You know, sometimes you read something, and you just know that the author has not done his or her research on the topic at hand. Other times you read something and you wonder how the author is able to dress himself without his care aid. Then there are those things you read which make you feel like the author could possibly be the reanimated and quite intoxicated body of Hunter S. Thompson writing with a Ouija board and a divining rod at the bottom of Lake Tahoe during an earthquake.
This post is clearly the latter.
This condescending follower of Christ says he loves and appreciates us atheists, and no, he does not have his fingers crossed behind his back. Nu-uh. No way.
He’s written a letter to us heathens to show just how much he appreciates us. He says:
Dear Atheist Friend, I am writing to express my great appreciation for your positions.
Of course. Missionary gets old after a while.
I admire that you, unlike me, believe that you came about by NOTHING but random chance and natural selection.
Wait… wait. I do? When did I say that? Did I say that when I was drunk on Saturday? I’ve been cutting back on carbs lately and a coupla beers really just hit me hard. I can’t imagine I would ever say that sober.
Despite your belief that there is absolutely NO TRUE PURPOSE for your own being, you still get up every day and do something that has no purpose beyond its impact, good or bad, on those around you.
The only time I ever said that I didn’t have a true purpose, was that day in 8th grade when my crush asked to borrow a pen and I stammered out, “P-pen. I had a pen. I have a pen. Yes, you can have my pen,” and proceeded to hand him my ruler. I promptly went home and wrote in my diary: “I am such a fucking loser. I couldn’t get a pen right. I am so useless!” Outside of that rather bleak moment in my past, I have always felt I have a purpose. The difference between my purpose and your purpose, Phil, is that my purpose relates to that which is real all around me. Yours, well… yours requires fairy tales, imaginary friends and ghosts.
I get up every day and do something because there is a purpose. There is a purpose to my son, my daughter, my husband, me and my dog. My life has a purpose to my Mom, my Dad and my non-profit work. There is purpose when I write here on Godlessmom.com, and there is purpose to the people who visit this site every day, whether they agree with me or not. Why do I need more purpose than that?
I am sincerely impressed that, with absolutely NO MORAL PURPOSE, you, for the most part, are good citizens, friends, spouses, and parents.
Well, thanks, I guess. Although, I do have a moral purpose. Again, it just relates to the people, animals and world around me, rather than some ancient tale. I figure basing your morality on those around you and those on whom your actions may have an effect, is probably the best way to be moral. For one, it’s easy to see the consequences of your actions and even to predict them. Two, it’s verifiable and therefore, real. Three, it isn’t inscribed in a book for which there are 50 different versions in English alone, translated into hundreds of other languages and initially written by men who lived a century after the events described unfolded, leaving the entire text up for interpretation.
Despite your denial of anything being truly “right” or “wrong”, you do the right thing mostly.
It’s amazing how well your brain can serve you, isn’t it? Being able to observe the consequences of actions is such a wonder!
You might not be able to define “Good” in any rational, philosophically consistent way, yet you tend to be generally good people.
I can define “good”, though. It’s quite rational. Good is generally anything that promotes the well-being of our world and the creatures on it, and perhaps one day, the conscious creatures we meet in outer space. Being good simply means considering how your actions might affect other sentient beings, and choosing not to commit to those actions which will harm other sentient beings. It’s simple, really. Didn’t need a book for it, either. How ’bout you?
Of course the things you consider to be good and bad have almost no justifiable basis in nature.
Why does it need to be justified by nature? In any case, most actions have natural consequences we can predict and use for judgment of whether or not to commit to those actions.
You insist, understandably, that murder and rape are bad, even though murder and rape are extremely common in most species including ours.
So? Again, I define good and bad based, for the most part, on how it will affect sentient creatures, including myself. I don’t base my ideas of good and bad on what happens in nature. That’s absurd. By that logic, the mass deaths after the Asian tsunami were “good” and prosthetic limbs are “bad”.
Yet, you live quite happily, and surprisingly morally
Why is it surprising? I choose to be good and act morally for the sake of being good and moral. I don’t do it for reward, as you do. I don’t do it out of fear of punishment, as you do. The funny thing is, Phil, if the Bible had never existed and no one had ever conceived of the idea of God, I’d still be a moral person and you, well… by the way you’re talking, you’d be a rapey, murdery mess. I like to think my way is better. At least we know that I am a truly moral person and need no help with that.
Natural selection requires that we each look to our own interests first.
Oh, honey, no. That’s not how natural selection works, but that’s super cute. I would have expected it tweeted with the hashtag #Kidssay, though. Natural selection is not something we choose. Natural selection is a natural process that is happening all around us as we speak. It’s about those who are best adapted to their surroundings being able to survive and therefore, reproduce and carry on their lineage. ie. They are “selected”. It’s not a prescriptive process. There are no rules of natural selection by which atheists abide. Seriously, though, that was cute. It gave me a chuckle.
Ultimately, you believe that one day, not many years hence, you will pass from existence without any hope for anything further, no ultimate destiny at all. Yet, you stare your ultimate obliteration in the eye, without so much as a blink. Your irrational bravery is truly impressive.
While I appreciate the sentiment, Phil, is it really impressive? Are you saying that if one day you found out beyond any shadow of a doubt, that there was no afterlife, that you would not be able to live or be happy or enjoy yourself? Is this how your God wants you to look at life? That’s kinda sad, I have to say.
Personally, the idea of existing in some form forever is unsettling. Further, I know lots of heathens. If I were to accept Jesus as my saviour and go to Heaven for all eternity, there is no way I would be able to feel any sort of bliss, knowing all those awesome atheists are burning for eternity. A blissful Heaven is logically impossible unless Hell is a lie or we’re basically lobotomized upon arrival. Either way, no thanks.
Further, being as there is no verifiable evidence for an afterlife, it seems to me as though you choose to believe in it for comfort. Myself, I find more comfort in the truth.
As a Christian, I have to admit, that IF I believed as you do, I wouldn't be nearly so kind, compassionate, loyal and honest as you.
Well, now that’s sad. I’m sure, if you go back and reread that statement, you can see what our problem with Christianity is, then. You fully admit you are not a moral person and have to be bribed with reward, threatened with punishment and have all the rules written down for you in order for you to be decent. You’re a scary man, Phil. Very scary.
If I shared your philosophy, I’d “Go for the gusto”! I’d be all about serving my own desires. I’d cheat and steal to the limits of my ability.
So, what you’re saying is, you don’t care what effect your actions have on other people? That the only reason there is to be good is God and without him, fuck everyone? Eep. You really are terrifying, Phil.
If I were an atheist, I can’t imagine being loyal to anyone or any cause.
Thank God, no holy, you are not an atheist, then! Please, keep reading your Bible and praying and going to church, for the good of this world. If you can’t trust yourself to be good for the sake of being good, just keep doing it for the big guy, man. We don’t need another Hitler!
You guys are good people in many ways.
Better than you, apparently. I wholeheartedly commend your bravery in admitting your own depravity and complete lack of moral backbone without your faith. It must have been hard to admit. As I said, just keep plugging away at those prayers and those tithes and get as much of Jeeby’s body and blood in ya as you possibly can, because dang, buddy, you sound like a fucking monster.
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