Why ARE Atheists So Darned Disagreeable? There Are Only So Many Times...

Let's be brutally blunt here: online atheists (myself included) tend to be...far less polite than most folks. The religious tend to blame it on our epistemology (or lack thereof), but there's some very good reasons for it. I'll nutshell it in one, and expand from there:

Human nature.

Now for the bullet points:

1. There are only so many times that a religious person can refuse to understand your point, no matter how clearly you expound on it. I've had a variety of discussions over the years, where I've carefully laid out my POV, dissected it, and explained it in minute detail (here and on other blogs). Example: I once had a loonngg discussion with a zealot outlining how gay marriage was NOT going to open the door for people to marry their poodles, children, and/or furniture (there is NO STUPIDER ARGUMENT EXTANT). Read it for yourself. What makes it more infuriating, is that it's a fairly common trope among the religious.

2. There are only so many times  you can be told 'we're all the same inside'. The Tu Quoque. This sets my teeth on edge. Sharing a common biology is not indicative of a common ideology. Atheism's a commonality among those who simply don't believe in superstition. Amazingly enough (or perhaps really not), just speaking up against religion somehow makes you religious. May as well claim that speaking against communism makes you a self-loathing communist. It's stupid.

3. There are only so many times that a person can be told that they simply don't understand the POV of the other person, and that if they did, well, hey! You'd change your mind on the spot if you did! It's insulting on multiple levels.

4. There are only so many times you can be told what you actually believe, even if it's so grossly off the mark it's ridiculous. I've had numerous conversations (online and realtime) where I've been told I actually believe in God, I just didn't want to admit, I'm in rebellion, I want to be God, [insert your 'you believe, it's just that...' phrase here], etc.

5. There are only so many times that folks can try to play tricks on you, before you take it personally. The argument from semantics, or Loki's Wager, moving the goalposts, call it what you will. For a clearer example, read this post, where a theist showed up, tried to tie me up in knots in a discussion about physics (at the time, I knew next to nothing about the subject), and it got rather...acrimonious. Later on his own blog, the fellow claimed he thought I was proposing a static universe. (I had no inkling of the topic whatsoever, then)  Allegory is conversation's pollution.

That's only 5. There are plenty more, feel free to share some of your knuckle-whiteners here.

And for the record - the politer efforts have been tried. Robert Ingersoll, for instance, went after the epistemology rather than individuals. And lo and behold, they cooked up a death-bed conversion story! Darwin, Paine, Voltaire, all of these men were set up with a deathbed conversion story. So much for the old 'the truth shall set you free!' trope.

Combine the free-flowing fables cooked up against the opposition (us) with the inevitable discrimination against atheists, and well, courtesy falls by the wayside toot sweet.

Till the next post, then.

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THE CHRISTMAS SERMON

For today’s Sunday sermon, I will keep it brief, and combine the Christmas post with it, thereby killing two pigeons with one stone, metaphorically speaking.

The following says it far better than I ever could.

Christmas Sermon (1892)

Robert Green Ingersoll

INTRODUCTION

This is the famous Christmas Sermon written by Colonel Ingersoll and printed in the Evening Telegram, on December 19, 1891.

In answer to this "Christmas Sermon" the Rev. Dr. J.M. Buckley, editor of the Christian Advocate, the recognized organ of the Methodist Church, wrote an article, calling upon the public to boycott the Evening Telegram for publishing such a "sermon."

This attack was headed "Lies That Are Mountainous." The Telegram promptly accepted the issue raised by Dr. Buckley and dared him to do his utmost. On the very same day it published an answer from Colonel Ingersoll that echoed throughout America.

---

A CHRISTMAS SERMON. 1891

"The good part of Christmas is not always Christian -- it is generally Pagan; that is to say, human, natural.

Christianity did not come with tidings of great joy, but with a message of eternal grief. It came with the threat of everlasting torture on its lips. It meant war on earth and perdition hereafter.

