Hi Peeps!
Before I begin:
I do wish more religious waverers would take a little time out to watch this 1999 TV remake of a 1955 film based on the true case of a young teacher brought to trial in 1925 for trying to teach Evolution in a school in the USA.
At the time it was referred to as "The Monkey Trial". It SHOULD tell you all you need to know about who were the monkeys of the time and who STILL are.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYCfo4hVolQ
"πππ₯πππππππππ ππ€ ππ π£π π₯π ππ π¨ππ₯π π₯ππ ππππππ₯πͺ π₯π ππππ£π π₯πππ π₯ππ ππππππ₯πͺ π₯π π₯ππππ." - πΈππ₯ππ ππͺ π. πΈπππ€π π‘ (πΎππππ€ππ€)
Please note that I, Anthony W. Allsop, will never submit to being emotionally bullied, blackmailed and cajoled in regard to the unshakeable stance I'm taking against all those Man-made fairy tales purporting to be the God Given Truth.
Life's too short for meaningless apologies. "The Truth Will Out"
Religions:
Same shit, different arseholes.
There IS an AFTERLIFE. It's EXACTLY the same as the BEFORELIFE.
Can anyone on here remember their BEFORELIFE?
So, that renowned scientist Sir Isaac Newton was in fact a devout Christian/God believer.
However, Isaac Newton perhaps believed in God, but that was because he wasn't aware of -
A: The actual age of the Earth being a bit more than the 7,000 years allotted for the time since 'The Biblical Account of the Creation of the Earth and EVERYTHING, including the universe'.
B: The age of our galaxy compared to the age of our sun & Earth.
C: The size of our galaxy compared to the size of the universe.
D: The fact that there are many more solar systems other than ours..
E: The fact that there are BILLIONS of other galaxies.
F: Plate techtonics:
G: Darwinian science of evolution pointing to the fact that all life on Earth is related and we are merely apes who could think better.
H: DNA and the Genome.
I: The dinosaurs and their ultimate fate:
J: ALL religions are the same shit, just the arseholes are different.
Apostasy should be worshipped.
I am a man of religious tolerance.
I can tolerate ANY religion, except for Islam, Scientology, Catholicism/Christianity, Judaism, Taoism, Sikhism, Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses and Zoroastrianism etc.
Scientology is an even worse contagious disease than Coronavirus.
Latest battle to curb the spread of corona virus is claimed to be 'The laying on of hands.'
Get it at a church near you.
Look on the bright side. Those who believe there's an afterlife better than this one shouldn't be worrying.
Age related:
Talking of old age. I don't want to live 'til I'm a hundred. That is unless I get to the age of ninety-nine.
OUR CREATION?
Did you know that life on the 4,500,000,000 year old Earth began around 3,800,000,000 years ago while Mankind as we know it didn't make it on Earth until around 1,000,000 years ago?
That means that our planet managed quite well without us for approximately 4,499,000,000 years and most of the life on Earth managed for 3,799,000,000 years without us interfering.
It also points to the fact that our planet will manage quite well without us should we all succumb to some dreadful disease of other 'calamity'.
Now what was this you were saying about our creation?
Life in a nutshell.
The past is gone, the present is going, the future will always be there.
God is the puppet master and we are his puppets.
Time to cut some strings.
Statistics show that non -believers stand as much chance of surviving disasters as believers.
That's gotta mean something.
That wobbly table.
Is it wobbly because one leg is shorter or longer than the other three or is it wobbly because three of the legs are longer or shorter than the other one?
Be proud and stand by your own opinions even though you feel you are the only one in step.
He who sees wrong being done and yet ignores it is also a wrongdoer.
There's a subtle difference between religious brainwashing and education. One can question education without fear of rejection - or worse.
Footprints In The Sand variation: My Dear child, please accept my most humble apologises for my getting pissed at that last beach tavern and you having to carry me the rest of the way home.
Yours Faithfully,
God.
Religions:
Same shit, different arseholes.
There IS an AFTERLIFE. It's EXACTLY the same as the BEFORELIFE.
Can anyone on here remember their BEFORELIFE?
So, that renowned scientist Sir Isaac Newton was in fact a devout Christian/God believer.
However, Isaac Newton perhaps believed in God, but that was because he wasn't aware of -
A: The actual age of the Earth being a bit more than the 7,000 years allotted for the time since 'The Biblical Account of the Creation of the Earth and EVERYTHING, including the universe'.
B: The age of our galaxy compared to the age of our sun & Earth.
C: The size of our galaxy compared to the size of the universe.
D: The fact that there are many more solar systems other than ours..
E: The fact that there are BILLIONS of other galaxies.
F: Plate techtonics:
G: Darwinian science of evolution pointing to the fact that all life on Earth is related and we are merely apes who could think better.
H: DNA and the Genome.
I: The dinosaurs and their ultimate fate:
J: ALL religions are the same shit, just the arseholes are different.
Apostasy should be worshipped.
I am a man of religious tolerance.
I can tolerate ANY religion, except for Islam, Scientology, Catholicism/Christianity, Judaism, Taoism, Sikhism, Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses and Zoroastrianism etc.
Scientology is an even worse contagious disease than Coronavirus.
Latest battle to curb the spread of corona virus is claimed to be 'The laying on of hands.'
Get it at a church near you.
Look on the bright side. Those who believe there's an afterlife better than this one shouldn't be worrying.
Age related:
Talking of old age. I don't want to live 'til I'm a hundred. That is unless I get to the age of ninety-nine.
OUR CREATION?
Did you know that life on the 4,500,000,000 year old Earth began around 3,800,000,000 years ago while Mankind as we know it didn't make it on Earth until around 1,000,000 years ago?
That means that our planet managed quite well without us for approximately 4,499,000,000 years and most of the life on Earth managed for 3,799,000,000 years without us interfering.
It also points to the fact that our planet will manage quite well without us should we all succumb to some dreadful disease of other 'calamity'.
Now what was this you were saying about our creation?
Life in a nutshell.
The past is gone, the present is going, the future will always be there.
God is the puppet master and we are his puppets.
Time to cut some strings.
Statistics show that non -believers stand as much chance of surviving disasters as believers.
That's gotta mean something.
That wobbly table.
Is it wobbly because one leg is shorter or longer than the other three or is it wobbly because three of the legs are longer or shorter than the other one?
Be proud and stand by your own opinions even though you feel you are the only one in step.
He who sees wrong being done and yet ignores it is also a wrongdoer.
There's a subtle difference between religious brainwashing and education. One can question education without fear of rejection - or worse.
Footprints In The Sand variation: My Dear child, please accept my most humble apologises for my getting pissed at that last beach tavern and you having to carry me the rest of the way home.
Yours Faithfully,
God.
Just remember this. A lie may come and go, but a truth is ALWAYS there.
While the theist is a slave to his/her god, the road leading up to the latest religions is paved with the remains of thousands of long dead gods.
How do you see the stories in the holy books? Fictionally entertaining or factually educational?
God gave us everything, apparently. Even schizophrenia so that we could talk with him.
One should never judge the quality of the tea by the colour of the teapot.
Just like gods, angels are made of dark matter. They exist in their billions in outer space.
Just remember, you read it here first.
Acts of God?
Well there's God the arsonist, God the killer of innocents and God the thief of teeth.
No gods exist. Only the IDEA that gods exist, exists.
If religiots had the ability to think things through there would soon be no religiots.
Take a good look at your pet cat, dog or chimpanzee. Is it atheist or theist?
See how it doesn't question its own existence yet still exists without being either.
There's a lesson there for all of us and if I discover what that lesson is I'll be sure to let you know.
That Garden of Eden snake had begun his career in oil but then moved into selling religion 'cos it was more profitable.
I treated those leaks in religion like I treated leaks in my ancient out-of-date central heating system.
I replaced the whole system with a new one that was up-to-date, more economical and easier to get on with.
Each time we pray to Our Lord or give tithe, he should at least issue us with a receipt.
Gods DO exist, but only in the human imagination. Each believer is host to his/her personal god that lives between their ears. It never comes out from that prison like cell, it just lives there being kept alive while slowly dying.
When it's keeper dies, so too does his/her god.
It is estimated that around 99.99% of precious metals and stones are lying undisturbed where 'The Creator' left them. Stick that in your offertory box.
One's god only exists in one's mind. Nowhere else, just in one's mind.
The god of the Old Testament falls down in the first few lines of Genesis. Jesus of the New Testament takes a little longer, but not much.
While others believe that some entity that appeared from nowhere magicked the whole universe and everything in it inside a week by saying those magic words - "Let there be....", I believe in using common knowledge.
NO words of god(?) are worth the clay tablet/parchment/papyrus they were written on.
Never argue about theism from within a religious group. It's like arguing in a pub as to who let off that stinking fart.
No need for prayers to any god. Just pray to a dog turd and you'll find the results are EXACTLY the same.
It is written here on this beer mat that I am the truth and the light.
Atheism is an open church with neither borders, ethnic classification, controlling issues nor tithes.
ALL gods eventually die. History is OVERFLOWING with dead gods.
The direct opposite of atheism is gullibility.
Unlike your god, gravity is always there whether you choose it to be or not.
They now have debit card readers in places of worship. I'd bet some will even arrange direct debit on the standing order system.
Make an effort this Sunday and join your local church.
WARNING: May contain nuts.
The reason we don't see God is because he's far far away in the cosmos creating suns, moons and planets by the trillion and hasn't got the time to revisit all of them.
Gods' are bollocks that should be castrated from your mind to prevent them breeding.
Over the centuries there have been many occasions where the men in frocks were convinced that THEY knew better than the men and women in smocks.
Why do some folk feel the need to have to read their holy books over and over or at least have them read to them?
I only had to read Charles Darwin's book 'The Origin of Species' once and I was convinced that the holy books had it all wrong.
"Do you, John Doe, take this deity to love honour and obey, so help you God, or else he will beat the shit out of you?"
If there is a promised better life beyond this one for the believers, why do they mourn death instead of celebrating it?
Just a minute! Maybe there's an afterlife after the afterlife? Who'd know?
Had Jesus been crucified in France we might now see lots of people wearing little guillotines around their necks.
I'd like to be able to say that a Holy Book (whichever) is like the curate's egg. But there isn't one even THAT good.
Had Superman been created around the desert campfires to entertain the kids a few thousand years ago, HE would've become a god.
We should not be held guilty for the sins/crimes of our ancestors, otherwise we would ALL be guilty of something or other.
There's infinitely more evidence of the age of the Earth and Evolution to be found in my own back garden than there is evidence to be found of the existence of any god or the claimed 7,000- years old creation in the whole wide world.
Our sun is only one of countless TRILLIONS of suns out there in the universe. Maybe the creator thingy wore an asbestos radiation proof suit during the making of them.
Just as Harry Potter is the invention of WOMAN, ALL religious entities are the invention of MAN.
The pious say: God will wreak his revenge on the unbelievers.
The unbelievers reply: Which one?
https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_gods_and_goddesses
Mythology/Fairy-tales. There's little difference. I find them both entertaining, though not informative.
Having belief in god is as necessary to humans as having belief in fairies, unicorns and politicians.
There is no such thing as MAGIC. Get that into your thick heads.
God's Witnesses are dreamers. They merely relate their dreams instead of keeping them to themselves. It's that simple.
Muhammad goes to bed, goes to sleep. Is picked up by some angel riding a winged donkey and flies up to heaven to have an audience with his god and then wakes up in his own bed again.
I mean, how would WE explain such an event as that?
I've had dreams of being in bed with 'Pan's People' and thoroughly enjoying myself and waking up in a damp bed.
Maybe that was MY idea of Heaven.
Theist: "Can you offer PROOF that God doesn't exist?"
Atheist: "Tell me what PROOF you require and I'll go get it."
Why do some men get erections when there is no sexual attraction within maybe millions of miles?
'Cos sexual attraction is all in the mind, just like god.
Question: Why do we need places in which to worship and pray to our lord when our lord is all around us?
Answers:
1) Places of worship are there to bring like minded people together en mass in order to enforce their tribal belief. Think brainwashing.
2) They are collection points for tithes and offertory.
Religion is like love, and we all know what THAT means. Love can be sooo fleeting.
Just look at all the FAILED religions and FAILED marriages of the past.
Education: It's not just that I want to KNOW, it's more to do with the fact that I don't want to NOT know.
Question: Which came first, God or the chicken?
Answer: Well, seeing as the chicken came before Man, obviously it's the chicken.
There is infinitely more chance of humans meeting extraterrestrials than there is chance of humans meeting any god.
If's god is so almighty powerful and omniscient, why the hell does he need YOU to fight his corner?
Only those who survive disaster thank their god for saving them. The other poor bastards are left to suffer and to die without reply.
A mugger says "Put your hands up" while the priest says "Put your hands together" Either way, you hand over your money and pray.
Why these blasphemy laws? I mean, any god worth its salt should be self governing.
Why should I trust & respect religion when religion doesn't trust & respect the sciences.
A FB friend writes: As an atheist I can find truths in the New Testament and the Quran.
I write: There's a LOT of truth in 'The Simpsons' scripts, too.
Islam has got indoctrination down to a fine art. It would appear to be the only admirable thing about that religion.
"Only fools believe that THEIR god is the answer and not mine." Any Theist.
One cannot reason with the unreasonable. Far better to quit while one is losing.
Religions. Same shit, different arseholes.
Nothing scares more than those who fear their god.
Often the cry goes up: "Leave religion alone. What harm does it do to anyone."
Me: "Well now. How much time have you got?"
Since the time when god was created by Man, Mankind has been god's unpaid publicity agency.
The one overriding fault with humans is that some have too LITTLE imagination while some others have too MUCH.
If there was any truth at all in prophesying, prophets would be among the richest people on Earth.
POOF! There was God.
POOF! There was the universe.
POOF! There was Earth.
POOF! There was everything else.
ALL holy books should be disposed of as they are now past their 'Best Before' date.*
* The Bronze Age.
Compared to the age of the universe, the average human lifespan is about one millisecond.
The greatest thing that The Creator created was the invisibility suit.
Gods don't have voices, that's why we have to SPEAK for them.
Gods don't have muscles, that's why we have to FIGHT for them.
Gods don't have brains, that's why we have to THINK for them.
The only cure for ignorance is education. However, if the ignorance is TOO ingrained the ignorant choose not to seek education.
Those who choose to condemn a disbeliever, do - in effect - condemn themselves.
ALL gods are the Superheroes of their time.
The vast majority of believers are conned into believing BEFORE they can even read the bible!
I've just been informed by a 'wiser' man that we should not compare Santa Claus with God as Santa is a recent man-made construct created purely for commercial gain.
Oh how I laughed.
Might've been better had we started off referring to God as X, the unknown quantity.
I'm not sure why anyone would choose to be agnostic.
Why use the word SIN when the word WRONG is the proper word to use?
When Man didn't have religion they were known as Apes.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit religion.
Religion is based on superstition. That should be obvious to anyone who can THINK beyond it.
If heaven is true and we being apes is also true, does this mean that heaven is full of apes?
God and the Devil are fictional super heroes and villains just like Batman and The Joker.
Having too MUCH imagination or too LITTLE imagination will often result in one becoming a religious asshole.
Do you know what I think hilariously funny about the brainwashed, brain dead, bible thumping creation believers?
They'll swear to believing that the Earth and everything was created less than seven thousand years ago while at the same time leaving their fossil fuelled (coal, oil and gas that are made from long dead plants and animals) heated and lighted homes and using transport that is powered by fossil fuels to attend places of worship built of various sedimentary and metamorphic rock that consists mainly of the remains of countless numbers of creatures that lived and died over many hundreds of millions - even BILLIONS - of years.
The fairy tale story of 'The Creation' pales in comparison to the REAL story of how we, the Earth, and everything else came to be.
Gods' are NOT great. Gods' are fiction.
Blackmail (emotional and monetary) is very strong in religion.
If you can bring yourself to regard the holy books as comic books, they provide a laugh a minute.
It's not easy teaching people to think. It's much easier teaching them NOT to think.
I mean, the various religions have been doing just that for thousands of years.
And very successfully, too.
It's not that WE can't live without GOD, it's more to do with the fact that no GOD can exist without US.
No one should have to forfeit their life for thinking and speaking their mind.
When the dinosaurs were almost wiped out, the remaining smaller creatures survival evolved into mice which led on to man.
DNA evidence shows that we still have a lot of mouse DNA in our blood.
If there WERE to be a Heaven and a Hell, neither would've had any residents for the first 4.5 BILLION years.
Naming the years after their Christian deity was one of the greatest advertising coups EVER, but it still doesn't prove that their deity is genuine.
Religion can be likened to the hook in a butcher's hand. My advice? Steer well clear of that hook.
God isn't immortal. However, the idea of God would appear to be.
Gods throughout history have tried in vain to kill off their rival gods by hiring lots of killers to do the job for them.
The best religions are the dead religions. And there are LOTS of 'em.
Atheist/realist: The witness to evolution lies in the fossil record.
Theist/fuddled: But God put those fossils there in order to test our faith.
It doesn't matter at WHAT age one stops believing in gods, just as long as one STOPS believing in them.
OK, you have me. I'll be happy to believe God was the creator of everything. But on one condition.
Explain to me how he did it.
LATE NEWS JUST COMING IN!
After creating the Big-Bang, God then set about creating Evolution.
Well, at least it makes a BIT more sense than Man's original account of how he'd done it all inside a week.
No god ever spoke even one word nor did any god write even one word.
We should be able to read about the Devil's version of events. It's not too late for Satan's Biography to hit the shelves.
He could get ghost writers to do it, just like God did with his.
The reason why those who sell religion are just as liable to commit sin is because NO salespersons have ever had to truly believe in the products they sell.
Jesus should think himself lucky. These days he would've been screwed to that cross.
The first of God's design faults . . . .
Adam was the first bloke to get joy out of playing with himself.
God saw this and thought, "I'll soon put a stop to that little game."
So during the night he took a rib from Adam and out of it he fashioned WOMAN.
"That should fix it," thought God.
But, verily, how wrong it turned out to be. For Adam had already realised how good it was.
Amen.
Is this the answer to the flat or round Earth debate? There are LOTS of flat planets out there in the solar system.
However, we can't see them all 'cos some of them are edge on to the Earth.
While the theist is a slave to his/her god, the road leading up to the latest religions is paved with the remains of thousands of long dead gods.
How do you see the stories in the holy books? Fictionally entertaining or factually educational?
God gave us everything, apparently. Even schizophrenia so that we could talk with him.
One should never judge the quality of the tea by the colour of the teapot.
Just like gods, angels are made of dark matter. They exist in their billions in outer space.
Just remember, you read it here first.
Acts of God?
Well there's God the arsonist, God the killer of innocents and God the thief of teeth.
No gods exist. Only the IDEA that gods exist, exists.
If religiots had the ability to think things through there would soon be no religiots.
Take a good look at your pet cat, dog or chimpanzee. Is it atheist or theist?
See how it doesn't question its own existence yet still exists without being either.
There's a lesson there for all of us and if I discover what that lesson is I'll be sure to let you know.
That Garden of Eden snake had begun his career in oil but then moved into selling religion 'cos it was more profitable.
I treated those leaks in religion like I treated leaks in my ancient out-of-date central heating system.
I replaced the whole system with a new one that was up-to-date, more economical and easier to get on with.
Each time we pray to Our Lord or give tithe, he should at least issue us with a receipt.
Gods DO exist, but only in the human imagination. Each believer is host to his/her personal god that lives between their ears. It never comes out from that prison like cell, it just lives there being kept alive while slowly dying.
When it's keeper dies, so too does his/her god.
It is estimated that around 99.99% of precious metals and stones are lying undisturbed where 'The Creator' left them. Stick that in your offertory box.
One's god only exists in one's mind. Nowhere else, just in one's mind.
The god of the Old Testament falls down in the first few lines of Genesis. Jesus of the New Testament takes a little longer, but not much.
While others believe that some entity that appeared from nowhere magicked the whole universe and everything in it inside a week by saying those magic words - "Let there be....", I believe in using common knowledge.
NO words of god(?) are worth the clay tablet/parchment/papyrus they were written on.
Never argue about theism from within a religious group. It's like arguing in a pub as to who let off that stinking fart.
No need for prayers to any god. Just pray to a dog turd and you'll find the results are EXACTLY the same.
It is written here on this beer mat that I am the truth and the light.
Atheism is an open church with neither borders, ethnic classification, controlling issues nor tithes.
ALL gods eventually die. History is OVERFLOWING with dead gods.
The direct opposite of atheism is gullibility.
Unlike your god, gravity is always there whether you choose it to be or not.
They now have debit card readers in places of worship. I'd bet some will even arrange direct debit on the standing order system.
Make an effort this Sunday and join your local church.
WARNING: May contain nuts.
The reason we don't see God is because he's far far away in the cosmos creating suns, moons and planets by the trillion and hasn't got the time to revisit all of them.
Gods' are bollocks that should be castrated from your mind to prevent them breeding.
Over the centuries there have been many occasions where the men in frocks were convinced that THEY knew better than the men and women in smocks.
Why do some folk feel the need to have to read their holy books over and over or at least have them read to them?
I only had to read Charles Darwin's book 'The Origin of Species' once and I was convinced that the holy books had it all wrong.
"Do you, John Doe, take this deity to love honour and obey, so help you God, or else he will beat the shit out of you?"
If there is a promised better life beyond this one for the believers, why do they mourn death instead of celebrating it?
Just a minute! Maybe there's an afterlife after the afterlife? Who'd know?
Had Jesus been crucified in France we might now see lots of people wearing little guillotines around their necks.
I'd like to be able to say that a Holy Book (whichever) is like the curate's egg. But there isn't one even THAT good.
Had Superman been created around the desert campfires to entertain the kids a few thousand years ago, HE would've become a god.
We should not be held guilty for the sins/crimes of our ancestors, otherwise we would ALL be guilty of something or other.
There's infinitely more evidence of the age of the Earth and Evolution to be found in my own back garden than there is evidence to be found of the existence of any god or the claimed 7,000- years old creation in the whole wide world.
Our sun is only one of countless TRILLIONS of suns out there in the universe. Maybe the creator thingy wore an asbestos radiation proof suit during the making of them.
Just as Harry Potter is the invention of WOMAN, ALL religious entities are the invention of MAN.
The pious say: God will wreak his revenge on the unbelievers.
The unbelievers reply: Which one?
https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_gods_and_goddesses
Mythology/Fairy-tales. There's little difference. I find them both entertaining, though not informative.
Having belief in god is as necessary to humans as having belief in fairies, unicorns and politicians.
There is no such thing as MAGIC. Get that into your thick heads.
God's Witnesses are dreamers. They merely relate their dreams instead of keeping them to themselves. It's that simple.
Muhammad goes to bed, goes to sleep. Is picked up by some angel riding a winged donkey and flies up to heaven to have an audience with his god and then wakes up in his own bed again.
I mean, how would WE explain such an event as that?
I've had dreams of being in bed with 'Pan's People' and thoroughly enjoying myself and waking up in a damp bed.
Maybe that was MY idea of Heaven.
Theist: "Can you offer PROOF that God doesn't exist?"
Atheist: "Tell me what PROOF you require and I'll go get it."
Why do some men get erections when there is no sexual attraction within maybe millions of miles?
'Cos sexual attraction is all in the mind, just like god.
Question: Why do we need places in which to worship and pray to our lord when our lord is all around us?
Answers:
1) Places of worship are there to bring like minded people together en mass in order to enforce their tribal belief. Think brainwashing.
2) They are collection points for tithes and offertory.
Religion is like love, and we all know what THAT means. Love can be sooo fleeting.
Just look at all the FAILED religions and FAILED marriages of the past.
Education: It's not just that I want to KNOW, it's more to do with the fact that I don't want to NOT know.
Question: Which came first, God or the chicken?
Answer: Well, seeing as the chicken came before Man, obviously it's the chicken.
There is infinitely more chance of humans meeting extraterrestrials than there is chance of humans meeting any god.
If's god is so almighty powerful and omniscient, why the hell does he need YOU to fight his corner?
Only those who survive disaster thank their god for saving them. The other poor bastards are left to suffer and to die without reply.
A mugger says "Put your hands up" while the priest says "Put your hands together" Either way, you hand over your money and pray.
Why these blasphemy laws? I mean, any god worth its salt should be self governing.
