Somewhere in the world a man has abducted a little girl. Soon he will rape, torture, and kill her. If an atrocity of this kind not occurring at precisely this moment, it will happen in a few hours, or days at most. Such is the confidence we can draw from the statistical laws that govern the lives of six billion human beings. The same statistics also suggest that this girl’s parents believe — at this very moment — that an all-powerful and all-loving God is watching over them and their family. Are they right to believe this? Is it good that they believe this?

No.

The entirety of atheism is contained in this response. Atheism is not a philosophy; it is not even a view of the world; it is simply a refusal to deny the obvious. Unfortunately, we live in a world in which the obvious is overlooked as a matter of principle. The obvious must be observed and re-observed and argued for. This is a thankless job. It carries with it an aura of petulance and insensitivity. It is, moreover, a job that the atheist does not want.

It is worth noting that no one ever need identify himself as a non-astrologer or a non-alchemist. Consequently, we do not have words for people who deny the validity of these pseudo-disciplines. Likewise, “atheism” is a term that should not even exist. Atheism is nothing more than the noises reasonable people make when in the presence of religious dogma. The atheist is merely a person who believes that the 260 million Americans (eighty-seven percent of the population) who claim to “never doubt the existence of God” should be obliged to present evidence for his existence — and, indeed, for his benevolence, given the relentless destruction of innocent human beings we witness in the world each day. Only the atheist appreciates just how uncanny our situation is: most of us believe in a God that is every bit as specious as the gods of Mount Olympus; no person, whatever his or her qualifications, can seek public office in the United States without pretending to be certain that such a God exists; and much of what passes for public policy in our country conforms to religious taboos and superstitions appropriate to a medieval theocracy. Our circumstance is abject, indefensible, and terrifying. It would be hilarious if the stakes were not so high.

Consider: the city of New Orleans was recently destroyed by hurricane Katrina. At least a thousand people died, tens of thousands lost all their earthly possessions, and over a million have been displaced. It is safe to say that almost every person living in New Orleans at the moment Katrina struck believed in an omnipotent, omniscient, and compassionate God. But what was God doing while a hurricane laid waste to their city? Surely He heard the prayers of those elderly men and women who fled the rising waters for the safety of their attics, only to be slowly drowned there. These were people of faith. These were good men and women who had prayed throughout their lives. Only the atheist has the courage to admit the obvious: these poor people spent their lives in the company of an imaginary friend.

Of course, there had been ample warning that a storm “of biblical proportions” would strike New Orleans, and the human response to the ensuing disaster was tragically inept. But it was inept only by the light of science. Advance warning of Katrina’s path was wrested from mute Nature by meteorological calculations and satellite imagery. God told no one of his plans. Had the residents of New Orleans been content to rely on the beneficence of the Lord, they wouldn’t have known that a killer hurricane was bearing down upon them until they felt the first gusts of wind on their faces. And yet, a poll conducted by The Washington Post found that eighty percent of Katrina’s survivors claim that the event has only strengthened their faith in God.

As hurricane Katrina was devouring New Orleans, nearly a thousand Shiite pilgrims were trampled to death on a bridge in Iraq. There can be no doubt that these pilgrims believed mightily in the God of the Koran. Indeed, their lives were organized around the indisputable fact of his existence: their women walked veiled before him; their men regularly murdered one another over rival interpretations of his word. It would be remarkable if a single survivor of this tragedy lost his faith. More likely, the survivors imagine that they were spared through God’s grace.

Only the atheist recognizes the boundless narcissism and self-deceit of the saved. Only the atheist realizes how morally objectionable it is for survivors of a catastrophe to believe themselves spared by a loving God, while this same God drowned infants in their cribs. Because he refuses to cloak the reality of the world’s suffering in a cloying fantasy of eternal life, the atheist feels in his bones just how precious life is — and, indeed, how unfortunate it is that millions of human beings suffer the most harrowing abridgements of their happiness for no good reason at all.

Of course, people of faith regularly assure one another that God is not responsible for human suffering. But how else can we understand the claim that God is both omniscient and omnipotent? There is no other way, and it is time for sane human beings to own up to this. This is the age-old problem of theodicy, of course, and we should consider it solved. If God exists, either He can do nothing to stop the most egregious calamities, or He does not care to. God, therefore, is either impotent or evil. Pious readers will now execute the following pirouette: God cannot be judged by merely human standards of morality. But, of course, human standards of morality are precisely what the faithful use to establish God’s goodness in the first place. And any God who could concern himself with something as trivial as gay marriage, or the name by which he is addressed in prayer, is not as inscrutable as all that. If He exists, the God of Abraham is not merely unworthy of the immensity of creation; he is unworthy even of man.

