The Good Atheist

You might recall that I’ve been promoting this guy’s work for a little while. I think it’s one of the best amateur video series to come around in a long time, and I think it’s the perfect kind of thing to send to a friend who is just on the verge of abandoning their primitive beliefs. Unlike most of the shit I produce, his videos are calm, rational and geared towards reaching out to those still struggling with belief. I prefer to “preach to the converted”, but that’s probably because of how incredibly lazy I am…

Amidst the heady swirl of controversy surrounding the Catholic Church (with more and more evidence of priestly misconduct and of their highly organized protection of these offenders), a UK judge has allowed a Catholic adoption agency to openly discriminate against gay couples wanting to adopt. They are now allowed exemption from sexual orientation regulations that make it illegal to discriminate against someone because of their homosexuality.

The Church had threatened to cut all of their services if they were forced to comply with the law (which essentially amounts to nothing less than blackmail), and it appears that, unlike Washington DC which upheld their right to pass laws the way they see fit, this tactic has succeeded in England (another boo for you guys).

The Bishop of Leeds had this to say about the victory:

We look forward to producing evidence to the Charity Commission to support the position that we have consistently taken through this process: that without being able to use this exemption children without families would be seriously disadvantaged

So what he’s saying is that without the ability to openly discriminate and violate the law, children would be “seriously disadvantaged” by being adopted by loving gay parents. Yeah, he’s a real fucking swell guy, and honest to boot.

I’m sick of this bullshit, and I’m especially tired of the way ignorant bigots like Leeds try to make themselves look like the good guys. They go around pretending that they don’t disrespect or hate anyone, when it’s quite clear that they do. They treat gays like subhumans, and deny them the ability to invite children in their loving homnes, all because of a few Bible passages that claim God hates the ideas of gay men and women having sex with one another (why don’t you mind your own fucking business, you overbearing father figure?). If it’s a crime for people to love one another, than your God has no place in this world.

Dayton in Oslo sent me this interesting email (I cut out the sycophantic niceties for the sake of brevity)

I wanted to inquire about your opinions regarding the issue of respect in relation to other peoples’ religious or spiritual beliefs. I believe Jacob made it clear in episode 75 that he’d confront someone about their beliefs if he felt they were wrong. (This was, however, regarding a person who Jacob would enter into a relationship with.) But do you differentiate between a lack of respect for the person who has a belief in such and such or a lack of respect for the belief system? The latter train of thought would enable you to maintain respect for the individual…or could it? I’m not entirely confident that one could maintain respect for the individual if one felt their belief system, that they used to raise their children, give meaning to their actions and understand their place in the universe, was completely and utterly full of crap.

Richard Dawkins’ TED video on militant atheism sounded the gong to mobilize atheists (and other non-believers) to come out of the closet and toss out the respect for religion that has been indoctrinated into society…yet, how can this movement really gain momentum if the issue of respect is not addressed? If respect for the individual who promotes a believe system and the respect for the believe system itself are under attack, I don’t see militant atheism getting very far at all.

That’s a pretty awesome question, Dayton, which is why I wanted to answer it on the blog rather than a simple email. As a kind of “evangelizing” atheist (the irony here isn’t lost on me), I’m often accused of not giving people their proper dues, and that accusation also usually implies that as much as you can dislike someone’s opinion, you still have to maintain some semblance of respect for them. The general consensus is that if you don’t at least try to put yourself in the shoes of others, and merely debase them for believing in nonsense, you’ll fail to convince them of the truth of your assertion and “harden their hearts”.

But I don’t generally agree with this notion. I don’t have to respect the opinions of absolutely everyone, the same way I don’t have to listen to the medical opinions of people who have no formal training in medicine. If some quack homeopath is insulted when I lambaste him for believing that water has memory, and is able to cure symptoms of disease, I shouldn’t have to placate his illogical ideas simply because his feelings might be hurt in the process.

I think there are lots of variation on the tactics and techniques people use to try and convince others of their ideas. Some people take the soft approach, like this guy. The problem I have is that the supposed need for people to “respect” various religions is merely a ploy to shield various faiths from criticism and honest inquiry. If I have to respect a religion that seeks to enslave and pacify our natural curiosity about the world, how am I supposed to properly object to it?

I’ll be honest; I’m no diplomat, and I have no intention of becoming one anytime soon; unlike some atheists I know, appeasement has no appeal to me. I recognize the important fact that in the whole recorded history of mankind, my objection to religion has only been possible in relatively few countries, and in a relatively recent time. Had I been born only a few centuries ago even in this “civilized” world, my words and actions would have merited a slow and painful death. There are still countries around the globe that execute apostates and doubters; am I to tread gently to avoid hurting the feelings of their murderers? I don’t take history for granted, and I certainly won’t convince myself that the liberty I have to disbelieve in God is immune from attack. If there’s one thing I do know for sure, it’s that reason doesn’t always win the day, and that it’s not worth sacrificing for the sake of a few bruised egos.

Call me a bit of a late starter, but I just found this site and I think it’s pretty damn wicked; it’s a contest calling on people to make their own short videos to spread “…scientific knowledge and secular values in society”. There are a bunch of finalists to chose from, so if you want to take the time and watch them all, go vote for your favorite. The winner gets a “phat” 10 grand for their effort! Pretty sweet, huh?

