A question I often pose to Christians is, why does this particular type of God have such an evident inability to intervene in the matters of atrocity? I say "particular type" because it's easily observed such a God carries very specific traits. Pantheists are quick to point out it is only, and wholly love but if you examine the vengeful, and somewhat needy God of the Holy Bible you'll find outright anger, brutal punishment for seemingly benign activity and a blatant disregard for the suffering of children in particular.
This particular line of questioning and my own answers to said questions creates an interestingly-patterned God that is mostly capable of the materialization of something from nothing, creating intricate biological organisms (whether they function properly is of an entirely different line of discussion) and having a few instructions for the conveniently placed infamous couple Adam and Eve. It (I find calling god a "he" to be an absurd practice and incorrect term, strictly reserved for biological gender distinction) decides then in an entirely arbitrary manner, to then give birth to a son (that following this pattern of creation and logic, is also Adam and Eve's darker-skinned cousin) and send him off to eventually be killed for political reasons. Oh, and the very sin we were created with inherently. Why not just leave that part out and need cleansing? The world would probably be a better place if by this theological standard, there were no original sin. If you're reading by the way, God, please, impose your will somewhere on this madness in the Middle East, eh?
God then, after this wonderful line of miracles, psychotic and irreverent babbling, rampant disease, famine, superstition and fear, more or less disappears from the equation after the death of the Christ. Kind of God's way of saying "hey man, he said a few things here and there, that's allllll you on the listening department to catch that. I mean, I gotta listen to you guys all the time!" Well sure then, we'll go along with that line of thinking as absurd as that is for the moment being as some several million people do regularly in practice.
After the time of Christ then and the story of him becoming widespread through totally non-violent, polite, non-invasive, TOTALLY NO CRUSADING HERE INVOLVED we are left with a story about a God who created everything, including creation itself (I include that often to try to draw out someone who can explain why God is all output, with no reciprocation or further involvement) and then more or less stood back and watched his own creations do what they do, and still do to this day, based on literary instructions in a far, far less advanced times. Imagine going to read a wall in a cave in Peru to figure out how to get your espresso maker to work. That's it on, or around the area that the Christian-understood God that he operates. Non-interventionist, despite his most professed creations such as Israel and the United States are complete interventionists.
I am honestly left with again, no other conclusion other than there is no such being that exists, and the above example is just yet another reason the story and method of operation this particular god (of thousands) tends to express it's own existence.
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Friday, January 25, 2013
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Odd how people fake
I find it odd that the Republican party works so hard to make sure you don't have an abortion but, once your unwanted child is born into an unstable home they are absolutely ready and willing to cut any funding to any social program that aforementioned unwanted child will need. Not to mention, the government can't provide a stable home and economic well-being. Signed, a non pro-creator concerned for the unwanted and non-affordable.
Monday, January 21, 2013
The 12 year old atheist, or, how I became.
First, I'd like to apologize to absolutely no one for not writing in here for a while. I DO enjoy the medium of Facebook to express my views on atheism much better. For one, it allows me to address the theistic demographic more easily. Or as my younger brother so eloquently put it "marginalize my friends and family with a liberal atheist rant.", which I found to be a quite magical summary of my preferred tactic. Bravo, Mark.
I was raised on the south side of Chicago in what is considered the "East Side" neighborhood. To pinpoint an ethnic makeup in the late 80's would be difficult as the neighborhood had integrated to include Irish, Italian, Polish to Mexican, and Puerto Rican alongside the families that had originally settled in the area. The area was rife with Catholic churches. My brother, sister and I were raised geographically-conveniently Catholic. I was baptized at St. Francis DeSales, and confirmed at Annunciata. Now, before I proceed I want to point out that as a personality trait (or perhaps, flaw) I have inattentive-typed attention deficit disorder. Which quite obviously makes sitting through the unbearably lengthy and ritualistic ceremonies Catholics so seemingly adore that much more excruciating. It was in those pews that I began to understand that the sitting, standing, kneeling all felt relatively absurd when examined by even a 9 year old's curiosity. When I would actually pay attention long enough to the more critical and darker tones of some of the sermons such as immorality it shook deeply within me that this was yet another figure of authority with absolutely no terms of negotiation. All, or nothing. Believe, or burn. I went to CCD there, and at some point for whatever ever expense related reason, ended up at Annunciata about a mile and a half away around 6th grade.
