logicboy01: Change the topic before the message

I have been an atheist for over 2 years in the UK but I started commenting on Nairaland few months ago. The thing that pushed me to start commenting on Nairaland was the issue of extreme religiosity in Nigeria. Yes, Nigeria has always been extremely religious but the tipping point was when I was driving past old kent road on a sunday in London and realising that there were 15 churches on a single road and all of them were full of my fellow Nigerians (Sunday is when you see people in Nigerian traditional attires packing the buses and streets of old kent road). Nigerians are carrying their religious zealotry to the UK, where British people are not church goers (66% of british christians havent gone to church in over a year). Over 35% of british are said to be atheists.

This drove me into a frenzy. I started commenting and making numerous threads on Nairaland. I made sure that I was an atheist zealot and very prolific making atheist threads. Now, many people on Niaraland (painfully including my fellow atheists) have rebuked me and called me different names such as a "militant atheist" or "evangelical atheist". However, many of them have overlooked one fact- I, logicboy, have made an effect on Nairaland. Before I started commenting on Nairaland, there were only a few topics per day concerning atheism or criticizing religion. What people dont realise is that in the process of complaining about my numerous atheist threads, the discussion is shifting towards atheism. Every time someone comments or criticizes my threads, atheism is addressed. Now that I have been commenting for some months on Niaraland, the number of atheist or anti-religious threads per day/week have been increasing. Count the first 10 threads on the religious section and you will find at least 4 of them being skeptical about religion or based on atheism. What was once a small and controlled issue is becoming more and more frequent. However, I can not take the credit for everything, other atheists or agnostics or skeptics were very influential too in this change. There is no way one man or atheist can do everything by himself. Every comment by an atheist is a move towards popularizing the topic of atheism.

The more atheism is discussed, the more people start asking questions about religion. The topic comes before the message. By moving the debate towards atheism, it becomes more recognized and gives us atheists a chance to explain why we dont believe in God and why people should be careful with religion. I have to state here that this is the basic difference between a christian evangelist and an atheist speaker; the atheist doesnt want to be controlled by religion in his/her personal life and wants people to question their religion while the evangelist wants people to convert to his or her religion to be saved. Agnostics, deists, pantheists are cool with me as an atheist. You dont have to be an atheist.


[size=14pt]
A war we can win[/size]
Yes, a war against the excesses of religion and religious intolerance. I am not saying that I want to eradicate all religion. I and many other atheists only want people to question their religion and cut out the extreme parts of religion however they can peacefully. It is anyone's human right to choose and follow his or her religion of choice. However, that religion should not be used to kill (Boko Haram, terrorism), to divide (North and South Nigeria, Jews and gentiles), to oppress (women, gays), to defraud (tithe fraud), to humiliate (atheist are fools, burn in hell), to molest (churches and children) and to control (brainwashing the masses eg Oyedepo slap supporters).

This war is a verbal and non-confrontational war. If we cant challenge religious bigots and extremists in court, we must challenge them on paper and on the internet. The internet is where religions can not oppress anyone. Freedom of speech and anonymity on the internet shields from oppression and gives freedom to criticize what is taboo. This is why we atheists must always be active on the internet if we can. It was the internet in form of a youtube videos and blogs that led to Oyedepo being taken to court. It was the internet in form of blogs and youtube that led to "draw Muhammad day" as protest for free speech in Islam.


If there is any atheist that feels that we should just keep quiet and leave the religionists to their folly, the answer to that is; will you be happy if it your child that is beaten because of a false accusation of witchcraft? will you be happy if it is your daughter that is oppressed? will you be happy if you are the one being discriminated at because you dont believe in a religion.



I'll leave you with an inspirational speech;


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WibmcsEGLKo

justaqad: hmmmmmmmmmmm,quite touching.
Though we are always drawn at cross fires, i have esteem respect for you.yess respect.
Though sometimes u can be annoying but it makes the fun worthwhile.
Just be good to yourself and people around u might probably get a mansion in heaven avenue,heaven state.hehehehehehehehehehe

thehomer:

Good for you. Multiple tactics and approaches are welcome.

Reyginus: If there is one thing I like about atheist and atheism,it is their rationale.we need them to survive

musKeeto: A round of applause... Daddy DeepSight would be so proud..

Niflheim: @logicboy,this is definetly the greatest speech/statement i have ever read on nairaland,you can be rest assured that i will continue to inundate this forum with the waters of the rivers of truth and reason.

EbuksAllison7: not bad...

logicboy01: Change the topic before the message

I have been an atheist for over 2 years in the UK but I started commenting on Nairaland few months ago. The thing that pushed me to start commenting on Nairaland was the issue of extreme religiosity in Nigeria. Yes, Nigeria has always been extremely religious but the tipping point was when I was driving past old kent road on a sunday in London and realising that there were 15 churches on a single road and all of them were full of my fellow Nigerians (Sunday is when you see people in Nigerian traditional attires packing the buses and streets of old kent road). Nigerians are carrying their religious zealotry to the UK, where British people are not church goers (66% of british christians havent gone to church in over a year). Over 35% of british are said to be atheists.

