Atheist Essential (part 3)

Today, an atheist needs an essential to aid himself navigate pseudoarguments and another groundless statements of believers whose sole intent is to undermine the views of an atheist. Hence, my effort to gather and discuss any of the issues we face.

There is no Pope of Atheism

The past and continuity of religion make a kind of organization work – the greater the hierarchical and structured religion. So today’s Catholics must someway feel liable for crusades or inquisitions. These are issues rather distant in time and can be qualified for the problems of times rightly passed. However, this can no longer be said of an active protection strategy for kid abusers. Ba – not only the protection, but even the ability to harm more children, intimidate victims, and present besides the evasion of responsibility, including financial, for these actions. all single Catholic is co-responsible for what happened and what happens – just as all associate of the PZPR is co-responsible for martial law – even if he was just a private apparatusist somewhere in the province. due to the fact that just keeping a membership in the organization, knowing what it was doing, means taking that work voluntarily.

However, believers, erstwhile the sins of religion are pointed out, frequently respond to the crimes of atheists: Pol Pot, Hitler, Stalin. There is frequently a discussion about whether these people were actually atheists or not – completely pointless due to the fact that it does not matter. Atheism is neither religion nor religion. Atheists have only 1 thing in common – deficiency of religion in God, as to all the remainder can vary and fight to death and life. They have no common views on morality, on what is right or important. This distinguishes atheists from believers – the second divide at least any moral code.

Assigning atheistics as a group of work for the actions of individuals is simply a misunderstanding. While believers, or even full spiritual organizations, do deeds in the name of their god and religion, there is no pope of atheism who decrees what should be done in the name of atheism, there is no holy books of atheism, ordering what to do and what not to do. The atheist doesn't believe in God, but he can believe in horoscopes, flat Earth, and Donald Trump. The actions and beliefs of atheists are their individual origin and individual responsibility—and do not bring to another atheists either glory or vulva. There is no crime of atheism, but there are crimes of Catholicism or Islam.

Pascal Plant

Often there is an interesting argument “for” religion in discussions about faith. Pascal stated that religion is worth believing, due to the fact that religion costs comparatively little, for this possible reward is huge. If there is no god, there will be no punishment for faith. Atheism is expected to give small benefit in life, but if there is simply a god, the punishment will be terrible. Then it's better to believe.

The list of problems with this argument is long. Let's look at any of them.

First, the argument assumes that we have only 2 options – religion or disbelief. However, as a part of our faith, we have thousands of gods now professed and further thousands professed in the past. Which one? Especially since punishment for bad choices can be possibly much heavier than for atheism.

Second, the argument assumes that the deity is an idiot and is not recognized in cyclical faithfulism. He will not separate between the actual religion and the calculated approach to rewards and penalties. If there is simply a god, then those who have placed the bet together are frying in the same cauldron as its inventor.

Bible

The Bible is an extraordinary work—although seldom read [for timeless see the Bible in short]. For me, this reading was the last step towards atheism. For many, however, it is the origin of fact and morality. As a work written for at least a millennium, by at least a fewer twelve authors; it is simply a evidence to the times in which it was created. Each book served any purpose, had a set of readers, arose in another times. Moreover, her books were not standardized, and the contents of the same book may have differed significantly. And seemingly it didn't bother anyone at the time. 2 different versions of Jeremiah were found in the Qumran scrolls. It's unthinkable today.

It was only erstwhile these books were collected into 1 collection and peculiar rights were granted to him that problem began. In particular, Christianity sought to prove that the Old Testament was the foreshadowing of Jesus – 1 coherent and univocal communicative culminated in the apocalypse. The problem, however, is that specified cohesion can only be achieved by making very far-reaching reinterpretations, highlighting any threads while at the same time ignoring others and, moreover, utilizing imagination to patch out apparent contradictions.

And so has the apologetic manufacture been operating for respective centuries trying to explain that contradictions in the Bible are not contradictions, due to the fact that there is simply a non-zero, though adhering probability that both described things may have happened. Take Judas' fate. Did he hang himself like Matthew, or did he fall head-on in Acts and burst so that the bowels poured out of him? Either 1 or the other... And yet the apologists will say that he most likely hanged himself first, and then a very strong wind blew, which ripped the corpse off the side, twisted the fickle with them so that they fell head down and the body burst in half. Of course, specified a script is absurd, but the apologists already know the answer – the Bible always tells the fact and is full in agreement – their function is to defend the fact at all costs [see religion and science]. And watching these trials is rather amusing--even on the level of investigating to find what the name of each of the 12 apostles was...

Even more amazing is the Bible’s origin of morality. The alleged “ten commandments” are frequently cited. I compose in quotes, for there are any 100 good commandments in the Bible, and the Bible describes 10 commandments (or, in fact, words) rather different from what we were taught in the lesson of religion. Who remembers that 1 of the 10 commandments is to celebrate the feast of unleavened bread, just as sacrificing (in the sense of killing on the altar) everything (including children), the firstborn (fortunately with the anticipation of redemption)?

