so, it’s said even if you aren’t religious you still need one. Right, just like it’s also been said that we [atheists] get our moral code from some where else.

I haven’t blogged in a minute but today I suddenly got the urge. I’ve so far had a pretty shitty year to put it strongly; and with a baby on the way, that’s now the slump I want to be in come June.

-Sigh, anyway. It’s been a crazy year for me so far and things that has occurred could of been avoided. But do I care? Not at the least. Will caring do anything to change what has been done? No. If I were religious would it had made a difference in what was said and done on my behalf assuming I had a moral code? Nope!

Does that make me a bad person? Yea from another person’s point of view. I honestly believe I am who I am and I do what I do because those are my beliefs. I believe in, if you don’t like me then I’m not forcing you to be around me. Get lost.

“God Hates Lady Gaga”

I know this may be really old to some but it’s new to me. I don’t know where to begin. There are SO many things wrong with this video. So, God hates Lady Gaga huh?

These type of individuals celebrate any tragedy where people die as ‘proof’ of their stupid views. Statistically, as basically no one agrees with. As far as I’m concerned the Westbro Baptist Church hates anyone that doesn’t support them.

Whoa there! Putting Christ Back in Christmas? Ha!

Is Jesus the Reason for the Season?:
Many conservative evangelical Christians at this time of year want to “put Christ back in Christmas” and insist that “Jesus is the Reason for the Season.” With these slogans, they hope to remind people that Christmas is a Christian holiday and that without Christ, there would be no Christmas in the first place. Such Christians are offended that so many people enjoy the holidays without any reference to Jesus or Christianity and want it to stop. Unfortunately, they don’t have much of a case.

 

Christmas Wars:
Not having a case doesn’t seem to matter, though, and conservative Christians have been pursuing their so-called Christmas Wars with great vigor. A few influential conservatives are using Christmas as a political weapon against liberals, secularists, and non-Christians by claiming that a secular, anti-Christian conspiracy has removed Christ from Christmas.

 

Pre-Christian Reasons for the Season:
If Jesus is the Reason for the Season, why are so many aspects of the season pre-Christian and pagan? Christians took over the Decemer 25th Roman holiday of Natalis Solis Invicti, festival of the birth of the invincible sun, as well as Saturnalia. Christians took over German mid-winter festival celebrations which used evergreen trees and holly as symbols of eternal life. Where is Christ in all of this? How is Jesus the reason for the season of mid-winter festivals that pre-date Christianity?

Pagan Christmas Trees:
The most central and recognizable symbol of Christmas today is the Christmas tree — and it has nothing to do with Christianity, Christ, or Jesus. It’s a purely pagan symbol taken from ancient German mid-winter festivals. Even if people hang religious ornaments on the tree, the hanging of ornaments is originally pagan, not Christian. The practice of cutting down trees and taking them home to decorate them with gold and silver is even condemned by God in the book of Jeremiah.

Christian Aspects of American Christmas:
Christmas as it is celebrated in America has just two Christian elements: nativity scenes and Santa Claus. Nativity scenes are unquestionably Christian, but their role is smaller than symbols such as pagan trees. Only Christmas carols which reference the nativity continue to be very important. Santa Claus is central to Christmas, but while his roots are Christian, he has become completely secularized – there is nothing recognizably Christian about him anymore.

Secularization of American Christmas:
Christmas as we know it today is not at all like how Christians used to treat the holiday — for most of Christian history it was a minor holiday, if celebrated at all. Contemporary Christmas has become so secularized that it’s difficult to find the Christian elements sometimes, and this means that for most people Jesus just isn’t the reason for the season today — if he ever was. Christmas is more about a secular Santa than Jesus the Christ and Savior.

Commercialization of American Christmas:
Christmas is more a commercial enterprise than a religious observance – Jesus isn’t the reason for the season, buying consumer goods is. Heavy commercialization of Christmas took off in WWII when people had to buy early to get gifts to troops, but the early shopping season didn’t end with the war. This was when campaigns to “put Christ back into Christmas” started, and look at how successful they’ve been: the buying season is not only longer, but more central both to Christmas and the economy.

Christmas Doesn’t Need Christ or God:
It’s true that for many Christians, Christmas is so religious that there would be little point to the holidays without their religious perspective. At the same time, however, there are millions of non-Christians and godless people who celebrate and enjoy the holidays without much problem. It’s possible to go through the whole Christmas season while encountering few, if any, significantly Christian elements. There is nothing odd or difficult about having a Christmas without Christ or God.