It taught some good things -- the beauty of love and kindness in man. But as a torchbearer, as a bringer of joy, it has been a failure. It has given infinite consequences to the acts of finite beings, crushing the soul with a responsibility too great for mortals to bear. It has filled the future with fear and flame, and made God the keeper of an eternal penitentiary, destined to be the home of nearly all the sons of men. Not satisfied with that, it has deprived God of the pardoning power.

And yet it may have done some good by borrowing from the Pagan world the old festival called Christmas.

Long before Christ was born the Sun God triumphed over the powers of Darkness. About the time that we call Christmas the days begin perceptibly to lengthen. Our barbarian ancestors were worshipers of the sun, and they celebrated his victory over the hosts of night. Such a festival was natural and beautiful. The most natural of all religions is the worship of the sun. Christianity adopted this festival. It borrowed from the Pagans the best it has.

I believe in Christmas and in every day that has been set apart for joy. We in America have too much work and not enough play. We are too much like the English.

I think it was Heinrich Heine who said that he thought a blaspheming Frenchman was a more pleasing object to God than a praying Englishman. We take our joys too sadly. I am in favor of all the good free days -- the more the better.

Christmas is a good day to forgive and forget -- a good day to throw away prejudices and hatreds -- a good day to fill your heart and your house, and the hearts and houses of others, with sunshine."

- Robert G. Ingersoll

Happy Holidays, a wicked Winterval, or whichever phrase you choose to share with others.

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AND THE WORD OF THE DAY IS…

…Tolerance.
This is a much bandied about word on the Internet, and the blogosphere. And each side of the culture wars accuses the other of the lack thereof.

So, let’s examine the definition.

Tolerance –
n.

1. The capacity for or the practice of recognizing and respecting the beliefs or practices of others.


2. Leeway for variation from a standard.


3. The permissible deviation from a specified value of a structural dimension, often expressed as a percent.
(I will skip the others: it’s readily apparent what I’m talking about).

Let’s also compare the opposite:
Intolerance
(From the Thesaurus)
Irrational suspicion or hatred of a particular group, race, or religion: bigotry, prejudice. See like/dislike.

So now the premises have been dictated. The lines drawn, the swords unsheathed, the soldiers on either side girded for battle, awaiting the clarion call when combat becomes enjoined and the blood flows.

Okay, I’m being a tad melodramatic.

I have been accused of being intolerant of religion. However, if we look at the definition as provided above, I would like to state for the record, that my suspicion and hatred is by no means irrational. It is based on a long, long history of micro-management, control issues, blatant propaganda, and nursery fables gone wild.

For the record, I don’t hate religious people (though there are times when it becomes difficult, I tell myself they’re not to blame, they’ve been indoctrinated, deep breaths, stay calm now. There are some specific folks, well, if they came within arm’s reach, it would take a considerable effort combined with white knuckles not to take after them….). It is that social construct I loathe, those much beloved shackles of slavery, that bind a man and then explain the manacles are a good thing, the manacles are necessary, for we are evil incarnate, forged from mud and spittle into beings of darkness that will be cast out of favor unless we pay drooling imbecilic worship to that which never was.

http://www.holysmoke.org/tol-rgi.htm
“First. Thought is a necessary natural product -- the result of what is called impressions made through the medium of the senses upon the brain, not forgetting the fact of heredity.

Second. No human being is accountable to any being -- human or divine -- for his or her thoughts.

Third. Human beings have a certain interest in the thoughts of each other, and one who undertakes to tell his thoughts should be honest.

Fourth. All have an equal right to express their thoughts upon all subjects.

Fifth. For one man to say to another, "I tolerate you," is an assumption of authority -- not a disclaimer, but a waiver, of the right to persecute.

Sixth. Each man has the same right to express to the whole world his ideas that the rest of the world has to express their thoughts to him.”

The Works of ROBERT G. INGERSOLL

I adhere specifically to number five. It speaks to me. All six do. But that one especially makes sense in these trying times.