Why should I trust & respect religion when religion doesn't trust & respect the sciences.
A FB friend writes: As an atheist I can find truths in the New Testament and the Quran.
I write: There's a LOT of truth in 'The Simpsons' scripts, too.
Islam has got indoctrination down to a fine art. It would appear to be the only admirable thing about that religion.
"Only fools believe that THEIR god is the answer and not mine." Any Theist.
One cannot reason with the unreasonable. Far better to quit while one is losing.
Religions. Same shit, different arseholes.
Nothing scares more than those who fear their god.
Often the cry goes up: "Leave religion alone. What harm does it do to anyone."
Me: "Well now. How much time have you got?"
Since the time when god was created by Man, Mankind has been god's unpaid publicity agency.
The one overriding fault with humans is that some have too LITTLE imagination while some others have too MUCH.
If there was any truth at all in prophesying, prophets would be among the richest people on Earth.
POOF! There was God.
POOF! There was the universe.
POOF! There was Earth.
POOF! There was everything else.
ALL holy books should be disposed of as they are now past their 'Best Before' date.*
* The Bronze Age.
Compared to the age of the universe, the average human lifespan is about one millisecond.
The greatest thing that The Creator created was the invisibility suit.
Gods don't have voices, that's why we have to SPEAK for them.
Gods don't have muscles, that's why we have to FIGHT for them.
Gods don't have brains, that's why we have to THINK for them.
The only cure for ignorance is education. However, if the ignorance is TOO ingrained the ignorant choose not to seek education.
Those who choose to condemn a disbeliever, do - in effect - condemn themselves.
ALL gods are the Superheroes of their time.
The vast majority of believers are conned into believing BEFORE they can even read the bible!
I've just been informed by a 'wiser' man that we should not compare Santa Claus with God as Santa is a recent man-made construct created purely for commercial gain.
Oh how I laughed.
Might've been better had we started off referring to God as X, the unknown quantity.
I'm not sure why anyone would choose to be agnostic.
Why use the word SIN when the word WRONG is the proper word to use?
When Man didn't have religion they were known as Apes.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit religion.
Religion is based on superstition. That should be obvious to anyone who can THINK beyond it.
If heaven is true and we being apes is also true, does this mean that heaven is full of apes?
God and the Devil are fictional super heroes and villains just like Batman and The Joker.
Having too MUCH imagination or too LITTLE imagination will often result in one becoming a religious asshole.
Do you know what I think hilariously funny about the brainwashed, brain dead, bible thumping creation believers?
They'll swear to believing that the Earth and everything was created less than seven thousand years ago while at the same time leaving their fossil fuelled (coal, oil and gas that are made from long dead plants and animals) heated and lighted homes and using transport that is powered by fossil fuels to attend places of worship built of various sedimentary and metamorphic rock that consists mainly of the remains of countless numbers of creatures that lived and died over many hundreds of millions - even BILLIONS - of years.
The fairy tale story of 'The Creation' pales in comparison to the REAL story of how we, the Earth, and everything else came to be.
Gods' are NOT great. Gods' are fiction.
Blackmail (emotional and monetary) is very strong in religion.
If you can bring yourself to regard the holy books as comic books, they provide a laugh a minute.
It's not easy teaching people to think. It's much easier teaching them NOT to think.
I mean, the various religions have been doing just that for thousands of years.
And very successfully, too.
It's not that WE can't live without GOD, it's more to do with the fact that no GOD can exist without US.
No one should have to forfeit their life for thinking and speaking their mind.
When the dinosaurs were almost wiped out, the remaining smaller creatures survival evolved into mice which led on to man.
DNA evidence shows that we still have a lot of mouse DNA in our blood.
If there WERE to be a Heaven and a Hell, neither would've had any residents for the first 4.5 BILLION years.
Naming the years after their Christian deity was one of the greatest advertising coups EVER, but it still doesn't prove that their deity is genuine.
Religion can be likened to the hook in a butcher's hand. My advice? Steer well clear of that hook.
God isn't immortal. However, the idea of God would appear to be.
Gods throughout history have tried in vain to kill off their rival gods by hiring lots of killers to do the job for them.
The best religions are the dead religions. And there are LOTS of 'em.
Atheist/realist: The witness to evolution lies in the fossil record.
Theist/fuddled: But God put those fossils there in order to test our faith.
It doesn't matter at WHAT age one stops believing in gods, just as long as one STOPS believing in them.
OK, you have me. I'll be happy to believe God was the creator of everything. But on one condition.
Explain to me how he did it.
LATE NEWS JUST COMING IN!
After creating the Big-Bang, God then set about creating Evolution.
Well, at least it makes a BIT more sense than Man's original account of how he'd done it all inside a week.
No god ever spoke even one word nor did any god write even one word.
We should be able to read about the Devil's version of events. It's not too late for Satan's Biography to hit the shelves.
He could get ghost writers to do it, just like God did with his.
The reason why those who sell religion are just as liable to commit sin is because NO salespersons have ever had to truly believe in the products they sell.
Jesus should think himself lucky. These days he would've been screwed to that cross.
The first of God's design faults . . . .
Adam was the first bloke to get joy out of playing with himself.
God saw this and thought, "I'll soon put a stop to that little game."
So during the night he took a rib from Adam and out of it he fashioned WOMAN.
"That should fix it," thought God.
But, verily, how wrong it turned out to be. For Adam had already realised how good it was.
Amen.
Is this the answer to the flat or round Earth debate? There are LOTS of flat planets out there in the solar system.
However, we can't see them all 'cos some of them are edge on to the Earth.
Gods have been and still ARE being created - by Man - in order to appease the losers.
Believers will make claim that their god is spiritual and at the same time make claim that their god can speak and can also design and build.
How come their god can form IDEAS without having a brain?
How come their god can SPEAK without having vocal cords?
How come their god can MOVE things without having bone muscle and sinew?
I'm just an old man but I'll challenge any of their gods to a 'best of three' arm wrestling match to be followed by a 'best of three' at tic-tac-toe.
And then we finish off with a KARAOKE singing contest.
Regarding the promised afterlife:
Will it EVER be seen as the bogus/ false promise that it is?
Or will there always be some shitheads who believe they deserve another life besides the one they already have and who will always be more than willing to pay good money out to the shysters in order to achieve it?
I've just been informed that I will see sense only when I have found God.
But how can I find God when All the gods are in hiding along with the Mermaids, Unicorns, Leprechauns, Fairies, Ogres, Pixies, The Loch Ness Monster, Santa, The Tooth Fairy, The Talking Snakes and those Flying Donkeys, etc?
The Maker.
Who makes the mould that grows on cheese?
Who makes the hair that grows on fleas?
Who makes the wind that rustles the leaves?
Who makes the punishment fitting for thieves?
Who makes the child with arthritic knees?
And who makes The Maker who ignores mother's pleas?
"Creation Science" is the finest example of an oxymoron you will ever get.
Is there life out there beyond Earth?
The 'doubtful': We are alone. No tangible proof of life anywhere out there in the Galaxy or even the Universe.
The not-so-doubtful: That's perhaps what the worms in the plant pot might be saying right now.
There was a time when we atheists were in the majority.
It was just after Mankind created the first god.
A FB friend writes:
"Belief in a spiritual realm of some type has been around for many thousands of years. I can not see it disappearing anytime soon."
I write:
"The human race managed perfectly well without gods for maybe a million years before our imagination took us to another level.
"Maybe it IS possible to reverse the human situation by using our imagination more positively."
Your afterlife is EXACTLY the same as that life you had a year or more before you were born.
God, as portrayed in the holy books, appears to have all the bad attributes of Man and yet very few of Mans good attributes.
Or maybe God doesn't exist and all this crap in the holy books was penned by men. And you know what some men are like.
Doesn't that look far more likely than it being the work of some imagined gods? Think about it, if you haven't already.
To be a good Christian, a good Muslim, a good Jew or a good supporter of any other god based religion, one has to ACCEPT the lies, to ACCEPT how to SPREAD the lies and also how to DENY the TRUTH by whatever means one can.
We have to alter our clocks by an hour tonight. This is simply because 'God the Creator' got things wrong right from the outset.
Furthermore, we have to resort to this action twice per year in order to save our farmers from having to milk their cows in the dark.
Surely HE should've seen this problem arising?
We are ALL in this together so we should all BE together. Religions cause divisions. They do NOT create unity and were never meant to.
The very fact that many hundreds of gods and their religions have been well and truly consigned to history should give us hope that today's gods and their religions will - more than likely - follow suit in the near future.
The only GOOD religions are DEAD religions.
"The greatest minds are often the most open minds." ~Bill Flavel~
Very well said, Bill. Obviously that doesn't mean minds should be open to the obviously ridiculous.
Heaven is just like any other travel company. You have to book it, pay for it well in advance and then HOPE that all goes well during your flight and your stay. Have a nice trip.
The Promises Made By Priests And Pastors Are Altogether Meaningless.
Ergo: I'd far rather rely on the sound promise of a new bicycle for Christmas than the empty promise of an 'Aston Martin Vantage' made by a man of the cloth.
Just a thought, but, MAYBE, just like God, that snake DIDN'T actually SAY anything, it just wrote what it wanted to say on stone tablets.
Man's creation of God is THE worst crime ever perpetrated on Mankind.
Worse even than Hitler's Holocaust. Just do the maths.
Just remember this: God and Jesus are as real as Batman and Robin.
There's FAR more evidence to prove the non-existence of gods than there is evidence to prove that any god exists.
The absence of evidence is evidence of absence.
Illusion begets collusion begets delusion begets confusion begets FAITH.
Different, but the same old same old.
My guess is that Jesus will be REALLY dead before this century is out.
Humans are older than gods as WE created THEM.
The only way a lie can prosper is if it's convincingly disguised as the truth.
Which makes one wonder how the BIGGEST lie ever got off the bloody ground.
Religion is a drug, and those priests etc., are the dealers. Think about it.
Selling Heaven is a lot like selling Time-Share apartments.
But at least with Time-Share you do get to see the apartment.
And another thing . . .
There's a fortune to be made by someone who can come up with an anti-religion vaccine.
Life is a lot like being a marble in a pinball machine. To get the most out of either we may require a nudge now and again.
Gods' (like unicorns) are the product of imagination.
But to be a non-believer in God takes REAL imagination.
"Like all good believers I believe in resorting to using gobbledegook in defence of my belief." Said no believer EVER.
Some of the greatest minds throughout history have fallen to the sword of Christianity. Anyone who is connected to that religion is complicit in the murder of those many innocents and thus should be retrospectively punished.
When FACT appears, FAITH goes out the window. Or at least it should.
Where knowledge enters, ignorance departs.
Any other scam run on the same lines as religion would soon be recognised as serious crime and action taken to bring it to an end.
Mankind is obviously very special to God. I mean, didn't he spend some 14,000,000,000 years carefully considering our design before creating us?
For 'religion' read 'mafiosi' and for 'mafiosi' read 'religion'.
Those who push religion have been deceiving folk for THOUSANDS of years. It HAS to stop!
Is FAITH the answer?
Here's one for those who put their faith in Faith.
Get yourself down to the bookies and put your life savings on that horse you have faith in to win. There, that's that sorted.
Next question.
If any of the holy books had been offered up for publication today they would've been laughed out of the publisher's office for being far too amateurish.
I have this feeling that ALL gods have been faked. Anyone else feel the same?
Faith. I believe every word written in the holy books . . .
. . . was authored by Man.
It's not right that Muslim men have more than one wife. It just doesn't seem fair on them. I mean, NO man deserves more than one mother-in-law!
QUESTION: Is there any religion around today that's still prepared to make human sacrifices in order to preserve its integrity?
Well, APART from Islam.
Heads up! Be careful when using the word CULTS in describing the religious 'cos it's very easy to make a Freudian slip.
Far better to be a straying lamb than a 'dead from the neck up' sheep.
The Islamic 72 virgins promise is asking a bit much. Maybe it was originally 72 vaginas and got taken out of context.
If God really COULD prevent/cure diseases you can bet he'd only be available on a doctor's prescription to be picked up from the local chemist.
There will come a time in the near future when NOBODY will be brave enough to admit to once believing in God.
Different belief systems.
The atheist's belief can change according to the changes in knowledge. Whereas the theist's belief is set for life.
Some people have masochistic tendency and take great delight in creating rods* for their own backs.
* Gods.
Someone just suggest to me that Atheism is a belief system. However, Science is also a belief system. So too are Geography, Mathematics and Languages. It's just a pity that the education establishment worldwide doesn't recognise Atheism and include it in school curricular.
The Naked Truth.
It doesn't matter a damn how much one dresses up a god, 'cos no matter what a god wears he will never be seen.
Muslims don't have to PRAY five times a day, they have to be BRAINWASHED five times a day. Not a lot of people know that.
Psalm 118:8 - "It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man." Extract from the book of God written by man.
I'll tell you what WOULD convince me there's an Afterlife. God puts up a selfie on social media with my mum and dad included in the picture, thumbs up and smiling.
Life after death is pretty much the same as life before life.
I find it rather unfair that the theists can insult MY intelligence but I cannot insult THEIRS as they appear bereft of any.
Religion is Mankind's worst invention. And that's including the atom bomb and peanut butter.
Mankind is OLDER than God. But only just.
It's easier to teach children to believe in God than it is to get them to learn good table manners.
Many theists KNOW in their heart that they are backing a loser, they just won't come out and admit it for fear of MAYBE being wrong.
Man is born of the Ape family and evolved.
Though it's quite obvious to me that some humans are not only still dragging their knuckles on the ground, they are also dragging their feet on the road of evolution.
If Jesus REALLY loved us he would come back and tell us it's all been con and that his REAL dad was a randy Roman soldier who had his end away with mother Mary while Joseph was out at work.
I mean, that's FAR more likely to be the truth.
Religions are sucking money out of suckers.
And the Lord said to his brainwashed followers: "Come. Let us prey."
That wobbly table.
Is it wobbly because one leg is shorter than the other three or is it wobbly because three of the legs are longer than the other one?
Be proud and stand by your own opinions.
Father confessional time. "I've slept with all three of my sisters. And the cat."
What harm has religion ever done to anyone?
Damn! This 'Sarcasm font' I've just purchased on line today is fcukin' useless!
Atheism is a belief system, too.
We atheists believe in exercising common sense.
We believe in the scientific approach.
We believe in searching for the truth.
We believe in thinking outside the box.
We believe in not believing in magic, mysticism and the supernatural.
Finally. We believe in not allowing our children and our children's children to be bamboozled, fooled and ripped off by religious shysters, and our aim, our endeavour, is to do something about it.
Any objections?
None of the holy books can hold a candle to a Haynes manual.
In a Haynes manual EVERYTHING is explained in raw detail with No ambiguity.
Monotheism is a move in the right direction, as the closer one is to having ONE god, the closer one is to having NO god.
Quoting passages from the holy scriptures as some sort of PROOF is as meaningless as quoting passages from any work of fiction as PROOF.
Christians 'crossing' themselves in prayer to their god is just as offensive to me as Muslims calling out 'allahu akbar'.
No Creator required. The Aeroplane, the Internet and the Smartphone have EVOLVED in the same time period as MANKIND has evolved.
When you die you'll not even be aware you're dead, never mind aware of where you are.
Are we destined to be born again after death? Well, as I see it, we MAY be born again.
The thing is we will never be born to be exactly the same as we were born our lifetime ago.
We may even be born something Non-human. Even something Non-organic.
You might be living your next life as a haemorrhoid on a pastor's bottom or grain of sand on bottom of the deepest ocean.
Whatever. Congratulations on your future new existence.
Here's a pertinent question on the origin of life.
If space explorers of the not too distant future discover primordial life existing on another planet or moon in our solar system, how will that life form be explained?
The Theist is quite willing to question the Atheist but will always baulk at questioning his own theism.
Moses, Muhammad, Jesus and many deranged killers are among those who heard voices in their head. What does that tell you?
I do find it strange that the Intelligence Services Worldwide are staffed in the main by people who believe in the Supernatural.
Gobbledegook was invented especially for the religious to explain their reasons for believing.
"God LIVETH!" sayeth the believer. "Then who GAVETH life to God?" asketh the cynic.
One particular gene mutation lead to belief in supernatural beings and can be passed on to offspring generation after generation.
Only a concentrated dose of commonsense can rid oneself of this abnormality.
If one is NOT prepared to follow fully the doctrine of one's chosen religion, then one is NOT wholly faithful to one's chosen religion.
In other words, one is little or no different to the atheists.
Religion is a cancer, and just like many cancers there is no cure.
On the subject of cancer.
Many $BILLIONS have been - and still are - being spent on finding cures for bodily cancers, and yet not ONE dollar has been spent on finding a cure for the cancer of religion.
Yet religion, just like cancer, has been - and still is being - responsible for MILLIONS of deaths.
Just remember this: One should NEVER put gods before Granddads and Grandmas.
Granddads and Grandmas' exist, gods do not.
While NO god has ever lived, NO god will ever die.
I can beat ANY god at ANYTHING. Apart from hiding.
There is infinitely more chance of humans meeting extraterrestrials than there is chance of humans meeting any god.
I'd stake my afterlife on it.
If I were to invent a religion, complete with its own god, I would have to give that god the name TRUTH.
I would encourage my 'flock' to seek out TRUTH and worship TRUTH for all they were worth.
Amen.
Religion is a drug.
A drug addict's mind is disturbed BEFORE he/she becomes a drug addict. Same holds true for alcoholics.
Science is unilaterally and universally the same and is generally accepted as such.
Neither of these qualities appertain to religion.
The question shouldn't be - "Do you believe in God?
The question should be - "How many gods do you disbelieve in?"
The closer one is to Monotheism the closer one is to Atheism.
Just that one more god left to disbelieve in and to let go of.
Any atheist who chooses to become theist is a bigger fool than any dyed-in-the-wool theist who rebukes atheism.
Banging your head against a brick wall will make you realise what the enlightened are up against when trying to enlighten the brainwashed.
It's quite obvious to me that it's easier by far to give people religion than to take religion away from them.
It's just the same with nicotine.
Could be better border control:
"Are there any religions you don't follow?"
"Yes."
"Which ones?"
This gives you the option of reading from the list of religions you've brought with you. It might take a while so take sandwiches with you and something to drink.
God isn't immortal. However, the idea of God would appear to be.
Seeing as religions and the religious are far more common than the irreligious, it would appear to prove that common sense isn't quite as common as some try to make out.
Please God, if you are there. Please give me strength to keep up the fight against religiosity.
Fools and their money are soon parted. However, parting fools from their gods isn't so easy.
A really successful lie evolves and takes on a life of its own. Holy books are full of such examples.
Just as long as you KNOW you are right, you cannot be wrong. THINKING you're right is meaningless.
If anyone REALLY wishes to know what happens to us when we die, may I suggest they study road-kill?
ALL gods are mortal. They die at the same time their believer dies.
You don't HAVE to be a stupid, gullible, brain-dead idiot to be believe in gods. But it helps.
It's ridiculous that a group of so called "believers" fight tooth and nail to protect the group from ever learning the REAL truth.
Someone suggested that: "The opposite of atheism is not theism but indifference. The opposite of theism is not atheism but indifference.
Common ground?"
However, I'm happy to admit that I'm atheist and also NOT indifferent to theism. Theism is evil and I'd like to see it gone.
Or is that person suggesting that I'm indifferent to the inane violence perpetrated on a daily basis in the name of theism?
Do YOU - whatever your persuasion - not keep abreast of the news reports like I do?
When I cease to do that then you may accuse me - an atheist - of being INDIFFERENT to theism.
Until that time comes, please keep your opinions of yourself to yourself.
Thought for the day: If God's Creation is true, God created all the gold, too.
So why the need for tithes?
By scale of reference to the size of the universe, our planet can be likened to just one atomic particle that makes up our planet.
Re: The latest mass shooting in a church in the USA.
Don't these people who believe in the power of prayer realise that this latest gun outrage HAPPENED in a house of prayer?
Where was their god when this killing spree was about to happen in one of his houses?
Theists will most certainly lose their battle at some time in the future.
Education plus elucidation will surely see to that.
But just think how property and land values will shrink when all that religious real estate hits the market as there must be $TRILLIONS worth of the stuff out there!
And on top of that there are the antiques, precious metals, vehicles and jewels that will have to be sold off as well.
It's unbelievable how some folk - even today - take that Noah's Ark story seriously. Those same people will even believe that a man walked on water and could even cure the sick and blind with a touch of his hand.
But try telling them that humans are just another species of ape and that there's no such thing as life after death, and they go ballistic.
Strange, isn't it?
Very few biblical claims of ANY religion would stand up to even the mildest of scrutiny.
A week in Heaven would be like an eternity spent in the company of those who believe in such a thing.
And the Lord said "Let there be light." And there was light.
That light shone into the dark recesses of religion and proved to be the beginning of Atheism.
It ain't HIS fault that some are too dumb, blind or reluctant to see it.
Have YOU seen the light yet?
There are a lot of closet atheists out there who just cannot resist being attracted by the glimmer of light shining through the crack of the slightly ajar door.
All it would take is a bit more self confidence, a slight push, and they'd be out.
There's nothing new about Atheism. Atheism has been around since Man's creation of the first god.
Gods the Sadists. Theists the Masochists.
Threatening someone with the wrath of ANY god is like threatening someone with the wrath of The Flying Spaghetti Monster. Empty.
Testing testing, one two, one two: Blessed are the mic's for they shall inherit the Earth.
According to God: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, but by all means feel free to covet thy neighbour's children.
It was coming up to Christmas when I spotted a guy in a charity shop in town buying up bibles. Asked why, he replied:
"It's cold out there so I've decided to organise a bonfire for the homeless."
If the theory of Evolution has now been proved and accepted, why are 'educated' folk still pushing Creation?
Evolution is based on theory while The Creation is based on . . . er?
Hang on. It'll come to me in a minute.
I see the Bible as being similar to a Haynes Auto Manual.
The trouble is, the model it was written for is LONG out of date.
Bad parenting also includes making sure one's children get religious education.
Praying for forgiveness is like playing your "Get out of Hell" card. And it never expires or goes out of credit.
Further to Darwin's Evolution theory. Poor old Wallace. He hardly ever got a mention until he teamed up with Gromit.
I came across this comment on an Internet chat site discussion on the existence of god(s):
"When i was teenager? same Q was rise in my mind.. is There any GOD ...? after few year i say to my self .,... that ... Why there is no life on any planet planet in the Universe EVEN on Mars ... and Why life is only on earth .... Why ...... ?"
I replied:
Wherever did you get the idea that there is no life on any planet in the Universe, EVEN on Mars? That's THE most stupid statement EVER made.
Have you ANY idea as to the size and the age of the universe?
Have you ANY idea of how big even a galaxy is?
WE don't even know whether or not our own solar system contains extraterrestrial life elsewhere in it, and our solar system is tiny by comparison to even our galaxy which is just one of BILLIONS of galaxies.
Use what brain you've got and make a point of studying more. It's the only way forward.
The power of independent thought is the nemesis of religion.
Religion is the only sport I know of where the leaders are the losers.
Why do many Christians - especially sportsmen and women - make the sign of the cross and then point to heaven?
I'm quite sure that if I were Jesus and up there, I wouldn't want reminding of the day I was nailed to that fucking cross.
The reason Newton and his ilk believed in God stands to reason.
In those days even the gifted scientists didn't know a great deal outside of their own field.
They knew nothing about the actual age of the Earth nor the size of the universe.
The knew nothing about plate tectonics, DNA, natural selection (Evolution) or even bacteria. They didn't even suspect that humans are really a species of ape.
They didn't even know what a galaxy was and they most certainly didn't have any idea just how many galaxies there are in the universe.
They didn't understand what caused volcanoes, earthquakes or tsunamis.
And to cap it all, they had been brainwashed to believe in God and his creation as described in Genesis.
I reckon that if I had enough money to carry it out I'd sue every religion on Earth and have each and every one of them tried in the courts of law for fraud and obtaining money using threats and intimidation.
I have to smile (it's better than frowning) when goddists quote passages from their particular holy books as sort of threats as if their imagined god actually had a hand in writing them.
They just will not accept that ALL the worded scripture printed and published are the works of MAN. No gods were ever involved - not even in the final edits.
