When faith crumbles.

A friend of mine is beginning to crumble, and I think what is really crumbling is his faith.  The five stages are:

1. Denial and isolation.
2. Anger.
3. Bargaining.
4. Depression.
5. Acceptance.

The first stage, denial and isolation, has been happening possibly for years.  Mine didn't last as long, but I definitely needed to isolate.  I needed to gather my thoughts, inspect the world, my life and my values.  I had to decide, with as little influence from others, where I stood in the world.  How I felt about myself, in light of what my father and our church had always told me about Hell.  Whether I could feel love, happiness, charity or any other emotion that Christians always said was theirs alone.

My friend displayed his isolation by removing himself from our typical after-work activities, which mostly include playing cards.  This was a passion of his and he was very skilled - but now has given it up, nearly completely, without any reason.

My friend has passed the second stage.  He is very good at suppressing and squashing his anger.  In private, I know how angry he is, even though he doesn't come out and say it out loud.  His actions speak louder than his words.  The anger came out when we were alone and in decisions he made.

After anger comes bargaining.  During this time, my friend tried to align his Christian values and the Christian teaching he received with a secular world-view.  My friend spent a lot of time trying to negotiate a truce with me - a truce that already existed.  He spent a lot of time trying to make sure that he could disagree and we cold still be friends - a proposition I was 100% behind and always had been.

My friend is now on the stage of depression.  He is starting to recognize the world as it is - a wicked, cruel place, ruled by stupid people who only care about themselves, their job, their profit, their personal desires and their rulership over their "flock".  This truly is the world we live in.  And, this world is depressing.

However, I have decided that since this world sucks, someone needs to do something.  What needs to be done is:  destroy everything that is dividing the world.  Remove the #1 reason for hatred, intolerance, prejudice, guilt and fear.  That reason is religion.

My friend hasn't made it that far.  I feel the need to pounce on the situation - to help him finish his deconversion.  However, the thing that is holding me back - is that is the exact thing a Christian would do.  Christians pounce on the poor, down-trodden, homeless, funerals and such.  What a wicked thing to do.

I hope later my friend understands.

Suicide to go to heaven.

Here is a link to a story about a 9-year old who, after church, decides to kill himself so he can go to heaven. Why more Christians aren't doing this, I'm not sure.  All I can do is speculate that they don't really believe in heaven.

Suicide for Heaven

Why I have this blog.

Christianity is evil, destructive and cruel.  I won't go into detail or discussion of each of the topics covered here, as this is meant to be succinct.  However, if requests come in for me to elaborate on any of these points, I will do so.

Here is why I seek the end of Christianity:

First, we have to establish some tenets of Christianity - we have to recognize the ground-rules that Christianity has established.  Here are the rules that Christianity has established (all versions I am aware of, except Mormonism).

How I Became and Atheist

I have met several Atheists, but none of which were born to openly-Atheist parents.  Everyone I have met has a deconversion story.  So, here's mine.

Interesting Movie

I haven't researched the claims made by this movie, but if anyone can find fault with it - feel free to post.

Is God Real?

This argument comes up so often from Christians, that I thought it would be appropriate to cut this retort off here and now, and just to refer future indignant Christians to this post so I don't have to type my response over and over again.

That being said, lets examine this question:

Christians and God

We live our lives as if there is no God.  Christians, however, use the idea of God, or claim there truly is a God when it is convenient for them.  Christians act like there is no God.  Here are some examples:

1. Christians buy car insurance.
2. Churches have property insurance.
3. Christian cops wear bullet-proof vests.
4. Christians wear seat-belts.
5. Christians get their kids immunized.
6. Christians pass laws to get some of the above made mandatory, to help their fellow Christians.
7. Some church buildings have lightning rods (lol ironic).
8. Christians hire private investigators.

If there were a God, none of these would be necessary.

I don't believe many Christians actually believe in God - but use Him as a tool, or sometimes a weapon.  They hope there's a God, but don't really believe.  Someone prove to me how I'm wrong.

Military Religious Fitness Test

The separation of church and state is under attack.  You have to give Christians some credit for their creativity in subverting the Supreme Court and the United States Constitution, though.  Very clever... but very wrong.

