I AM THAT I AM! · @BibleAlsoSays
17th Jun 2011 from Twitlonger
My New Twitter Bio (4 parts)
PART 1
I hereby renounce the label Atheist. I've had it with allowing them (theists) to label me! Screw them! Yes, atheist is a label given to us BY believers. No more, Done! I am an anti-irrationalist, Bible-bullshit-bomber, Bullshit of any kind basher, slayer of supernatural-thought, bane of the stupidstitious ........ I....... am a Counter- Evangelist.
Done! My profile is changed. Atheist my ass! Take ur theist-given derogatory label & SHOVE IT! I refuse to be labeled by "you" any longer! Enough is enough!
Must I, as well, call myself an A-Fairyist? A-Big Footist? A-Lochness Monsterist? A-Leprechaunist? A-Vampireist? A-Zombieist? A-Elfist? A-Unicornist?
Accepting the label "A-Theist" is giving too much undue credibility to theism. Prove it or your "God" is in a category with Elves & Unicorns!
“Atheist” is a Christian slur against us. From now on that is "The 'A' Word" as far as I'm concerned.
The term athéisme was coined in France in the16th century as a reaction to growing free thought, skeptical inquiry and intellectual criticisms of religion. When someone called you an atheist it was not a good thing. Atheist was used exclusively as an insult or slur.
No....... you can call me late for dinner but DO NOT call me an Atheist!!!!!
Throughout the 16th and 17th centuries your non-belief was something you kept between yourself... and yourself.
Nobody in their right mind would have called themselves an atheist.
Again, It's important to remember, “WE” never called ourselves “atheists”, that is a label placed upon us by believers. But why would we? What IS an atheist anyway?
Sam Harris the author of “The End Of Faith” notes "In fact, "atheism" is a term that should not even exist........
No one ever needs to identify himself as a "non-astrologer" or a "non-alchemist." We do not have words for people who doubt that Elvis is still alive or that aliens have traversed the galaxy only to molest ranchers and their cattle. Atheism is nothing more than the noises reasonable people make in the presence of unjustified religious beliefs."
Don Hirschberg put it this way “Calling Atheism a religion is like calling bald a hair color.”
Dan Barker asks “Is anybody a Suffragist anymore?” No, that cause is gone and so the term is gone. The same will be the case with the label Atheist when that cause is gone. I fully agree.
PART 2
There may or may not be a "Creator God", who knows. We can't prove or disprove that. That debate "Does God Exist", to me, is mental masturbation and a complete waste of time. It is also the wrong debate.
The debate needs to be "Are The *REVEALED* Organized Religions, their Holy Books and their fabricated *God Products* completely full of crap?" I think you can already get a feel for what I know the answer to be.
Whether or not there is or was some.... "Creative Force" the fabricated "God Products" of the man-made religions are NOT one in the same with that "Creative Force". Each "BRAND" of religion makes its own spurious claim of linkage and representation of that "Creative Force" in order to gain via that claim "Divine Authority" which in turn rewards them with Control, Power and Money
ALL Organized Religions, and ESPECIALLY the "Revealed" ones are nothing more than Protection Rackets! Ponzi Schemes! Frauds built on foundations of lies and forged, fabricated "Holy Books" that in reality are not. Nothing more than Propaganda for the "BRAND" with no "Divine Authority" at all.
As Christianity is the majority here in JESUSLAND I will further address Christians directly......
I have been studying religion, especially YOUR for a very long time and probably FAaaaaaar more than MOST "Christians". I could show you thousands of ways it shows itself to be completely false. I think Sam Harris said it best in the opening paragraph of Sam Harris's "Letter to Christian Nation". It is a fair reflection of my point of view.
