randall g and atheism

First off, if you are a religious person who is offended by alternate beliefs (or no beliefs) please hit the "back" button on your browser NOW.

If you are reading this, my obligation to ensure that you or your children never come into contact with disturbing material on the web that may interrupt the free flow of your god beliefs between your mind and your pleasure center has been satisfied.

OK, if you're still with me, I occasionally get email like this: 

>I am curious. Why are you an atheist? How did you get to be an 
>atheist? You sound like an intellectual. I'd like to know your 
>reasoning.

So I thought I'd write it down. Here goes:

I realized many years ago that there are no gods. My skepticism stemmed from an extremely inquiring mind, self-reliance, education, extensive reading and a firm grounding in the sciences (I'm now an engineer). I think I'm organically unable to believe anything without acceptible evidence.

The reasoning is along these lines (very much simplified):

  • there's no valid evidence for supernatural entities
  • I have no reason to think that we won't eventually acquire the knowledge, through the scientific method, that explains all aspects of the universe
  • the Christian Bible (which is supposed to be evidence for one particular god) is full of inaccuracies, errors and evils which contradict that god's properties as commonly postulated, rendering it as useless as any other ancient religious text in terms of valid evidence for the supernatural
  • all the thousands of other gods that have been invented throughout history have a similar lack of evidence
  • the existance of religion is easily explained in natural terms when you look at the big picture - it evolved as a way to comfort people in their miserable lives as well as enforce societal rules and allow people in early civilizations to be controlled
  • a very telling fact is that over time, gods have been required to explain less and less of the universe, as our knowledge (obtained through the scientific method) has expanded (see Galileo). This "god-of-the-gaps" gets smaller and smaller over time, and I've no reason to think it won't disappear eventually
  • also the so-called "yearning" to believe in higher powers stems from early man's ignorance of the workings of the universe and the desperate need to explain and hopefully control natural processes such as weather - there was nothing more important to early agricultural civilizations than reliable seasons
  • oh, almost forgot, it provides an easy comfort for our understandable fear of death
  • there is no absolute morality ordained by a higher power - all attempts to define one degenerate into huge grey areas

    May I suggest you look at this web page: http://www.fit.qut.edu.au/~hostuart/why.atheism.html by Chris Ho-Stuart. I didn't write it, but it reflects my thoughts almost exactly, so the author has saved me the trouble of writing it myself.

    Another very good reference is The Atheist Manifesto by Jeffrey Clark.

    For more of my arguments and opinions, look at my net.wisdom page.

    Here are some articles on the nature of morality in a godless universe (not written by me).

    Here are some accounts of atrocities committed in the name of God with the full sanction of the Christian masters. Careful, this stuff is sick.

    All theists are reduced to using sophistry to attempt to conjure their various gods into existence,
    because they universally have no evidence, and the more intelligent ones know it.
    - randall g

    I contend we are both atheists - I just believe in one fewer god than you do
    When you understand why you reject all other gods,
    You will understand why I reject yours as well.
    - Stephen F. Roberts

    Give a man a fish, and you'll feed him for a day;
    Give him a religion, and he'll starve to death while praying for a fish.
    - anon

    Fool someone once and they'll be foolish for a day, but teach them to fool themselves and they'll be foolish for a lifetime.
    - Del, on alt.atheism

    Christian Fundamentalism: The doctrine that there is an absolutely powerful, infinitely knowledgeable, universe spanning entity that is deeply and personally concerned about my sex life.
    - Andrew Lias, alt.atheism

    Religions have the arrogance to tell nature what it is. Science, by contrast, has the grace to ask.
    - Andrew Lias, alt.atheism

    All of life can be divided into seeking of pleasure and avoiding of pain. If you take away seeking of pleasure, what do you have left? A very grim life.
    - Brian Hartman, alt.atheism

    The priests used to say that faith can move mountains, and nobody believed them. Today the scientists say that they can level mountains, and nobody doubts them.
    - Joseph Campbell

    A casual stroll through an asylum will show that faith proves nothing.
    - Freddy Nietzsche

    Acting to avoid judgment is not the same as acting according to conscience. Conscience implies an awareness of moral distinctions and a desire to choose morally correct actions. A person who treats his fellow man well simply to avoid the flames of Hell is not a moral person; he's an opportunist.
    - Brian E. Clark, alt.atheism

    You do not need the bible to justify love, but no better tool has ever been invented to justify hate.
    - Richard A. Weatherwax, alt.atheism

    Someone once said that all it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. I don't think so. All it takes for evil to triumph is for a society to tolerate the propagation of information that has not been substantiated by empirical evidence.
    - Andrew Mulcahy on alt.atheism

    Creationists are small-minded, malevolent, not very bright and can't get their science right - definitely made in God's image.
    - anon

    "Happy is he who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks."
    - Psalms 137:8-9 (The Word of God)