And so, each and every thinking person, when accused of intolerance should, in my humble opinion, instead of resorting to the K-12 tactic of saying “I know you are, but what am I?” should go and stand in front of a mirror, and ask themselves:”Is this true? Am I intolerant?” Because if you make those distinctions, those divisive discriminations that elevate one class, one element, one subsection of humanity above another, where none are being harmed, then yes, you are. And if so, you should be shouted down, in the name of all that’s decent, all that’s good and right and proper. In plain sight. Because that’s not persecution, my friend. That’s because you’ve assumed an authority that you are not entitled to. Whether it’s via an illusory contact from on high, or some ancient tome.

I have looked in the mirror, as any honest man should, and asked the question, baldly, bluntly, self-awareness intact.

Everyone is equal. There is my answer. But I shall not suffer foolish opinions gladly: that is not intolerance – the opinion is not the person. So I will treat you as a peer, but if you voice a thought that is laughably ridiculous, rest assured, I will mock it; I shall laugh in your face, I shall shout it down, if necessary. That is how the shadows of ignorance are dispelled. Not through the listless recitations of facts – these usually have little impact on the closed mind – but satire and mockery.

I will try to be polite – but consider yourself warned, thicken your skin, turn the other cheek, or whatever mechanism props you up and powers you through the scathing barbs.

I am no weak little progressive liberal, who waffles on about “Well, I respect your opinion, even if it I don’t agree with it.” I am not paralyzed by the foolishness of such a position. I am through being patient: if you are willing to listen, and present something logical, I will listen, I will debate.
There is a difference between tolerance, and agreement with stupidity.

And I am not stupid, nor shall I agree with it: a stupid opinion is just that.

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OF TOOTH AND CLAW, PINCER AND MANDIBLE, CRUELTY ABOUNDS IN THE NATURAL WORLD

Let’s begin today’s sermon with a quote:”Man, in his ignorance, supposed that all phenomena were produced by some intelligent powers, and with direct reference to him.” – Ingersoll.

We look upon this rare earth as our own: and the religious would have us believe it a gift to our species, given by invisible hands, bequeathed to us by some oblique designer, or perhaps as punishment for some obscure metaphorical transgression.

We shall go down the path least trodden here: rather than focus on the query of the sum of evil in the world, rather, we shall look at the world itself, and briefly touch on the poisonous Pandora’s box flung wide open.

For a parent who allegedly loves us, there are land mines and brutal traps on every level, from miniscule to macrocosmic.

There are tiny organisms that cause disease, that eat our flesh and attack our innards, that wreak havoc upon all the senses, that numb the body and swallow the mind whole. Most of which make no distinction of age, gender, race, or any other boundary.

And up the rung, we have tiny creatures that nest inside us. There are worms that can writhe within us. Up the rung of the evolutionary ladder, we have eight-legged beasties that are inimical to us. There are those insects whose sting or bite is death. We are neither safe on land nor in the water, whether vertebrate or invertebrate. There are the legless, cold-blooded critters, whether alligator or lizard who would attack, and feed upon us. There are warm-blooded mammals who could do us harm. There are lions and tigers and bears (oh my!) that under the proper circumstance would make a meal of us.

Even our closest relatives has been known to snack on our infants.

When the stomach grows empty, the ribs protrude; we have all heard tales, of those of us who feed upon our own. From the Issedones to the Androphagi, from Sawney Bean to the Donner Party.

Even their divine tome states such: (Leviticus 26:27-35 NLT) "If after this you still refuse to listen and still remain hostile toward me, then I will give full vent to my hostility. I will punish you seven times over for your sins. You will eat the flesh of your own sons and daughters. I will destroy your pagan shrines and cut down your incense altars. I will leave your corpses piled up beside your lifeless idols, and I will despise you.”

And I inquire of the reader, this: what truly loving parent places broken glass and razors before the infant? Forces the toddler through barbed wire and leave the tender flesh exposed to rending tooth and bloody claw? That lays the bear trap at hair-trigger, and places camoflaged tarp upon punji sticks, and warns not the victim?

That this world we live in is a harsh obstacle course, laden with venomed fang and crimson talon upon the turning of a corner, or the clearing of the brush, is readily transparent to even the most obtuse of observers.