"You believe that the Bible is the word of God, that Jesus is the Son of God, and that only those who place their faith in Jesus will find salvation after death. As a Christian, you believe these propositions not because they make you feel good, but because you think they are true. Before I point out some of the problems with these beliefs, I would like to acknowledge that there are many points on which you and I agree. We agree, for instance, that if one of us is right, the other is wrong. The Bible is either the word of God, or it isn't. Either Jesus offers humanity the one, true path to salvation (John 14:6), or he does not. We agree that to be a true Christian is to believe that all other faiths are mistaken, and profoundly so. If Christianity is correct, and I persist in my unbelief, I should expect to suffer the torments of hell. Worse still, I have persuaded others, and many close to me, to reject the very idea of God. They too will languish in "eternal fire" (Matthew 25:41). If the basic doctrine of Christianity is correct, I have misused my life in the worst conceivable way. The fact that my continuous and public rejection of Christianity does not worry me in the least should suggest to you just how inadequate I think your reasons for being a Christian are." - Sam Harris
I, like many, feel that while religion is a comforting placebo it comes to those that unfortunately need it at a very high price to the world and our country in very many ways. And if religion has proven one thing of itself throughout history it is that it is something that if left unchecked it will rage out of control like a small brush fire that turns into an out of control forrest fire. I am setting "back fires" and digging "fire breaks"
I get this question all the time! "What do you care?" Again another atheist says it well, why duplicate effort. Life is short and believe it or not we only get one.
Christopher Hitchens: why fight religion? http://tiny.cc/E3WXQ
And.... Why do atheists care about religion? http://tiny.cc/fbFBF
I say Ditto!
As far as Scripture, the Bible is so corrupted by forgeries, Interpolations etc, so, so what? A debate based on what? What can you say I can be 100% sure of in the Bible? Not much! There's Hundreds of THOUSANDS of copying mistakes, half the letters of Paul are forgeries, the Gospels aren't written by the Apostles as we were once led to believe, there's forgeries, interpolations and deliberate changes made to clearly service agenda, many irreconcilable contradictions, rehashed Old Testament stories used to create the New Testament stories of Jesus, stretched OT "Interpretations" to create "Fulfilled Prophecy" or "Apostolic Authority", there's bad science, bad history and all that is just the New Testament!
The Old Testament is full of recycled, re-tooled old myths from long before, from other cultures like the Enuma Elish and Epic Of Gilgamesh and many others from Egypt etc that render Genesis and the Flood stories laughable plagiarisms, grand exaggerations of history if not outright fabrications like the Exodus that we now know never happened. I could go on and on and on, so what have we left?
Not 1 but 2 books that are HIGHLY questionable and quite obviously NEITHER "Divinely Inspired" or in any sense of the word "Revelation". Just two old books with no "Divine Authority at all! 2 Books clearly written by men with agendas over centuries that CLAIMED it was the "Word Of God" to suit their many individual purposes.
An Old Testament God and His New Testament Son both CLEARLY the creation of men, both characters that develop over time right there within the pages of the Bible, clear to see for anyone willing to see it. BOTH incorporating MANY other Gods, many other myths from many other cultures over many centuries prior. The concepts of Heaven, Hell, Satan, Original Sin all clearly developed over long periods of time as well. ALL just a compilation of stories used by the users over the used.
In Fact - The Greatest Stories Ever Sold!
PART 3 - Why do you do this?
Live and let live my ass! When they get rid of a their bullshit doctrine of unbelievers going to Hell and atheists aren't the most hated group in America, (guess who hates us that much... Christians) I'll "Live and let live"
When they stop shoving their bullshit Jesus down my throat and passing laws that force me to live my life according to what fairy tale "Jesus said" (even though he never existed) I'll "Live and let live".
Willing to read? Far from complete but.... My reasons for doing what I do are really more political than spiritual. I really couldn't care less what anyone wants to think. Unfortunately shoving it down the throats of others is an intrinsic component of religion.
Here's my general reasons for doing what I do. Christians say Atheists, non-believers, and anti-theists are “Angry” or “Angry at God”. GREAT BLOG Speaks my mind for me excellently, please take a look... ATHEISTS AND ANGER http://gretachristina.typepad.com/greta_christinas_weblog/2007/10/atheists-and-an.html
Or we're even branded “Haters”. Gee, ya think? As if being told we are immoral and destined to spend eternity burning in Hell wouldn't be cause enough, Atheists are reviled, at least in the United States, supposedly the most "Modern" country in the world. (Europe, to its credit, has mostly gone secular although currently battling Islamification) A recent poll showed that Atheists in America are the most disliked, even hated and mistrusted group of all. Scoring even lower on the scale of all other most shameful prejudices such as those against gays, Jews, blacks and even Muslims post 9/11. Who do you think gave us that dignified positioning? Christians!