They are MAN-MADE LAWS!!! Many of them utterly ridiculous self-serving laws.
This 72 virgins thing.
What do 'closet GAY' Muslim men get rewarded with in paradise?
The Reformation: The act of moving the goal posts but leaving the established rules unchanged.
I don't think we should browbeat or brainwash our kids to be atheist. I believe we should allow them to reach that conclusion themselves.
Otherwise we are little different to the theists.
Needs, musts and serendipity all play great parts in the process of Evolution.
To many, Adolf Hitler was God incarnate. That went well, didn't it?
Humanity is divided into two distinct groups.
Those who believe without question and those who don't.
To which group do YOU belong?
God's "witnesses" are in much the same league as alien abductees, ghost spotters and those who have fairies at the bottom of their garden.
One would have expected Jesus' dad to have enlightened his one and only son by giving him a few insights into the workings of the planet he intended trusting him with. The whereabouts of the other continents and a magnetic compass would've helped him enormously.
If each atheist could free just TWO theists from their religious bullshit, ALL religious bullshit would very soon be gone.
Why is it that goddists ALWAYS quote passages from their holy book as PROOF of their god's validity?
They just cannot grasp the FACT that their holy books and the contents therein are the work of MAN!
No gods were ever involved. NONE. Gods are figments of the human imagination. Nothing more, nothing less.
The weakest human is infinitely more powerful than the mightiest of gods.
How come ALL belief systems are based on quite obvious untruths?
"Speak the truth and shame the Devil" is an old English proverb.
However, I believe it makes much more sense if "Devil" is removed and replaced by the all encompassing - "gods".
Why is it that Atheists are regarded by many as being "Spawn of the Devil" when religion is quite obviously the worst crime ever perpetrated on humanity?
Praying is like playing Tic-Tac-Toe with yourself.
"If God didn't want us to be Atheist he should never have given us the power of thought."
Blimey! I'm even scratching my own head at that one!!
Message to those who are about to start a family:
If you intend indoctrinating your children into religion, please make sure you take adequate birth control measures.
We are ALL merely food and oxygen for the gods.
No god existed until humans came along and created them.
Without us here to keep them alive, ALL gods would cease to exist.
It's that simple.
Or at least it's simple to anyone who can think for themselves.
Common sense should tell you that gods are the creation of Man. Never mind what's written in the holy books.
The writing of fiction is as old as writing itself.
In fact, I'd go further and say that fiction (the ability to fool others) is OLDER than the written world, maybe older even than the spoken word.
ATTENTION! Atheists may find that arguing with the religious requires the patience of a saint.
There is infinitely more evidence to prove that Mankind created gods than there is evidence that some god or other created Mankind.
There is no such thing as an empty container.
The banana skin is just ONE of God's gifts to comedy. His other gifts include religion and politics.
You don't have to be gullible to be good.
WE are supposed to have evolved from the ape.
But what if we've got it wrong?
What if the apes have evolved from us?
It makes much more sense, doesn't it?
The odds against a prayer being answered are infinitely more than a googol to one.
Though the odd coincidence might make you believe differently.
That 'life after death' crap is rubbish. What we experience AFTER death will be equal to what we were experiencing BEFORE we were conceived.
Yes, for those who are curious about the afterlife.
It will be EXACTLY the same as the before-life.
And we've ALL experienced that . . . . haven't we?
It's that simple.
Atheists may find that arguing with the religious requires the patience of a saint.
The universe and everything in it can be put down to something like 14,000,000,000 Earth-type years of serendipity and happenstance.
No gods required.
If you insist on there being a designer god then I counter insist on you explaining to me just WHO designed this designer god and out of what is this designer god constructed?
Unconditional belief shows lack of moral judgement.
Believers in the creation are in effect saying that the human with a brain is something special?
If that claim is to be accepted, where is the dividing line between our SPECIAL brain and the 'mundane' brains of lower animals?
I suppose they regard the human brain as superior in every way to those of all the other animals. If they do then they are making a grave mistake.
WE are here by accident, not by design. WE are a species of primate that got lucky. WE are nothing special, in fact in many ways WE are inferior animals. Recent inferior animals at that, in the grand theatre of things.
Ghosts, gods and goblins etc. are creations of this inferior animal. It has TOO much wild imagination.
Prayer comes from the heart, but goes straight in the bin.
I'm now back here, working on my own version of The Atheist Bible as the OT is one of the few novels where the plot unravels in the first few lines of the very first chapter and then proceeds to get so tangled you may just as well flick through to the bottom of the last page with a curse.
I am writing this blog from the front observation seat of our space ship that has been orbiting your planet for the last million years or so.
During that time, me and the rest of us have watched mankind evolve from the lesser hairy two legged two armed animals. We have observed NO activity of any outside ethereal beings that your kind refer to as gods. None whatsoever.
We will carry on monitoring for the foreseeable future.
Regards, Adam.
I reckon the words "atheist" and "theist" should be removed from common usage. I much prefer the terms "realist" and " brainwashed asshole".
The seed of knowledge planted in a mind filled with shit SHOULD take root and thrive. However, in SOME cases a bigger dibber will be required.
The real difference between Creation and Evolution is that Creation is loosely based on magic while Evolution is naturally magical.
No pious soul will ever question his/her beliefs for fear of learning the truth. Being ignorant of the facts is comforting to them.
I often wonder if the same arguments and discussions - in regard to gods and creation - are going on among "intelligent" species throughout the universe.
Religion is the only living thing that will never die, because it feeds on human weakness and insecurity.
It's a great pity, but there it is.
Grand Design versus Grand Evolution?
The creationists are adamant that the eye, being such a complex structure, MUST have been designed by a designer/creator.
OK, that sounds fair enough, at the outset. It could make sense. But tell me, you creationists. If the eye had reason to be designed by a designer THAT designer/creator MUST have been sighted, right?
So WHO, pray, designed the eye of the designer/creator?
MAN is the deadliest, most dangerous and most destructive animal known to MAN. Thank you GOD.
There's NO explaining piety:
"Yes, I believe in the bible. Except the bit about the creation. And perhaps that bit about Noah and the flood. Oh, and some of those miracles are too silly to be taken seriously and that story of a virgin giving birth is too daft to laugh at.
"So too is that account of someone rising from the dead. I ask you, who believes in zombies and ghosts, these days?
"But, yes. I believe in the bible."
Religion is seen by many as the ultimate lifebelt. The trouble is it's full of holes.
"Evangelism" or "The Missionary Imposition"?
I look at it this way:
If a gang of strangers came into YOUR area and began calling door to door trying to sell YOU afterlife insurance and demanding protection money, I'd hope that you would have them arrested and charged with the crimes of demanding money with menaces and scamming. They might then be either slapped in gaol or run out of town.
Either way, apart from the inevitable suckers who might bite into it, I'm quite sure they would not be welcome to stick around these days.
And yet THIS is what religion has done in the past and is still doing today.
Godbotherers' cannot grasp the age of the known universe.
They just cannot understand that the universe is some THREE times the age of the Earth and that implies it's about 14,000,000,000 years older than Mankind and Man has been around just a few years longer than those imagined gods.
If I die and discover that there is God I will know I'm not dead but merely dreaming.
Even if I'm the only one in step I will continue to march to the beat of my heart.
Here's an open question aimed at and for the benefit of believers of any faith:
What PROOF would you require in order to have you abandon your particular belief?
If you don't have an answer to that question, what does it say about you?
I will never understand why atheists and atheism gets bad press. After all, all the atheist is trying to do is stop the spread of misinformation and re-educate the apparent brainwashed.
Why can't the theists see this?
Hey! Hang about! Who says WE are God's ONLY "chosen children"?
We all know from what we have been told or what we have read that God liked putting it about a bit (probably still does, if he exists) so it's quite likely he's got "chosen children" all over the bloody universe!
Blimey! Some folk need taking by the hand.
If prayers worked there would be a charge put on 'em and it would incur tax.
Why does God allow evil people to be born? Simple. We are the coppice that helps God keep the fires of Hell burning.
God sent a surrogate to do the dirty with Mary on his behalf. Maybe he's gay?
If he is then it's high-time he came out of the closet.
It's philosophical gobbledegook that keeps useless religion in place.
Theist Mantra merely amounts to: "Ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise."
Just remember this: Religion is nothing more than a protection racket. Not far short of demanding money with menaces.
I firmly believe that religious belief is for the weak and for the weak minded. It's akin to the infant's comfort blanket and pacifier (dummy, for those native to the UK).
Try to remove either and watch them throw tantrums or burst into tears.
One should never question the words, wisdom and workings of God, as it tends to undermine the credibility of religion.
Modus Operandi.
Some ask: "Why doesn't God talk to ME? Why doesn't God show his face? Why doesn't God answer my prayers? Why doesn't God cure all diseases? Why is God so cruel?"
The questions go on, and on, and on.
However, I say: Read the damn bibles! ALL gods have escape clauses written into their contracts!!
God had nothing to do with what happens to us and the Earth. MAN created GOD, and in his own image, too.
One has to understand that MAN came along LONG before GOD just as sure as the universe was created a long time before the Sun and Earth. About ten billion years before, give or take.
And our Earth was here along with our sun about four and a half billion years before MAN evolved enough to feel a necessity to create gods. Any day soon MANKIND will have evolved enough to admit it made a huge mistake.
During a forty minute nap I can dream enough weird stuff to fill an average sized novel . . . or choose to call it a holy book.
Just like Moses or Muhammad.
Religion. The best run protection racket/Afterlife Insurance scam EVER.
Al Capone would've been proud merely to be associated.
Theists are seldom prepared to accept 'know' as the answer.
Note: The greatest sin perpetrated on Mankind is religion.
Within the next thousand years my views on religion will become fashionable and accepted by all.
But meanwhile I will continue airing them where and whenever I can.
Nothing can be more fragile than when it's purely of the imagination.
Just as dreams - if not immediately broken on waking - fade like vampires in the light of day.
A god is only as existent as its followers. Remove the followers and the god no longer exists.
That fact alone should prove the impotency of gods.
Slavery was purported to have been a great sin but slavery never was for economic reasons alone.
It was mostly a tool. A recruiting drive carried out by whites in order to kidnap blacks, educate/brainwash them into believing the old crap about THEIR god Jesus and then have them set free to poison the rest of their own kind.
It appears to have worked.
Don't forget. You read it here first.
What a great designer chappie is God. He designs 17 species of penguin, 3,000 species of mosquito, 30,000 species of spider and almost a million species of insect. And yet only two or three species of Man.
So maybe insects are God's master race.
It's always beat me how theists will put 100% trust in what some ignorant goat herder supposedly said some thousands of years ago while choosing to ignore what is said today by much more knowing people.
Each religion relies on the gullibility of its followers. The more gullible the followers the more "powerful" the religion is deemed to be.
For all his/her/its/their bluster, gods would appear to shy away from confrontation.
I'm not in the least bit frightened of any god 'cos gods don't exist. However, the followers of gods scare the f*****g hell out of me.
Never mind the old Chicken and Egg conundrum. Which came first, Man or Gods?
They who choose not to defend their position, are - in effect - on the side of the oppressor.
LONG before any god existed. MAN created a need for gods. How else could the ancients' describe events?
"What makes it rain, dad?"
"God does it, son."
"What makes that colourful bow in the sky, dad?"
"God does it, son."
"Why is that mountain belching fire and smoke, dad?"
"God does it, son."
"Why does the ground tremble, dad?"
"God does it, son."
"Why did grandma have to die, dad?"
"We have to eat, son!"
Referring to Atheism as just another religion is like saying breathing is just another habit.
So Man created Godkind in his own image; in his own image Man created them; he created them male and he created them female.
Man saw that it was good and then Man rested.
Just remember this: "A lost sheep is far better off than the flock being led to the slaughterhouse."
"Some would say we should keep open minds. I say, that's ok as far as it goes but it doesn't mean giving serious thought to some things that are obviously crap. If we do, isn't there a real danger of having our minds chock full of shit?"
Religion. The most successful protection racket ever devised.
I would have to suppose that - like all things living - religion is free to evolve to suit prevailing circumstances.
The ultimate evolve will be when it collapses in on itself because it's too unwieldy. Just like what happened to those giant lizardy things.
ALL gods are the product of Man. Man created gods, not the other way around.
Gods live in the imagination - in the mind - not in any dimension.
Even the feeblest of humans is infinitely more powerful than all the gods that have ever been known combined.
I pray every day that ALL religion will soon be consigned to the history books.
God is kept FAR too busy these day, what with helping footballers' score penalties and golfers' to hit the greens and sink putts. It means he cannot spare the time to help the starving masses, etc.
“Lighthouses are more helpful than churches.” – Benjamin Franklin (President)
Shithouses* are more useful than churches.
* Have YOU ever found yourself bursting for a pray?
Evolution Theory versus The Creation Theory.
There are reams of testable evidence to support one and absolutely NO testable evidence to support the other. We merely have to decide which is which. It's that simple.
Just remember: The most dangerous people are those who believe they are being TOLD the truth, when - quite obviously - it's lies.
If a lie is said loud enough and often enough, it will eventually be seen as truth.
Religion IS the best confidence trick EVER!
It beats any Snake-Oil selling, Ponzie or Pyramid Selling schemes that've ever been carried out.
AND RELIGIONS ARE ABOVE THE LAW OF THE LAND!!!!!
Ugly confrontation and violence are the methods many theists resort to in order to protect the name of their particular "loving" god.
Just think. Had they let Jesus go free instead of Barabbas, there would be no good reason for Christianity to exist today.
BASTARDS!!!!
The probability that any god exists in any dimension is GOOGOLPLEX to ONE.
I'm open to taking bets at those odd.
The all-time "Hide and Seek" Champion of the World is God.
If one's god is so almighty powerful, why does he/she require protection from mere mortals?
I mean, if he/she can create everything out of nothing in the space of a few days, surely he/she could handle his/her self when it comes to a scrap.
No amount of faith or prayer has ever saved a drowning man.
Yes, I'm atheist. The only problem I find with being atheist is that with these horns on my head I keep tearing the bed-sheets.
Much in the vein of Peter Hitchens, I "pray" that one day soon I will be completely vindicated for my rational stand against theism.
Just remember: Religions are designed to unite AND divide.
It's a giant step in the right direction even if a theist CONSIDERS Evolution Science.
To all those believers who will insist on offering prayers to me.
"You can pray for me while I continue to hope for you." Anon
A theist (whichever) is constructed by the dual process of brainwashing and hypnotism. It's the ONLY answer.
I would go as far as to say that Atheists are doing their level best to educate Theists into dismissing the silly notion that their god (and only THEIR god) is responsible for everything. Including leading them along the path of righteousness.
No god has ever existed, except in the minds of the brainwashed/ hypnotised.
If they (Theists) wish to believe in something then at least they should believe in something rational.
Gods are supposed to be all powerful and omnipotent. But at 70-odd years of age I'd challenge any of 'em to an arse kicking competition.
In the news January 2015: "If you're a Christian who demanded that all Muslims condemn the Paris attacks but did not yourself condemn the attacks in Central African Republic the same week done in the name of [your] religion, then you might want to think about why." Bruce Fenton FB.
However, have you noticed that the news for the past few thousand years hasn't featured ANY reports of such atrocities committed in the name of atheism?
If more people were to stand back and THINK, theism would very soon die a natural death.
I've been accused of HATING theists. I don't HATE theists, never have. I'm just puzzled as to WHY they're theist.
Godless doesn't mean Goodless. Theists must remember this.
It's Easter Sunday Morning:
My lawn mower has risen!
I locked it in the garden shed last night and this morning I found the door open and the mower GONE!
I am praying that it returns before too long as the growing season has now begun in earnest.
There's no lower age limit for brainwashing. It begins with the Christening of howling protesting babies.
If and when all religion disappears, so too will atheism.
The Atheist doesn't take shelter under the cloak of any god, and nor is he prepared to do his bidding.
If one can succeed in repressing the truth, the lie will improve with age.
Or at least that's the reasoning behind the laws of blasphemy.
Heating tip 1: I have a wood burning stove and I also love to haunt charity shops.
When I find old bibles, prayer or hymn books and Korans, I snap them up for a pittance. They make ideal fuel during the cold dark winters.
Cheaper than buying logs and they throw out just as much heat.
Heating tip 2: Should you feel this practice is a little too sacrilegious, then, by all means sprinkle said books with oil of frankincense prior to burning.
Know this much. This universe is at least 13,000,000,000 years older than Man and Man is older than gods.
Just remember this: Faith without substantiated evidence equals gullibility.
Science is all about rationale. Religion is all about the Irrational.
Religion is just as much an addiction as smoking or hard drugs. They are each as useless, as acutely damaging to body and mind, and just as difficult to give up.
A thought to dwell on: ALL gods are younger than Mankind.
Although we might choose to believe in magicians, it doesn't necessarily follow that we need choose to believe in magic.
I don't believe I ever had "Faith". I had religious teaching and I may have at one time followed that teaching and accepted that God was there watching over me.
But by the time I reached adulthood (begun shaving) and had started LEARNING, I very soon realised that it had all been a con.
The theist will say that everybody needs purpose in life. As an atheist I feel I've found mine.
Note [1] As far as I am aware, all quotes and comment etc contained on this profile page are my own (unless it says different and is given due acknowledgement).
Note [2] Another version of this page can be accessed at: http://white-charcoal.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/faith-and-godalmighty-back-up.html
Note [3] Just remember. Gods are not REAL. However, paranoid schizophrenia IS.
Note [4] One doesn't have to be a Christian to be Christian.
Note [5] For every book devoted to fictitious gods, there are many thousands devoted to factual sciences.
Interesting link to something on this subject:
http://rt.com/news/schizophrenic-death-pakistan-blasphemy-168/
Lightening and thunder. Solar and Lunar eclipses. Earthquakes. Tidal waves. Plagues of creatures. Drought. The Burning Bush. Volcanic activity. Malformed children and even diseases.
All these and other natural phenomenon have been assumed by early generations to be the work of gods or devils.
There are far too many dream sequences in the holy books for my liking. Dreams were very much overrated in those days and taken very seriously. It's a bloody good job I can't get arrested for what I do in my dream time.
I'm sometimes asked: "Why do you HATE God?"
I reply: "I DON'T hate God. God doesn't exist. If I were to direct hate to anyone it would be directed towards those who INVENTED the false concept of God(s) and those who help spread the deceit."
ALL the holy writings - of whatever religion or god - are merely the work of Man's wild imaginings and subsequent translations. There's hardly a ha'p'orth of truth to be found in any of 'em.
I really do feel sorry for those who's minds have been affected by such ancient nonsense.
It's a pity "The Creation" couldn't be arrested, charged with falsehood and forced to face a court of law to PROVE beyond all reasonable doubt in front of a jury of twelve just men (and women) that it is not guilty as charged.
The current rise in Islamic violence is nothing to be surprised at. The seeds of violence and anger are already sown in the holy scriptures. I might also say they are SEWN into them.
And of course MAN did the sowing/sewing.
The best scam EVER is religion. It's like pyramid selling run by steroid enhanced snake-oil salesmen.
ALL religions are scams. Nothing less than pyramid selling schemes.
They get you to believe in their plans and take your investments on the basis of an empty promise that there will be a good return to come at the end in the form of a seat at their god's side . . . in heaven.
Instead of getting a free pen when you sign up, you might be promised a few dozen virgins or all the fruit you can eat.
I spotted this in a comment on a friend's FB post:
"I hated when you told me God is just my perception of reality because if that's the case 2+2=7 and there is nothing you can say to prove me wrong since it's my reality."
My response:
A claim that 2+2=7 CAN be enforced and eventually accepted as TRUTH, simply by threatening to behead anyone who disagrees.
Atheism is older than Theism. I mean, there's absolutely no evidence that apes prayed to or worshipped God.
Theists have been employing ridicule as a weapon against unbelievers since the invention of gods. It's now being turned aplenty against them.
They should be happy we atheists aren't chopping heads off dissenters.
It has always bugged me that we celebrate a rapist at Christmas by paying homage to him and his illegitimately and illegally conceived son.
I mean, if the gospels are gospel then God - or one of his emissaries, at his bidding - had sex with a young virgin, without her knowledge or permission and compounded the issue by getting her pregnant and then buggering off.
If that isn't to be considered wanton rape and ravish, what other description is there?
It's a pity they knew so little about abortion in Mary and Joseph's time. It could have prevented a lot of bother over the last two millennia and also SAVED millions of innocent lives across the planet.
I often wonder why Moses had to spend days on that mountain, patiently taking down God's dictation of those commandments on soft clay and then having to wait while they baked hard into tablets in the sun. I mean, why didn't God just have them laser printed on a sheet of indestructible metal that doesn't exist anywhere on Earth?
It would've most certainly put the other religious relics in the shade, wouldn't it?
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour, but thou canst rape his wife and shag his children.
Faiths aren't the answer to the world's troubles, they're the cause.
I can remember when - as a child - watching some documentary about Africa where the natives were painted up to the nines with bones sticking through their noses and they were dancing around a totem pole festooned with shrunken human heads while chanting gibberish to their god.
I found it so funny. I mean, how silly people can get. These savages were so ignorant they had no idea whatsoever about the REAL God.
A theist: Of course, science has failed to disprove the existence of God. He just won't be disproven in the lab.
Atheist: Gods are imagined. The proof of that lies in the fact that there is not one iota of evidence that they exist in ANY dimension.
The holy books were written by semi-illiterate and basically stupid morons with stupefied imaginations probably brought on by smoking hash around a camel dung fire.
Have you noticed how Moses' 10 commandments said nothing about not raping or having sex with minors?
The reason being that in those days, rape was accepted as the order of the day and sex with children was normal. I mean, a bloke could marry ten year old girls so how could it be frowned upon, let alone made taboo by law?
Religion: It's ALWAYS had that "Good cop; Bad cop;" feel about it.
Facebook comment/quote from a believer:
"How can you atheist fools believe we evolved from apes when there are STILL apes around today?"
They do say that all humans possess the god gene.
Mine must've been in my haemorrhoids 'cos since I had them surgically removed in middle life I've lost all feeling for god.
And - as a bonus - I no longer have a pain in my arse.
2,000 years ago, the crime of parking a chariot near a fire-hydrant would have meant the guilty being nailed to a cross and banned from driving for two millennia.
Ridicule is the best weapon in the atheist's armoury. Re-education and rational argument doesn't seem to have any effect at all.
If there IS a god, as far too many believe, then that god must spend most of its time sitting on its hands with its eyes tightly shut whilst listening to the screams of terrified victims.
You do realise, that, had Jesus been hung, Christians would be wearing nooses around their necks.
The Holy Bible WASN'T written by God's own hand. He used Holy Ghost writers.
Science versus Faith.
There is good science and there is bad science. But at least when it's bad science the scientists are man enough to admit it.
Theists' should take note.
One would've thought that God - in all his wisdom - would've made the pole stars much more easy to pick out. Maybe slightly bigger and brighter than Venus with one a flashing bright yellow and the other flashing bright white.
Oh, and it might've helped if he'd fixed them so's they didn't wander about so.
Magic trumps the big bang theory and evolution science ANY time.
Ask any theist.
The tooth, the whole tooth and nothing BUT the truth.
I'm getting reports that Mary (the mother of Jesus) saved some of Jesus's milk teeth.
All we have to do now is get hold of them and run DNA profiling on one of those teeth to get at the truth.
The story is that she kept them safe, wrapped up in scented papyrus, put into a grail and secreted in a sealed place.
The only difference between an Atheist and A theist is the space.
No, not THAT space! I mean the space between their ears!
Theist: But I notice you Celebrate Christmas.
Atheist: ALL religious holidays are, are excuses for having a break from the tedium of work. I tend to enjoy any excuse for a holiday and a piss-up and this has nothing at all to do with worship of any fictitious gods.
By the way. I'm not against religion per se. I just wish the followers of the ridiculous god-belief would quit trying to convince those who have merely (and rightly so) dismissed such Man-made creations as fantasy.
Gods DON'T exists. Gods have NEVER existed in ANY dimension.
Gods dwell in the minds of the deluded.
Maybe the term GOD is the equivalent of a pseudonym adopted by someone to hide their "real" identity.
Or perhaps GOD is merely an acronym for the:
"GENERAL ORDER of DESTINY".
In the beginning there was nothing.