As such, only a distant, or disconnected parent would expose their children to such horrors, only a sociopathic sire would lay razor wire in such a plethora of intricately jagged jigsaw puzzles, patterned to break the sinew, mind, or muscle of those less fortunate. A world in which the strong survive, and the weak eaten?

If this demented designer were to present itself to me, as derelict deity and author of abominations, as my sire, I would declare myself an orphan.

We have become the dominant life form for the following reasons:

1. That the female of our species can bear offspring in any season; conceive on any day of any month, save for three of them.


2. Opposable thumbs.


3. Prolificacy.

Any other rationale is metaphysical rubbish.

And now, I end with this quote, from Ingersoll:

“We are laying the foundations of the grand temple of the future not the temple of all the gods, but of all the people -- wherein, with appropriate rites, will be celebrated the religion of Humanity. We are doing what little we can to hasten the coming of the day when society shall cease producing millionaires and mendicants -- gorged indolence and famished industry -- truth in rags, and superstition robed and crowned. We are looking for the time when the useful shall be the honorable; and when Reason, throned upon the world's brain, shall be the King of Kings, and God of Gods.” – GODS, 1872

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END OF DAYS: OF MADNESS, MUSLIMS, AND MILLENIALISM

More frightening facts have come to my attention. Apparently, the religion of Islam also has a version of the End Times aka the Rapture.

From here:

“The man in charge of hoodwinking the Western powers about Iran's now 18-year-old secret nuclear program believes the apocalypse will happen in his own lifetime. He'll be 50 in October.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Shi'ite creed has convinced him lesser mortals can not only influence but also hasten the awaited return of the 12th Imam, known as the Mahdi. Iran's dominant "Twelver" sect holds this will be Muhammad ibn Hasan, the righteous descendant of the Prophet Muhammad. He is said to have gone into "occlusion" in the 9th century, at age 5. His return will be preceded by cosmic chaos, war, bloodshed and pestilence. After this cataclysmic confrontation between the forces of good and evil, the Mahdi will lead the world to an era of universal peace. "The ultimate promise of all Divine religions," says Ahmadinejad "will be fulfilled with the emergence of a perfect human being [the 12th Imam], who is heir to all prophets. He will lead the world to justice and absolute peace. Oh mighty Lord, I pray to you to hasten the emergence of your last repository, the promised one." He reckons the return of the Imam, AWOL for 11 centuries, is only two years away.”

And here:

“Ahmadinejad, who is defiantly pursuing a nuclear option, has suggested that the elimination of Israel would herald the return of a ninth-century Muslim cleric known as the Mahdi, the 12th Imam. He hopes to welcome that messiah to Tehran within two years.
Conversely, some Jewish groups in Jerusalem hope to clear the path for their own messiah by rebuilding a temple on a site now occupied by one of Islam's holiest shrines. Artisans have re-created priestly robes of white linen, gem-studded breastplates, silver trumpets and solid-gold menorahs to be used in the Holy Temple — along with two 6½-ton marble cornerstones for the building's foundation.”

So here’s the short version of their eschatology:Isa (Jesus) will return, defeat al-Dajjal (read: Old Scratch), kill all pigs, break all crosses, and be buried next to Muhammed (peanut butter and jelly be upon his name). There will be a bodily resurrection (us, not him: he’s supposed to be in suspended animation, much like H.G Wells’ When the Sleeper Wakes), all non-Islamic countries will be destroyed, the signs enumerated are as follows:Major and minor signs will reveal that the end times have arrived (Sura 21:96, 27:82, 43:61)
Major Signs:

1. Gross materialism
2. Women outnumber men (how I wish this one would come to pass!)
3. Muslims defeat Jews in battle; Muslims and Christians battle unbelievers together, then Muslims defeat Christians in battle.