Atheists Celebrating Christmas:
The fact that Jesus is not the Reason for the Season and that there is no particular place for Christ in Christmas doesn’t mean, however, that all atheists are comfortable with celebrating Christmas. Some argue that it would be better to ignore the holiday. Some continue to celebrate it because they aren’t out as atheists or don’t want to rock the boat among religious family members. Should atheists celebrate or ignore Christmas?

Jesus is not the Reason for the Season:
What is most mistaken, and even offensive, about the slogan “Jesus is the Reason for the Season” is that Christians are attempting to claim ownership of and priority over the entire holiday season, not just Christmas. There is, however, no reason to imagine that there would be no mid-winter holidays in the absence of Christ or Christianity.

 

Modern Christmas celebrations have little or nothing to do with Jesus, the Feast of the Nativity, or the Incarnation. Consider some popular Christmas traditions: erecting and decorating a tree, hanging wreaths, sending cards, drinking eggnog, giving presents, hanging mistletoe…where is Christ in all of this?

 

Thus we also have slogans about “putting Christ back into Christmas,” but it’s difficult to see how Christ was ever central to Christmas. When Christians celebrated it at all, it was about the nativity of Jesus, not the salvation from Christ. Today, even Jesus has receded into the background.

 

Our modern Christmas is a large number of ancient pagan practices, a few pieces of Christian traditions, and a large number of modern creations which are almost entirely secular in nature, no matter where they got their inspiration from. I see little room and little need for any “Christ” in all of this – but more importantly, I see little place where a “Christ” could be put back into the mix.

 

This is why Jesus is not the reason for the season for non-Christians. Whether non-Christians celebrate some form of Christmas or something else entirely, the reason for the season is whatever meaning they invest in their holiday — and that is up to them, not to Christians.

 

To put it simply, Christians who insist that Jesus is the reason for the season and that Christ needs to be “put back” into Christmas are seeking to assert their cultural superiority over everyone else. It’s yet one more example of attempts to reassert Christian privilege in an America that has moved on to religious pluralism.

The New Testament

by Lev Novak

God: Hey Jews.

Jews: Hey.

God: So listen, guys, I’m thinking we go in a different direction with this whole religion.

Jews: What?

God: You know, do a non-gritty reboot. Same God taste, new God packaging. That sort of thing.

Jews: We don’t follow.

God: Okay, work with me here, guys. Remember the whole “angry God” thing?

Jews: Vividly.

God: Where I killed a whole bunch of you and-

Jews: Yeah.

God: And forty years in the-

Jews: We remember that.

God: Not to mention Robo-Hitler. Yikes.

Jews: Wait, what?

God: Whoops, forget I said that. “Spoiler Alert,” am I right?

Jews: …

God: Anyway, we’re going to re-work this whole “God” thing. For example, kid-friendly is big these days in religion.

Jews: So, like…?

God: For example, I’m super chill now, for some reason. Plus there’s a heaven. Oh, and this is Jesus. He’s my son, and he’s God too, or something. It’s complicated, ok?

Jesus: Yo.

Jews: I think we’ll stick with the old one here.

God: Look, I love the brand loyalty, Jews, I really do. But this whole “God” thing isn’t playing to the right demographics. Jesus is a hip, young God, you know, for the whole “A.D.” generations.

Jesus: Surfs up, dudes!

God: Ha, that Jesus. What a character, right? This is going to play huge in Rome…

Jews: This…goes against everything you’ve ever told us.

God: No it doesn’t, so just shut up. Also, Jesus, you’re going to die.

Jesus: What? I thought I was your son! Or God. Or both!

God: Look, this is just complicated, okay Jesus? Besides, you totally return when you fight the Devil.

Jews: Who?

God: Right, he’s another new character. He’s like an evil God. Plot twist, right? We’re arch enemies.

Jesus: Why would you make your own arch-enemy? That’s really stupid.

God: Shut up, Jesus. And what would you know? You’re made of bread and wine.

Jesus: What? Why?

God: Sponsorships, alright? New testaments aren’t cheap.

Jews: I’m sorry, this is just way too different. Is this your fan-fiction or something?

God: Of course not. This is the logical progression of Judaism which I planned all along. Like when I made all those references to a lamb.

Jews: You made, like, five.

God: Well, they were all about Jesus. Foreshadowing. Um, I guess. So there.

Jews: Couldn’t you have been clearer then?

God: I work in mysterious ways, okay? Look, just go with it guys. I worked really hard on this. And come on, you totally owe me for the whole “creation” thing anyway.

(pause)

Most Jews: Well, I guess we could.

God: Awesome! “Most Jews,” aka “New Christians”-

New Christians: We’re what now?

God: You won’t regret this guys. I have the whole thing planned perfectly.

Holy Ghost: Oooooooooh!