13.8 billion years later there was everything.
And then MAN came along as the king of the primates.
And finally, gods were created.
An unbeliever's view on why he isn't prepared to keep his damn opinions on the subject of imagined gods to himself:
I endeavour to educate misguided irrational believers of false entities in very much the same way as I - as an adult - would be expected to teach children road safety awareness.
As I see it it's a straight choice. Darwin and Dawkins versus God and Gandalf.
The Agnostic point of view:
"I don't believe in God, but - just in case - I'm prepared to keep an open mind."
Talking of Darwin: The difference between our DNA and the chimpanzee DNA is about 1 to 2%. There is a similar difference in DNA between chimp and gorilla.
And while many humans are loathe to accept that we are related to the chimp, they will overwhelmingly accept that the chimp is related to the gorilla.
The way I see it is this. Either the top positions held in all religions, Archbishops, Popes, Imams, Chief Rabbis etc., are held by individuals who themselves are either plausible liars, or they are among the most gullible people on the planet.
How much longer are we going to be required to sing in tribute to imaginary deities?
We might just as well sing in praise of The Mad Hatter, Red Riding Hood and Rumplefuckinstiltskin.
I've been informed that I will never see God or Angels until I am prepared to open up my mind to the spiritual world.
I gather that this means I have to switch off my rational thought processes.
Unplug my reasoning chip.
Turn my gullibility levels to maximum, and from thereon in be prepared to accept whatever enters my mind as THE TRUTH.
Yeah. Right.
The various religions have always used ridicule as a weapon in the persecution of dissenters. It's about time we started fighting like with like.
Maybe my atheism can be put down to my nut allergy.
Just because someone is a non-swimmer, it doesn't mean that they cannot see the benefits of being able to swim.
However, my being a non-believer doesn't mean I can see ANY benefits whatsoever in being a believer.
I find that when I argue the toss with an ardent believer, using sound argument, it merely enforces the ardent believer's unsound belief.
God based religions thrive on fear. Fear that if one doesn't kowtow to a particular imagined god's every whim then one will be turned back at the gates of some imagined heaven - giving access to another life full of milk and honey et al - and be condemned to an imagined hell full of all manner of mind numbing torture.
Why does anyone have a need to seek answers to WHY? Just accept that it IS and get on with the limited life you have and enjoy it to the full.
Threats got me where I am today. Signed: God.
Wise? My arse! I could never understand why those supposedly three wise men didn't wait until after Christmas so's to buy that gift stuff in the January sales.
One of THE greatest absurdities of life is that the average theist - holding on to his/her belief that some god is watching over them at all times - will still persist in practising masturbation and fornication whilst in full view of him.
Furthermore they will even be prepared to compound the issue - when/if challenged - by denying/lying that they would do this sort of act.
Is that total hypocrisy or not?
If you can't prove it isn't it doesn't mean it is.
There is a chasm of difference between guidance and being led by the nose.
Ritualistic nonsense.
The Muslim prostrates himself five times a day and faces Mecca to talk to his imaginary friend.
The Jew bangs his head on a stone wall whilst wailing to his imaginary god and posting notes to him into the cracks.
The Christian looks up to the sky, crosses himself and asks his imaginary friend to help his football team to win.
The Atheist watches in bemusement and shakes his head at the ritualistic nonsense.
Theists should take note that NO atheists were involved in the crucifixion of their "god".
Christians should take note that NO atheists were involved in the crucifixion of their "son of god".
To have done so would have been hypercritical.
History tells us that Jesus broke local religious laws, tantamount to blasphemy. Edicts instituted by theist government.
He was arrested by theists, tried for his crimes by theists, found guilty and sentenced to death by theists, beaten, tortured and then made to carry his cross to a hill outside the city by theists, nailed to that cross by theists, had his legs savagely broken by theists and a theist soldier thrust his sword through his chest.
Not ONE atheist would have been involved in any of the above. Simply because it would have been against their "religion(?)".
I would have to imagine that had I been around at that time I would've had to keep my atheist head down through fear of being nailed to a cross myself. But I dare bet that that atheist head of mine would have been shaking in total disbelief at the silliness of it all.
I know this isn't the place to debate racial issues, but: Tell me again, Massa Boss. What colour is dis god o' yorn?
"Can you PROVE there is no god?" Says the believer.
"Can YOU prove there aren't 937,812,659,220,138,775,803,244,798,221 grains of sand in the Sahara desert?" Says I.
Theist: "Can you PROVE there is no God?"
Me: "I will prove there is no god if you can prove that popes' don't masturbate."
Thinks! The first sign of madness is talking to oneself.
The second sign of madness is expecting a reply.
The third sign of madness is getting one.
The fourth sign of madness is trusting it.
The fifth sign of madness is acting upon it.
I have it on good authority that the Holy Bible is all the PROOF needed that God exists.
Well, if that is the case, is the story of Jack and the Beanstalk PROOF that geese can lay golden eggs?
I consider the offertory box (collection plate) as protection money. Or maybe it's to purchase the ticket to heaven.
I tend to look upon recent leanings towards atheism as an avalanche waiting to happen. One really sharp crack (from some notable) might just do it.
Education should be 100% about truth. Anything less than 100% truth is both dangerously harmful and insulting to human intelligence.
Muslims killing Muslims simply because they are bent on getting themselves an education. The radical Muslim realises that education could see the downfall of Islam.
My muse of the day: 08-08-2013
Have you ever considered why some otherwise seemingly intelligent people prefer having imaginary friends to having REAL friends or even POSSIBLE real friends? Not only that, these same people seemingly prefer an imaginary PROMISED life after they die to the one they are living now.
Amazing, isn't it? But it's going on all around us ALL the time.
Allow me to explain.
Two people can strike up a friendship and it can begin to blossom, yet as soon as one of them realises that the other doesn't believe in imaginary friends or the imaginary afterlife, that 'friend' then decides to take a hike.
But surely to [insert here what you feel might be appropriate] any half decent REAL friend is far better than an imaginary one. And surely to [insert here what you feel might be appropriate], a REAL life, no matter what, is far, far more worthwhile than an imagined PROMISED one?
It beggars belief. Whether they be Muslim, Orthodox Jew, Methodist, Latter Day Saints, Mormon, Christian or whatever, they all have this in common.
Ooooh, it sometimes makes me want to spit.
I can never get my head around why goddists fail to take on board that life on Earth has been around for the past three billion years or so while WE hominids have only been around for a few hundred thousand.
Far less than that, according to the scriptures.
I tend to liken "Faith" to the other term "Gullibility".
If one is happy just to put their trust in faith, why bother with seatbelts, airbags, smoke alarms, lightning conductors etc?
In normal life we expect guarantees. Guarantees signed and sealed. When we purchase a new TV or refrigerator we are not prepared to accept a mere PROMISE that it will be OK for a period of time, we INSIST on a written warranty.
NO religion offers guarantees. Just promises. Empty promises at that.
I've always been led to believe that scams, confidence tricking, bribery and extortion etc, were already crimes. How come the Church is allowed to get away with it?
Gods were created by Man with evil intent.
HAD God wished his commandments to be known and obeyed by everyone and for all eternity, he could have written them large on the surface of the moon for all to see and NOT entrusted those tablets to just one mere mortal.
For the love of God!!? It's well known and (almost) universally accepted that one cannot FORCE someone to love another.
No one can - or should be - FORCED to love you.
One cannot COERCE or BRIBE someone to love or be loved.
So how come this is EXACTLY how some religions appears to operate?
Some religions say that if you choose not to accept a particular god's love and thus a promised place in Heaven then you will surely suffer Hellfire and Damnation for all eternity.
Isn't this coercion? Isn't this a form of force? Bribery perhaps?
I maintain that Love is something we have to learn or to earn and it must not be taken for granted, assumed or foisted upon others.
Science is fundamentally about finding the truth. And until someone can disprove that truth then it is true.
NB. This does not apply in the case of gods. Gods are fundamentally imaginary beings and have nothing whatsoever to do with truth or science.
When I last appeared as a court witness I took along Charles Darwin's book "The Origin of Species" and asked if I could be sworn in holding that in my right hand. It was refused, but I was allowed to PROMISE to tell the truth without holding any holy book.
Next time I'll take Grimm's Fairy Tales and see if I'm allowed to be sworn in on that.
Everything tangible, like gases, liquids and solids are made up of atoms. The believer would have it that his god designed and created the atom. If this be true, what are gods made of?
"I'm normally not a praying man, but if you're up there, please save me Superman." - Homer Simpson
He had something. We might just as well pray to the Superhero of our choice as they're all fictional characters.
Unlike Theism, Atheism doesn't demand blind and unquestionable faith. In fact it actively encourages questioning.
Prayer has never been able to cure the sick, to mend broken bones or to bring a drowned child back to life.
Take a tip from me and leave praying to the mantis. Amen.
If there's anything in life that's worth fighting for, then it's worth fighting for.
How come God always drops in for GOOD publicity? I've never known God get BAD publicity.
After any disaster - natural or otherwise - the few fortunate survivors will always be there spouting off about their prayers to God being answered and in so doing give credence to God. However, I have yet to read or hear anything from any of those whose prayers were completely ignored and who subsequently perished. These people who died are said to have been CHOSEN by God, to be by his side.
It's a win win situation as far as God is concerned as he has all bases covered.
I never can bring myself to trust the word of anyone who swears by almighty god.
Pause for thought: How come our Head of State (UK) is also the Head of religious Lies and Propaganda?
And why is it that although not ALL MPs are believers in god(s) and religion (despite what folk might think, they can't ALL be THAT stupid), not ONE of the buggers is prepared to admit it to their constituents or to come clean to the public at large?
Hypocrisy appears to thrive in our seats of power.
Non-believers in deity are often seen as ungodly and inherently evil by believers when - usually - the exact opposite is the case. Non-believers WORRY that believers have been led along the wrong path (for a variety of reasons) and always have been. Being ungodly doesn't mean one has to be seen as unchristian.
Re: God's existence.
To settle the argument in regard to his existence or not, maybe he could organise a formation meteor strike on the moon to form the word of GOD so's we can ALL see.
On the subject of Miracles.
In 1961 I was driving my car on a road covered in winter slush when another car turned across me without any signals. I instinctively touched the brakes and veered slightly to avoid hitting him and got into a skid that took me straight into the path of a lorry coming the opposite way. We hit head on at a combined speed of about forty or so miles an hour. Both vehicles suffered extensive front end damage (mine was a complete write-off) and - but for the bible* in my inside jacket pocket - I would perhaps have suffered cracked or broken ribs or WORSE through hitting the steering-wheel so hard with my chest that it broke.
* It was actually my notebook but a bible gives a better story.
Well, it's only like this bloke from way-back-when who picked up what he thought was a stick and suddenly it turned out to be a snake so he flung it down on the ground. He then thought, "Hey! With a bit of work that'd make a great story for a biblical miracle, if they ever get around to writing them down!"
The pomp and majesty that underlines ALL religious belief systems is what tends to put awe into people. That is the whole idea behind all the grandeur and opulence displayed by those in high authority. I mean, one only has to look at the splendour of the architecture of their places of worship. WHY? Why do these mock palaces have to be so ornate? WHY not a simple structure akin to an aircraft hanger or a Nissen hut?
The answer to that is that such spartan surroundings wouldn't be anywhere near so impressive. So drop-dead gorgeous facade is what religion requires. And yet - according to ALL faiths - GOD is everywhere. GOD is all places. So why the places of worship? I can answer that, too.
The idea is to get as many people/victims as you can into one place. Then preach to them en masse. This way creates mass hysteria. Those in the congregation who may doubt are then consumed by the majority by a form of brainwashing. It's akin to a workers strike meeting.
"Brothers! All those in favour of having some time off to go fishing - please raise your hands!"
We share about 99% of our genes with the Great Apes of Africa.
They - like us - also display ALL of the "supposedly" humans-only traits. From parental love, through possessiveness, jealousy, hate, spite covetousness, greed, remorse, loneliness, stupidity, disappointment, frustration and love etc.
The only REAL difference is that WE worry about why we are here, how we came to be and what will happen to us when we die.
Maybe we are over compensating for our inadequacies.
Atheists are coming under fire for being (allegedly) over concerned with criticising Theism on Facebook and other chat sites. In defence I would just like to say:
The mere fact that we the people were - in times gone by (on penalty of imprisonment, torture or death) - NOT supposed/allowed to criticise religions and gods is PRECISELY why religion flourished in the first place.
Nowadays we CAN criticise what is obviously the greatest scam, pyramid scheme and confidence trick ever pulled on Man and I regard such sites as this as godsend*.
* Good old British irony.
Ontology is the antithesis of Faith. The pious are apt to lie through gritted teeth and clenched fists.
Not only do they lie to those who question their faith but often they lie unto themselves.
Please note: If God's Witnesses were around today, they'd be communicating with him via Facebook.
The Big Bang? NO gods need be credited for The Big Bang.
How many solar system do you think exist in the universe? Is there just the one, or are there trillions?
Out of those trillions of solar systems, how many would house a planet capable of supporting life? One, or millions?
How many of those life supporting planets would produce an intelligent life form? One, or thousands?
Some believers would say that we humankind are something special. I would say that we may be UNIQUE but not necessarily special. I mean, in the grand scheme of things the cockroach may be unique, but is the cockroach special?
And why pick on the postulations of any one man? We are ALL capable of postulation. Some will be wrong. Some will be right.
By the way. I come from a family of bricklayers. Not to be sniffed at, seeing as Jesus is purported to come from a family of carpenters.
The WHOLE of the universe and everything therein HAPPENED. None of us can be quite sure exactly HOW it HAPPENED and keeps on HAPPENING but I'm quite sure . . . nay . . , I'm POSITIVE, that no gods were or are involved. Nothing at all to do with magic or the supernatural, just an extremely long serious of natural causes and happy (or not-so-happy) accidents of nature.
I've just discovered that Darwin was still around when my grandfather was a young man. I'd like to think that they had some heated argument in a pub at the time 'cos my granddad - and even my dad - were staunch supporters of The Church.
Where did I go right?
The human species is just as varied as Darwin's finches. Black, white, yellow and brown. Big beaks, small beaks. How come we're not all the same colour and have the same size nose?
Sex sells, no sex sucks. For the term: FOLLOWING A FAITH, please insert the term: SUPPORTING A CONFIDENCE TRICK.
Hold Ye Front Page! http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/hold_ye_front_page/
Miss it at your peril.
URGENT!! RECALL OF THE HOLY BIBLE AND OTHER SUCH BOOKS!
After the recall it is intended that the publishers will edit out all the irrelevant crap, all the untruths and all reference to "dreams, visions, angels and gods". Then it will be re-issued in business card sized format so's it's easier to slip into a wallet or purse for emergencies.
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"Why are we here?"
A belief that heaven or an afterlife awaits us is a "fairy story" for people afraid of death.
I have lived with the prospect of an early death for the last X number of years. I'm not afraid of death, but I'm in no hurry to die. I have so much I want to do first.
I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark.
I reject the notion of life beyond death and emphasise the need to fulfil our potential on Earth by making good use of our lives. We should seek the greatest value of our action.
Science predicts that many different kinds of universe will be spontaneously created out of nothing. It is a matter of chance which we are in.
PS. For once this isn't me voicing my opinions about theism. This belongs to the Master of the Universe himself: - Stephen Hawking -
Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/may/15/stephen-hawking-interview-there-is-no-heaven
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Inside every theist there's an atheist who may one day break out.
I ask you, what harm has any religion ever done?
Please list your replies on the back of a roll of wallpaper and post it to me, care of The Ling Forest Inn, Mansfield UK.
In prisons it has been discovered that paper from the bible makes for better roll-ups than that from "The Origin of Species".
"Never underestimate the power of planting a seed of truth in a fertile mind." (Anon)
And that seed will grow and flourish even better in a mind that's already full of shit.
A GOOD book can open doors, open eyes, open minds and open hearts. But there are also BAD books that do exactly the opposite.
When I say I am Atheist, it doesn't mean that I hate all god's followers. It means that I can think for myself, act for myself and love for myself without feeling the need to follow Man-made instructions blindly - like any obedient dog.
If there were to be one true god he'd have to be so far up himself he'd never be able to sit.
There is and has been far more aggression shown and performed in the name of religion than there ever has been shown or performed by non-believers.
Answer me this, you believers in Christ.
If Jesus is/was the son of God, as you trust and believe him to be, then why didn't his father share a few facts with him? Facts that would have settled lots of argument MUCH earlier and saved a lot of needless bloodshed over the years?
1) His father would have known the Earth was a round ball orbiting an average star.
2) His father would have known that the Earth was not at the centre of the universe with the Sun, the stars and everything revolving around it.
3) His father would have known that the Earth was far older than folk at the time were led to believe.
4) His father would have known that the "wandering stars" were in fact other planets similar to Earth and orbiting the Sun in a similar plane.
5) His father would have know of the existence and positions of all the other continents.
Surely to god, his father had a duty to pass on his knowledge to his beloved son. Anything else and it was dereliction of duty as a responsible father. And Jesus may have been held in higher esteem by even more as his shared knowledge would have eventually been proved to be correct.
Ark de Triumph? I'd've agreed with this genocidal action by God, had Noah and his family been atheist.
Come to think of it. I could never understand why the god in question had to go to all that Noah and Ark business. I mean, if he was dissatisfied with his Mk 1 humankind, why didn't he just choose to rub the whole lot out with a wave of his hand and create a brand new Mk 2 Adam and Eve?
Maybe he could have spent a little more time on Mk 2 humankind the next time. A whole week on that one project might've done it.
Or he could have merely chosen to leave it to nature and evolution. 1.5 million years should've been enough to do it.
I like "Thomas" as a boy's name. "Doubting Thomas" is even better. But "Totally Unbelieving In Gods Thomas" is the best of all. Though I will happily refer to either one of 'em as "Tom".
God and the Gun make great bedfellows. They are both feared and loved at the same time.
I don't just DOUBT the existence of god(s). Doubting implies hesitation. God(s) have never existed, except in the mind.
The MAN Jesus may or may not have existed. He may or may not have existed how he is portrayed in the story. My guess is that he was a leader of men in much the same way as a talented union leader of today. I reckon that had I been around in his time and company we may have had a drink or two together and discussed a few pointers. I would like to think I would have called him an arse had he mentioned that he was the son of some god or other.
I mean, if some arse having a drink with me was to claim he was from another planet, his mother was a virgin and his father was god, I may have a few direct words to say to him.
Free thinking Theism?
According to the "expert" historians of the day - who helped compile the Old Testament (you may wish to check it out sometime) - the Universe and everything therein was created in or around 4004 BC. I have socks that are older than that!
If the theist community can believe lies such as are contained in the holy book(s) they'll believe that some geese can lay golden eggs.
Free thinkers: with every four gallons of hogwash.
Like ghosts, ghouls and many other supposed entities, gods are imagined. Any creature not capable of abstract thought does not have a god to ponder on. By the same token, those of us capable of RATIONAL thought don't have or require gods, either.
ALL the holy books are based on the dreams of MAN. There's not a shred of wholesome truth ever been attached to any god.
The bad news is that Heaven does not exist. The good news is that neither does Hell.
I'd bet that even in the Dark Ages there were some who saw the light. But in those days - if you valued your life - you'd've been sensible in keeping your opinions to yourself.
It must be down to Man's inherent greed that he demands MORE than the one lifetime.
Believers in the supernatural can be divided into two categories. Those with too little imagination and those with too much.
There are fibs, white lies, lies, damn lies and then there's god based religion.
I believe what I'm trying to get across is that religion does SOME useful stuff, like marriages and death. It can also knit people together in their hour of need. I just wish they'd drop the silly notion of god(s) being at the centre of it all.
I look upon a religion being like a football supporters club. Or maybe a social club where people can meet up, relax over a beer or coffee, and generally chat about anything. Belief in god(s) has slowed mankind's development. Had it not been for god-based religion and silly superstition we would've conquered the moon and the inner planets many centuries ago.
Foreskins must've been some sort of design error made by God. But it took about a million years or more of men walking upon the Earth before it was realised and an upgrade organised by Judaism brought into force.
The whole aspect of circumcision for religious purposes is decidedly hypocritical as Man, according to the scriptures was supposedly created by God in God's image. Does this mean that God himself has been circumcised?
Or, if God designed the prepuce and thought it a not-so-good bug in the system, did he then issue an update via Moses informing him of this?
Here's a little more food for thought on this subject for the appropriate theists to ponder. If God HAS been circumcised, then who carried out the circumcision?
The man Jesus may or may not have existed, but God his "father(?)" DEFINITELY never has.
Why is it that all believers come across as being too stupid for words? Is it maybe because they ARE too stupid for words?
I will gladly play any god at noughts and crosses and I'll bet I win every time. I'll even let them go first.
A drowning man will often turn to prayer as the last resort when he'd be far better off clutching at the last straw.
I often have reason to wonder if the word GOD was akin to one of the very first typos and that it should read GOLD.
Isn't it ironic that the religious consider atheists the most untrustworthy people, and yet desperately attempting to muddy atheism by comparing it as religion? They would - by that token - appear to be implying that religions are vile entities? However, Atheism ISN'T a vile entity. Atheism represents the stark TRUTH.
So, what - exactly - is evil about representing the truth?
My thought for today: The eternal question is: Is there life after death?
I say that we ARE reincarnated. All of us. All of every living thing in fact lives on in some form or another after death, when our atoms get recycled as we turn to eventual dust and that dust turns to even dustier dust. All that is left of us are the memories we leave behind and our DNA, our Genetic trail. Maybe this is where the believers have got it slightly wrong when they talk of the afterlife.
I often find myself berated by goddists for voicing my opinions/views in regard to the non-existence of gods. For instance, when I take a stance and claim that gods are the invention of Man and that gods do not exist, have never existed and never will. I am also not afraid to say that there is no such thing as an afterlife and that THIS is the only life we will ever have so we must make the most of it.
But the goddists will say what they have always said: "How do YOU know there is no God? How do you KNOW there is no Hereafter?"
This has always been the case when believers and their beliefs are challenged by those who can see things more clearly. Many ancient cultures in times gone by were sure that the Earth was a flat plane and that our flat world was at the very centre of a small universe that circled the flat Earth and a new Sun was born every morning, tracked across the sky and it perished in the evening.
These people would dismiss anyone else's view that the Earth was indeed round and that it turned on its axis allowing the Sun to bathe the Earth for a measured time and that the universe was vastly bigger than the commonly held belief. Had my counterpart of the time put forward his belief that the Flat Earth thing was silly and the universe was almost fathomless, he would have suffered scorn at the very least and more than likely been arrested and clapped in irons. Maybe even cruelly tortured until he could take no more and was forced to admit that he was wrong. He might then be put to death.
Just a few centuries ago in some foreign lands we would have seen my counterpart trying to tell the priest of the time that sacrificing young virgins would NOT encourage the gods to make it rain in order to stop the crops from withering and thus bring an end to the famine. My counterpart's pleading would at best fall on deaf ears, at worst his ears would be cut off and stuffed in his mouth before he was hurled from the high steps of the temple.
Those same few centuries ago we would have seen women and girls rounded up by "Christian?" witch-hunters and egged on by their church leaders in fear that these innocent females were indeed witches in league with Satan. Very often they would suffer drowning or burning at the stake with no trial whatsoever. At times the whole area would be alight as scores of so-called witches were burning at stakes set a few yards apart, their tortured screams being heard for miles around while the air was full of rancid smoke that covered the walls and trees with human fat.
Even if trials were instigated they wouldn't be anything like fair trials. Evidence was often trumped up, the charges too ridiculous to even contemplate in this day. My counterpart would see this was the case. He would SEE that magic, voodoo and witchcraft were absolute rubbish and he might voice his thoughts. But again my counterpart would be ignored. He himself might even be accused of witchcraft and suffer a fate very similar to the other unfortunates.
A few centuries before that would have seen some of the cruellest atrocities EVER committed in the name of Christianity when hordes of Christian Crusaders roamed across Europe and the Middle East maiming, murdering and torturing all in their path who weren't Christian. My counterpart at the time would've seen the foolishness of these ventures, expressing that these acts were not very "godly" were against all Christian teachings and should cease. But he would have been ignored and ridiculed and the killing would have continued.