Almost none would vote for an Atheist for President or even Dog Catcher for that matter. In many states laws are still on the books that establish an Atheist can't hold public office! In fact in many states there are still laws on the books that make it illegal for an Atheist to even testify in court! So much for the separation of church and state. Let alone equal rights. Most would not want their son or daughter to marry an atheist. Many that lose their faith also lose their families as they are disowned and shunned. ( In Muslim theocracies maybe killed!) Good thing there's not a population of Lepers in America or we would surely be placed below them.
As American citizens we must endure and battle back ceaseless attempts to rewrite our nation's history and reposition this country as a “Christian Nation” thereby “Taking Back America For Christ!”. As IF it was ever His to begin with! No, our founders were much smarter than that thank...uh.... luckily! Your God is on our money and in our Pledge Of Allegiance, it is in many of our state mottos, our courts, our Capital our monuments. It's on some of our license plates and along with that endless sea of god damned Jesus fish stuck on the back of your cars it makes getting stuck in traffic a real and true living Hell! It is in our president's oath of office and “God Bless America” rolls of the tongue of every pandering, soon-to-be-exposed-hypocrite politician. It seems the only place it's not is in our Constitution! (Yet!)
Like fire fighters at the ready to fight the next brushfire flareup we must set backfires against “National Prayer Days”, prayer in schools, prayers at town council meetings and invocations at public events where non-believers are forced to become your captive audience. We must wage war against the dumbing down of America and your efforts to force the teaching of ignorance in the classrooms in support of your literal interpretation of your mythological “Creation Story” in the form of “Creation Science” in our schools now deceitfully repackaged as “Intelligent Design”. Seemingly in every way imaginable your “faith” is pressed into our hurting rational, reasonable brains 24/7/365 whether we like it or not.
As Americans we are embarrassed by your primitive, superstitious, supernatural-minded, magical-thinking tomfoolery. Your nonsense antagonizes our enemies, inflames hostilities and starts our wars fueled by your fanatical zeal to see Armageddon become a self-fulfilling prophecy in our lifetime (as much as our desire for oil). It hurts our planet as much as it detracts from America's global image as a world leader and respected status. It holds back desperately needed science like stem cell research that could save millions of lives and make millions of others far better. You feel your beliefs justify your attempts to control our reproductive decisions even though we do not share your beliefs.
As citizens of the world we must endure you insane death wish and anticipation of the end of the world and concern ourselves that in these modern times making that become a self-fulfilling prophecy is becoming a very easy thing to do and we could easily become your collateral damage. This fixation on the "End Times" affects our world NOW in a negative way. The fixation on the afterlife, the same that helped in the fall of Rome (See: Gibbons' History Of The World) is the same that makes fundamentalists in positions of power not worry about the ecology since the world is ending anyway and they are going to a "Better Place" this insanity impacts our world GREATLY
“We don't have to protect the environment, the Second Coming is at hand” - James Watt (Former Secretary of the Interior under Ronald Reagan)
Perhaps worst of all is when faced with the long drawn out deterioration and eventual death by a terminal illness, even though we've decided it is time for us to die in peace and dignity, you and YOUR beliefs force us to continue to live in excruciating, unbearable pain, die without dignity and force our families to watch as we struggle toward the most horrible ends imaginable and taint their memories of us forever. We definitely treat animals better. Religion compassionate? Baloney!
Certainly the worst crime against humanity (currently) by sheer numbers is caused by your “faith alone”, not any real world considerations, that condemns millions to death via over population and the spread of AIDS with a ban on condom use in service of an absurd antiquated and now immoral doctrine. You use your faith to condemn and discriminate against homosexuals, your fellow citizens, your fellow human beings because of selective interpretations of archaic books or worse, just do so because you were told that's what they say.
Your baseless, unproven faith that tells you it's the next life that counts is thrust upon those that believe this is the precious, only one we get. You harm us who don't believe your claims in so many ways. You say we're angry? Are we pissed off? Yeah, perhaps a little bit.