There is another possibility, of course, and it is both the most reasonable and least odious: the biblical God is a fiction. As Richard Dawkins has observed, we are all atheists with respect to Zeus and Thor. Only the atheist has realized that the biblical god is no different. Consequently, only the atheist is compassionate enough to take the profundity of the world’s suffering at face value. It is terrible that we all die and lose everything we love; it is doubly terrible that so many human beings suffer needlessly while alive. That so much of this suffering can be directly attributed to religion — to religious hatreds, religious wars, religious delusions, and religious diversions of scarce resources — is what makes atheism a moral and intellectual necessity. It is a necessity, however, that places the atheist at the margins of society. The atheist, by merely being in touch with reality, appears shamefully out of touch with the fantasy life of his neighbors.

This is an excerpt from An Atheist Manifesto, to be published at www.truthdig.com in December.

seun you too should answer

Oh congratulation on your new would-be path.

May the lord of atheism instruct you like hahn, radicalized you like akintom, give you strength like hopefulLandlord, and bless you like seun.

May you stand firm and wage the good fight of logic as faithful atheistlists, that at the end, you may all receive your rewards.

Fare thee well my son.

Nice article

Splinz:
Oh congratulation on your new would-be path.

May the lord of atheism instruct you like hahn, radicalized you like akintom, give you strength like hopefulLandlord, and bless you like seun.

May you stand firm and wage the good fight of logic as faithful atheistlists, that at the end, you may all receive your rewards.

Fare thee well my son.

Do you have anything meaningful to say regarding his question? SO far, you have not said anything relating to his question

Maybe you missed it. Here

Somewhere in the world a man has abducted a little girl. Soon he will rape, torture, and kill her. If an atrocity of this kind not occurring at precisely this moment, it will happen in a few hours, or days at most. Such is the confidence we can draw from the statistical laws that govern the lives of six billion human beings. The same statistics also suggest that this girl’s parents believe — at this very moment — that an all-powerful and all-loving God is watching over them and their family. Are they right to believe this? Is it good that they believe this?

this is interesting

Splinz:
Oh congratulation on your new would-be path.

May the lord of atheism instruct you like hahn, radicalized you like akintom, give you strength like hopefulLandlord, and bless you like seun.

May you stand firm and wage the good fight of logic as faithful atheistlists, that at the end, you may all receive your rewards.

Fare thee well my son.

hahn:


Do you have anything meaningful to say regarding his question? SO far, you have not said anything relating to his question

Maybe you missed it. Here

seriously dude .are u high on something

Irrespective of what anyone says, you will do what you want. Religion is not by force.

That being said, God did not tell us evil things won't happen at all. He only promises to see us through them if they are his will and if we let him.

Job was the most righteous man, yet he lost all he had including his all his children in one day.

Why cant you summarized it instead of copy and past

Amberon:
Irrespective of what anyone says, you will do what you want. Religion is not by force.

That being said, God did not tell us evil things won't happen at all. He only promises to see us through them if they are his will and if we let him.

Job was the most righteous man, yet he lost all he had including his all his children in one day.

am talking of thousand and millions slayed including babies

GoodMuyis:
Why cant you summarized it instead of copy and past

is dat an answer?

Amberon:
Irrespective of what anyone says, you will do what you want. Religion is not by force.

That being said, God did not tell us evil things won't happen at all. He only promises to see us through them if they are his will and if we let him.

Job was the most righteous man, yet he lost all he had including his all his children in one day.

and Yahweh was responsible for Job's loss of everything

Maybe I remember it wrong, but I think it's Yahweh himself who wrecks Job's life, to prove how Job is 100% faithful to him.
Satan just eggs him on saying: "Oh sure, you took his wealth, but he still has his family. I bet he wouldn't believe in you if he didn't have that."
And Yahweh just answers: "Oh yeah? Just you watch."
Satan: "Hey, he no longer has a family, but he still has his good health."
Yahweh: "Not any more!"

