On Anger. And Atheism. And Angry Atheists.

It seems that lately, people are accusing atheists of being angry. Really, most of us aren't. At least not all the time. I'm usually not angry, per se. I'm a bit cynical and a lot sarcastic, but not necessarily angry. I do get upset when people do things like tell me I'm not really an atheist, that either I'm just saying that or it's a phase. If it's a phase, it's one that's lasted almost fifteen years, and that's more than half my life. And as far as "just saying that" goes, I'm grown. I'm quite beyond saying things just for shock value, and if I decided to it'd be a lot better than "I'm an atheist!"

Sometimes we atheists are asked "What happened to you to make you an atheist?" It's usually by theists who just don't understand what atheism is. Many of them think we're angry at God. For those people, here's something to remember: It's hard to be angry at someone you don't think exists. Unless, of course, you're one of those crazy, way too invested in a TV show types. So why am I an atheist? What happened to make me turn away from religion? I studied science. That's it. Really. Contrary to what some have suggested, I wasn't abused, nor did I have a bad experience with religion. My church experiences were pretty good- vacation bible school in the summer, nice preachers, boring music. I was even in the elementary-age girls youth group. We were called the Rosebuds. No fire and brimstone, just your basic Baptist (American, not Southern) stuff. Then when I was in about seventh grade, my parents stopped going to church. I don't really remember why, I think they were just too busy or something, and nobody seemed to miss it. Then in eighth grade science we learned about evolution, and it just made sense to me. It was one of those "Oh" moments when reality reaches out and slaps you in the face- not in a Springer, my boyfriend's cheating on me and wants a sex change way. More like a clouds parting, sun shining on a highly symbolic object kinda thing. It took a little while (not that long, I was only 13 and not heavily churched,) but all the religious stuff fell away. And it felt good. It still feels good to not have to do things like justify mythology when it doesn't jibe with established scientific fact. And I can take credit for doing good things and blame for doing bad things, not blame them on God and Satan.

I've always been a fairly "out" atheist, except to older family members and when it just doesn't come up, and I've not been shunned or discriminated against (that I know of, anyway,) not even in my small Bible Belt town. And not in high school, either. Of course, I was already the brainy, weird girl, so maybe that was seen as just a part of my weirdness. I still am the brainy, weird girl, so I guess it still applies.

And that's it. My whole deconversion story. Science. Learning biology, paleontology, geology, anthropology, linguistics, psychology, history, comparative religion, philisophy, whatever. They all lead me to the same conclusion: that religion is made up. And that it's often destructive to the people who follow it. And yeah, thinking about all that wasted potential makes me angry. So do racism, sexism, homophobia, ageism, sizeism, classism, colonialism, and whatever other social injustices you can throw out there. Anything that serves to control people by not letting them live up to their full potential as thinking beings makes me a little mad. I generally like people; I want them to be happy, not burdened by a belief in some Santa Claus in the sky who sees you when you're sleeping and knows if you've been bad or good or masturbating to International Male catalogs and keeps a log of all that stuff, and who thinks eternal torture is appropriate and fun.

Why do I (and many other atheists) make fun of religion? Well, first of all, it's funny. I mean seriously, think about some of the things religious people believe. They're hilarious if you don't believe in them yourself. And why do I (or we, atheists in America) make fun of Christianity in particular? It's a defense mechanism, like when black comedians make jokes about white people- a tool of those on a lower societal rung to get out their frustrations on those on higher rungs without starting a class war. Although I think we're due for a bloodless class war, or at least a revolution, soon. Since I live in the U.S., Christianity is all around me, so that's what I take my frustrations out on. I don't have to drive by Hindu billboards telling me that Krishna's the way to go. I don't get emails about how great Thor and Odin are, and to pass them along if I'm not ashamed- although that might be cool. And I especially don't have Zunis masquerading as scientists trying to get their creation myth taught in public schools.

So really, it's not so much that most of us are angry, although there are a few truly angry atheists, it's mostly just frustration. So give us a fucking break already, assholes. See? Frustrated, not angry.

Dusts Off Blog...

So, I haven't been here in a long time. That's going to change. Since I'm rededicating myself to writing, I'm going to be posting here more often. Stay tuned for an entry on "Angry Atheists."

Cautious Optimism...