I, like many, feel that while religion is a comforting placebo it comes to those that unfortunately need it at a very high price to the world and our country in very many ways. And if religion has proven one thing of itself throughout history it is that it is something that if left unchecked it will rage out of control like a small brush fire that turns into an out of control forrest fire. I am setting "back fires" and digging "fire breaks"
I get this question all the time!
Why such anger over something you don't believe? If I'm wrong about God -- and you're sure I am -- why do you care what I believe?
Another atheist says it well, why duplicate effort. Life is short and believe it or not we only get one.
Quick answer- Christopher Hitchens: why fight religion? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5b1aIuoCq4w
And.... "Why do atheists care about religion?" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4fQA9mt-Mg&playnext=1&list=PL01D7EA6ACDD83EA8
I say Ditto!
NOTE: I am in defensive mode. Since religious people can't keep their crap to themselves I am forced into this. If it wasn't inherent in religion and the religious didn't make it their mission in life to cram their fairy tale down everybody else's throat, I've got better things to do.
Rick Warren Urges Followers To Emulate Hitler Youth
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92z_54tpI0o
Paula Zahn - discrimination against atheists part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiyJzWy3CDQ&feature=player_embedded
Paula Zahn - discrimination against atheists part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPHnXrU5JzU&feature=player_embedded
The Price of Atheism http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTRDRP2n4Sk&feature=player_embedded
US troops urged to share faith in Afghanistan - 04 May 09 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVGmbzDLq5c
Air Force Academy Fundamentalist Proselytizing Is a Four-star Mess http://tinyurl.com/2ummvp2
I won't even bring up centuries of forced conversions and culture-cide, or the inquisitions or Christian vs Christian slaughters
I could give you 10,000 more examples and not break a sweat. Stop them from Shoving it down our throats and I'll be glad to shut up.
PART 4 - If you want to know the truth study the BRAIN not the Bible!
RE: our brains - The Tell-Tale Brain: A Neuroscientist's Quest for What Makes Us Human
http://www.amazon.com/Tell-Tale-Brain-Neuroscientists-Quest-Makes/dp/0393077829
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vilayanur_S._Ramachandran http://cbc.ucsd.edu/ramabio.html http://www.amazon.com/V.-S.-Ramachandran/e/B001IGHMGU
On Being Certain: Believing You Are Right Even When You're Not http://www.amazon.com/Being-Certain-Believing-Right-Youre/dp/0312359209
Each Author has a credentials page or can be googled
The Believing Brain: From Ghosts and Gods to Politics and Conspiracies---How We Construct Beliefs and Reinforce Them as Truths - Michael Shermer http://www.bookpassage.com/book/9780805091250
Why Everyone (Else) Is a Hypocrite: Evolution and the Modular Mind http://www.amazon.com/Why-Everyone-Else-Hypocrite-Evolution/dp/0691146748
How We Believe, 2nd Edition: Science, Skepticism, and the Search for God
http://www.amazon.com/How-We-Believe-2nd-Skepticism/dp/0805074791/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1298990642&sr=1-1
God Soul Mind Brain: A Neuroscientist's Reflections on the Spirit World http://www.amazon.com/God-Soul-Mind-Brain-Neuroscientists/dp/1935248111
Principles of Neurotheology http://www.amazon.com/Principles-Neurotheology-Ashgate-Science-Religion/dp/0754669947/ref=pd_sim_b_5
Really just follow the Amazon "Others" suggestions. There's a lot of books already out on this very new science
The Fracture Of An Illusion -Pascal Boyer - http://www.v-r.de/en/redirect/t/1001003938/
Book Review "The Belief Instinct" - Jesse Bering http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=god-may-work-in-mysterious-waysbut-2011-01-27
Videos
Split brain with one half atheist and one half theist http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFJPtVRlI64
Ramachandran, the Temporal Lobes and God - Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIiIsDIkDtg
Ramachandran, the Temporal Lobes and God - Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5z4B5BYbjf8&feature=related
God on the Brain http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7991385426492181792#
Part 1 - Phantoms In The Brain (Episode 1) http://tinyurl.com/4o62xd3
The God Helmet http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nN3ggRgY7Ac
If you like feel free to poke around my now defunct and unfinished website (I started writing a book instead) http:www.thebiblealsosays.com
and http:www.themiraclechallenge.com and http:www.zaptized.com