I know you'll say he eventually recovered, OK, well that's great and all, but things didn't work out too well for all of Job's original sons and daughters who got killed! wouldn't Job still be sad about the loss of his first children?
Losing children is not exactly like losing a car. You can't just get a new one and everything's good. I mean, if I had a son or daughter who got killed, and then God said, "Hey, it's okay, here's a new one - all fixed!" it wouldn't make my loss of the first one any less, no matter how much I loved the new one.


thanks for confirming the OP

Its funny how you twist the scriptures.

God Was not responsible for Job's loss, Satan the devil was. God only permitted it just the same way he permits everything that happens in the world today. It was Satan who killed Jobs children and inflicted poverty and sickness on him, not God.

hopefulLandlord:


and Yahweh was responsible for Job's loss of everything

Maybe I remember it wrong, but I think it's Yahweh himself who wrecks Job's life, to prove how Job is 100% faithful to him.
Satan just eggs him on saying: "Oh sure, you took his wealth, but he still has his family. I bet he wouldn't believe in you if he didn't have that."
And Yahweh just answers: "Oh yeah? Just you watch."
Satan: "Hey, he no longer has a family, but he still has his good health."
Yahweh: "Not any more!"

I know you'll say he eventually recovered, OK, well that's great and all, but things didn't work out too well for all of Job's original sons and daughters who got killed! wouldn't Job still be sad about the loss of his first children?
Losing children is not exactly like losing a car. You can't just get a new one and everything's good. I mean, if I had a son or daughter who got killed, and then God said, "Hey, it's okay, here's a new one - all fixed!" it wouldn't make my loss of the first one any less, no matter how much I loved the new one.


thanks for confirming the OP

Christianity is not for the weak. If you expect things to get better in the world then you're wasting your time.

Jesus christ prophesied that perilous times would come and so have they. More earthquakes will occur, more bad things will happen and they will get worse after the rapture. Persecution of Christians will be widespread. Jesus too was killed. So all what you're saying doesn't invalidate the existence of God. You can give up on the faith if you like but God will still be God.

brandydaniells:
am talking of thousand and millions slayed including babies

Amberon:
Its funny how you twist the scriptures.

God Was not responsible for Job's loss, Satan the devil was. God only permitted it just the same way he permits everything that happens in the world today. It was Satan who killed Jobs children and inflicted poverty and sickness on him, not God.

Satan and Yahweh are bestest buddies. The Book of Job has Satan having a pleasant chat with Yahweh, during which they make a bet involving killing people and screwing one guy over (Job). Nope, there's no animosity between Yahweh and Satan in the least. They get along just fine.

Moreover, what we learned from the book of Job is that Satan can't do anything without Yahweh's explicit permission - Yahweh keeps him on a very short leash. So let's have none of this trying to excuse Yahweh for what Satan did to Job - he's like that guy who lets his dog poop on your lawn while he's taking him for a walk.

Organized religion gave inaccurate description of God. That's why atheism thrives. I encourage you to join deism and meet "God" through nature and rational thinking.

brandydaniells

onyenze123:
Organized religion gave inaccurate description of God. That's why atheism thrives. I encourage you to join deism and meet "God" through nature and rational thinking.

brandydaniells

how is deism different from atheism?

I'm curious because TBH I see no difference!

one acknowledges the existence of a creator of the universe that doesn't answer prayers, won't punish you, doesn't care how you live your life etc

while one just assumes there's no creator or at least he's not sure

what does deism do for you right now that we atheists are missing

I want to learn

The greatest consciousness human beings called God didn't even say one word or promise one thing concerning how the universe should be run. Mumu gods like Yahweh, Allah, Moloch, Enlil etc are the ones who came with their nonsensical philosophies of protection, provision, longevity of life, etc as long as you are worshipping them. Now when they don't keep their nonsense promises, human beings come back to their primary purpose of existence, which is THE USE OF THE BRAIN TO JUDGE EVERY matter, rather than the use of the words of the gods.

I'm happy for you OP for freeing yourself from the Nonsense of religion into the haven of brain-using.

onyenze123:
Organized religion gave inaccurate description of God. That's why atheism thrives. I encourage you to join deism and meet "God" through nature and rational thinking.

brandydaniells

Do you have a picture of this your god?

Since the deistic god does not interfere with human life, what is it's use exactly?

hopefulLandlord:


how is deism different from atheism?

I'm curious because TBH I see no difference!

one acknowledges the existence of a creator of the universe that doesn't answer prayers, won't punish you, doesn't care how you live your life etc

while one just assumes there's no creator or at least he's not sure

what does deism do for you right now that we atheists are missing

I want to learn

The key difference is spiritualism: the belief that the spirit exists as distinct from matter.

