Moral High Ground: No Atheists Allowed

Yesterday morning, I woke up to the sound of my dog regurgitating a muffin wrapper he’d thought would be a great idea to consume the day before. Before I even got up, I knew it was on the area rug I had just cleaned. I just knew. I trudged, blurry-eyed to the living room and squinted, scanning the room to spot the mess. Sure enough, there it was. On the fresh-clean rug. So, I’m elbow deep in dog barf, when the garbage truck rolls by and wakes up my kid, who’s wet the bed. He hardly ever does this anymore, but when he does, you can bet it’s on the night he asked for extra blankets because he was cold. Fresh. Cleaned. Blankets. Still drowning in K9 upchuck, the child looms over me, whiffing strongly of emptied bladder. I’m trying not to gag. The puke, the smell of stale pee. Then my phone starts to ring. At 7 am. Now, the dog is barking at the garbage men who are still outside because one of them has dropped our garbage all over my driveway. I run to wash my hands and see if I can get my phone in time, and in the whirlwind, manage to knock a bowl to the floor, instantly shattering it.

Needless to say, when I found this post about atheists not being able to claim the moral high ground, I decided fuck being nice. You want nice? Send a goddamned maid. No fucking holy.

Cathy, who writes for Reason and Real Clear Politics (notice the italics and bold there, please note the extra, added, screaming emphasis), says about the Chapel Hill murders:

In fact, the story is still developing, and the motive apparently included a parking dispute (which does not exclude religious bias as a factor).

The fact that this was over a parking dispute does not rule out religious bias. Cath, doll, you sure nailed that one near as hard as Jeeby to the cross and no one can dispute it. However, I will tell you what does rule out that this was religious bias:

1. Craig Hicks’ wife said, “This incident had nothing to do with religion or victims’ faith, but instead had to do with the longstanding parking disputes that my husband had with the neighbours. He often champions on his Facebook page for the rights of many individuals. Same sex marriages, abortion, race, he just believes that everyone is equal. Doesn’t matter what you look like or who you are or what you believe.”

2. His neighbours said, “I have seen and heard him be very unfriendly to a lot of people in this community. He has equal opportunity anger and made everyone feel uncomfortable and unsafe.”

3. He himself posted on his facebook page, “While I am an outspoken atheist (obviously), I would never take away a persons [sic] right to religion. I would even fight for their rights to have religion if it ever came to that.”

4. Craig Hicks defended the proposal that a mosque be built at ground zero.

You know what it smells like in my house now, Cath? Since I cleaned up all the aforementioned kid and K9 messes? It smells like desperation, because the waft that drifted off your article and is now sliding down my walls was inescapable. Everyone is desperate to pin this crime on atheist hatred, and absolutely, stubbornly refuse to look at the pile of evidence to the contrary. Hon, this was just a fucked up fella with a fucked up obsession with the parking rules. Refusal to see that doesn’t make it any less true.

The Chapel Hill killings had a strong resonance for those who believe that terrorist acts by Islamic extremists are unjustly used to tarnish Islam and all Muslims — and that prominent atheists who single out Islam for criticism, such as British biologist Richard Dawkins, contribute to this unfair blame.

How is it unfair to blame Islam for heinous acts claimed, out loud, word for word, in the name of Allah or the prophet Muhammad? How is it unfair to blame Islam for acts of violence that are easily justified by the very doctrine these extremists pray to 5 times a day? They run from the scene claiming righteous revenge in the name of the prophet – it’s been caught on video! You see how it’s entirely different from Craig Hicks crime? Oh… you still don’t see how it’s different? Come on Cath, try to keep up. Here, I’ll spell it out for you:

1. The acts of violence we attribute to the Islamic faith, have been claimed in the name of Allah or Muhammad by the perpetrators themselves. It cannot be misinterpreted.

2. The acts of violence committed in the name of Islam, actually do have passages in the Quran, Hadiths and Sharia law that fully and unquestionably justify the actions of the extremists.

3. Craig Hicks, despite the fact that Islam is full of passages that call for violence, revenge and war, openly said on multiple occasions he would defend a Muslim’s right to hold that faith.

4. There are plenty of Muslims out there that are peaceful, loving human beings, but they are that in spite of what their doctrine says, not because of it.

5. Atheism has no doctrine. Read a Dawkins book. They are about science, not how to live. There is no set rules or practices for atheists, no pressure to hate anyone, and no call for violence anywhere within atheist writings. The single thing that unites us all is that we don’t believe in God. Every other character trait in an atheist, has nothing at all to do with atheism. I should know, hun bun, I’m a fucking atheist.

Too many holier-than-thou (and smarter-than-thou) atheists claim their belief system is morally superior to religion because it does not lead to murderous fanaticism.

Belief system? What is it that we believe Cathy Cathy Bo Bathy? Do tell, I’m all ears. I’d like to know what my belief system is and I sure as fuck love it when a cross licker decides they know better than me what I am and what I believe.

We do not claim to be morally superior. Fun fact: The reason it feels as though we claim to be morally superior is because in debating atheists, believers often ask the asinine, self-insulting question, “Where do you get your morality if you don’t believe in God?” Read between the lines, Cath. That question is an open and free admission on the part of a theist that without their holy book they couldn’t possibly conceive of being a moral human being.

We don’t need to say it, sugar britches, y’all do it for us.

I don’t believe, nor do most of the atheists I’ve gotten to know in my lifetime, that atheists are morally superior. That’s part of what we wish believers would learn: that you can, in fact, be moral without your precious holy book. We’re trying to get you to have a little faith in yourselves and stop doling it all out on your magic man in the sky. You are just as moral as I am – and you know what, sweet tits? It’s got shit all to do with God. In you or in me. We can all be moral, and we don’t need your big book of myth to do it.

Atheists – minus Craig Hicks – are living proof.

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#humour #murder