[size=16pt]This drove me into a frenzy.[/size] I started commenting and making numerous threads on Nairaland. I made sure that I was an atheist zealot and very prolific making atheist threads.

davidylan:

this is what i will never understand. i am not whipped into a frenzy by the growing zealotry of gay rights advocates neither am i bothered whatsoever in the growing influence of atheism... why are atheists whipped into a maddening frenzy of anger because christians choose to worship a God they claim doesnt exist? What is it about this God that just drives atheists into a state of indescribable apoplexy?

davidylan:

this is what i will never understand. i am not whipped into a frenzy by the growing zealotry of gay rights advocates neither am i bothered whatsoever in the growing influence of atheism... why are atheists whipped into a maddening frenzy of anger because christians choose to worship a God they claim doesnt exist? What is it about this God that just drives atheists into a state of indescribable apoplexy?

EbuksAllison7: It's not anger but something akin to pity.

Ihedinobi: I don't really have a lot to say in response to you, but I do feel like I should say something hehe Anyway, I've got no beef with anyone who picks a fight with religion. If religion is that thing that turns people into murderous, unthinking morons, then I hold no truck with it and will fervently pray for the day we can live without it. However if that is what religion is, then we speak of ideologies and they are many and varied. Just as easily as people build a religion out of their conception of Jesus Christ and out of the doings and person and exploits of Muhammad, they can build a religion out of "unbelief". And just as easily as people murder and commit all sorts of atrocities for things they believe, they do the same for things they *refuse* to believe.

I'm a man free of religion (at least, that thing against which u speak and which I hope I have defined), but I have very firm beliefs about life. Because of these beliefs, I do not believe other beliefs. But it would compromise my beliefs to try to press another human being into the mold of my beliefs. Those beliefs, however firm, are not ultimate in my life. They change according to my development through life, but they do so in relation to an ultimate: a point to which I consistently and inadvertently gravitate no matter the greatness of departure I take with respect to life. Everyone, to the best of my knowledge, has an ultimate. I dare to say it's the same ultimate for all of us. Our beliefs develop according to our relationship to it. Therefore, in our doings, it is only right and reasonable to respect the next person's degree of development with respect to this ultimate and be willing to have our input in their development to be treated as suggestions and no more. That hold whether we're buddhists, christians, confucianists, traditionalists, moslems or atheists. All those, and more besides, exist to mark dividing lines between people. None of them permits brotherhood! They all say that deep inside their adherents are all out of whack.

So, while u militate against religion for all its misdeeds (and you have no contention from me about them ), keep in mind that you too are militating for something and will not be long in taking the same hard line you condemn.

Geee, that sure was saying a lot :/

davidylan:

this is what i will never understand. i am not whipped into a frenzy by the growing zealotry of gay rights advocates neither am i bothered whatsoever in the growing influence of atheism... why are atheists whipped into a maddening frenzy of anger because christians choose to worship a God they claim doesnt exist? What is it about this God that just drives atheists into a state of indescribable apoplexy?

davidylan:

this is what i will never understand. i am not whipped into a frenzy by the growing zealotry of gay rights advocates neither am i bothered whatsoever in the growing influence of atheism... why are atheists whipped into a maddening frenzy of anger because christians choose to worship a God they claim doesnt exist? What is it about this God that just drives atheists into a state of indescribable apoplexy?

InesQor:

Exactly!

+1

MacDaddy01:

(Macdaddy01 is logicboys other account)


Quite a foolish comment. I hope you realise that I was not whipped into a frenzy of anger, you just assumed that. I went into a typing frenzy powered by the belief that I can help convince my religious Nigerian brethren about the truth about religion

frosbel:

You are pitying people, some of whom live more fulfilled lives than yourselves, how hilarious

Ihedinobi: I don't really have a lot to say in response to you, but I do feel like I should say something hehe Anyway, I've got no beef with anyone who picks a fight with religion. If religion is that thing that turns people into murderous, unthinking morons, then I hold no truck with it and will fervently pray for the day we can live without it. However if that is what religion is, then we speak of ideologies and they are many and varied. Just as easily as people build a religion out of their conception of Jesus Christ and out of the doings and person and exploits of Muhammad, they can build a religion out of "unbelief". And just as easily as people murder and commit all sorts of atrocities for things they believe, they do the same for things they *refuse* to believe.

I'm a man free of religion (at least, that thing against which u speak and which I hope I have defined), but I have very firm beliefs about life. Because of these beliefs, I do not believe other beliefs. But it would compromise my beliefs to try to press another human being into the mold of my beliefs. Those beliefs, however firm, are not ultimate in my life. They change according to my development through life, but they do so in relation to an ultimate: a point to which I consistently and inadvertently gravitate no matter the greatness of departure I take with respect to life. Everyone, to the best of my knowledge, has an ultimate. I dare to say it's the same ultimate for all of us. Our beliefs develop according to our relationship to it. Therefore, in our doings, it is only right and reasonable to respect the next person's degree of development with respect to this ultimate and be willing to have our input in their development to be treated as suggestions and no more. That hold whether we're buddhists, christians, confucianists, traditionalists, moslems or atheists. All those, and more besides, exist to mark dividing lines between people. None of them permits brotherhood! They all say that deep inside their adherents are all out of whack.

So, while u militate against religion for all its misdeeds (and you have no contention from me about them ), keep in mind that you too are militating for something and will not be long in taking the same hard line you condemn.

Geee, that sure was saying a lot :/

MacDaddy01:

(Macdaddy01 is logicboys other account)


Quite a foolish comment. I hope you realise that I was not whipped into a frenzy of anger, you just assumed that. I went into a typing frenzy powered by the belief that I can help convince my religious Nigerian brethren about the truth about religion

MacDaddy01:

Fulfilled lives? They were coming from paying tithes in church and I was coming back from £1,000 gross profit from a business deal with my pal.

MacDaddy01:
Keep supporting lies

This drove me into a frenzy.