So, 21% of the precincts counted, Sebelius easliy right now, Morrison over Kline by a wider margin than I figured, and Boyda over Ryun 54-44. I hope she can hold on. ::Crosses fingers and squishes up face, hoping::

Obligatory Election-Night Blog, Part 1

According to CNN, blogs have power somehow. And lots of people are blogging tonight. And, hey, I'm a political blogger (kinda, maybe.) I'm slightly embarrassed every time CNN says "blog" or "blogger," because they just sound like somebody's grandparents talking about them newfangled interwebs. I'm really tired, and kind of sick, so we'll see how far I get with this. Local races: I'm calling Sebelius over Barnett for Governor definitely, most likely Thornburgh over the field for Secretary of State, probably Praeger for Insurance Commissioner- I didn't vote for the last two, I'm pretty much a straight-ticket Dem, but I don't have any problem with the way they've done their jobs, so no worries there. Speaking of worries, I'm taking Morrison over Kline, not only because I hate Kline but also because Morrison has a bitchin' mustache. I'm really hoping for Boyda over Ryun, and the polls have had them pretty much even lately, so that'll be exciting. Or disheartening. Like watching your favorite team lose in overtime. Twice. In the only two games you've watched that season. KU football, I'm looking at you. I'm hoping for Shirley over Otto for state HoR, but that's more for personal (and professional) reasons than political. And yes on Judge Saxton, because he's really nice and accommodating when we wake him up in the middle of the night for warrants. And he's a good judge.

Hey, other states!
Pennsylvania- I'm really hoping Santorum goes down. Rick Santorum, that is. The substance is a little messy.

Missouri- Based entirely on TV ads, I'm thinking Prop 2 will be a yes- that whole blowup with Fox and Limbaugh will probably only help the cause, and I'm for anything Patricia Heaton is against.
And, honestly, while I'm rooting for Claire McCaskill out of party and gender loyalty, I'm just relieved this race is over and I don't have to watch those horrible ads anymore.

So, the polls close here in ten minutes, and I grow weary of this exercise. I'll probably check back in later.

Responding

On another blog I write, this comment was posted:

Dear all…
I do not like to be crazy religious fanatic, that’s why I am not into that stuff they send eventhough I believe in God. if you please allow me to share 2 simple ideas. To me, being fair, I would say Science and Logic really do not say a firm word on God like YES or NO. Then why I still believe in God? Simply because if there is God and He will reward and judge all then He will reward me for being good or leading a good life, if there is no God, I am no loser, death is our portion any way. no big loss!!! Another reason, I hope for God because if there is no God, there is no Judgment day, then the worst terrorists who enjoy killing innocent people will be equal to my 8 years old little friend Mary who died in Los Angeles children’s Hospital of Chronic Leukemia. Because this is not fair I still hope for a God to execute Justice. If there no one then No big deal give yourself 50 years and we all will be in graves including me, you, Osama Bin Laden and Little Mary!!!

I don't have enough space to respond in comments there, and that kind of discussion really isn't germane to that blog, so here's my response to Truth Lover.

Pascal's Wager isn't really a compelling argument, though. What kind of deity wants believers who are just hedging their bets? I, and most atheists, didn't choose not to believe in gods, we came to the realization that we just didn't, despite the fact that most of us were raised in at least nominally religious environments and most of us at least tried to believe, and that science and logic present far more compelling arguments about how we got here and what to do now that we are. What good would it do, if there is an omnipotent/omniscient god, to go around saying we believe and acting like we believe, if we really don't? It wouldn't fool a god who sees us when we're sleeping, knows when we're awake, and so on. I have brown hair and eyes, and I could get hair dye and colored contacts and look to all the world like I really had blonde hair and blue eyes, but it wouldn't change the pigments that my body produces, and eventually my hair would start growing out brown and I'd have to take out the blue contacts and be brown-eyed again, just as going to church and saying I believe just to avoid eternal damnation would make my friends, family, and fellow parishioners think I was christian, but it wouldn't do anything to change the fact that I just don't believe, and nothing that I have ever read in the Bible has or could make be believe in what it says. And an omniscient god would know that.

As far as judgment goes, is your own judgment not enough to convince you that Osama Bin Laden is worse than an eight-year-old who died of Leukemia? Do you need a daddy god to pass judgment from on high to prove that masterminding terrorist activities is wrong? I can trust my own intrinsic moral idea that killing someone who isn't about to kill me or someone close to me is wrong. Part of becoming an adult mentally is realizing that the world isn't fair- sometimes bad things happen to good people, and sometimes good things happen to bad people. Osama bin Laden is alive, Steve Irwin isn't. If you believe in a just deity, what message does that send? I'll leave it at that, because it's just something to think about, why a loving deity lets bad things happen to good people, and why a deity who would let those things happen would have any interest in punishing those people who make the bad things happen.

A Question for Religious People...