Letting Go of God

This video will lead you to the rest of the parts.  Enjoy!

New Ten Commandments

The source for this list is here.  I thought about inventing my own list - but why?  This list is very good.  I think if we could get the Biblical Ten Commandments replaced with these, the world would be a better place.

First Commandment: Do not do to others what you would not want them to do to you.


Second Commandment: In all things, strive to cause no harm.


Third Commandment: Treat your fellow human beings, your fellow living things, and the world in general with love, honesty, faithfulness and respect.


Fourth Commandment: Do not overlook evil or shrink from administering justice, but always be ready to forgive wrongdoing freely admitted and honestly regretted.


Fifth Commandment: Live life with a sense of joy and wonder.


Sixth Commandment: Always seek to be learning something new.


Seventh Commandment: Test all things; always check your ideas against the facts, and be ready to discard even a cherished belief if it does not conform to them.


Eighth Commandment: Never seek to censor or cut yourself off from dissent; always respect the right of others to disagree with you.


Ninth Commandment: Form independent opinions on the basis of your own reason and experience; do not allow yourself to be led blindly by others.


Tenth Commandment: Question everything.

The Trinity

I had the pleasure of attending a church where the Pastor attempted to prove the Trinity, and by doing so, the divinity and deity of Jesus Christ.  What I heard was the desperate, strangled ravings of someone who doubts very much that what he is saying is true, but by tricking others into believing it hopes to believe it as well.

The Pastor's shoehorn approach was six-part and is dissected below:

Pots and Kettles

Remember the story of pots and kettles?  Billy Graham doesn't see the hypocrisy in this story he wrote not so long ago.  For those who actually have the ability to think for themselves (unlike Billy Graham) you will see the similarities between superstition and religious belief.  I don't believe the story is satire.

Just in case, the entire story is copied below:

Persecution Against Atheists

This is why I have this blog:

"Sectarian" violence.

"Sectarian" is the mealy-mouthed way the press refers to "religious".  So, whenever you see "sectarian violence" you should substitute it in your head for "one religious group fighting another religious group based solely on their competing belief".  Therefore, whenever you see "sectarian" violence you can also substitute "stupid" or any other similarly condescending adverb you prefer.

This news story is talking about a terrorist organization known as Boko Haram who wants to establish Sharia law in Nigeria including (gasp) the Christian south.

The fact that the Nigerian government is considering starting peace talks with him is just an indicator that they might be willing to make this happen.

I am saddened that the Nigerian government is so wimpy.  In order to prevent the same thing from happening in the United States, we must never negotiate with terrorists and we must educate our youth so they don't grow up as stupid and superstitious as Boko Haram.

If Boko Haram were not religious, they would have no reason to murder their fellow Nigerians.

Religion needs to go.

Catholic Bull****

I'm not sure how high on the list Catholics place the Catholic News Service, but if even one Catholic is misinformed due to the following story, it is a tragedy.  Why?  Because it is just more evidence that Christianity expects others to be honest, but has no problem deluding itself and its fellow members.

This news story, by someone named Chaz Muth, lies about how wicked Atheism is, how it is a dividing force in the United States and probably misquotes the Pope saying the same thing.  However, I wouldn't put it past the Pope.  I doubt it only because the Pope is usually a very well educated man who should be educated enough to NOT say stupid things.

Some counter-points to this incorrect, self-deluding Catholic news article are the following:

• The writer says that 25% of all Americans are Atheists, based on a 2009 Pew study.  However, after some research, this study says only about 5% of Americans outright call themselves Atheist.  There were a larger number of Christians who said they did not believe in god (interesting).
• The article then states that "radical secularism", whatever that means, threatens the core values of American culture.  What the writer wants you to believe is that his personal values are the same as your personal values, and that his values are the values of nearly all Americans.  This is a misleading statement and drips with cowardice and manipulation.  It is true that secularism is different than religion and that some of the values are different, but if you've read any other part of this blog, you could easily see that religious values are self-serving and often very wicked.
• The author then quotes another author and says that secularism is a huge threat to humanity because it causes fragmentation.  This statement is misleading because the author, on purpose, fails to mention that religion is the true divider of people.  Catholics and Protestants have been killing each other for hundreds of years, even though they say they worship the same god, eat the same food and often speak the same language.  When was the last time you heard of two warring factions of Atheism fighting over which god they did NOT believe in?  Atheists fight... over which Ben and Jerry's flavor is the best, Target vs Wal-Mart, over who should be President... but it is not often we kill each other over it.
• One also does not often hear about an Atheist group slinging death threats against a religious group.  Instead, as demonstrated recently (check Fox news), self-proclaimed Christians have a field-day threatening the lives of Atheists.