Minor Signs:
1. Increase in bloodshed and war
2. Contraction of time
3. Religious knowledge decreases
4. Prevalence of the ungodly

There is an Islam version of Purgatory, called Barzakh.
Hell is a lake of fire where non-Muslims/infidels live in torment.
Sura 4:56 "Some of them believe on the prophet [Mohammad] and some turn aside from him: - the flame of hell is their sufficing punishment"
Islam teaches that there are 8 levels of torment.
Sura 14:50 "And thou shalt see the wicked on that day linked together in chains - their garments of pitch, and fire shall enwrap their faces - that God may reward every soul as it deserveth;"
Hell is eternal: Sura 74:21 "And who shall teach thee what Hell-fire is? It leaveth nought, it spareth nought, blackening the skin.”

And yes, Judaism has it’s own version of the End of Times. I do not know if any of the members of the Knesset are adherents of this madness. Note that the source cited above is an xtian minstry, and therefore is just a tad…biased.

In short, madmen surround us. Bedlam, the order of the day, cognitive dissonance is that bell that tolls for us all. Wild visionaries with images of blood and death, to hasten their perceived ends, mount their horses and ride to Megiddo, lusting for an afterlife that will never be, trampling the innocent beneath the hooves of their charges, all for a stretch of land essentially worthless in all ways except symbolically, for a deity that never was nor ever will be.  

Let us hope that the species survives.

“I do not seek to destroy theology. I seek to prevent theology from destroying this world." - Ingersoll.

Till the next post, then.

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MORE ON THE MEAT OF THE MATTER: PROOF THAT EVOLUTION FORMED THIS WORLD – THE BLOOD SACRIFICE

Across the cultures spread, blood is the wine and meat the bread.

We see it in nearly every culture: the blood sacrifice.

Whether we look to Christianity, or the Aztecs, the ancient Israelites to the Canaanites, the Greeks to the Hindis (though not mainstream for the latter: indeed, mainstream Hinduism views it with horror, both in ancient times as now – I refer of course, to the Thuggees of Kali).

The point here is this: it shows up everywhere. Whether human or animal, sacrifice is evidence of evolution.

A simple theory, really. Cause and effect, observance of patterns in history, and the natural inclination of our species to revel in the feral nature of our ancestry.

Firmly rooted in one of the four F’s of life – fighting, feeding, fleeing, and…. making babies. I of course am referring to the first two of the four.

Once the tribe has settled, once it has relinquished the nomadic pursuit of food, living amid its own ‘hunting grounds’ as it were, there is time enough on their hands.

Time enough to speculate. To give undue consideration to the elements, the source(s) of sustenance, the remembrance of that nostalgic time of cold huddling around the fire, and the odd sounds that had no face.

And still the clarion call of bubbling blood, the chase and the hunt, the tearing talons and crimson teeth, that instinct intaglio’d onto the neural pathways by many centuries, inherited.

So, social insects that we were, we began to alter patterns, shifting through the endless sands of existence, and as communication became integral to our survival, portions of the brain grew, or opened, and we became that rarest of creatures: the sentient animal.

And as that progressed, we began to cast our shadows upon the world, and gave those shadows substance and form, projecting our own needs upon these ephemeral constructs.

And of course, if they resemble us, their needs must also be in tandem with ours. The four F’s – yet again.

And so the mythology grew, spreading its insubstantial tentacles into every facet of our species lives, until there was no deed small enough to escape the unseen watcher’s eyes. Because, of course, this too was only an extension of a survival instinct – the ability to discern whether or not one is prey, and act accordingly.

Then came the feeding of the phantoms. They too, like us, required sustenance. And each varied according to the yardstick of moral relativism.

“No god was ever in advance of the nation that created him. The Negroes represented their deities with black skins and curly hair. The Mongolians gave to theirs a yellow complexion and dark almond-shaped eyes.” – Ingersoll.

And so the blood-letting began. Gallons of crimson liquid, from both human and beast, to feed the dark tendrils shaped from our savage past. No small wonder then, that xtianity was the result of the evolution of our feral past: the ultimate in sacrifice – the offering of oneself to the primordial shadows, to redeem the tribe.

Each year, education erodes the ignis fatuus of our elder shadows, as the light of learning dispels the shadows of old, thinning, thinning, until gaunt strands remain. And soon, those too shall vanish.
Then shall we step onto the new plateau of evolution, wherever it may lead us.

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