Specifically, Christians. I don't want to pick on any particular religion, because I think they're all silly, but I live in the US, and Christianity is the one with which I'm most familiar. Here's my question. Many Christians believe that every person has a set time to die, "It was his time" and all that. If you believe that, how can you justify making murder illegal? If it was Jim Doe's "time to die," and it was going to happen by the closest available means, what difference does it make how he died? And why should abortion be illegal and/or morally wrong, if it was my eight-weeks-gestated fetus's "time?" Is God gradually phasing out his creation of lives that are supposed to end in infancy in the US? Is he running an experiment in Europe and parts of Asia to stop making people whose "time to go" is before their first birthday, but is using Africa and South Asia as a control group? If you believe that, how do you reconcile that with Christianity's promotion of a loving god? Why not just not create lives that are going to be short and difficult? What kind of loving god would make 1.5 million Armenians whose "times to go" all happened to be between 1915 and 1923?

This brings me back to the "everything happens for a reason" issue: if everything happens for a reason, and we're just behaving according to plan, why do we have rules at all? If everything that's going to happen happens no matter what because it's all preordained, then why try to prevent anything?

Religious people often accuse atheists and atheism of being immoral, but we believe in free will, and that everyone who has the cognitive ability to reason has control over their actions and should be held accountable for them if someone or something else is hurt/damaged/deprived. If one is of the belief that we're all running around acting in accordance with some divine script, then when bad things happen it should be the playwright who is blamed, not the actors. If we're all acting out the script, then I'm supposed to be an atheist, and the genocides of the 20th century were supposed to happen. Just something to think about.

Science!

So in a bit of synergy with my other blog, I'm posting videos. The topic: science.

1. New York Dolls- Dance Like a Monkey
First of all, how cool is it that the Dolls are back (even if they've lost a few members?) Second, I love that a band with guys older than my parents are rocking harder than, say All-American Rejects. I know this isn't my entertainment blog, but the A-AR lead singer just looks like he needs to be punched in the face. And don't get me started on Fallout Boy.

2. They Might Be Giants- Why Does the Sun Shine?
Sorry that it's an amv. I tried to find other versions, but most of them were live with bad sound. I think it's supposed to be blurry like that.

3. They Might Be Giants- Mammal
Now this is how you do a TMBG fan video!

4. MC Hawking- What We Need More of Is Science
World of Warcraft-style. I'm not enough of a nerd to do something like this, but I'm nerdy enough to enjoy it. And, well, MC Hawking rules. There's a link to an official video on the homepage, but I couldn't get it to load.

5. Kissing Hank's Ass
I lied. I said it was all science, but come on. It's Kissing Hank's Ass!

Five is enough for now, but I'll be back with more some other time.

Buy My Solar-Powered Pancake Syrup, Suckers!

I have a Cafepress store, and even though I only have one thing up so far, I plan to have any number of freethought-related products for sale. Until I run out of space because I don't want a paid store. Then I'll open another. But for now, go here.

For a Reason?

I hear people say "Everything happens for a reason." My usual response to this- when I chose to respond instead of just nodding politely, was that things happened, then we made reasons out of them, whether those reasons were good or bad. But I was thinking about that, and about the idea of predestination and free will, and a question occurred to me: Everything? Really? How important does something have to be to be "for a reason?" Is there a reason the ants built their anthill three inches away from the sidewalk instead of two or four? Is there a reason that Velma Sue bought Wonder Bread instead of Rainbo at the grocery store? I left my ironing board and iron in my kitchen instead of putting them up the other day. Is there a reason for that*? Is there a cosmic, theistic reason why person X down the street from me is a meth addict, hasn't eaten in a week, and may ultimately end up a brain damaged mess, wandering the streets grabbing at the meth mites they see flying around**? Yes, motivational speakers, there's a reason you suffered spinal cord damage by driving drunk/diving into shallow water. You made a bad, unsafe choice. And this assembly sucks.

I had this conversation with my mother, while I was at her house and we were watching a story about a mountain climber who was left by his party because they thought he was dead. Another climber came along and found that he wasn't. "After the break, find out if Whozit decided to save Whatshisface, even though it would end his Mt. Everest climb."

Mom: I'd have to save him. I came along at that time for a reason. Somebody, somewhere wanted me to save him.
Me: So what about the people who abandoned him? Did they leave him on the side of the mountain for a reason?
Mom: No, they're just terrible people.

It's hard to win a debate when other people keep trying to change the rules to make themselves feel better.

This post isn't as coherent as I'd like it to be. It may be edited in the future. I just wanted to get the idea into words and out of my head.





*Yes. I am lazy. Bad example.
**Note: I don't really know if anyone down the street is on meth, but I like the odds.

First!

Welcome! This is my new politics and atheism blog. If you were one of the three people who read it, I still have my LJ, which is my random thoughts and funny and/or personal shit blog. I might put a link to it here.