    "She bagan whoring worse than ever, remembering her girlhood, when she had played the whore in the land of Egypt, where she had been infatuated by profligates big-membered as donkeys, ejaculating violently as stallions. You were hankering for the debauchery of your girlhood, when they used to handle your nipples in Egypt and fondle your young breasts."
    - Ezekiel 23:19-21, NJB (The Word of God)

    "In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual."
    - Galileo Galilei

    "To assert that the earth revolves around the sun is as erroneous as to claim that Jesus was not born of a virgin."
    - Cardinal Bellarmino 1615, during the trial of Galileo

    The Church says that the earth is flat, but I know that it is round, for I have seen the shadow on the moon, and I have more faith in a shadow than in the Church.
    - Ferdinand Magellan

    "The study of theology, as it stands in the Christian churches, is the study of nothing; it is founded on nothing; it rests on no principles; it proceeds by no authority; it has no data; it can demonstrate nothing; and it admits of no conclusion."
    - Thomas Paine

    If god elects to make himself so scarce as to be indistinguishable from nothing, he really shouldn't get so upset if a significant number of people presume that he is, in fact, nothing.
    - NMS (on alt.atheism)

    Historically, Christianity has an extremely bad track record. Nearly 2000 years worth of holy wars, slavery, Inquisitions, witch burnings, book burnings, anti-Semitism, imperialism, racism, misogeny, intolerance, evangelism, superstition, anti-intellectualism, the wanton destruction of non-Christian cultures, the mass murder of "heretics", the demonization of unbelievers, the shameless theft of other mythologies, the twisting of history and the subjegation of its own followers by getting them to believe that being human is so dirty, low and vile that they must be saved from themselves through allegiance to a monster god, whose wrath is perversely pawned off as "love".
    - Alikhat (on alt.atheism)

    The path towards truth requires an open mind. Theists are noted for having closed minds. Atheists can become Theists if evidence of god(s) is presented in a logical and understandable manner, said evidence based on science (oh, and it would help if the god(s) could actually find a way to communicate with humans). Theists, on the other hand, are limited in that they accept an invisible and silent something that can't be proven and, as such, their only hope for freedom from religious doctrine is to have an open mind and critically consider the human origins of their faith as well as the psychological basis for their continuation of a belief in their silent and invisible god(s).
    - Dan Fake (on alt.atheism)

    What exactly did Jesus teach, whether he existed or not, and is that so bad?
    The beating of slaves (Luke 12:47,48), murdering one's enemies (Luke 19), violence (Matthew 10:34, John 2:15), war (Luke 22:36), castration (Matthew 19:12), dictatorial paranoia (Matthew 12:30), irrational temper (Mark 11:13-14), not to mention eternal torture (Mark 9:43, Matthew 13:41-42), just to name a few.

    The lesson today will be: "Our flat earth." Please turn to your bibles, chapters 2Peter3:5; 1Sam.2:8; 1Chron.16:30; Job37:3; Isa.11:12 and Rev.7:1.
    Next week: "Our feathered friend the Bat." Please read: Lev.11:13; and Deut.14:11 in preparation.
    Then: "Pi equals 3." Please read: 1Kings7:23.

    I should not allow any child entrusted to my care to be adopted by a woman who has had an abortion or used contraception. Such a woman is incapable of love.
    - Mother Teresa, demonstrating her warmth and understanding

    Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners... But for that very reason, I was shown mercy so that in me... Jesus Christ might display His unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. Now to the king eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever.
    - Jeffery Dahmer, notorious born-again murdering cannibal, February 17th 1992. He was since murdered by another prisoner, and now sits at the right hand of God with all the other born-again Christians.

    To make sure that my blasphemy is thoroughly expressed, I hereby state my opinion that the notion of a god is a basic superstition, that there is no evidence for the existence of any god(s), that devils, demons, angels and saints are myths, that there is no life after death, heaven nor hell, that the Pope is a dangerous, bigoted, medieval dinosaur, and that the Holy Ghost is a comic-book character worthy of laughter and derision.
    - James Randi, challenging blasphemy laws in several US states

    Why the FUCK did you allow so much suffering you ASSHOLE? Not just human suffering but the animal kingdom as well. You must be one sick son of a bitch to devise such a scheme. And I suppose the murdering cannibal, Jeffery Dahmer, who became 'born again' is in heaven, while Gandi burns in hell? What a DISGUSTING EXCUSE for a "god" you are. FUCK off.
    - me to God, on Judgement Day 

    THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
1. YOU SHALL BOW DOWN TO NO OTHER GOD, FOR YAHWEH’S NAME IS THE JEALOUS ONE; HE IS
   A JEALOUS GOD.
2. YOU SHALL MAKE YOURSELF NO GODS OF MOLTEN METAL
3. YOU SHALL CELEBRATE THE FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD
4. ALL THAT FIRST ISSUES FROM THE WOMB IS MINE: EVERY MALE, EVERY FIRST-BORN OF
   FLOCK OR HERD. BUT THE FIRST-BORN DONKEY YOU MUST REDEEM WITH AN ANIMAL FROM
   YOUR FLOCKS. IF YOU DO NOT REDEEM IT, YOU MUST BREAK ITS NECK. YOU MUST REDEEM
   ALL THE FIRST-BORN OF YOUR SONS. AND NO ONE IS TO COME BEFORE ME EMPTY-HANDED.
5. FOR SIX DAYS YOU SHALL LABOR, BUT ON THE SEVENTH DAY YOU SHALL REST, EVEN AT
   PLOWING TIME AND HARVEST.
6. YOU SHALL CELEBRATE THE FEAST OF WEEKS, OF THE FIRST FRUITS OF WHEAT HARVEST,
   AND THE FEAST OF INGATHERING AT THE CLOSE OF THE YEAR.
7. THREE TIMES A YEAR ALL YOUR MENFOLK MUST PRESENT THEMSELVES BEFORE THE LORD
   YAHWEH, THE GOD OF ISRAEL.
8. YOU MUST NOT OFFER THE BLOOD OF THE VICTIM SACRIFICED TO ME AT THE SAME TIME AS
   YOU OFFER UNLEAVENED BREAD, NOR IS THE VICTIM OFFERED AT THE FEAST OF PASSOVER
   TO BE PUT ASIDE FOR THE FOLLOWING DAY.
9. YOU MUST BRING THE BEST OF THE FIRST FRUITS OF YOUR SOIL TO THE HOUSE OF YAHWEH
   YOUR GOD.
10.YOU MUST NOT BOIL A KID IN ITS MOTHER’S MILK.
- Ten of the Biblical Commandments

    > If you choose not to believe, that is your choice.
    Not if your god bestowed upon man a mind capable of rational thought and then expected him to accept such an irrational and fantastic story entirely on faith.
    Sorry, I don't buy it. Many alternatives are less fantastic, including the one where god throws BELIEVERS in hell for not relying on their god-given brains. You believers turned your brains off, not for any noble or courageous reason, but simply to save your own cowardly and worthless butts. You couldn't resist the temptation of the promise of pie in the sky in the by and by. You had to turn off your mind in order to accept the psychotic mass murderer version of god found in the Bible, and you did so just in the hope of saving yourself. If you would do that, if you would just blindly believe your god, the creator of the universe, the One who gave you the ability to think -- would actually be this way, then it is YOU who deserves hell. Not the ones who didn't cave in to the pressure, the threats and the blackmail and merely not believe such odious things about the creator of the universe on blind faith.
    This makes far more sense. If you choose not to believe this, that is your choice.
    - Del, on alt.atheism

    I am the Antichrist! Actually I am only one of them. There are millions if not billions of us. Here is the Biblical definition, which definately includes me:

    (I John 4:3) And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of Antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. (I John 2:18) Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that Antichrist shall come, even now are there many Antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. (19) They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. (20) But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. (21) I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth. (22) Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is Antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. (II John 1:7) For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an Antichrist.

    And here is a nice diatribe from a typical fundie: 

    In article <6l499g$hkf@nntp02.primenet.com>,
  steiners@primenet.com (Jason and Heather) wrote:
> <leather69@my-dejanews.com> wrote:

>  "The man who marries a modern woman marries a woman who expects to vote
> like a man, smoke like a man, have her hair cut like a man, and go without
>         restrictions and without chaperones and obey nobody."
> BOBBED HAIR - John R. Rice, 1941         http://www.primenet.com/~steiners/

that goes both ways pal, your suppose to love honor and obey too, and to honor
your wife and respect her because women are of the weaker sex. you know
husbands have their job to in a marriage so don't be such a hyprocrit. you
better make sure that your reading the bible close enough. stop judging
people your no better then anyone else in this world I hate people like you.
if you think you are all high and mighty, well think again.  It reminds me of
the story of the tax payer and the rich man. the rich man prays to god and
says that he is all rightous and cuts down the tax payer saying that the tax
payer won't make it to heaven. So the tax payer thought he was unworthy and
prays to God please have mercy on me cause I'm a sinner. who do you think
went to heaven?  As long as you believe in Jesus Christ you are saved you
will not perish but if you deny Christ you also deny the Father too. I claim
the blood of Christ as a sinner. If you say you have no sin you are a enemy
of God and you are lieing to yourself and God. And if you act like you are
better then everyone else that is not good either, it says something about
people that act that way in the bible. people that act high and mighty it is
WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 If you want to get to know God better and get closer to him you must except 
Jesus Christ and claim him as your personsal savor. and read your bible
better don't just read bits and pieces little scriptures read the whole
chapter

    If you made it through that diatribe and have read this far, perhaps you are questioning your faith and the basis of your religion.
    This is good for you, and maybe I can help, I have done so for many others.
    Please feel free to email me with any questions you may have.
    I will be happy to explain the god-free reality as best I can, based on reason, science, knowledge and logic.
    Start with this: SIN is a non-existant disease invented by the Christian masters, so they can sell you the cure!