For nigh on 200 years, America relied on the import of slaves from the African continent. The slave trade was cruel and barbaric all the way down the line from their capture in their homeland to being packed like sardines in the holds of stinking slave ships and then sold like cattle to greedy cotton farmers in America where they were treated LESS than cattle. Had my counterpart witnessed what was going on, saw that it was wrong on any number of levels and voiced his concern he would at best have been ignored with the excuse that these black workers were no more than animals to be worked like oxen and beaten if they were reluctant to work. At worst he would've been shot. It took over two centuries for that counterpart to get himself heard above the screams of the young black girls being raped by their owners or plantation managers.
It's a little less than two centuries ago when some talented scientists came up with a convincing theory that tended to disprove the bible stories that tell of everything being created by their particular god and Man was this god's ultimate creation. These scientists showed - through their patient research and ultimate findings - that Man, in fact, was just another animal who was at the top of a species of animals called Primates. Not everyone was convinced of this, especially amongst the pious. Most were scared to have to admit that they were only once or twice removed from the chimpanzee or the gorilla and that only Evolution had put us atop the food chain. However, my counterpart at the time WAS convinced. My counterpart stood up and declaimed his support for the science and was mocked unmercifully by his compatriots and ostracised by the society of the time. Even his wife and family disowned him. Yet he was only voicing the truth.
My German counterpart saw what was happening in the Death Camp of Auschwitz. He saw that it was wrong, so very wrong to be murdering the Jews and Gypsies in their millions, but he wouldn't've dared voice his lone thoughts for fear of being branded a Jew lover and being disposed of, maybe sent to the Russian Front.
The above explanations are why I will ALWAYS maintain that it is wholly WRONG for various "God Based Religions" to keep perpetuating and spreading untrue and misleading information relating to their gods and their alleged gods' promises of everlasting life and the tales of how WE are some sort of Master Race put here by THEIR god when it all so much rubbish. Rubbish invented by Man as a sort of divisive measure in order to subvert and control the masses. We humankind aren't the be all and end all. We are just another branch of the ape family that got "lucky(?)". Another million years from now and it'll maybe be the turn of the six foot thirteen stone cockroach with the opposable claws.
I just hope that any future counterpart doesn't have need to write about the times that we live in and castigate those of now who insist on living life in fear of their god. Fear that if they put even a foot wrong he will not allow them into the Kingdom of THEIR god, even though that place is an invention of Man and therefore does not exist.
Some will say that the reason for my disbelief is that I may have suffered a bad religious experience. However, I've suffered nothing at the hands of any religion, except maybe the assistant head of my school who was highly religious (he took us for RI and was always in charge of prayers, readings and hymns at assembly) and who took great delight in punishing young boys in his study after school. On reflection I suppose he might have turned my head against theism 'cos he was an arsehole and a religious one so I might have made a lasting connection.
There will be NO afterlife. Living is akin to a candle flame. It burns for only as long as it has sustenance. No candle has ever been designed that will ever burn for all eternity.
Don't waste even one second in prayer when you can put that time and energy into helping those in need or even helping yourself.
None of us will have led a full and active life without having left a few skid-marks and a little debris in our wake.
Some people are so naive they even believe that imagined gods and the religions wrapped around them are harmless.
Since the invention of the videophone (let alone other cameras etc) there hasn't been ONE confirmed sighting of an angel, a god or a fairy.
Why do some footballers cross themselves when coming onto the pitch or taking a penalty? Is God a footie fan? If so, who does he support?
Twenty years ago (1993) I gave gods another 1,000 years. Only a few more to go and counting.
The chimpanzee is the nearest animal genetically down the order of Evolution to the human being. Theists are next down the line below them.
The majority vote at some time in Earth history was that the world was flat; the sun was born every morning and died in the evening; our world was at the centre of the universe; and the whole thing had been magicked into existence by some old bearded guy who lives up in the clouds.
Gospels are not gospel. They are anything but.
All children need a little magic in their lives. But not THAT much.
There is infinitely more chance that Earth has been visited by aliens in the past and infinitely more chance that aliens will visit Earth in the future than there is chance that gods and angels have visited Earth in the past or ever will in the future. Does that make sense?
Why do you feel you require the guidance of someone or someTHING other than your own parents, your own family, your own friends? Are you so unsure of yourself and your own capabilities (weak) that you can't even stand without some ethereal force holding you up? God is like cocaine. You were introduced to God/cocaine as a child, you have been fed the drug throughout your life and you are hooked. Believe me, I was there too. But I kicked the habit. And I didn't suffer any withdrawal symptoms, either. Unless you can count having a strong desire to help others kick the habit a withdrawal symptom, that is.
The simple deduction is that MAN created GOD(S). No GOD created anything, let alone MAN. Gods are figments of Man's imagination, nothing more, nothing less. And if anyone wishes to put more stock in clay tablets purported to have been records of a god's instructions than they are prepared to do in either common sense or scientific evidence to the contrary, then I would advise they go get immediate help from a qualified psychiatrist.
Odd, isn't it. The world's youngest mountain range - at a little less than 30 million years - is The Himalayas. This means that even though they are regarded as being young mountains, they were there approximately 29,000,000 years before something akin to Modern Man took his first tentative steps from being apelike and almost 30 million years before the Biblical account of creation would have us be.
Theist: "Why do you keep going on and on about religion?"
Me: "'Cos you lot have heck of a start on me and I have a lot of ground to make up."
Why should I give the theists a break when they have a few thousand years start on the atheists? We have a lot of catching up to do. Incidentally, all the holy books I've read, the OT, the NT and the Koran, are all held together by dream sequences. What the hell is that all about? Even dogs and cats dream. Maybe they are having audience with THEIR god. It's a Bloody good job they've not mastered the art of writing yet.
It appears to be far easier to convince someone into believing god exists than it is to convince that person otherwise.
Almost anyone can walk on water. It's all a matter of degrees.
Why is it that believers believe that we humankind are something special? We are NOT special. We are merely another animal that populates this little ball of cooling rock orbiting a middle-aged ball of gas in the backwaters of a mid-sized galaxy.
Nothing special at all. And, like all living things, animal vegetable or fish, we are programmed to die. And when we are dead . . . that's it. Dead, it's over, we're finished. Just like this post is brought to an end by this full stop.
Catch 22. Maybe both atheist and theists have it wrong. Perhaps God is testing the gullibility of humans.
It's a well know fact that science and scientists take great delight in debunking some science and scientists. That's how true science works and how god-based religions are proved to be false.
I would imagine that early man would've been indistinguishable from other apes at the time. No tools; no clothes and just rudimentary communication.
Creationism is the bad seed. Nothing grows from that seed but Creationists. Luckily, some Creationist seed fell on stoney ground, while other seed fell where the soil was too shallow to take root. I believe that's where I come in.
How come we are willing to put more trust in the ancient words and ancient writings of ignorant ancient Arab and Egyptian peasants than we are willing to put in the more educated and informed in our modern society?
I would much rather believe that the universe spontaneously came into existence 10 or 20 billion years or so ago, and that a living cell spontaneously came into existence on Earth (we'll forget at this juncture the possibility of life spontaneously springing up from natural resources and conditions elsewhere in the vastness of the universe) some billions of years later down the line of universal evolution, than I would trust in MAGIC performed by some imagined ethereal designer.
Life on Earth (and most likely elsewhere in the universe) began as a series of serendipitous events.
The first one was when ALL the right conditions to spark that very first living cell came together for one brief moment in time.
A while later another serendipitous event occurred when ALL the right conditions arose for two of those cells to combine and reproduce.
From then on in, serendipity ruled and STILL does.
NB. Serendipity also played its part in the birth of the universe.
The human can be likened to an atom that makes up a germ sitting on a shit dropping of a fly (our planet) atop a cube of sugar (our solar system).
The next nearest cube of sugar lies one mile away (our nearest star) and there are billions of these cubes of sugar each spread out over an area the size of our own solar system (The Milky Way. And that's just representative of our own Galaxy.
But there are BILLIONS of galaxies in the universe! And on the same scale I've described, the next nearest galaxy to ours lies a million widths of our own galaxy distant. Why is it that some humans feel that we are significant in the whole matrix that makes up the universe when we are each merely one atom?
NEWS HEADLINE: Investigations underway into religious brainwashing.
Very laudable I must say. But why just pick on such as the Scientology cult or the Moonies when ALL religion is about brainwashing and perversity and always has been. PLUS! Many of the "accepted" religions - apart from suppressing scientific knowledge and thus human advancement - have been responsible for ruining a darn sight more lives than these latest tin-pot attempts at coercive brainwashing PLUS a damn sight more cruel and needless deaths that have been ordered by their pious leaders.
The theist will say: "If the universe and/or humanity is NOT by design, what objective purpose could it have?" But I say to the theist. "If there IS a designer responsible for the universe and everything therein, WHO or WHAT designed and created the designer? "And - if there was nothing in the first place - what was this designer and the designer of the designer made out of?"
Praise be to God for he is our Lord and Protector. But DO keep your gun handy, just in case.
God exists in the image of Man. So God - in essence - must be all things to all Men regardless of colour, creed or sexual orientation.
The world is profit oriented and prophet disoriented.
The bibles are "must have" books favoured by the inmates in all Her Majesty's Prisons. The fine paper is brilliant for making roll-ups.
The fact is, facts and god based religion are diametrically opposed.
Craphouses are more useful than churches, I can't ever remember bursting for a pray.
Theists suffer from a variation of Stockholm syndrome.
Stockholm syndrome is a psychological behaviour that is manifest in certain hostage situations. This condition appears when the hostage begins to show un deserving loyalty to or sympathy with the people who are holding him or her captive. The condition can also be used to describe the behaviour of certain victims of domestic abuse, bride kidnapping and even those subjected to brainwashing i.e: religion.
A fool and his common-sense are soon parted.
2000 or so years ago, crucifixion would've been equal to a three year custodial sentence (suspended) today. Why make a big thing of it?
Graveyards are for the dead, not the living. Move on and get on with your life.
Religions are not about truths. Religions are all about seeing who can tell the biggest lies.
Atheism - The truly arrogant belief (according to theists) that we humankind are NOT something special and are merely another primate that got lucky along the way.
Anyone who takes religion seriously should not be taken seriously.
The nearer Man be to his own god, the nearer Man be to his own devil.
Incidentally. It's the theists who should have the horns - not the atheists - for aren't THEY the sheep!
Each religion threatens eternal damnation to non-believers of their particular deity. So there will be no escape from damnation even if you worship 24/7 for every day of your life.
The holy books of any denomination are akin to a collection of Old Wives Tales. Vicious, ignorant old wives, to boot.
In answer to believers.
So, had you been around when Christian soldiers were raping, pillaging and murdering their way across half the world in the name of Jesus, you would've seen yourself backing them in their conquests?
And when young and old women suspected of being witches where being hounded on orders of the Christian Church, brought to "trial(?)" found guilty of practising witchcraft and sentenced to their most unimaginable deaths - even though obviously innocent victims of Christian hysteria - you would have been fanning the flames of these injustices in the name of God and Jesus?
Mmmmmmmmmmm! Me? I'd rather choose Beelzebub, if I thought he existed. Atheism is merely proof that evolution is working.
The majority of ornate places of worship spread around the globe are constructed with billion year old marble and stone made of fossilised dead sea creatures. Even the flint tools of early Man are fashioned from stone of such fossilised creatures. These facts don't square with the biblical account of creation (4004 BC) so are rejected by the theist. The difference between the podium and the lectern is the same as the difference between teaching and preaching. The love of gods is unrequited.
ALL theists should be encouraged to read the bibles and other holy books, for we atheists need more recruits.
For Zombies read Theists. The buggers just keep on coming even if
they're filled with holes!
Hi God! You are supposed to be all seeing, all knowing and all mighty, but although I'm an old guy I hereby challenge you to an arm-wrestle. Winner takes all.
PS. bring a couple of angels along to adjudicate.
Again it is Easter and again we find the idea of the existence of God challenged.
"But how can you PROVE that God doesn't exist?" challenges the theist.
"Some people believe in Leprechauns. Can you PROVE that they don't exist?" challenges the atheist in reply.
Jesus was a clever bloke. Had he been around today he'd've most likely been atheist.
God is the staff of life with which the preacher beats his congregation into submission.
God exists in the image of Man. So God - in essence - must be all things to all Men regardless of colour, creed or sexual orientation.
Religious brainwashing 1)
I reckon I'm going to set myself up as a "Devil's Disciple" and go door to door aka the bible pushers, pushing atheism.
I spotted a marvellous Satan suit in a fancy-dress shop in town. I reckon it would be just the job for my revaengelism.
Will the goddists ever learn that the Sun neither rises nor sets by the grace of God in order to give us seasons?
Will they ever learn that it's only the Earth spinning, as most planets do whether inhabited or not?
Even the stars rotate on their axis. Why need they?
Religious brainwashing 2)
The theist would maintain that religious brainwashing doesn't exist. He would say it hasn't succeeded with him. He would claim to still be in control of his own self.
But I would have to ask the theist: How would you KNOW they haven't succeeded? How do you KNOW you are in control of yourself?
The universe was 'apparently' designed and created just for us and we were designed and created 'apparently' to fit the universe. Religion in a nutshell.
Stuck for something to give up for Lent? Try giving up religion.
"Jesus seen in a slice of toast!"
They have it all wrong!! Jesus had a face like a slice of toast!!
Prove me wrong, if you can.
This is taken in context from a speech made by ex US President Ronald Reagan:
"... walking this fine line [between accepting religious faith and accepting the science of evolution] requires government to be strictly neutral." End.
It makes me ask: Why do we bother electing such people into power - where their sole aim should be to make decisions for us if all they can offer is strict neutrality? Why bother teaching the sciences to our children when we/they choose to sit on the fence when it comes down to choosing between rational thinking and irrational magic?
I don't blame the theists of today, I blame the theists of yesterday. For 'twas they that started it!
If theists cannot accept the science of Evolution, then they are left with only the one option. MAGIC!!
Religion is like the straw to a drowning man. We all of us feel the need to hold onto something. With me it's my sanity.
Piety is directly proportional to stupidity.
I put it to the goddists on a Christian site that maybe they have it all wrong and God will be waiting with open arms for those who DIDN'T blindly believe in him. It would make a lot more sense. I mean, why would anyone of intelligence want to be surrounded by gullible sycophants for all eternity?
Paws for thought:
Does there have to be sense to the universe?
Does there have to be purpose?
If humans hadn't very recently evolved, would gods still exist for the animals?
If humankind becomes extinct, will deities also become extinct? Does there have to be sense to the universe? Does there have to be purpose? If humans had never evolved would gods still exist? If humankind becomes extinct, will gods become extinct, also?
Scientists Prove That All Religious Books Are Man-Made Nonsense.
By B. Delaire
Satan and God are precisely the same.., in that neither exists, except in the troubled mind.
The theist says in his/her own heart, there is God. The fool!
The salient point is - what species of hominid was Adam?
I bet I only just disbelieve in more gods than you.
If you have need for someone to love and be loved by, then look to your mother.
If you require someone to love and respect, then look to your father.
If you seek someone to hate, then maybe you had neither loving mother nor respectable father.
If there is a god.
If there is a god, then why do criminals prosper?
If there is a god, why do the bad grow old?
If there is a god, then why the sadistic killer?
If there is a god, why are the innocent cold?
If there is a god, then why do children suffer?
If there is a god, why do paedophiles thrive?
If there is a god, then why are rapists free to rape?
If there is a god, why are they still alive?
If there is a god, then why so many starving?
If there is a god, what are they so to do?
If there is a god, then why are the poor so many?
If there is a god, why are the rich so few?
If there is a god, then why the serial killing?
If there is a god, he's blind, unfeeling, cruel?
If there is a god, then what the hell's he doing?
If there is a god, that god's a bloody fool.
Amen
When theist, I found myself talking to myself. So I prayed and asked for help, but received no reply. So I turned instead to atheism. And lo, I was cured.
God only converses with the mentally unstable.
Some people have made claims in modern times that they have had conversations with God. Even to speaking with him on a regular basis.
But instead of finding themselves revered and their conversations recorded in print, they often find themselves locked up in a mental hospital, put under close supervision and forced to have prescribed drugs administered.
How times change.
We pass on our genes and the impressions we have made we leave behind. What more "life after death" does one require.
"Fables should be taught as fables, myths as myths, and miracles as poetic fancies. To teach superstitions as truths is a most terrible thing." - Hypatia of Alexandria (370 - 415 AD)
http://www.dailysquib.co.uk/index.php?news=3102
Theists are just dragging their feet on the road of Evolution. Theism will - given time - fall by the wayside.
GOD is Evolution personified. If you would care to examine the evolution of GOD over the last 100,000 years or so you will see how GOD evolved while branching out in various directions. The earliest Mark 1 god would have been nothing like the latest Mark 10000 god.
Go figure!
A message to the theists: OK, you're right. I have to concede that there IS a god. I have to agree that there must have been a designer to create such a wondrous universe and such magnificence that we bear witness to on Earth. It just couldn't have happened spontaneously and by a series of natural accidents of nature. You were right all along and I was wrong, it HAD to have been designed. I am now ALMOST a fully-fledged believer.
Just one thing bugging me. Who or what designed the designer?
Gods only make sense to the senseless.
Each of us has a sweet side and each of us has a sour side. Love and understanding - along with forgiveness - are the condiments that make us all palatable.
Never underestimate Man's ability to balls things up.
The more I learned about gods the more I came to realise that there weren't any.
The last theist will have the last laugh, when he/she eventually gets the joke.
Evolution has TIME on its hands that the Biblical account of creation does not. Until you can recognise the enormous amount of TIME involved, you will never appreciate what Darwin was getting at.
Billions of years - along with lots of happy accidents of nature - trumps the week long magical creation EVERY time.
My mind is as closed to the existence of gods as it is to the existence of magic, ghosts, fairies and all other such rubbish that belongs in the human imagination. After all, it is the human imagination that created such rubbish.
As a species - and in the grand scheme of things - we've been on Earth barely a few seconds. Yet many regard we humankind as something above the other creatures and very special.
We are not. We are merely an accident of nature and will be eradicated LONG before the lowliest creature on Planet Earth breathes its last breath.
A message to theists: If you harbour doubts about your religion, don't be shy about airing them.
I would never say theists are weak wimps, though I would have to admit they are very easily led. After all, the proof is in the pudding. They've been led up the Garden of Eden path, fed on a load of rotten fruit and become intoxicated. Some day soon they may sober up.
Religion is the thief of time. (With apologies to Edward Young)
The holy books appear to have been written on a WWI Enigma machine in Klingon by a Martian who was having to work in the dark hold of a Spanish galleon on a storm tossed sea.
Charles Darwin showed balls in turning away from the church when it had dawned on him that the biblical version of creation was a load of bollocks and thus the Old Testament fell apart at Genesis.
I caught this infectious disease through contact at school. It took me half a century to get rid of it because the disease was little understood at the time. My Christianity - as the affliction was known - was eventually defeated by later education, pure common sense, and reasoning. God is an infectious disease of the brain. The only cures are either amputation or education.
I'm going to hell because I dismiss all gods. I shall be there along with all the other souls who dismiss every god barring their own.
Heaven can be found right here on Earth. One has neither to pray nor to die to find it.
I truly believe that we can travel faster than light enabling us to journey backwards and forwards in time on our every whim. For I believe in the Starship Enterprise and The Doctor. But GODS!? Naaaaar! They are much TOO fanciful.
How can anyone argue against the principle of Evolution? It's as plain as the nose on ones face and the cut of ones arse!
What gets me in all this religious piffle is why, if it's to be believed, any god would create the universe and everything else then sit on his hands for 13+ BILLION years before creating his Master Race.
If one requires a god: to be good. Then maybe one is inherently bad. God ISN'T the answer. God isn't even worthy of the question.
We must always bear in mind that we are never finished evolving. Our bodies and minds will forever change to suit our lifestyle and environment. As examples, we humans still retain our baser hunting and killing instincts.... but for how much longer?
Some experts on physiology and psychology are even now predicting drastic changes in our brain patterns due to imbalance of the brains' usage. They are forecasting a wider catchment in the areas of memory loss (amnesia) and brain malfunction (Alzheimer's) and the earlier onset of osteoporosis due to our growing reliance on and dedication to, computers. Maybe this should be a warning to us to get out more.
Never put your trust in gods. Put your trust in those you trust, instead. NO god can DO anything. Only humans can DO anything.
I'm not ashamed to claim that my distant ancestors are of the ape family. However, many Christians and other goddist sects are appalled by the very idea and much prefer to be the descendants of a clod of earth and rampant incest.
By the way. I still believe Christians got off lightly in the Colosseum. I mean, they only ever had to do one performance, the poor lions were on every blinkin' night!
The realist says make most of life, and lives life hell for leather. The goddist says we live to die to live once more, for ever. Who's the fool?
Pascal's Wager? Phooey!!
God(s) do not exist, - except in the mind of the gullible. They never have and they never will.
Man imagined gods and therefore these imagined Gods are secondary to Man and not masters to be blindly obeyed. We should ignore any propensity to follow like sheep those who swear by their particular imagined god. As for death. Death becomes each and everyone of us, it's a fact of life. When we die, that's it, we are dead. We only live on in the memories of the living.
I've just looked up the word "Cretin" in my dictionary: someone mentally deficient by birth [synonyms] half-wit; idiot; imbecile, moron; retard; simpleton; subnormal; theist [a believer in deities]*
*OK, I added that last one, but only because it had obviously been missed out.
Childhood conditioning has EVERYTHING to do with belief in EVERYTHING, including gods, fairies and the afterlife. That's what children's brains are for. The baby's brain is a virtual blank canvas on which the adult attempts to paint the very same picture that HIS/HER canvas contains. The growing child's brain takes on this information whether it be right or wrong. This is mostly OK. We teach them to walk, talk, write, do arithmetic, wipe their own backside and eat with utensils etc. But we should NOT teach them rumour and false stories about gods. This can be very damaging when taken to the extreme.
Children can be taught the difference between right and wrong without resorting to threats that the Bogey Man/God will come and punish them if they don't behave.
I wish more people of note would be prepared to come out of the closet, speak their minds and bugger the feared consequences. If - let's say - our UK Queen and the U.S president were to "come out" and admit that the holy books are plainly hysterical fiction populated by a few historical facts, more people would sit up, take note and rethink.
A true theist's eyes are focussed on heaven and yet they SEE nothing. The eyes of an atheist are focussed above and beyond heaven and see things much more clearly.
We don't need to SEE something in order to believe in it. We merely have to study the effect. Think magnetism; electricity; wind; gravity; love; pain; heat; worry; pity; and some others that I cannot at the moment "not see".
On 22-05-2011 The Rapture was a damp squib. And it forever shall be.
Of course, when it was realised that we were still here that rainy Sunday morning there were the excuses.
The 1st excuse would have been: "Ah used imperial meashiments instead o' metrics. NIXT tahm ah'll git it raight, yorl."
Or maybe: "I spilt some corffee on mah barbul an ah faarnd it ard tah read through mah tears."
Because I'm a caring person I hate all scams, especially those that take people for fools and those that take peoples' money. God based religions are the biggest scams of the lot. It's a pity some can't see that.
It should make anyone ponder a while when it's been realised that the light that we now see being emitted from the furthest galaxies in our universe began its journey (at 186,282.4 miles per second), some 13.23 MILLION years ago. Yet the Biblical account of creation makes our Earth and everything outside our Earth a paltry six and a half thousand years old.
Now THAT'S Magic!
And on the sixth day, God created MAN, The Acme of Creation? So, after creating all the lesser animals, God came up with his ultimate creation. MAN.
Or did he?
Now anyone would think (well I would) that MAN, being the acme of God's work, would be made of the best stuff. The best design incorporating the best aspects and materials of what had gone before. Not only would MAN have the most developed brain, MAN would be stronger and more hardy than any other animal previous to that point. Not only would MAN be brainier, MAN would be fleeter of foot, sharper of eye, keener of hearing and be able to converse readily with any other of his species.
MAN could have had the strength of chimpanzee, for instance. Even the average sized chimpanzee would be more than a match for the average sized man.
MAN could have been as hardy as an emperor penguin, able to stand the coldest that the weather could offer, but he would also be able to stand the full force of the sun like the desert camel.