But without picking on terminology, if we look at them, it turns out that even these 10 commandments we know give a very mediocre moral compass. The first 3 are issues stricte Religious, 4th punishments to worship father and parent – which mostly looks right, but not unconditional. It doesn't seem right to worship a molesting father or mother. The remainder of the commandments, on the another hand, talk about what bad things should not be done. It's always something, but there's no word on what to do. There is nothing about helping a neighbor, caring for nature, or anything else that could bring good into the world. Resisting from evil is simply a beginning, but far from adequate to admit the Bible as any kind of moral bush.

Especially if we look at what is inactive in this Bible and is called a good one: the death punishment for insignificant transgressions, specified as the gathering of panic on Saturday, mass murders, ritual poisoning of the fetus to find paternity, sanctioning slavery – the list of horrors continues endlessly. Furthermore, reading the Old Testament, the reader begins to conclude that nothing worse has happened to the Chosen Nation than being chosen. The god described there is simply a very unpleasant individual, vindictive, cruel – even sadistic. His advantage was that the torment ended with death – there is no hell or heaven there. The fresh Testament added a imagination of eternal torture after death.

The Way to Atheism

Atheism doesn't necessarily request a road. It is the natural state of man [see: natural tendency to believe]. My children don't gotta get on the road to atheism – at most they may pass the way to any faith. religion requires indoctrination, which is usually carried out from an early age. The child's head is highly absorbent and confident. The function of parents is to supply him with a certain framework of action and cognition of the world. Often, however, this assurance is abused “for educational purposes” – threatening children with monsters to guarantee their obedience is not uncommon. Sometimes these abuses are done in good religion to add magic to the children’s world. This category includes tooth fairyes and Santas. However, the impact on trust in parents is always fatal.

Religious indoctrination is no longer a conscious abuse of trust – more intergenerational promotion of patterns, but besides trauma. Everything in good religion – due to the fact that what can be more valuable than saving a child. Printed since childhood, the mechanisms developed for centuries powerfully and most likely keep man obedient, most frequently for the remainder of his life. The transition to atheism is frequently difficult, painful and lasting, usually triggered by any shock. Although there are those who can cast off religion with 1 effort of will or realize that their religion is just an empty ritual. The road to atheism is very individual.

My way was 1 of the long ones. I come from a believing family, but not a spiritual exaltation – like most likely the overwhelming majority of Poles. I was the 1 who fell into deeper immersion in religion erstwhile I was a kid – I became an altar boy, ordered fast meals on Fridays at home. I thought I was a deep believer and attended Mass for almost all my studies. It was only during my doctorate in the United States that I received loud scandals about the protection of kid molesters by the Catholic Church. There is no crucial political protection there, so the information came out much and quickly. It was a shock that led me to atheism. In the first step, I stated that I could not proceed to be a Catholic, due to the fact that membership of the only organization known to me, which in a systemic way allows harm to children, is incompatible with my moral sense. But I inactive considered myself a Christian – due to the fact that what do human errors gotta do with God?

Shortly thereafter, I decided to read the Bible. I was curious in religions much earlier, but someway I never reached the sacred book of my religion (it is strangely common). I must admit that reading was fascinating (as opposed to the Qur'an, through which I went only by force of will). It has allowed me to realize quite a few how our cultural ellipse is designed. I was shocked by the brutality and immorality of the Bible, and it was interesting to note its inconsistency and interior contradictions. But the full body led me to 1 conclusion: what the Bible describes may be fascinating, but undoubtedly false. That's how my religion went.

Apostasis

Apostasis has become a hot subject in fresh years. The unquestionable arrogance of the Church, its paleness with power, greed, arrogance, sexual scandals, corruption, and all sorts of another qualities led to a retreat from religion. Poland becomes the fastest laicising country in Europe, and intergenerational differences are shocking in this regard. Therefore, it is crucial for many to sign out of a clearly rotten organization to which they were enrolled without their own informed consent.

Of course, the Church itself makes the procedure as hard as possible – it requires witnesses, a journey to the parish of baptism. Moreover, the effects of the apostasy from the Church's point of view are rather insignificant – they actually boil down to annotation. De facto Apostasy does not mean to leave the Church due to the fact that baptism is irreversible. Semel catholicus, semper catholicus. There will besides be no removal from church books. Apostasis is treated as a temporary whim.

Is it an apostasy or not? It's an individual matter. If you feel better about it, you want to show your transformation and contribute to weakening the position of the Church – make an apostasy. If your religion and religion are already perfectly indifferent to you and you have no request to reverse decisions made for you, it's a waste of effort – you better do something good for others or yourself at the time.