I wanted to link to this because I thought it was well written. I’m going to take a break after this from writing about religion. The topic is just getting old to me and lets face it, it’s never ending. I’ll probably come back to it again in the future, as these things often go in cycles for me. But till then, my humble readers, check out this well written blog entry. If you’d like to discuss or debate, the comment box is below.
http://gretachristina.typepad.com/greta_christinas_weblog/2007/10/atheists-and-an.html
Here is a snippet from the article. (please read the actual entry, don’t just comment on this one snippet alone because you’re too lazy to click the link):
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I get angry when believers respond to some or all of these offenses by saying, “Well, that’s not the true faith. Hating queers/ rejecting science/ stifling questions and dissent… that’s not the true faith. People who do that aren’t real (Christians/ Jews/ Muslims/ Hindus/ etc.).” As if they had a fucking pipeline to God. As if they had any reason at all to think that they know for sure what God wants, and that the billions of others who disagree with them just obviously have it wrong. (Besides — I’m an atheist. The “They just aren’t doing religion right” argument is not going to cut it with me. I don’t think any of you have it right. To me, it all looks like something that people just made up.)
On that topic: I get angry when religious believers insist that their interpretation of their religion and religious text is the right one, and that fellow believers with an opposite interpretation clearly have it wrong. I get angry when believers insist that the parts about Jesus’s prompt return and all prayers being answered are obviously not meant literally… but the parts about hell and damnation and gay sex being an abomination, that’s real. And I get angry when believers insist that the parts about hell and damnation and gay sex being an abomination aren’t meant literally, but the parts about caring for the poor are really what God meant. How the hell do they know which parts of the Bible/ Torah/ Koran/ Bhagavad-Gita/ whatever God really meant, and which parts he didn’t? And if they don’t know, if they’re just basing it on their own moral instincts and their own perceptions of the world, then on what basis are they thinking that God and their sacred texts have anything to do with it at all? What right do they have to act as if their opinion is the same as God’s and he’s totally backing them up on it?”
Personally, I’m not an atheist, but I still think no one could possibly have it right. That doesn’t mean you should stop trying to get it right, but it DOES mean people should have some frickin’ humility and realize that there’s a terrifically good chance that they are wrong.
@ithiliya – This is true.
I agree with about 99% of what she said in her article. The two things that stood out to me that I do not necessarily agree with are 1) that science can explain everything, and no unexplainable occurrence is ever, or has ever been, supernatural and 2) that anger is “always necessary”.
I was particularly pleased to see someone actually has a realistic view of Mother Theresa.
Good article, overall. I recommend people read all of it, too.
Wow… she must’ve been arguing with the same Bible-thumpers that have been throwing those lame excuses at me. Either that, or they all share one brain.
I went into the article thinking, “Anger isn’t always necessary.” But she did make some good points in favour of that anger (and she certainly listed enough good reasons to be angry). I think the real issue is having the wisdom to know how to use that anger. If you use it to spur yourself to action and create change, that’s a good thing. If you use it solely to bitch at religious folks, look down on them with disdain, and wish they were smarter… Well, that’s not very productive, is it?
(Interesting that most atheist anger seems to be directed at Christians. Not many atheists seem to get angry with, say, Buddhists. But that’s probably because they’re not in your face all the time.)
I have never seen anyone make this statement more clearly and eloquently. That was impressive and I thank you for notifying me of its existence.
i am not really an athiest, but i question a higher power. what makes me angry is when very religious people try to convert you to their religion and/or tell you that you are going to hell. what they don’t seem to realise is that all the other religions think that they are going to hell… so they better hope that they made the right choice. Since we have to let relgious individuals beleive what they want, they should let the rest of us beleive what we want.