Being able to run with the speed of an ostrich over distance (30mph) would be far better to escape our predators or to catch our prey than the meagre pace of the human long distance runners (less than 15mph).
The eyes of a tiger or maybe those of the barn owl complete with a head that can turn through 360 degrees would be far more apt for the master race than the weak eyes that we have been give. Tigers, others of the feline family and owls can see in the dark with their infra red vision. A hawk's eyes would give us greater distance vision, too, so maybe an amalgam of the two.
Our hearing would be better if our creator had used that of the marmoset monkey or even the domestic cat.
As for our sense of smell, it's almost none existent. The average dog has a sense of smell a 100 times better than any human. But even MAN'S best friend pales into insignificance at the side of the brown bear which has a sense of smell over 2000 times better than we humans. We could even have been equipped to smell fear.
And why do our women have to carry the weight of a growing child around with them for many months when an egg or two could be laid and hatched quite readily in the home by either partner?
On top of all this MAN should also be able to swim like a dolphin, breath under water like a fish, soar like an eagle and regrow lost limbs and organs like a salamander..
Creator? Pah! I could have made a better job of it myself.
We should never fear God but we should be fearful of those that do.
Theists have been fooled into fooling themselves.
A fool and his money are soon parted, but a fool and his god take a lot of separating.
Someone just advised me that it is never too late to seek God. Ahem!
If I were to spend the rest of my life in search of god I STILL would be without god. Not only that but if I DID "find him(?)" I would be as mentally disturbed as the rest of the bible thumpers.
The good book lies from front to back
For it was writ by some old hack
I pray that soon the truth be known
On that I know I'm not alone
For in those scriptures lurking deep
A hoax is rife its lie to keep
One day soon the truth will out
Of that I feel there is no doubt
From Genesis through Psalms and Revelations too
It's hate, it's murder, it's pornography blue.
Cats have a sixth sense. The trouble is ... they hardly ever use the other five.
And talking of cats: They have NINE lives, so does this mean they have NINE afterlives?
If this IS so, then that "other place" they keep going on about is going to smell to high heaven of cat piss!
Under Islamic law, EVERYONE - who doesn't believe that Allah is the one and only god and that HE alone must be obeyed; prayed to and given zakat (a direct tax to fund that religion ((for the upkeep and the building of mosques and the propagation of Islam)), and to help the needy AND to pay for the collectors and the collection of zakat) - is going to Hell in a handcart. EVERY ONE OF THEM !! That even means those who only pretend to be Muslim in an attempt to avoid the sulphuric fires of hell in eternal damnation. There's no dodging it 'cos Allah knows all and sees all.
So that's about 90+ percent of the world's population who are destined to burn for ever in the fires of hell!!!
So we are ALL destined to burn forever in the fiery pit of hell whether we follow: Atheism; Faith; Christianity; Catholicism; Protestantism; Gnosticism; Islam (if they are pretending) Judaism; Rastafarianism; Mandaeans and Sa...bians; Samaritanism; Unitarian Universalism; Ayyavazhi; Bhakti Movement; Buddhism; Din-i-Ilahi; Hinduism; Jainism; Sikhism; Manichaeism; Mazdakism; Mithraism; Zoroastrianism; East Asian religions; Confucianism; Shinto; Taoism; Historical polytheism; Indo-European; Hellenistic; Neopaganism; New Age; Esotericism and mysticism; Occult and magical; Left-Hand Path; Creativity; New Thought; Shinshukyo; Fictional religions; Parody or mock religions; and maybe a few more that escape me at the moment.
Oh what a lovely god is this Allah chappie. But what if Allah ISN'T the one and only TRUE god? It's all a bit silly really, isn't it?
"Let he without sin cast the first stone." Maybe those who abide by and support Shari Law should take note.
The "believer" is prepared and willing to believe the unbelievable and yet is unprepared or unwilling to believe the good honest truth.
To ensure he is seen by the crowds the pope sits in the turret of his Popemobile, surrounded on all sides by plates of three-inch plastic glass, which are strong enough to withstand explosives and high velocity bullets. To keep him safe, the Popemobile is also equipped with Kevlar-plated door panels, and a half-inch thick plate of steel under the car as protection against bombs. The pope's car also boasts air filters to protect the occupants against chemical and biological attacks. Why?
God hasn't created anything. We have the Flying Pink Spaghetti Monster to thank for all that we see around us. Now let them prove me wrong.
Doug McLeod once noted: "I still say a church steeple with a lightning rod on top shows a lack of confidence."
I would add that cathedrals, mosques, minarets, temples, synagogues and most other high and mighty places of worship also take precautions against lightning storm and tempest.
God really is a pain, isn't he? All this expenditure on these needlessly opulent places of worship - PLUS this added expense due to powers that SHOULD be under their control - could be put to much better use, like feeding the hungry and housing the homeless.
Other people's misfortune is there to make us laugh. That's why God gave us the banana skin.
And the Evolutionist sayeth of the Creationists: "Darwin forgive them, for they knoweth not what they are talking about."
The reason we were taught to close our eyes in prayer was to block out fact and common sense.
Never underestimate just how utterly stupid the pious can be.
"Seeing" God and ghosts and "Hearing voices", merely demonstrates the frailty of the human mind.
The theist can appeal to nothing absolute, nothing objectively true for all people, it is just mere opinion enforced by might. (With apology to Peter Huff)
There is FAR more evidence that the biblical account of creation is - to say the least - erroneous. Whilst the evidence for evolution is abundant and still coming in, to those who are willing to look.
In the beginning was there nothing.. . . .and then.
From what I've gathered, life began here on Earth about a billion years after our sun was created, our Earth being remnants of the sun, around four and a half to five billion years ago. That would be around nine billion years after the birth of the universe OR 14,000,000,000 years Before Christ(?).
At the time of life kicking off on Earth; water, wind, fire and electrical energy had been around on the Earth for about 1,000,000,000 years with no life whatsoever. And then, purely by accident, a few atoms most likely collided at the bottom of some ocean and by chance formed a cell. That single cell cloned itself and before we knew where we were the seas were abundant with single cell creatures producing gazillions of themselves willy-nilly.
Another 1,000,000,000 years passed and one day two single cell creatures accidentally became stuck together and resulted in a double cell organism. More millions of years later those twin cell organisms got together and created the multi-cell organisms that began to dominate the seas. They were only tiny organisms, a bit like spots of jelly, but the Earth was still very young yet.
Another 1,000,000,000 years pass and during that time some of these multi-cell creatures became a little bigger and because of the enormous amount of time available the evolutionary process it allowed some of these organisms to develop in various ways to either protect themselves or to help them find food. Some developed rudimentary "eyes" that allowed them to differentiate between light and dark, and, over the many millennia these became more and more sophisticated, whilst others developed an external carapace/shell for protection. A billion years pass by and we now have a variety of life in the seas, but nothing on land.
But we do have a form of plant that has developed along the way and it dominates the deep seas. Other plants, through natural selection, make best use of shallower waters and before long one has developed to live above the waterline. This process continues for the next few hundred million years and these plants, along with those that flourish in the seas, produce an abundant supply of oxygen and nitrogen and other elements
We now have almost ideal conditions for the land to be colonised by creatures from the sea who have rudimentary skeletons. Bony structures that will allow them to negotiate on land. Others take the form of snakes etc.
Exactly the same sort of evolutionary processes get to work during the next few hundred million years and before long the giant lizards are masters of the world. They rule for a few hundred million years and then.... CALAMITY!!
The Earth is struck by a giant meteorite. The Earth has been peppered by giant meteorites since its inception, but this one was one real humdinger that caused havoc on Earth. Many species of plants and animals etc were wiped out immediately while others were either starved to death during the "sort of" nuclear winter which lasted for at least a dozen years.
But not to worry. This left the Earth open to colonisation by the smaller and more hardy animals. MAMMALS. Their food supply would have been the rotting vegetation and the corpses of other less fortunate creature, and of course, the insects and a few birds that are direct descendants of those giant lizards.
More millions of years pass by and animals, birds, fish plants and the mammals have branched off on the various branches and twigs of life that we call Diversity EVOLUTION.
The primates are one branch of evolution and they branched off some 50,000,000 years ago. About 49,000,000 years down that line WE began to evolve. It may have been some slightly genetic accident that some family of ape developed an opposable thumb which allowed it more dexterity than its cousins and could thus make the most use of tools for gathering food etc. Maybe rudimentary weapons such as spears and clubs enabled them to be more proficient hunters and gatherers.
And so, further along that branch we come eventually to Modern Man. He arrived about 50,000 years ago. With his bigger brain and cuter imagination and the fear of the unknown. Along with writing, reading and arithmetic, Modern Man developed gods because he thought them necessary to answer difficult questions about their surroundings and themselves.
So, there you have it. Someone asked the question and I've taken the time and trouble to answer it.
All god based religion is propaganda.
To any theist who has recently passed away I'd just like to say: "I told you so." They obviously won't've got this message but at least the thought was there.
MAN was supposedly created in God's image. So maybe God has now been circumcised, enjoys a pint or two and worships his favourite football team.
If we had always followed the majority opinion: our Earth would still be regarded as a flat plane and we would never have planned to venture beyond the horizon for fear of falling off.
Propagandism: OED def: the practice of spreading tenets or principles in order to sway opinion. [I suppose this would - by rote - have to include - apart from religions - the science of evolution AND atheism] Bugger!!!
One should never judge a book by its cover, unless it has the word HOLY or TESTAMENT in the title.
Let's quit using the term Atheist, it smacks of recognising that Theism exists. Let's adopt the more pleasing term REALIST. I for one am a realist, not a fantasist.
We are all of us animals, 'neath the skin.
Being atheist is like buying a lottery ticket whilst all the time knowing that there's about as much chance of landing the jackpot as there is of a theist reading a book on evolution and developing rational thought on the subject.
I'm atheist but I'm NOT anti theist! I only feel sorry for them. They've had their brains so manipulated and filled with rubbish that they are akin to zombies: and that isn't THEIR fault but the fault of the society they were brought up in.
I was fortunate and managed to escape the clutches of goddists. I now worship at the altar of family. My family, friends and neighbours are more important to me than any imagined god (well some of 'em, at least).
I wouldn't give ANY (and there are many) god the time of day 'cos every minute spent in prayer or thought for one's god is a minute wasted and our time on Earth is short and precious.
What the "L", I confess I worship GOLD.
The theist, in the most simplistic of terms, says: "I have a problem believing that nothing created something! I find it much easier to believe that something created something out of nothing!" Which leads me to ask the question: "What or who created that something that created something out of nothing?"
The main difference between us and our "lower" primate ancestry is our means of communication.
Wouldn't it be a great idea to have a minimum age of consent for the imbibing of religion? Twenty-one sounds about right.
Illic est haud deus , illic est haud filius of deus , illic nunquam eram ullus deus. There is no god, there is no son of god, there never was any god.
The believer will say:
"The human brain could NOT have evolved. It's far too complex and had to be designed by a designer (God)."
I would have to ask the believer:
"Is this designer's brain at least as complex as ours? If so, then who designed the designer's brain?"
God does not exist. I'd stake my afterlife on it.
I (with a little help from my fellow man) can move mountains. God - left on his own - cannot move even a molehill.
If one is blind to evolution then one is blind to fact.
I keep getting that same old question on my stance as an atheist/realist:
"How do you KNOW that God(s) don't exist?"
I answer; "Because I have FAITH in my own reasoning."
You shall obey ze holy orders!
And God spoke all these words, saying: I am the Lord thy God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. (Improvement there then.)
1.You shall have no other gods before me. (So there ARE other gods!)
2.You shall not make for yourself any carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. (Crosses are crossed off the list, too.)
3.You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain. (What? Even when I hit my thumb with the hammer?)
4.Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
(Great!! No more Sunday shopping. No more Sunday sport. No more Sunday television. Hospitals closed, police at home, crime higher, cows bloated with milk, ocean going vessels stationary and adrift, planes falling from the sky, fires raging, women giving birth on their own etc., etc., etc.)
5.Honour your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you. (True, to a point. My mum left me and my sisters when we were kids.)
6.You shall not murder. (No, but YOU can, can't you God.)
7.You shall not commit adultery. (No, but YOU can, can't you God.)
8.You shall not steal. (Correct!)
9.You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour. (I agree with that one, too.)
10.You shall not covet your neighbour's house; you shall not covet your neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is yours. (No but you can, can't you........)
Just a thought.
The 4000+ year old scam (and STILL going strong. Otherwise known as god based religion.
There are far too many who are scared of "The Truth", preferring instead to put their faith in lies, fiction and hokus pokus.
Fear of being frightened is the worst fear of all.
You may lead an unbeliever to church or a horse to water but you will neither make the horse drink nor the unbeliever pray.
I can no more prove that God doesn't exist than theists can disprove the existence of Santa Claus. But common sense tells me that neither exists.
Life is for living, death is for dying. End of.
There is infinitely more proof to put before the judge regarding the case for evolution than there ever will be for the biblical creation claim.
It isn't up to me the atheist to prove gods false, it's up to you the theist to prove gods true.
Religion: Placebo acme.
I've witnessed public displays of loyalty and faith in God or Allah. Just before the rucksack bomb of the devout soul explodes in the crowded bus, train, plane or shopping mall. Most laudable.
I've already rewritten the Old Testament after removing all the lies, fairy tales and other bullshit. I wrote it on the back of a cigarette packet. There's lots of room left over on that cigarette packet to rewrite the New Testament AND the Koran.
What in Hell's name has any god got to do with our destiny?
Why would any god create the universe and then wait around for 14 billion years before creating Man? Idiots!!
Atheists are in the minority (at the moment) just like Round Earthers' were at one time.
Gods (note the plural) only exist in the mind. Much the same as fairies, ghost, goblins, a honest politician and the Loch Ness Monster.
The majority of people once believed that the Earth was flat; a new sun was born every morning and died in the ocean at night; planets were wandering stars; we were the centre of the universe and a god created Man.
We don't have to be pious - or even theist - to be caring and to show kindness to others. The ability is with all of us whether we believe in fairy stories or are practical in our thinking.
Just ask yourself this: "Why would God give us toenails or body hair?"
I can accept the concept of religions but not the concept of gods.
Piety breeds contempt.
You will find that belief in witches and witchcraft STILL persists in some parts of the world. Very often this coincides with firm and popular belief in god(s), too.
God is like your dog. Whether you pat him and praise him or kick him and curse him, he'll still love you. So why bother patting and praising him? Note: No animals were hurt in the making of this quote.
The pious theist is either lying, criminally bent on perpetuating falsehoods or seriously deluded.
I once thought I knew everything there was to know about life, but then I left school. I now know a little more about life because I have lived a little more.
The reason theism took off is because people DIDN'T have the answer to Life, The Universe and Everything. So some wise guy invented God and had his God create everything, which then made things orderly. It gave his life and everyone's life shape, form and finality. "God did it."
Nowadays we have much more knowledge of how we came to be here. Not - by any means - ALL the answers, but enough answers to enable us to realise that such talk of "God did it." is utter rubbish. One day this will become a popular reasoning and gods will dissipate into the ether where they are supposed to exist. Now THAT'S a paradox.
No IFs, no DOUBTs about it. There's a far better chance of getting a noodle through the eye of a running camel than there is of there being a heaven to get into.
I think sometimes, therefore I might be. (With apologies to Descartes.)
Never kick an overtly pious man when he's down. Wait 'til he gets up... and knock him down again.
Proverbs 18:2. "A fool finds no pleasure in understanding but delights in airing his own opinions."
But theists don't like their bible contradicting, so they would say that, wouldn't they?
John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
So, if I offer up my child for sacrifice in MY name I will be doing the right thing.
For the first few billion years of Earth's evolution, through the development of single cell life, bacteria, multi cell sea creatures and plants; fish; land animals; birds; bats and most other living things, there were no deities. Then along came Modern Man just a few thousand years ago and Lo! God was created in Man's own image!
What theists' cannot grasp is that when gods were invented and god's creation was thought up; there was no other way to explain our being here. Nobody had even an inkling as to just how ancient the world - let alone the universe - was. Nobody knew anything about plate tectonics, dinosaurs, planets, DNA, the genome, microbiology or Darwinian Science. The elders at the time would have been stumped for answers to the many questions put to them. So They had to invent a fall guy and that fall guy was GOD.
We are each of us born irreligious and each of us has to be taught a religion. It's only later - as we mature and become wiser - that we have the ability to make up our own minds and turn to atheism if we deem it fitting.
We believe in the god that we are brought up to believe in. Had you been born to a Muslim, been abandoned or otherwise separated from your mother and been adopted as a new born babe to brought up by a devout Christian family, you would (most likely) be a Christian. Conversely, you might also have been adopted by another Muslim family, a Jewish family or any other type of religious group and you would (most likely) be a follower of THEIR faith.
I was born Church of England, raised as a Christian, taught Christian ways and married a Christian. But by middle age I saw the light and abandoned ALL belief in ALL gods. The reason? Well look no further than this message. We are ALL born atheist but we are ALL taught to pray to different gods in accordance with local and familial beliefs.
Snake Oil salesmen and Bible-Thumpers. There's no difference whatsoever.
Many world renowned scientists and other great thinkers professed a belief in God because they knew which side their bread was buttered. AND they also valued their liberty and life.
Someone suggested that MOST people who go to church attend NOT because of religion but because its more of a social club.
So why not go to a social club or a pub? They are much warmer, more comfortable and they don't preach at you.
No god is any better than yourself. You can do anything - AND MORE - than any acclaimed god can do. Have faith in yourself, your family, your friends and your neighbours. Build up a cache of fond memories of yourself to leave behind and you will live on for all eternity.
Each man/woman is an island. If they need bridges they will build them.
The Church is the last refuge of scoundrels as dyslexia is often the last refuge of the semi-literate.
MAN builds gods, gods don't build MAN.
The bibles and holy books can be likened to Flat-Pack Furniture assembly instructions. They are there purely as a guide for those who otherwise wouldn't have a clue how to put it together. Occasionally those instructions are wrong or there's a piece or two missing.
God. A theist's version of the bogeyman.
A drowning man will cling to anything for support. But with only a straw or praying at hand, I'd always choose the straw.
An atheist is someone who believes that everything came from nothing and started about 14,000,000,000 years and no gods had a hand in it.
A theist is someone who believes that everything was made by God from nothing in just six days, less than 10,000 years ago.
You have a choice.
The Holy Books can be likened to the out of date instruction manuals that we keep in a drawer - long after the gadget has been confined to the trash can.
I once put the question: "Why did God give us toenails and body hair?" while alluding to the fact that our toenails and all over hair are remnants of claws from our earlier ancestry.
Seeing as how we were purportedly made by God in God's image I might also ask: "Does God have toenails and body hair?"
As if the world didn't have enough to contend with with one series of incestuous relationships (Adam and Eve et al) he then goes and forces another series of incestuous relationships upon us with Noah and his lot (his wife appears not to have a name).
I can hardly wait for my day of reckoning when I shall be proved right. Though none will be any the wiser for it, including me.
People in general are the eternal masochists. How else could one explain their love of an evil god?
Most people accept the words of others because it's easier than arguing. This includes accepting fable as fact, supposition as truth and scientific discovery as lies.
Mankind is still in its infancy. We have a long way to go before we catch up with the baboon's time on Earth.
Someone once said something like: "If gods didn't exist, we would have to invent them." I never could understand the meaning of that.
If you want something to believe in, believe in yourself.
Ego is only one letter short of God, yet much more reliable and vastly more believable. There IS only one true god and that god is Ego. Ego can do anything - and more - than ANY other god can do. Worship Ego. Praise be to Ego. Just don't let Ego run away with you.
A god has no power, other than that of its followers.
I do believe that the list of memorable things about us that we leave behind is exactly the same Afterlife that theists value the most.
Of the estimated 3,000,000,000,000 (3 trillion) other planets in our galaxy, do you not think that there may be at least one other planet that has more advanced life forms than here on Earth? There's no mention of it in the holy books. And will that life-form believe that THEY are God's creation and that THEY are the centre of the universe?
I believe, by and large, that theists are afraid of their fate while true atheists are not.
14,000,000,000 years BC (Before Commonsense) our universe was born. If an entity created it, then why did that creator kick his heels for the next 13,999,900,000 years or so before creating Man?
I'm in the process of getting published a "Holy" book in opposition to ALL the other holy books. It will have no mention of gods in it. No fairy tales. No miracles. No wanton murder of innocents or any other sadistic violence. No ridiculous promises of life hereafter and no threats of eternal damnation if you - the reader - don't believe in what it says in the book. I hereby offer you this pre-publication manuscript for your perusal. Here is the manuscript. It's between the brackets: [ ]
There's a strong thread that binds the pious and the mentally deficient. How else could one explain their hearing of voices, their seeing of visions and their ignorance in having faith in fairy tales?
The basic difference between we atheists and those theist cults is determined by the use of just one letter. The 'ell should be kicked out of the cults with an "n" used in its stead. It would lead to a more fitting description.
The believer/creationist will say that a rock found on the ground is natural yet a watch found in similar circumstances requires a designer, implying that anything complex requires designing and cannot come about by accident.
In that case WHO designed God/the designer?
It isn't the love of money that is at the root of all evil, it is the love of God.
We may be just humble men (and women) but we are more mighty than the mightiest of gods.
Gods don't plant bombs and poison in the bodies, minds and mouths of men (and women), they haven't the wherewithal. MAN does his god's work. MAN cures the sick. MAN kills!!! No god has power to do anything. Those who fear god are fearful of themselves and MAN.
Jesus HAS to have a good sense of humour. Penn and Teller? David Copperfield? Tommy Cooper? They were all rubbish at the side of him. Crikey, some of those stunts he pulled to gain attention will remain some of the best ever.
Talked with God (talked to himself);
Fed the multitudes with a few loaves and fishes;
Turned water into wine;
Cured leprosy;
Enabled a blind man to see;
Walked on water;
Claimed divine status and was accepted;
Arose from the dead;
He could well have been the founder member of The Magic Circle.
If God is everywhere and all seeing then why do we require vast expenditure on places of worship? It would appear that theism is more about real-estate than about religion.
Are not these promised virgins - that await those who sacrifice themselves and murder in his name - also God's children? It seems strange to me that he would offer such innocents up to be debauched as some sort of reward for the murderous being faithful unto him. And don't these virgins have any say in the matter?
Religion is based on mass hallucination. The more who believe, the more who will believe. This COULD be made to work in the opposite direction. The more who DISbelieve, the more who will DISbelieve.
I just ask that folk THINK. To think rationally. We human beings are merely the latest stage in the evolution of the family of primates. Nothing less and certainly nothing more. Why do so many otherwise rational people think we are such special apes that we deserve an afterlife? No other living creature on Earth gets to go to this propounded heaven so why should we?
I've never sought to deny that Jesus was a man or that he existed. All I would deny is that he was the son of a god.
A few thousand years ago, theism ousted common sense. I like to think that common sense is having a resurgence.
People will profess to believe the words of the bible, but only the words they CHOOSE to believe. How hypercritical is that? That's like playing a game to the rules but only to the rules one agrees with.
The goddists' challenge me, saying: "You speak of Man evolving from the ape, but where is this missing link?" To that I have to say that THEY are the missing link.
Catholicism and The Mafia have very strong ties and similarities in propagating their respective fearsome image. It can't be coincidence, either, since both bodies originated in the same area on Earth. There is very little difference between the two. Each promote fear to gain money and penance from their targets with the threat of punishment.
It's reckoned that most theists have it that although there may be many religions, there's only the ONE god. THEIRS I presume.
Creationists' should believe in evolution, for haven't the holy books themselves evolved over time?
Up until the age of about nine or ten I believed in the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus and God. I was encouraged in this belief by those whom I trusted. Parents, relatives, teachers and the preachers.
By the time I was eleven I became dissuaded in my belief in Santa and the Tooth Fairy by those very same people. But nobody tried to dissuade me from my belief in God. In fact that belief was stressed to me. I must have faith..... or else.
But there isn't one pennyworth of difference between Santa, the Tooth Fairy or God. All are fables and if God is fable then so too is Jesus and Christianity.
Sign of the times:
Father: (to ten year old son) Christmas is just around the corner, son, and I think it's time I told you the truth.
Son: What truth, Dad?
Father: There is no Santa Claus. Santa Claus is a made up character to keep children happy.