Atheism makes one closed-minded on the issue of spiritualism. it pushes one to the extreme of "God doesn't exist" without definite proof.

hahn:


Do you have a picture of this your god?

Since the deistic god does not interfere with human life, what is it's use exactly?

Picture of God? Can you show me a picture of energy?

To your second question: "it's" purpose is for us to understand that the spirit exists as distinct from matter and there are natural laws (like constitution) established to guide the universe.

onyenze123:


The key difference is spiritualism: the belief that the spirit exists as distinct from matter.

Atheism makes one closed-minded on the issue of spiritualism. it pushes one to the extreme of "God doesn't exist" without definite proof.

okay, so what does this spiritualism do for you that I'm missing?

and BTW there are atheists that believe in spiritualism but that's a topic for another time

onyenze123:


Picture of God? Can you show me a picture of energy?

Your god is energy? I don't understand

To your second question: "it's" purpose is for us to understand that the spirit exists as distinct from matter and there are natural laws (like constitution) established to guide the universe.

How do you know it's purpose? Where did it reveal it's purpose to you?

hahn:


Your god is energy? I don't understand



How do you know it's purpose? Where did it reveal it's purpose to you?

You won't understand, I don't expect you to

When you study nature his creation, you will understand his purpose

hopefulLandlord:


okay, so what does this spiritualism do for you that I'm missing?

and BTW there are atheists that believe in spiritualism but that's a topic for another time

You are missing divine experience, which raises the energy level of man

onyenze123:

You are missing divine experience, which raises the energy level of man

you need to be more clearer bro

hopefulLandlord:


how is deism different from atheism?

I'm curious because TBH I see no difference!

one acknowledges the existence of a creator of the universe that doesn't answer prayers, won't punish you, doesn't care how you live your life etc