If you want to make people forget that their government has failed them, that their country is a ruin, and that things are not improving, you need to find someone to blame. The Nazis chose to blame the Jews for the poverty and social degradation that occurred after the First World War, and this ancient tradition continues in Uganda, where gays are now the favorite scapegoat of the people. You can easily cause a frenzy and mass hysteria by blaming just about everything shitty in your country on the scourge of “sodomy” (which incorporates oral sex and non-missionary positions too, in case everyone forgot). Watch this and be afraid for the future, people.

Oh, and the guy who wrote “The Pink Swastika” is a lying piece of shit.

I’m getting rather annoyed with the argument that because secularists typically have fewer offspring, that in the long run religions will eventually out-breed us. Although I have the rare distinction of having been born to a somewhat non-religious family, I can assure you that this is usually not the case with many atheists I have encountered since I started this blog. Some were born in extremely religious families, but left their faith after a painful audit of their own beliefs. Others came from a moderately religious group that had failed to instill the belief in God in a convincing way. The point is, we all come to our atheism in a variety of ways, and you certainly don’t need to be born to unbelievers to not believe in God.

Ed West thinks otherwise; he sees the growth of fundamentalism and their high birth rate as a sign of things to come, describing birth control as the secularist’s cyanide tablet (are we the only ones using birth control?). It’s true that fundamentalist sects rarely lose their followers, but it’s also true that these religious minorities are becoming increasingly marginalized in society. They represent only a minor portion of society, while the moderates, who often do lose their own religions, are still very much the majority. Even if these religious wackos were having 10 kids each, it wouldn’t change the fact that they are, by and large, not a significant portion of the population.

The truth is that as people become more educated, and more influenced by other cultures and ideas, their own “faith” is often threatened. Intellectual integrity is antithetical to religious belief, and so long as there are people with doubts and questions, there’s no shortage of skeptical minds to reject the antiquated Gods of our ancestors. No one is suggesting that this process will occur overnight, but I seriously doubt that the best thing for secularists is to start trying to out-breed religious folks; you’re not going to win that game, trust me.

Thank you so much for everything Jesus; cancer, parasites, and genetic diseases that slowly wastes people away are fucking awesome. Also, thanks for arbitrarily killing innocent people, especially if they aren’t me…

Remember all those annoying religious wackos that keep trying to convince us that watching porn is evil? Well, it turns out that their fucked up message and restrictive religious instructions might actually increase the chances of someone becoming a rapist. That’s according to two psychologists, Michael J. Goldstein and Harold Kant (who’s body of work goes back to the 1970’s), who had figured out that the link between porn and rape was utterly bogus, even back then.

It doesn’t surprise me that strict a religious upbringing can fuck someone up, especially when the religion focuses so strongly on our impulse to breed. Look, you’re an animal, and there’s a part of you that can’t resist the idea of having hot, steamy sex. If you try and repress this urge, odds are it’ll manifest itself in some pretty scary ways, and no one needs that. Religions are like the thought police; they don’t even want you fantasizing for your own pleasure. Instead they try and teach you that lustful thoughts are bad, and need to be suppressed. I can’t even begin to imagine the kind of psychological damage that’ll do to a human being…

As far as the benefit of watching porn, the good news seems to be that as sexually explicit materials become more widely available, the number of sexual abuse cases don’t increase; in fact, they actually begin to decline. And what about the idea that watching porn makes men misogynistic? Well, that too has been refuted. So if you’re sitting at home so bored out of your tree that you’re reading this shitty blog, might I humbly suggest that you go do your civic duty and go watch a lot of porn instead?

It should come as no surprise that any large and powerful organization always “looks out for their own”. The Catholic Church is no different; the whole controversy regarding child abuse is based around the fact that rather than punish their own members who were guilty of destroying the lives of innocent children, they instead kept everything quiet, transferring these offenders to different parishes where they would continue their campaign of sexual molestation.

The Pope keeps finding himself in the uncomfortable position of having to deny any knowledge of protecting church leaders who had a history of abusing children, but it’s now a bit harder to do so. A priest, identified only as “H” (you’ve got to love their transparency) known to have forced a young child into oral sex, was transfered under the watchful eye of one Cardinal Ratzinger in 1980. To no one’s surprised, he offended again, and was given an 18-month suspended sentence and fined about 4,000 bucks (apparently, sexually molesting a kid will cost you the equivalent of a used Segway).

The Vatican is obviously trying to distance him from this decision, saying that Ratzinger was unaware of the existence of this priest (he’s a shitty boss, I guess), and I’m sure his mindless fans will continue to believe he had no involvement whatsoever, regardless of what evidence is shown. It doesn’t matter how many times this organization is exposed as corrupt and evil; people will continue to believe their religious leaders piss Holy Water. Look, they’re only human, and yet their position allows them an unprecedented amount of power and influence, all based on the ignorant notion that these individuals are somehow on “God’s speed-dial”. They are no more special than you and I, and they should not be immune from prosecution and the law. When will the victims of the abuse of the Catholic Church finally see justice?

If I had known there would be moments like this, I would have watched the damn show. In your face, fundies!