Son: Yes, I know Dad.
Father: You've taken it very well. Aren't you even a little bit upset?
Son: No Dad. I've suspected as much since I was six.
Father: Oh? It's nice to see you growing up to appreciate the REAL adult world.
Son: And Dad.
Father: Yes, son?
Son: I also know there is no Tooth Fairy, no gods and no Jesus.
Father: WHAT!!!! You silly little boy! What would YOU know about such things? Now go up to your room, put yourself to bed and pray for forgiveness! You STUPID boy!
Son: Yes father.
Earth's populous will dismiss whatever findings arise in regard to evolution. After all, our universe is only a few thousand years old at the most, in their reasoning. Infinite wisdom is more than matched by infinite ignorance.
The Holy Bible has flourished into becoming the best selling book in promoting one of the most popular religions the world has ever known while at the same time contradicting scientific fact.
How come they can pick or choose to ignore scientific fact when it pleases them? It's hypocrisy such as this that perpetuates lies and even DAMN LIES that are at the root of ALL religion.
If all reference to gods can be removed from the holy books I would not see anything wrong with religion. Holy Joes and places of worship could be allowed to carry on with their wedding and funeral services etc and we could carry on living out our lives without gods and without any detriment.
If I go for a walk with a pious man, I always walk on the side away from the traffic.
I sincerely believe that the KJV of the bible should be re-evaluated and all references to gods, angels, devils, creation and miracles etc. should be edited out and the more accurate and concise version issued free with Cornflakes. In fact, what's left could be written on a Cornflake.
Imagine for one moment that the bible didn't exist. Imagine some aspiring author writing it today. I have a theory that if that old testament bible was offered up by some unknown writer for publication today, it just wouldn't get past the censors on a number of counts.
Too much cruelty. Few (if any) believable characters. Too much gratuitous sex and violence. sodomy, incest and paedophilia. No real story line. No feasible beginning, lax plots and continuity in the middle, and an end that's left to the reader to decide.
The type would have to be unreadably small as well. If the typeset is any bigger, no one would is be able to pick it up. That's probably why early editions had to be housed in specially constructed buildings.
Contradictions in terms come easy to the morbidly pious. I wish they'd make up their tiny minds as to whether God is doing them a favour when he takes them or whether the favour is done when he deigns to save them.
Many would have us believe that our Earth-while existence is merely a warm up period for what is to come in the afterlife. The beauty of it is, not one of them will feel the shock of disappointment.
As a declared atheist, people will often ask; "But can you PROVE there is no God?"
But why should I have to PROVE a fairy tale to be untrue when I KNOW it isn't true?
Theists think that this life is just a rehearsal for a promised better life after death. The pity is that after their demise they'll never know that what they had was the real thing. Whether or not you expect a life in the hereafter, you won't be disappointed.
As a child I prayed every night for a bicycle. I eventually realised it wasn't working so I stole one and then prayed to God for forgiveness. Anon.
I'm only a mere mortal and yet I can do anything any god can do.
Speaking as a realist, why should I put my trust in ANYONE who helps perpetuate lies?
We Plough The Field And Scatter.
Religion is the land.
The church is the plough.
The priest is the seed.
The holy book is the corn.
Damnation is the mill.
The offertory is the flour.
The people are the chaff.
Faith is the wages.
Amen.
The only difference between being placed in the shade and protected, and being kept in the dark and stifled is the intensity of the light.
Theist: "Why won't you believe in God?" Atheist: "Because you won't believe in me and yet I believe in you."
The only REAL difference between theists and atheists is that theists are a little way behind in their evolution.
Mark Twain's books were works of fiction, right? They weren't indecent or pornographic or too violent and yet some of them alluding to God and the bible stories were banned, right? Yet the bible is fiction. The bible contains pornographic and violent accounts and much of it is indecent, right? Why wasn't/isn't the bible banned?
Try asking a devout man this: "Which would you choose to save from certain annihilation; Your beloved family or your theism?"
Hypocrisy is simply failing to practice those virtues that one
preaches. I never fail to practice my atheism so I cannot be hypocritical. QED
And the Lord said: "LET THERE BE LIGHT." And lo, ATHEISM was born.
Praying to any god can be likened to pissing into the wind, and you'll get just as much back.
The truth will always out in the end. Anon.
If we were to travel as far out as our nearest star (not our sun) and look back, our planet would be invisible even to the most powerful optical telescope known to man. That fact alone should prove to some that the many other planetary systems are un-detectable in our own galaxy, never mind out beyond our galaxy.
I choose to show more respect to the meekest human than to the most almighty of gods, for my fate may be in their human hands but never in his.
A theist is only an atheist who's brain hasn't fully developed yet.
Heroin; Cocaine; Barbiturates; Methadone; Alcohol; Ketamine; Benzodiazepines; Amphetamines; Tobacco; Buprenorphine; and all other dangerous drugs are as nothing compared to RELIGION. THE most dangerous drug known to Man.
I swear to God, I'm not a theist!
The vast majority of god-fearers are just that. They are frightened to question religion. Yet one shouldn't be frightened to accept that there is no god, rather one should be glad that there is no devil.
God would have had to be either a rapist who craftily drugged his victims or a tosser who provided his own sperm and got Mary pregnant using a turkey baster while she was sleeping. How else does one explain Mary getting pregnant with his child and her not knowing anything about the inception.
IF there IS heaven it will be hell. Full of smug theists saying: "I told you so."
If there is only ONE god then it's obvious that he's a freak.
Terrorism, how DO we stop the world from meltdown? How DO we tackle this religion inspired problem? The only serious answer I can come up with is a joint effort to educated and persuade these people that gods do not exist! That gods are the invention of Man and men have written the revered holy books in much the same way as you or I could write fiction.
I fully support the creationist theory. I believe that MAN created gods.
God forbid I should find religion. Best that I don't look.
Masturbation is true altruism: No pregnancy worries; No risk of STDs; No disappointment through sexual inadequacy; No rape; and NO guilt - unless you're theist.
"All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small ........ The flea, the mosquito, the midge, the parasitic worms, cancers, bubonic plague, fevers, the locust, Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Osama Bin Laden......... The Lord God made them all."
DEATH! The ultimate in Sloth.
Theism! I don't BELIEVE it!
To speak of religious science is a contradiction in terms.
You have only one life so make the most of it.
Creationists reckon that we all spring from Adam and Eve.
Evolutionists reckon we spring from earlier primates.
Well, I - for one - would much rather believe I was born of apes that evolved, rather than from a string of incestuous relationships.
The Biblical account of Creation is all a bit vague. How long ago did all this "creation" take place? 5,000 years? 50,000? 500,000? 5,000,000? 50,000,000? 500,000,000? 5,000,000,000? 15,000,000,000?
Whereas science can give some order to the birth of the Universe and evolution, creationist's cannot. According to the scriptures it was all done and dusted within a week. Challenged on this the pious will come back with:
"Aaaah, yes, but a week could be any length of time for God." D'oh!
I've heard of a week being a long time in politics but fourteen billion years to create the universe et al being described as one week?! Get away, god lovers!
The temples and churches et al are often built of sedimentary rock of ages past. Ages pre-dating any foretold god's creation date by many aeons. Close examination of the stone will reveal the skeletons of creatures that died those aeons ago, holding up the edifices that in turn hold up the lies.
Some one asked: "Would SIN exist if there were no GOD?" To my mind, SINNING means doing something that one fundamentally KNOWS is improper. We don't require guidance from some imagined entity to explain to us what is right and what is wrong. Even the dog at the hearth knows the difference between what is right and what is wrong 'cos WE let it know. Yet there is nothing in the words of "god" that tells us how a dog should behave.
Some theist's predict that society would break down completely without faith in God, but they would say that, wouldn't they?
Admitting oneself to be atheist is NOT akin to joining a group that share an idea with no concrete evidence. I believe the Earth is a round and not a flat disc. That doesn't put me in opposition to the ridiculous Flat Earth Society. Gods and they should be dismissed out of hand by any realist worth his/her salt.
Never feel the need to apologise for being an atheist. It's theists who should be doing that, for perpetuating lies.
When the rest of the world finds out that gods are just manifestations of Man's imagination, I would hope that these magnificent places of worship are not knocked down. They would make really great posh hotels for the use thereof. Just as long as the rooms don't contain any bibles like the hotel rooms do at present.
Feel free to quote me on that and on anything else in this blog.
God almighty?
Don't make me laugh. Whenever I have raised the pro-atheist-anti-god argument I have been slammed for:
"....not being educated enough to voice my opinions on such highfalutin matters."
And:
"....that sort of reasoning should be best left to the upper echelon in society, judges, politicians, scholars and their like."
But, only a few hundred years ago, Witch Finder Generals were appointed and tasked to organize witch hunts, find the old crones regarded as witches:
"Every old woman with a wrinkled face, a furrowed brow, a hairy lip, a gobber tooth, a squint eye, a squeaking voice or scolding tongue, having a rugged coat on her back, a skull-cap on her head, a spindle in her hand and a dog or cat by her side, is not only suspect but pronounced for a witch"
(John Gaule in "Select Cases of Conscience).
They would "try" them by various means, such as "ducking stool justice" (if they survived the ducking stool, i.e.: they didn't drown - ergo it proved them to be witches - they would then be burned at the stake).
These Witch Finders would have been appointed by the "upper echelon in society", judges, politicians, scholars etc. who were "best suited" to make such decisions. And of course religion is dictated by such people.
Witches, wizards, elves, fairies, ghosts, leprechauns, pixies, goblins AND gods, are all imaginary manifestations which have been vouched for by such "highfalutin" society.
Why can't modern people see that, manifestly? We've given the Witch Finder Generals their marching orders, now what about our Church leaders?
Extraterrestrial observers beyond the dark side of our moon must be shaking with laughter at we silly Earth people, seemingly obsessed with religion. They - with their far superior intellect - will have kicked gods into touch many aeons ago. So too would we Earthlings, given half a chance.
Imagine for one moment that we discover intelligent life on another planet far away in our galaxy. It isn't too much of a stretch of our imagination, after all, we've been imagining far more ludicrous ethereal beings. They might well take the form of a large brained dolphin with arms, legs and three opposable digits on each limb.
Imagine conversing over the aeons of space-time and ether with that intelligent life form and learning about its life history that draws many parallels with our own.
Imagine learning that despite them successfully forming a very advanced society - much BETTER than ours in many respects - that they have absolutely NO concept of gods or religion.
Do we gasp in amazement? Are they then to be regarded as inferior beings? Do we try to educate them to accept that there IS God?, for that is what happens here on Earth, where incidentally, we are the only species that worships and pays homage to gods.
That 'Other Life in The Universe?'
The 2007 discovery of an Earth like planet orbiting a star in our own galaxy - capable of supporting life - and ONLY 20.5 light years (120 trillion miles) distant was and is most uplifting, and might be of some interest to sci-fi buffs and space fanatics.
But don't let's get too fanciful. Even if we had a space-probe capable of travelling at an average speed of 1,000,000 mph it would take it 14 THOUSAND YEARS (approx) to reach the planet Gliese (named by Man) and in the interim of that journey, that probe will have probably been overtaken by many more, more advanced and faster probes.
So near and yet so, so far, but if the Glieseians on that planet exist and they know that we do too, they may be thankful for that 20.5 light-year space moat.
If all religious faith was allowed to be shown up for the instilled rubbish it is without fear of prosecution and persecution, many more Earthlings would come to their senses and see gods and religions for what they are. BUNKUM!
NB. If you feel an instant need to question my sanity then look no further than Man's present inhumanity to Man in the name of or under the present worldwide belief in some fanciful God or other.
Sigmund Freud had religion sussed when he denounced it as infantile bunkum. God didn't create Man. Man created God, in his own image of course.
If God IS responsible for the Grand Order of things, then why did he create the midge, mosquito and tsetse fly to flourish and then introduce Man hundreds of millions of years later to be plagued by them?
And if God created everything, why did he create the insidious diseases. He'd have to have been one mean, sick God. Maybe God is the propounded Devil incarnate.
It makes my heart bleed to read about the little children tortured in the name of "religion" for that is what cults the likes of witchcraft and voodooism are that appear to demand mutilation of children's genitalia.
The mutilation of male and female children. equates to a form of crucifixion. Similarly, the offering of sacrificial virgins etc. are all carried out in the name of some god or other.
In my opinion - and I'm in no way alone in my belief - God's religion has no part to play in the modern world. Superstition, witches, fairies, voodooism and gods et al, they are all by-products of over active human imagination, programmed from birth to fear the unknown and the inexplicable.
From early childhood we are capable of summoning up convincing imaginary friends that sometimes take on form. This facility of the young underdeveloped brain also leads them to readily believe in the supernatural. They can be fooled quite easily into accepting "magic" performed by a stage magician rather than form judgements of their own. This innate ability of the human mind for it to be assaulted and manipulated by others who hold sway in society, for gain - is what founded Man's diverse religious teachings.
No projected god or religion has any more power than its band of followers.
The more supporters a religion has the more powerful its god is deemed to be. Where you find strife in today's world you will discover that some religious factions are making capital out of it.
It is high time that ALL religions were shown up for the "Old Hat" that they really are and to be given the order of the boot by the people.
I am positive that - should a referendum be held on this subject - many eyes would be raised at the outcome and those eyes wouldn't in truth be raised to any god.
Whilst reading a newspaper article: "Teachers axe God." I thought EUREKA! There is a god after all (irony) and the laws of blasphemy have finally been shown the door. I'd waited many a long year to see atheism, agnosticism and other realistic views discussed openly and in schools.
But don't let's go overboard here and risk turning these radical beliefs into another religion. I would hate to see agnosticism and atheism PREACHED as the alternative to faiths that so many people are comfortable with. And I also "pray" that these proposed changes in our schools' religious studies and teachings are not hijacked by the pious who are all too biased in their own God fearing beliefs, nor to radicals intent on subversion. I certainly wouldn't go along with the tenet that the teaching of atheism to our young should be the order of the day. I would merely advocate that they LEARN about the world around them and take note.
I am an unbeliever, a self taught radical. But to teach atheism, or any sort of anti-religion in schools would be tantamount to turning fundamentalism on its head. The danger being that this non-belief could turn in on itself and create yet another fanatical religious movement, devised and installed by a few through themselves being all TOO enlightened.
I am also a realist/atheist who happens to believe in the teachings associated with Jesus and Christianity. I believe that the man Jesus existed, had great control of people and came up with a great philosophy DESPITE rising above himself and having ideas well above his station (One can't rise much further above ones station than claiming to be the son of God).
Mind you, he would have to have been aided and abetted in his ambitions.
Imagine if someone made the same claim today. "I am God's child." He/she would most likely be accused of blasphemy and pilloried (ring any bells?) or he/she would be declared insane and ostracised by the "believing" but disbelieving throngs.
I have no argument at all with Christian teachings... especially since they have been monitored and modified over the many years since Jesus is purported to have come up with them.
I would STILL be a practicing Christian..... if they took out the notion of an imagined god somehow impregnating a woman he had nothing to do with to produce some sort of hybrid human who would save the world from itself by willingly dying on a scaffold.
I firmly believe that:- No FORCED religious teaching should be conducted in our schools/colleges.
No form of religious brain washing of young and receptive minds conducted by the already brainwashed.
And NO persecution of ANYONE, whatever belief or non-belief they wish to choose to adopt, as long as it doesn't infringe upon the laws of the land or offend common decency.
Being an unbeliever does not make one a BAD person (see Faith).
I'd like to ask those who doubt that life on Earth began spontaneously if they can imagine themselves landing on a similar planet to ours elsewhere in the universe.
It's a planet of similar age - 5,000,000,000 years - that has a moon orbiting around it and the planet is tilted slightly as it turns on its axis as it orbits its sun. Temperatures vary over this globe that has vast, deep and stormy seas and oceans swirling around huge continents that are forever on the move as they float on the undercurrents of magma. Magma which is forced upwards through and between the dividing plates of continents which in turn compel these lands to bump and grind with each other as the super-heated steam is vented into the seas and oceans from great depths.
On the land there are great volcanoes spewing out molten rocks that flow like rivers down to the sea. Electric storms lash the land with wind driven rains. There are periods of calm, too. Weather, in other words. The magnetic poles on this planet are covered with snow and ice while the central regions are tropical.
The only differences on this planet are that there is NO LIFE. There has never been any life on this planet since its formation. There is NO limestone. There is NO coal. There is NO oil. There is NO marble. There is NO flint. There is nothing on this planet even to show that there once WAS life.
Wouldn't it be strange?
Strange? It would be virtually impossible. Not even ONE single cell living creature?
During a debate (in my local over a pint) on atheism v theism I was asked the question; "Do you believe in Creation Theory or Evolution Theory."
Straight away, and without doubt, I plumped for Evolution.
"Then how do you explain how the Earth itself and all the rest of the universe came to be?" went the questioning.
Maybe he had a good point, but maybe he had naught. That stock question deserved the stock answer from me;
"If you're saying that there was once absolutely nothing; then who, or what, created the creator and out of what was he created?"
I'm not prepared here to enter into the world of meta and quantum physics or delve into the birth of the universe, or bang on about big bang theories and continual expansion or see-sawing of our dimension; I will stick to OUR world and the facts that evolutionists and other branches of science have put before us in an effort to explain that elusive inexplicable.
Here, for what it's worth, is my take on the creation recipe of life, from Earth-zero to Man:
It would take greater or lesser degrees of:- gravity + sunlight + shade + dark + temperature change + gasses + water + chemical reaction + pressure + calm + asteroid and meteorite impact + agitation + lightening + fire + chance selection + adaptation + necessity + natural selection + continental upheaval + 5,000,000,000 Earth-years of TIME (give or take) and lots of loving to bring about
Mankind's Evolution!
And - if need requires - you can take the time element even further and multiply that figure of 5 billion Earth years by whatever figure you can ever imagine, for time is immeasurable. How can it be anything else?
So why DO otherwise intelligent people still believe in gods and their like? I suppose it's a bit like asking why people continue to smoke. The answer to either is most likely to be HABIT closely followed by BLOODYMINDEDNESS. For religion went out with the ark and the use of tobacco products will doubtless follow.
Our Holy Scriptures were put together by mere mortals, not any god. When one sits down to read the Old Testament, seemingly every nuance of life is there, every argument against atheism is there and almost every base to uphold belief in god is covered. I suppose this is the same with the Koran and also Chairman Mao's Little Red Book. Forgive the pun but if you do find a chink in the text of the Bible, that base also will be covered in later editions (if it isn't guarded already by the dread laws of BLASPHEMY!)
That bit in our constitution about freedom of speech and freedom of the press has got lost somewhere along the line. It wasn't me who first said: "...publish and be damned!" but it might well have been.
We atheists/realists have suffered hard times at the hands of the pious throughout the ages. We have had threats of "eternal damnation" and "pits of fire and brimstone" shoved down our necks until we are sick. Can't people, or won't people see that - because of the laws against blasphemy - the Church's argument is just a little bit one sided? Those expensively grand splendifferous places of worship were designed and built (built by the poorest in society) to gather congregations together for the collecting of protection money. Monies from the masses for their protection by God, OR ELSE!
A pious contributor (Reader's Digest) quotes: "......you don't find atheists doing great GOOD in the world."
Eh!? You also don't find atheists doing great BAD in the world.
When did you last see one band of atheists declare war on another band of slightly different atheists OR any other religious order?
NEVER!
When have we witnessed an atheist war anywhere in the world?
NEVER!
When did an atheist ever board a crowded airliner with a ticking bomb, a brand new box-cutter and a roll of duct tape in order to make a point?
NEVER!
Not a prayer in Hell's chance.
Tragedies will happen, they always will, but much as I can sympathize with the victims of tragedy I am getting sick and tired of the way many of the fortunate survivors of accidents and the most terrible disasters, when interviewed, immediately thank God that he/she has spared them.
What has their survival got to do with God and their praying?
Imagine for one moment that a group of people are trapped on an upper floor of a blazing office block. Smoke and flames are all around and there is seemingly no chance of escape. Among the unfortunates is a happily married man who has four young children at home, all attend church regularly and dutifully say their prayers every night before getting into bed.
There are also three women who are all working to support their families who are also good, kind and God fearing.
There is one man who is a sneak thief who just happens to be there to see what he might steal. He beats his wife and abuses children and who, incidentally, has never set foot in church other than to steal the offertory money, strip it of lead or swipe the candlesticks.
Yet another of the trapped and panicking has devoted the whole of his working life to the Church while at the same time always looking after the less fortunate in society.
Naturally all the trapped people are praying like mad for divine intervention but who is their god going to choose to save?
You've probably guessed it.
It is just as likely that when the abominable sneak thief's bloodied body is pulled out of the rubble, and barely alive, he'll be heard thanking God that he listened to HIS prayers.
Now pardon me but what about all the other more deserving or at the very least equally deserving souls who God seemingly allowed to perish? Weren't they praying hard enough?
But religion has this base covered too.
The cry goes up:
"THEY'VE GONE TO A BETTER PLACE"
I could be one of those trapped in the office block. I'm a happily married family man. My wife for almost half a century and I have four grown up children. They are all happily married and have borne us twelve grandchildren who we adore and now some of those many grandchildren have children of their own. I am full of love for my fellow man and couldn't commit serious crime if my life depended on it. So I COULDN'T go to a "better place".
God!? God has no place in my life. God doesn't exist and I wouldn't give him her or it, the time of day. I have had cancer, but I didn't pray to God to cure it. After all, he/she or it could well have created that cancer in the first place.
Or would that odious task have been left to that sidekick. By the way, I contracted the big C long after I'd sussed that gods aren't all that they are cracked up to be so maybe it could be down to godly spite.
Though that wouldn't explain why many pious churchgoers and god fearers contract life shortening and horrific diseases and meet otherwise untimely death. (Re you Archbishops and Popes et al paying attention here?)
God has never existed except in the minds of humankind. It is a confidence trick that has continued to be helped along, perpetuated by the faithful but misguided; the idiotic; the terminally pious; and the outdated laws on blasphemy that stifles general debate and won't allow free thinking realists to air their views in public.
I'm atheist but I'm not against Christianity per se. Jesus was purported to be put on Earth to save the people from themselves. All I'm doing as an open atheist amounts to the same thing. The difference being, I'm not pretending to be the son of any god.
There's a lot to be said about the ethos encouraged in the writings of the NEW testament. But most of what is contained therein DOESN'T require the main Character to be the son of any mythical god! I have no doubt whatsoever that Jesus existed and was most probably a great revolutionary and a leader of men. No doubt at all. But he was 100% mortal, just deluded a little. Can't THEY grasp even that?
We have modern day leaders with every bit of Jesus' spirit and foresight yet none, as far as I know, claim to be related to any imaginary beings. Remove the connection between Jesus and God and we will lose nothing yet gain everything. Why can't people see that, drop the God connection and just concentrate on spreading the good commonsensical word. I'm prepared to go along with that. I bet Jesus would have settled for that, too.
I don't like the idea of people living a lie, and thus perpetuating a con. There are many famous and intelligent people, male and female, who have abandoned all gods and are atheist/realist. We no longer believe the mantra that God created everything and that we should be eternally grateful and bow to God and thank him for our existence.
Whether we asked for it or not we have been brainwashed throughout our lives and are STILL having to rid ourselves of that brainwashing and of those brainwashers.
I was born an unbeliever and so were you. So was everyone on this planet. We are not aware of any gods until it is drummed into us at an early age. Of course that god that we are taught to worship differs as to where we are born and to whom we owe our allegiance.
You have to realise that I, too, was taught to accept Christianity, and I did accept it...... blindly. But later in life my eyes and mind were opened to the TRUTH!
I discovered that NO god was required to bring the Earth and all about us into being.
I discovered that NO amount of prayer will heal the sick or save a life.
I discovered that praying for a putt to sink or a goal to be saved or scored didn't work.
I discovered Charles Darwin, who didn't profess to be a god but is much nearer to one than any.
I discovered that piety breeds contempt.
I also got my brain back on track after years of it being in the wilderness.
I love my wife, dearly. IF she were to die before I do I won't be fantasising that she has gone to a better place and is now looking down on me and our loved ones. I will accept that she is as dead as the proverbial Dodo and she will be no more either on Earth or in any other place beyond. That is why we don't waste valuable time on Earth praying to non existent gods.