while one just assumes there's no creator or at least he's not sure

what does deism do for you right now that we atheists are missing

I want to learn

Atheism, if You observe very closely, is a Bit like religion itself which they themselves condemn, an attempt, like religion, To Explain The Existence of an infinite Entity, A Source, a Multidimensional consciousness/mind Which is the foundation and Basis of all levels of Realities/existence, And since they cannot comprehend or understand the existence of this Entity, choose the escapist way out,Which is By saying IT DOES NOT EXIST simply because They cannot Comprehend its existence. I have studied the proofs and questions they have putforth to support this belief and in every question theyput forth, i have found an answer through the inner multidimensional GOD Consciousness in me.There was a beginning in existence, and before that beginning there was a purpose, And behind that purpose there was a consciousness, A mind That first envisioned that reality, A mind which has never Stopped being because it exists in another dimension outside space and time, outside our physical universe, And our universe is just a manifestation of a Great thought Brought into being by The Infinite and most divine power of that consciousness Called LOVE. We can never in a billion years, even come close to understanding this Entity as long as we Are a part of this physical universe. We haven't even been able to understand the way life/existence works outside this planet, talk less of outside this universe. Its Existence can neverbe fully comprehended by any being in this universe, human or alien no matter how advanced their Evolution might be Because it is the source of all existence and all levels of Realities. We are all the same infinite universal mind, just experiencing its Great endless thoughts through different forms of existence and dimensions. Nothing is really separate, everything is one and one is everything. Division and individuality are just mere tricks of our space and time reality of this physical universe. Every form of life is the same universal consciousness experiencing reality in a whole other factional and minute perspective and that is the joy of existence itself.But The Ultimate TRUTH, We can easily know by looking deep down within ourselves as conscious beings with a divine Multidimensional conscious soul and by also studying the complex beauty, Order and Laws of Nature and the Universe itself, Then your inner GOD consciousness will instantly reveal itself to you that there is An ultimate cause and reason for existence as a whole, Designed by the infinite multidimensional consciousness called God by we humans, Even before reality was caused into being. Like i said earlier, we cannot come close to comprehending this ultimate entity in our lifetimes here on earth, but we can be aware of its existence Because it manifests itself in all dimensions and all levels of reality,and its quite easy finding this awareness of that Divine multidimensional consciousness in ourselves, you know why? Because all you have to do is dig really deep into the depths of your own consciousness and you will discover that YOU ARE THAT CONSCIOUSNESS, We all are!!! Individuality/separation is the biggest trick in the whole of reality itself because We are all tiny fractions of that universal ever conscious mind which made everything come into being, And the totality of all there was, is, and all there will ever be, Is The ONE Great Universal multidimensional consciousness Which we humans call God.Religion, was an attempt by The ancient clairvoyant men of Old who also had this awareness that such asource or being that was responsible for the creationof reality existed, And tried to understand this entity to the best of their limited understanding, which eventually resulted in the personalization of that entity based on what they knew at that time. And since back then, The men of old Didn't fully understand the full and true reality of the universe more than a Dog understands what it sees when looking at the sun or the moon, They created their own image based on their own limited understanding of what they felt was God, and Ascribed to it the attributes, role and the position which they gave to the highest Human at that time, Which was the role of a king. And then these traditions and these beliefs were carried from ages to ages. Which is why God is actually "worshiped" like a king just as the ancients worshiped their kings,and also felt their purpose is to "serve" it just like Theancients served their king, and also believed that it gets angry when disobeyed (which is a really seriousthing when a king gets angry) and can decide to punish you when you go against its rules just like a King does.And it is so funny how these Traditions and beliefs has been passed down from ages to ages, thereby suppressing our true aim of being herein this earthly existence which is to Grow in our knowledge and comprehension of the Divine multidimensional mind called God simply for the Fear of being Punished by The creator(Or the King ofKings)I Hereby Boldly state it To you that our purpose of existence is NOT to "WORSHIP" The divine multidimensional consciousness/mind called God, But rather to Grow in our Understanding of this multidimensional Entity through our existence here on earth by which the soul learns through reincarnation and Karma, the consequences of goodand evil by picking up negative karma while here on earth through evil deeds, and cleansing or paying back all its negative karma, which can be achieved by sufferings and pains of multiple lifetimes, and mostly through the infinite Power of unconditional LOVE, And Which After all this, the soul becomes a more enlightened soul, And is ready to move on to another level/dimension of Reality and existence to further continue its journey of spiritual Growth of being more at one and more and more connected to that divine infinite multidimensional consciousness/mind which we all call God, whose Sole Power is LOVE Which manifests itself through TRUTH.Atheism is a man made ideology, that detaches itself from the Self evident Ultimate TRUTH simply because it Does not understand TRUTH.Religion, is also a man made ideology, which was a more honest effort at trying to Understand the Ultimate TRUTH and which still contains some elements of TRUTH(Though it contained way more GENUINE TRUTHS back then) before it was corrupted by the roman world government at that time and manipulated for the purpose of mental slavery, through the idea of hell fire and Eternal damnation for the soul if it does not live according tothe rules of the creator. Although i would support belonging to a religion any day than To be an atheist in which there is no element of truth in, But religion on the other hand, still conveys the ideas of slavery, the idea of the suppression of reason and true knowledge for everyone, And mostly the idea of separation, and it veils the ultimate truth that regardless of our different religion, there is only one GOD.There is only One Divine Multiversal multidimensional Consciousness in which we are alltiny fragments of, Finding its way back to its source, and DIVINE TRUTH, Which is that which you are not told or taught, but that which reveals itself to you through your inner ever present GOD consciousness Which lies in each and every one of us, Is still the TRUE PATH for all the souls here on earth to follow bro. Love Love and more love, that's all.

onyenze123:


You won't understand, I don't expect you to

When you study nature his creation, you will understand his purpose

Now you sound like a theist

hahn:


Now you sound like a theist

a-theistic deist. lmfao.

Blood of Zachariah...

See one EPISTLE for up......

adepeter26:
Blood of Zachariah...

See one EPISTLE for up......

my oga, I just ignore am o because I'm yet to see anywhere he pointed to something that affects his life positively that I'm missing out of due to me not being a deist

he did mention "positive and negative karma" which I already have an idea that from experience many bad and good deeds do come back

the more I read the more I'm confused

hopefulLandlord:


my oga, I just ignore am o because I'm yet to see anywhere he pointed to something that affects his life positively that I'm missing out of due to me not being a deist

he did mention "positive and negative karma" which I already have an idea that from experience many bad and good deeds do come back

the more I read the more I'm confused

Lol sorry sir, I did copy and paste frm my prev post that's why it came out like that.

MrMystrO:

Lol sorry sir, I did copy and paste frm my prev post that's why it came out like that.

fair enough sir