It was in this CCD class that something happened for the first time - a usually annoying, inane question that children spew with shameless frivolity was absolute truth to me. It went something like this.
Student - "Teacher, what happens to babies who die before they are baptized?"(Perfectly logical line of questioning)
Teacher - LITERAL ANSWER - "They go to a place like purgatory, or limbo."
I cannot remember my specific line of inquiry following what turned out to be nearly the most insane thing I have ever heard a religious person say. Needless to say, my already deeply-seeded annoyance and lack of respect for absolute authority had shattered into absolute nothingness. The concept that not only such a God would have such systems in place, but that they had been taught for so long, to so many...and those beside me as well stood united in that belief.
I had already been quite fascinated by the mythology of Greece as a young child (thanks CPS for your limited library budget!), and always wondered to myself why their gods were no longer worshiped. After drawing the parallel between the cruelty of all of the considered gods in question it was just simple logical deduction, even at my age, that no such god could exist. The god we seem to all speak of, and know of seems to sound a LOT like the male authority figures who have shaped civilizations and destroyed them alike. There is no god, only us and our gods we need to hope for more than what we already have.
I prefer to enjoy exactly the here and now, hard as that may be sometimes. I'll get more into how heaven and hell are impractical and impossible in my next post, as well as the notion that dead souls would have to exist outside space and time and therefore technically not "waiting" for us anywhere.
Your quote of the post?
""We cannot say we know with certainty what will happen" to unbaptized babies, Father McPartlan said, "but we have good grounds to hope that God in his mercy and love looks after these children and brings them to salvation.""
http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=21542
I was raised on the south side of Chicago in what is considered the "East Side" neighborhood. To pinpoint an ethnic makeup in the late 80's would be difficult as the neighborhood had integrated to include Irish, Italian, Polish to Mexican, and Puerto Rican alongside the families that had originally settled in the area. The area was rife with Catholic churches. My brother, sister and I were raised geographically-conveniently Catholic. I was baptized at St. Francis DeSales, and confirmed at Annunciata. Now, before I proceed I want to point out that as a personality trait (or perhaps, flaw) I have inattentive-typed attention deficit disorder. Which quite obviously makes sitting through the unbearably lengthy and ritualistic ceremonies Catholics so seemingly adore that much more excruciating. It was in those pews that I began to understand that the sitting, standing, kneeling all felt relatively absurd when examined by even a 9 year old's curiosity. When I would actually pay attention long enough to the more critical and darker tones of some of the sermons such as immorality it shook deeply within me that this was yet another figure of authority with absolutely no terms of negotiation. All, or nothing. Believe, or burn. I went to CCD there, and at some point for whatever ever expense related reason, ended up at Annunciata about a mile and a half away around 6th grade.
It was in this CCD class that something happened for the first time - a usually annoying, inane question that children spew with shameless frivolity was absolute truth to me. It went something like this.
Student - "Teacher, what happens to babies who die before they are baptized?"(Perfectly logical line of questioning)
Teacher - LITERAL ANSWER - "They go to a place like purgatory, or limbo."
I cannot remember my specific line of inquiry following what turned out to be nearly the most insane thing I have ever heard a religious person say. Needless to say, my already deeply-seeded annoyance and lack of respect for absolute authority had shattered into absolute nothingness. The concept that not only such a God would have such systems in place, but that they had been taught for so long, to so many...and those beside me as well stood united in that belief.
I had already been quite fascinated by the mythology of Greece as a young child (thanks CPS for your limited library budget!), and always wondered to myself why their gods were no longer worshiped. After drawing the parallel between the cruelty of all of the considered gods in question it was just simple logical deduction, even at my age, that no such god could exist. The god we seem to all speak of, and know of seems to sound a LOT like the male authority figures who have shaped civilizations and destroyed them alike. There is no god, only us and our gods we need to hope for more than what we already have.
I prefer to enjoy exactly the here and now, hard as that may be sometimes. I'll get more into how heaven and hell are impractical and impossible in my next post, as well as the notion that dead souls would have to exist outside space and time and therefore technically not "waiting" for us anywhere.
Your quote of the post?
""We cannot say we know with certainty what will happen" to unbaptized babies, Father McPartlan said, "but we have good grounds to hope that God in his mercy and love looks after these children and brings them to salvation.""
http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=21542
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