I could go on, but I think you get the point.  The author provided a very one-sided argument, twisted the truth and probably invented other "truths" just to try to scare people.  Why would the author want to scare people?  To turn them against secularism.  So much for Christian values.

P.S.

One intersting point I'd like to bring up:  This study, again by Pew, find that Atheists know more about the Bible than even Catholics do.  Maybe that's why we're Atheist?

The World We Live In

We live in a messed-up, dirty, wicked world.  Our skies are polluted, our children are learning to self-harm out of shame and an inability to forgive themselves.  More people in jail are Theists than are not, disease is running rampant and the cure is being held back by the Church.

Bill Maher Collection

In this post, I've collected some of my favorite Bill Maher clips.  This guy is funny and smart.  Be forewarned - he likes to cuss.  >=)

And more... click the link below!

Bill Maher

Funny!

The Atheist Experience

Baloney Detection Kit

Does Goodness Require God?

Decide for yourself.  Watch this video to see the debate.  It's a long video, but well worth your time.

Creationists Fail Again

Cheers! You're an Atheist (Official Video)

Atheists Are Hated - Sad But True Fact

The religious hate Atheists.  Why?  I'm not sure, but if anyone wants to suggest reasons, the forum is open.  Here's the evidence that Atheists are hated:

A Diferent Take on Imagine

I just found this video this morning.  It's in a grim tone, but delivers the same message in a new way.

If Christians Believe in Heaven...

If Christians believe in Heaven, why aren't they excited to go there?  I contend that there is a little bit of doubt in even the most ardent Christian.  I further contend that no Christian preacher is truly a full-fledged Christian and that many if not most of them don't believe in their religion at all.  This video by darkmatter2525 illustrates this point precisely.

The Answer to Everything

Christians think that God is the answer to everything.  Thanks to darkmatter2525 for making this video which illustrates just how silly this idea really is.

The Worms Go In

I am now a member of Think Atheist and have found great camraderie from fellow Atheists.  One of the greatest parts of the website http://thinkatheist.com is the forum.  One person asked, now that we know there is no heaven, how do we deal with that?

One response was this poem by Digital Cuttlefish called "Worms Go In".  This is a very good poem that pretty-much sums up our plight, whether you are Christian, Mohammedan, Atheist, Agnostic, Christian Scientist, Mormon or any other religion.  We all share the same fate, so why bother fighting and killing one another?  Why fight over who has the better imaginary friend?  Nothing you do on this planet will get you a heaven full of virgins, nor streets of gold.  Prejudice is stupid as are gangs.

Please read the following poem.

AudioBook Review: The Magic of Reality

I just purchased a copy of the audiobook: The Magic of Reality by Richard Dawkins and will post my review on this blog.  Stay tuned.

Christians Under Attack - for real

According to this news article, Christians are under attack just because they are Christian.  Hrm... funny thing - again, it is NOT Atheists who are attacking them.  Instead the Christians are being attacked by Mohammedans.

Christians like to say that they are being attacked, even when they aren't, such as when Atheists bring up the fact that there is zero proof for their god.

While these events are tragic, if both sides where Atheist, what would they have to fight about?

Book Review: Promises to Pray

I have recently acquired a small book authored by Roy Lessin titled, "Promises to Pray Over Your Children".  The book claims to be a helpful tool to parents who aren't sure how to effectively pray for their kids.

However, I find this book disturbing and twisted, and just another way to indoctrinate children and shackle parents.  Here's why: