In response to the words of Ben Stien

In response to the words of Ben Stein,

 

 

As an agnostic, I don't really mind when people label me as an Atheist, it just proves how little people really know, and I don't take offence to it. I don't mind being called an anti-Christ, it's fairly true in fact. I'm against the idea that its ok to believe things without proof, if their is no reliable evidence, with documentation and multiple sources, there is no proof and no reason to believe. So yes, I am the anti-Christ in a sense, because I believe there is no proof that Christ even existed, there is no mention of him anywhere out side of the bible (which new evidence suggests, wasn't even penned until the 11th century CE., a thousand years and change after Christ was supposed to have lived.)

 

I don't mind that Muslim's label me an apostate, because they are members of the most contradictory religion sense classical paganism. I don’t mind when Scientologists call me a suppressive person, because I am actively trying to suppress their organization and all that it stands for.

I don’t mind that people are up in arms about the fact that there is a rise in secular thought in this country because their numbers are dwindling. Attendance at Christian churches in America has been dropping rapidly for years, and will continue to do so, if we’re lucky.

 

I DO mind, however that religious people think their rights are being infringed upon, just because there is a rise in secular thought, because logic is beginning to gain a foothold in the minds of the populous. I DO mind that the religious right has succeed in repositioning the factual proof to back up evolution, as theory without a hard basis. Sure, they can believe things that they had no proof of, but because there are a few tiny wholes within the countless volumes of collected data, they just discount evolution in favor of their creationism hogwash. Evolution is science fact, and should be taught in all of our schools. It is the true history of life on this planet, and in a sense, it is our heritage. We DID descend from primates, and before that we were other things, we were once fish, and before that we were one celled beings. I’m over simplifying here to save space, I don’t need to re-iterate all of the information pertaining to evolution, because it’s all published and documented properly already.  

 

I DO mind that, while our constitution call for separation of church and state, we still call ourselves one nation under god, are you saying Americas don’t have the right to not believe in god? I DO mind that homosexuals don’t have the right to get married nationally, which is wholly the product of the Christianization of our government. I DO mind that the life saving potential of stem cell research is out of our reach because of some Judeo-Christian concept, of which there is NO EVIDENCE, that there is a thing called a soul. I DO mind that rape victims in this country were once forced to carry the children of their attackers to term, but I am glad that most of us have gotten past that.

Religion is three things, and nothing more:

 

A: an excuse not to have to think:

 

As long as you simply believe in the tenants of your faith, whatever it may be, you will never have to ponder the unanswerable questions, such as how life began in the first place. You will never have to really think about the moral idiosyncrasies of a certain political debate, because the leaders of your faith will tell you what to think.

 

B: an imaginary friend for adults:

 

So that in our darkest hours, we do not feel as alone as we actually are. It a scary thought, but we are all alone in the end.

 

C: an excuse to kill people and blame it on something else:

 

This one needs no explanation beyond this list:

 

England kills thousands of Scottish to route out paganism- BECAUSE OF RELIGION

 

Hitler kills the Jews – BECAUSE OF RELIGION

 

The two most advance societies in the world, Europe and the Arab world, engage in a series of bloody wars, over an otherwise worthless track of land in the middle of a desert, these would later be called the crusades – BECAUSE OF RELIGION

 

Christian missionaries kill all of the shamans of the northwest coast tribes on this continent, in order to allow Christianity to take hold – BECAUSE OF RELIGION

 

Spanish inquisition, ‘nough said – BECAUSE OF RELIGION

 

Salem mass, a group of elderly women, who have committed no actual crime are tortured and executed – BECAUSE OF RELIGION

 

The list could go on for days, as we all well know, but it doesn’t need to, and we don’t need to add to this list by hurting each other over these crazy ideas.

I will leave you with an unattributed quote, because I can’t remember when I heard it:

 

“If our world comes to an end, it will be because it was written in our books, not in the stars.”

Reviews

[Des]

I mostly agree with you. I don't like to imagine there is any type of God or creator. I prefer being alone, so it doesn't really bother me in that way. It does offend me when I'm preached to and when I am looked down on because I don't 'believe' in God. Also, when I try to argue my case against God's existence, religious people just won't listen to it. I feel almost as if I shouldn't be allowed to voice my opinion because I might offend someone.
I don't necessarily believe in the nonexistence of God and I don't believe in the existence of God. I'm an open agnostic. When people try to talk to me about it I simply tell them "I don't know whether God exists or not, but maybe you do." I just prefer to let religious people live their lives believing a possible lie. Because, honestly, you can't spell believe without 'lie'.
I have also noticed that many terrible things in this world have happened thanks to religion. Terrible things are still happening. But, the existence or nonexistence of any deity is unknown but not unknowable, therefor I will not judge until this is rock hard evidence that even the pope himself cannot deny.
I always thought people believed in God because they were afraid of not existing after death. Of being worm food or ash. I'll probably never live to know, either.

This is very thought-provoking. Thank you for publishing it on here.