God: …

New Christians: …

God: You’re going to love it.

A Cage Full of Monkeys

Start with a cage containing five monkeys.

 

Inside the cage, hang a banana on a string and place a set of stairs under it. Before long, a monkey will go to the stairs and start to climb towards the banana. As soon as he touches the stairs, spray all of the other monkeys with cold water.

 

After a while, another monkey makes an attempt with the same result – all the other monkeys are sprayed with cold water. Pretty soon, when another monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it.

 

Now, put away the cold water. Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one. The new monkey sees the banana and wants to climb the stairs. To his surprise and horror, all of the other monkeys attack him.

 

After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs, he will be assaulted.

 

Next, remove another of the original five monkeys and replace it with a new one. The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment with enthusiasm! Likewise, replace a third original monkey with a new one, then a fourth, then the fifth. Every time the newest monkey takes to the stairs, he is attacked.

 

Most of the monkeys that are beating him have no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs or why they are participating in the beating of the newest monkey.

 

After replacing all the original monkeys, none of the remaining monkeys have ever been sprayed with cold water. Nevertheless, no monkey ever again approaches the stairs to try for the banana. Why not? Because as far as they know that’s the way it’s always been done round here.

To sum it up, this is how religion works.

Whydo atheists have better moral than a religious person?

You never hear in the news, ‘200 killed today when atheist rebels took heavy shelling from the agnostic stronghold in the north.

I don’t know if you’ve ever seen Doug Stanhope but he bashes religion quite a bit, so I imagine you would like him.

A Religion Rant

My main problem with most religions, is their inability to respect other people’s’ beliefs.

You all can fight with each other about whose religion is right; can place wars upon that concept. Commit genocide over religion and discriminate against us atheist. But DAMN us if we attack you! It’s called logic and reasoning. It’s not our fault that your religions are contradictory and make no logical sense. Don’t blame us! The same way you all can spread your religious incoherent gibberish I can spread my ‘garbage‘ around as well. Religion doesn’t get auto respect. Especially after all the evil things it has done to people and people have done in the name of it. Also believe in whatever I want ? I don’t believe in anything as lack of evidence is needed to believe in something. I accept fact and that’s it. The only thing I believe in are concepts such as love, world peace, and equal human rights.

Up to this point I haven’t talked to a christian explaining to me how the humankind came to be without taking words from the bible as an allegory. What is more insulting is how most if not all of them seem unable to directly answer the close ended question “do you believe in the creation as said by the bible?”

A relationship with Jesus is like the battered woman syndrome – “He loves me. He punishes me. What if he left me? He knows everything. I must love him so I don’t get punished.” The prenuptial is fake and no spousal support; it’s like he was never there.

Free will? Define free will. “You’re free to buy any color bike, but I’ll kill you if you buy any other than blue one” isn’t free will. You can believe or not believe but you’ll go to hell if you don’t believe isn’t free will. But isn’t God omniscient? He should know if we’d believe in him or not. If he knows I’ll be an unbeliever and still doesn’t interfere, it means he’s purposefully created me to send me to hell! God gave us freewill as a gift and yet if we use that freewill to deny him, he will choose to punish us. Stupid isn’t? Right, thought so. This is even more stupid. God creates man and freewill knowing we will use it against him, we sin so he gets a women pregnant so she can give birth to himself. He then speaks to himself and gets himself crucified for our sins which he knew would happen because he knows all and gave us free will in the first place and you believe this!?

Without religion, good people would be doing good things, bad people doing bad things. But it takes Religion for good people to do bad things and feel righteous about their thoughts and actions.

An atheist strives to do what’s right, not what’s easy. An atheist
believes a hospital should be built instead of a church. An atheist
believes a deed should be done, instead of a prayer said. An atheist
strives for involvement in this life, and not an escape into the next.

Some of us always fear that we might get hit by a bus or get murdered in our sleep. Sometimes, we’re afraid that the guy next door will ruin us. Maybe a meteor will fall from the sky at any moment or cancer may destroy our lives. But that is nothing compared to the damage we can do to ourselves–without even trying.

Something you never hear in the news: “200 killed today when Atheist rebels took heavy shelling from the Agnostic stronghold in the North.”

The only good thing that comes from the bible are some great quotes, (the one used by Samuel Jackson in pulp fiction comes to mind.)

“The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the we…ak through the valley of the darkness. For he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you.”

Too bad too many religions poison and destroy people with their ignorance. So take a bow, fellow atheists. We are doing the good work by guiding the weak through their ignorance and hopefully to the light of knowledge.

Their book even says we are righteous!

Jesus Loves YOU!

Fuck you and your Jesus.