THE EPILOGUE
Differing religions are behind most of the wars and unrest in the world. Almost every war that has ever been fought has religious undertones. Whether it be Catholic against Protestant, Muslim against Hebrew, Buddhist against Hindu or what have you. Religion isn't for the realist, realists are able to SEE through their own eyes and THINK with their own untainted or freshly rinsed brains. Believers can believe - if they want to believe - that there is an afterlife much greater than this one, and if they manage to get some comfort out of it then so-be-it, but life isn't like Test Cricket.
There will be neither a second innings nor grateful vestal virgins aplenty, so you had better be prepared to play a straight bat, stay around for as long as you can and hit as many runs as the bowlers will allow in this innings 'cos when the umpire points that finger heavenwards, it's going to be one hell of a walk back to the pavilion.
Yup! Heaven's sure gonna be Hell for us atheists.
I often wonder if the Mayan, Aztec and Inca theists were as fond of their gods as our modern day theists appear to be.
Location: Somewhere in the Andean mountains.
Time: 1645 AD 16.45 PM
Scene 1: Mud brick hovel in village.
FX: Knock! Knock!
Mrs Umbonga: Who's there?
Priest: Open up! We've come for your daughter!
Mrs Umbonga: What do you want her for?
Priest: Our long range weather forecasts say that we are in for a long drought which might cause crop failure and utter starvation for the whole city?
Mrs Umbonga: So?
Priest: The priesthood and the city elders have discussed the matter and have decided we might pre-empt this situation by appealing to the gods' good natures.
Mrs Umbonga: And?
Priest: We require a virgin to sacrifice and your daughter Alexsis is top of the short list.
Mrs Umbonga: You can't have her. She's not finished her A Levels yet. And what's more, from what I've heard from them down the taverna disco, I doubt she's a virgin.
Priest: Oh. OK. Well what about your youngest daughter Viola, then?
Mrs Umbonga: How much?
Priest: How much? Er, how does fifteen dinari and a couple of sheep sound to you?
Mrs Umbonga: A couple of sheep!? Can't you sacrifice one of those sheep to the gods, instead of my Viola?
Priest: Can't do that! They don't like mutton, they prefer young innocent maidens!
Mrs Umbonga: Bloody paedos. Ah well, if it means we won't be starving for the rest of our lives, you'd better take her.
Priest: Good. You know it makes sense.
Mrs Umbonga: Just wait there a few minutes while I finish feeding and changing her, she can't be seen in public hungry and looking like this when she having her throat cut and her heart held aloft to the Gods. It wouldn't be fitting.
Priest: Well hurry up 'cos the sun'll be going down below the horizon in a few minutes and we won't be able to see what we're doing and you know what happened last time.
Mrs Umbongo: Why, what happened!?
Priest: The executioner couldn't see exactly where he was supposed to chop. He only nicked the child with the first swing and with the second swing he very near had my eye out!
Anthony W. Allsop (Genesis).
And now for the weather report:
According to the laws of evolution, British cattle and sheep should - by now - have webbed feet.
THE END (Or is it?)
*******************************************************************************************************************
What follows from here is a short story that gives some inkling as to what else might be out there beyond our ken.
Recent reports of a planet sized diamond in space prompted me to re-post this little piece I wrote few years ago.
Space, the Final Curtain..
Little Tiaali Willems, having finished her book, laid it down atop the bedside table. It had been a wonderful read for she adored stories about space travel. She often wondered if one day it would become reality and that journeying into space to visit other worlds would not only be possible but would also be an everyday experience.
She wondered what the people would be like on those other worlds.
Maybe they were like the one eyed green monsters with terrible claws as they were depicted in her book : "Children of the Quest" or maybe they were more like her, normal.
She switched off the bedside light and was just about to snuggle down in her cosy bed when her attention was caught by the yellowy moon as it hove into view through her half curtained window. Being at its fullest it was very bright and cast beams throughout the bedroom and danced off any shiny bright objects that it touched.
"At least we've been there," she thought to herself, "though it's just a bare, dusty and windswept rock, at least astronauts have landed on that. It's a start."
She remembered her brother Sim saying that there were billions of other stars out there in the galaxy and even more billions of galaxies out there in the universe so there MUST be other planets with other intelligent life existing there. Tam, her other brother, had thought so too, and you had to believe Tam 'cos he was the eldest and he knew everything.
Deep in thought, she watched as the moon continued in its arc heading towards the skyline where soon it would drop down and disappear below the horizon.
Although she was only a fifth year student, she had picked up quite an education in astronomy. In regard to the movement of the planets the moons and the sun in particular, she was very knowing. With her eyes fixed on the moon she caught a fleeting glimpse of a meteor as it burned brightly through the dense oxygen rich atmosphere of her world.
Still contemplating the possibility of life being far out there in space, she watched as the moon finally dipped below the horizon and shortly after that the room became enveloped in complete blackness. A shiver coursed through the young girl's body.
Although by now quite tired, Tiaali decided to wait awhile until the second moon of her planet arose in the east to cast its beautiful rainbow coloured glow on her world. She watched enthralled for some minutes as this new light consisting of a myriad of spectra from the Crystal Moon danced around her bedroom, and then - taking off her triple lens glasses from the bridges of her two noses before snuggling down in her five metre bed - she tried to sleep.
Diamonds aren't for ever..
She was awoken by the sound of her father raking out the embers from the fire grate. Her dad would do this every morning before laying a fire to be lit by her mom when she thought good and ready. Tiaali was a good riser of a morning, unlike Tam and Sim who would stay in bed all day if they could. She made her way to the bathroom and brushed her teeth well and had a good wash before dressing for school. She heard her mom shout up the stairs a second time to get her two brothers up and come down for breakfast, but they hadn't stirred.
So Tiaali dipped the bath sponge in cold water.. opened their bedroom door and rubbed the cold wet sponge on the face of each of her brother's in turn.
"Tiaali!!!" shouted both brothers almost in unison. "Well then, get up, get washed and dressed 'cos mom has done breakfast!" Tiaali quickly ran down the stairs grinning all the way.
Dad was just finishing off laying the fire and ... although he hadn't lit it ... it sparkled in the light of the winter sun. Tiaali often thought how much better it sparkled before the flames started dulling the shine, but that's how it was with diamond. Her dad had worked at the local open-cast diamond mine ever since leaving school. He loved the work even though he did moan about the diamond dust getting into every pore of his body and clogging up his lungs. Many miners had been affected by the dust. Lung disease, eye problems and even cancers. Many had even died because of it.
But dad had told her not to worry because vacuum extractors at the mine and face masks they had to wear had made great differences to the number of cases of disease.
Her mom was in the kitchen, still in the middle of making breakfast. "Hi, Char," she greeted her daughter, "did you have a good night?"
"Yes, mom," Tiaali recalled the Crystal Moon's beams playing around the bedroom walls. "It was really gorgeous, mom. I should have recorded it. It was one of the best."
"Good. How many slices?"
"Just eight, mom. I'm trying to shift a bit off my waist."
Her mother gave her a disapproving look. "You shouldn't be worrying about your figure at your age. You'll have plenty of time to do that when you are old enough to be looking for a boyfriend."
"Mommmmmm! I don't even LIKE boys! So there!!" But Tiaali didn't even convince herself, let alone her mom.
Her dad came into the kitchen to wash his hands. "I've finished laying the fire, Mar, and seeing as it's extra cold today and snow is forecast for later I reckon I could light it now. It's not as if we'll ever be short of fuel. We have a diamond house full of the stuff and I'm having another concessionary load delivered this week."
"OK, Dick. Light it now and I'll be able to dry the washing round it, later."
He went back into the living room, knelt by the fireplace and turned on the gas lighter which ignited automatically. Soon the diamond covered sticks and paper were well alight igniting the sparkling chunks of diamond. Dick's mind began to wander a little. He remembered that it was his wife's birthday coming up and she had been hanging her noses over a coal necklace that she had spotted in the local jeweller's shop window. He thought aloud and mused to himself:
"I'll nip down today and put a deposit on it. Nothing is too good for my wife and they do say that coals are a girl's best friend."
Stardate X
Astronomy had always been Tiaali's favourite lesson of all. Her brothers Tam and Sim enjoyed it, too. Today in class they were discussing the recent discovery of a new star which had been located in the A29384WA sector of space that proved to have a number of planets in orbit around it. One of the planets had been discovered to be similar to her own - even having a small moon. This planet had water and a barely breathable atmosphere, even though the oxygen levels were below that of her own world and had more methane in it, but she soon learned that with precautions it would be OK to sustain their kind of life plus SOME life kind as they knew it.
As yet, no signs of life had actually been detected but the planet was almost as old as hers and she knew that life on her own planet had taken five billion years to evolve to where it was now, so the chances were that life was there. Though this newly found solar system that the scientist's had detected lay some two hundred light-years* or so distant of her own, it could be regarded as being local.
Their astronomers were not only interested in finding ANY life on this newly discovered world they were also quite keen to find out if any sign of intelligent life existed or HAS existed on this planet and had already set up multifrequency detectors to monitor A29384WA-01 for signs of generated electricity or even radio signals. As yet - after at least three years monitoring - there was no sign but they lived in hope.
So too did Tiaali and her brothers. They were so excited at the prospect of at last finding another world in this seemingly vast and "empty of life" galaxy. Though she also wondered if any alien beings they discovered would be altogether friendly. After all, her own world seemed to be forever at war with different nations squabbling of such trivial things as the closing of worked out diamond mines and the importation of cheaper diamond from the sub-continent that was putting men out of work in her own locale.
*For purposes of mathematical accuracy and ease of understanding, any measurements of time and distance quoted will equate to our standards on Earth.
The end. Or maybe the beginning?
Is There Life On Mars?
I would argue there is. I'm betting that there IS life on Mars. Deep underground where the conditions are right, THAT is where there is life.
Here on Earth there is life in almost every environment. From those life-forms miles beneath the sea yet living under huge pressures while thriving in boiling water around volcanic vents, to arid scorching deserts and beneath the frozen poles, to thousands of metres beneath the surface of this planet where no light can ever reach and has never reached, and even inside nuclear reactors.
LIFE is everywhere. When our Earth finally succumbs to the expansion of the Sun BILLIONS of years from now, life will be surviving somewhere, right down to the planet's very last gasp.
I'd be willing to bet all my worldly possessions on it.
"The Second Coming. (maybe)"
As a realist/atheist I do not deny that a man called Jesus existed in history. However as a realist/atheist I have to deny that man Jesus the position of being the son of god.
I've heard that "The Second Coming" is imminent.
I can just see it now:
Scene 1. Bedroom of a mid-terrace two up two down in the Midlands UK
Nurse: Push!.... Push!
Marline: I'm f*****g pushing dammit!
Midwife: Push! Just a little more. Push..
Marline: Aaaaaaaaaaagh!
Midwife: Nearly there, I can see the head! Push!
Marline: Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh! Fffffffffffuu.........ck!
Midwife: Here he comes.........
Baby: Waaaaaaaaaaaaaah! ... Waaaaaaaaaaah!
Sheep: Baaaaaaaaaa!
Midwife: Who let that bloody sheep in here! Get it out!
Sheep: Baaaaaaaaaa!
1st Wise man (package in hand): I bring gif.......
Midwife and Marline in unison: P**s off and take that damn sheep with you!
2nd Wise man (proffering a wrapped package): B-b-b-but we have travelled afar and..!
Midwife: I don't care how far you've come, f**k off and take that daft bottle of scent back to BOOTS!
3rd Wise man: Well! Really! Don't you know who's this child is?
Marline: What's it do with you you, toss-pot?
Joe (Marline's partner): Hey, it's got red hair!
Marline: Well... er... what if he has?
Joe: I ain't got red hair! You ain't got red hair!
Marline's second cousin, Jerome "Ginger" Adair, is listening at the door. Seconds later he's heard out in the street trying to kick-start his ageing motorbike.
Marline: More gas, nurse!!
Midwife: You've had the baby, you shouldn't need anymore ga...
Marline: Gasssssss!!!
Midwife clamps the mask over Marline's face.
Joe: He's got red hair!
Sounds off (subdued): Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
Sounds off: motorbike bursting into loud life and roaring off down the street.
Midwife: Have you thought of a name?
Marline: I think I'll call him Jeremy.
Scene 2. It's six years later. In the dingy back-street, small boys are playing.
Jeremy: I am the son of God!
Tom: No you ain't, you tosser.
Jeremy: I am.
Dick: No you ain't, Jez Mitchell, you is a pillock.
Jeremy: I am the second coming of the lord thy saviour.
Tom: P**s off! I'm gonna tell your mum on you.
Tom walks the short distance to Jeremy's Mum's mid-terraced house and knocks on the door.
It opens.
Marline: Yes?
Tom: Mrs Mitchell, your Jez is spoiling our game. He keeps saying he's the son of God or somethink.
Marline (angry): I'll give him son of God. He's been full of these silly ideas since his dad buggered off and left me.
(She calls loudly into the street): Jeremy!!!
Jeremy: Yes mother?
Marline: Jeremy...., take that silly sheet from around your head and play nice. You'll be coming in for your tea in a minute.
Jeremy: Aw mum, do I have to? My people need me.
Marline: I'll give you "my people need me" when I get you in here!!
Dick: Told yer! You're a crazy git Jez Mitchell.
Scene 3. Ten years later. Inside a Super-Store at night with some shelf-stackers at work.
Sam (the overseer): We need more Fairy washing up liquid on aisle fourteen, Brad. Make sure it's full to overflowing. Then take a load of those bog-of frozen chickens and stock up the end chest in aisle 6.
Brad: Why is it always ME that has to handle the frozen stuff? My fingers are like ferkin ice. Can't Jez do it?
Sam: I've been trying to find Jez for the past hour, he seems to have disappeared.
Brad: He's always doing that, disappearing. One minute he's there and the next minute... Puff, he's gone.
Sounds off. Puff!! Jeremy walks from between the stacked Cornflakes.
Jeremy: You seek me and am here.
Brad: Where the 'ell 'ave you been? We're short 'anded as it is! Giz us a lift wi these frozen chickens, will yer.
Sam: Aye, give 'im an 'and, Jez. We ain't gorrall neet you idle bugger.
Jeremy: The Lord works in mysterious ways.. his wonders to perform.
Sam: Well he ain't the only one and you ain't no lord, so get your bloody finger out.
Brad: And take that silly towel off your head.
......to be continued (maybe)
Encounter of the Third Kind?
Witness/defendant's statement Y.O.O.L 50BC
I'm Ezekiel. I swear by Almighty God to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
We had been fighting a losing battle and I, amongst others, had been taken prisoner. April the 4th it would have been. It was pouring with rain, really hammering when we saw it. A great flying machine belching wind and fire alighted on the ground before us. It had approached us from the north with the sound of thunder about it.
When all around had settled and the noise and wind had abated, a hatch opened up on top of the machine and figures began emerging. There were four in all and resembled men but were clad in white suits and were wearing square helmets with three sides made of a similar nature to glass. The rear side sported a picture of a lion, or maybe an eagle, I think. They had what appeared at first to be wings but proved later to be large bottles of a sort I'd never seen. On their feet they wore kind of hinged boots with metallic straps that sparkled in the sun. Their hands also were sheathed in similar material, the fingers obvious as like a man's.
They walked straight towards us and I saw through the glass that they had faces similar to us, but paler. The storm was still raging but these men didn't pay heed to it and carried on walking as they wished, their way lighted by bright lights which they carried with them.
One of the beings went back to the big machine and returned a short while later riding on some sort of chariot. It had wheels of green and another whirling wheel in the middle which the creature had control of. It gave great noise and the being's climbed up into the smaller machine and it hovered, turned and flew like a bird which ever way it wanted.
They then flew to a frighteningly great height until I could only see them by the bright lights that were fore and aft. And then a huge great light lit up the whole area. Their light was like a huge bright crystal and we saw a great rainbow encircle the craft, it was glorious to behold. Then they came down from their lofty position and landed in the earth.
One of the creatures alighted from the contraption and approached me. I was sore afraid and knelt down before him. He approached and asked that I stand up.
He said that he had come to help us. He told us that the fighting MUST stop or else HE would stop it for us. And he gave unto me a written account and orders that I was to take to our leaders. It was quite a thick document and I took it. He offered me a piece of bread which he gestured for me to eat. I ate of it and it was good, honey I think, and he repeated that I should speak with the house of Israel for he himself could not make them understand. I was to have it out face-to-face with the leaders.
I was then taken to their machine and made secure on a seat. It was like the hand of God was upon me for I could not move. The machine then made a horrendous noise and the great wheel above us made great rushing and we flew up into the firmament and I prayed to God that I be safe. I heard chattering from the beings as they spake into the ether and talked amongst themselves.
In a very short time we arrived at Tel-abib and I was left there to deliver the book and the message to the leaders. They had fitted me with a voice device around about my ear.
I was there for a whole week and then on the seventh day the being spoke to me, saying; "Did you give them the message. "I note that the fighting is still continuing and as I told you, you must insist that it ceases or WE will intervene and they will be annihilated." I told him that you wouldn't listen to me.
It was later that day that the being again approached me and told unto me that I had done my best. He told me to go into the desert where I would find the others and the machine by the river Chebar. When I got there I was exhausted and I collapsed into a heap. I was ordered by the main being to keep my mouth shut and not to say a word of this to anyone else or he'd cut out my tongue. I was to return and say the words that he would put into my head. I returned unto Tel-abib to do his bidding but they would not have me enter.
Then I was given a pan to set against the walls. I was bid that this pan would fell the walls and allow access to the building..... and that's when I was caught.
NOTE: This is an abridged and simplified version of the full account which can be found in the Old Testament in the book of Ezekiel.
The Trench Foreign Legion.
In the Trenches.
Bang! BANG! Bang!.....Bang! Young Tommy Aitkin instinctively pulled his neck further into his greatcoat as lead whistled overhead. He'd been recruited at the last minute to take part in this the final round of the battle for supremacy after replacing an injured compatriot. It was his first time in foreign fields and the incessant rain didn't make his trench any more comfortable. His balaclava did help keep him warm and somewhat dry but his feet were cold and wet.
He instinctively ducked again as more shots were loosed in his direction, the strong smell of gun smoke drifted into his nostrils and merely caused his senses to heighten the awareness of just how important his task was at this momentous hour. Even from where he was in a sheltered position he could hear the spent cartridge case being expelled and fall with clattering to the ground.
He remembered how his father: killed in the last great war, who'd always drilled into him that nerve counted above anything at a time like this and Tommy had no intention of letting the side down. He'd been recruited back in his home town of Newcastle, and travelled with the other lads on a short flight from a remote Lincolnshire airfield. It'd been a close thing as they'd been forced to fly low to avoid the atrocious weather.
Command orders were to be heard barked down the line again: Bang! bang! Bang! More shots flew low overhead. He looked at his watch - the services watch that his father had willed to him - and then at his loader. He checked the firing mechanism on his equipment for the umpteenth time, wiping away what moisture and mud he could. It would soon be their turn with the guns.
BANG!....bang!...............Bang! The firing was getting more deliberate and with increasing accuracy. Up above his position in the trench and a little bit to the rear he could see his senior gesturing for him to ready himself as it would soon be their turn to enter into the fray. His reflexes tuned to a high pitch he felt a small cool bead of sweat trickle down from his brow and run along the side of his nose to form into a drop that - for a moment or two - hesitated to fall, and then did.
He glanced back to his observer again as more guns were brought up to the fore and Tommy got the "five" "five" finger signal. Ten seconds. Tommy's fingers closed on the launch handle. Nine seconds. He pricked up his ears. Eight seconds. Tension mounted, it was all Tommy could do to stop himself launching now. Seven seconds......... Six.......... Five.......... Four.......... Three.........
He raised his head glanced again towards his rear to see the men raising their guns to their shoulders...."Ready?"
Two seconds. Through gritted teeth Tommy exclaimed "I'm ready!"
One second.............................. "Pull!!" came the barked order, and Tommy pulled. The skeet left its launcher and arced into the sky followed almost immediately by; Bang!... BANG!.... Bang!... the lead shot from the guns went tearing over his head to shatter the clay pot to smithereens....
"Pull!!"
This French round of the European Clay Pigeon Competition was just about in the bag.
Anthony W. Allsop (Genesis) 2008
Old Freddie Wispy Wings.
Old Freddy Wispy Wings, climbing up the spout,
Lost his freakin' footing all because of gout.
He fell.., he fell some distance 'til something broke his fall,
Nice and soft and sticky, a web attached t't wall.
Incy Wincy spider felt tugging on the line,
"I've waited all day long for this, it's past my dinner time."
"The web it is my oyster," said the spider to the fly.
"You came, I saw, I conquered and I'm here to see you die."
The fly was trapped and quaking for the web still held him fast.
He trembled as in terror as the spider made his cast,
He prayed and prayed for mercy but the spider had his way.
He injected poison venom, and the fly - it swooned away.
As Freddy Fly lost feeling, and lay there tied and bound,
Incy Wincy swaddled him and hung him off the ground.
Just then, along came Fido, his tail was all a wag,
It caught the hanging Freddy and flipped him like a fag.
He landed safe in bushes, and he slept there like a log.
And the moral of this story is, it pays to pray to Dog.
Anthony W. Allsop (Genesis) 04-03-2009
My youngest sister's dying wish.
The Last Wishes of Sylvia Ann Pothecary. (To be opened only after my death.)
My Last Wishes.
I do not want a funeral, especially not a religious one. I do not believe in god, any god. Ergo, I do not believe in Heaven or Hell. ‘Heaven’ is where you choose it to be.
After death I will travel and fly amongst the stars and planets, maybe catch a ride on an asteroid or comet. Come in Hale-Bopp, I'm waiting for you.
My last wishes on this world are:
1) The funeral director to take my body and have it cremated in private.
2) My ashes to be put into a proper pot.
3) My ashes to be taken to Grassthorpe (UK) and scattered on the railway track there, just before The Flying Scotsman comes thundering past.
4) If anyone would like to say something at this scattering, please try to say something nice and put your arms around [my husband] Peter's shoulders.
5) Show this to my family and friends so they can understand.
Sylvia Ann Pothecary (Nee Allsop) 1943-2017.
Someone once referred to me as a TWAT, and so:
I must be a TWAT because I don't believe in fairies. Or ghosts. Or the living dead. Or the existence of gods. Or the afterlife.
I have to be a TWAT 'cos I don't believe that alien spacecraft have landed in cornfields leaving behind scorch marks and imprints of landing gear. I mean, when you think about it it's blindingly obvious, isn’t it?
Surely I'm a TWAT because I believe that Man created his god and in his own image, and not the other way round.
I'm most definitely a TWAT if I believe that at twenty-odd years old a person is adult enough, mature enough, educated and clever enough to hold a private discussion for more than five seconds without bursting into tears and screaming "brain rape" to all and sundry.
I'm clearly a TWAT for not choosing to smoke. I mean what's a diseased lung, shortage of breath and a possible early death between family when I could choose to help subsidise the economy with the taxes I'd have to pay. Same holds true for drinking, I suppose.
And talking of drinking. I must also be a TWAT for not opting to drink heavily, especially whisky and other spirits. After all, alcohol IS a preservative so it SHOULD look after my liver. And even if it didn't, what if I did make it into the obituaries before my allotted time? After all, I am a TWAT.
My written and voiced concern for young girls of a certain religion who are being robbed of an education by their un-educated elders - sometimes enforced by a shot to the face and head of pupil or teacher - also indicates that I'm a TWAT. I mean, why should I - or anyone - care about these children not getting an education?
My written and voiced concerns for enforced female genital mutilation by certain sects ALSO marks me down as a TWAT (please pardon the unintended pun), and so it should. After all, whatever happens to these girls in the way of such trauma is no concern of mine or anyone else's, is it?
Yes, I'm a TWAT.
But yer know, in a way I'm PROUD to be regarded as a TWAT. Why shouldn't I be?
Anthony W. Allsop (Genesis) TWAT of this parish.
Born 1940 - Died a Twat 20?? (I'll try and let you know).
Hold Ye Front Page!
https://www.facebook.com/anthony.w.allsop/notes
http://white-charcoal.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/lands-end-to-john-o-groats.html
Lots and lots of gods can be found here at: http://www.godchecker.com/
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