tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770341086445997547.post2655066008754171058..comments2023-10-07T22:37:49.244+13:00Comments on The Hand Mirror: On atheismkatyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15742280289613450293noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770341086445997547.post-4960711997342108672012-08-12T23:22:58.202+12:002012-08-12T23:22:58.202+12:00Maybe if you stopped shoveling pies down your gull...Maybe if you stopped shoveling pies down your gullet, jumped on a treadmill and actually contributed something positive to society instead of being a whiny over-privileged-anarcho-hipster-with-an-entitlement complex, you would stop feeling so deficient when you read Cosmo. <br /><br />It's not oppression, it's a wake up call. From God.Mohammednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770341086445997547.post-71395358800528021102012-08-09T23:42:12.870+12:002012-08-09T23:42:12.870+12:00@Anon- Don't think too hard, in a soul searchi...@Anon- Don't think too hard, in a soul searching meaningless philosophical circle anyway. Disproving God is a lot simpler than you think, or the religions will have you believe. <br /><br />Have you ever noticed that almost exclusively the media will trot out an atheist scientist to square off against a priest? I often wonder is this is to pander to the priest. Mainly due to the way science works the scientist must keep an open mind to the possibility that one day someone will prove all we know to be wrong, ie the world is not flat. Also because all the arguments can easily be deflected as soon as we get you back into church and feed you our misinformation unchecked, either God is assisting science or the science is incomplete.<br />Brings us to the God of the shadows concept. An evolutionary biologist (Theist) will say he sees no need for god in the natural gift of life (because they has studied the process and seen the evidence). They will explain god as the one who controls the heavens. The astronomer sees no god in the heavens, only the one who created life. And as you will see in anyone else God tends to live where peoples knowledge ends,the unexplained.<br /><br />As the Torah/Bible/Koran are written stories we can analyse their content. The best philosopher is probably Christopher Hitchens who knows all three books inside out and can quote the hippocracy, inaccuracy, and show where god is a reflection of the human authors. A thourogh read can show that YAWAH was a family god of the 'house' of abraham that happily coexisted with other gods and evolved into a warrior god (therefore rigidly masculine) that took many generations to dominate then dismantle other gods. The other facets of knowledge needed is history. YAWAH was even the preexisting name of a former town not far for an army to move into Jordan and on the supposed path of the exodus. We need the history of Europe and Mid East/Egypt. Hisory shows how the Jewish god evolved, and changed as it contacted Egypt and possibly the monotheistic Aton (Prayer to the Sun god/burning bush/Aton - I am the way the truth and the light, 3000 years BC). Archeology is the science that informs this. Also as we move to Europe we see how Christianity spread, not through God, but the emperor who needed people to think in terms of one ruler. Indeed Jesus had a brother James who started a church, but lost a fight over dogma to st Paul, a roman who wrote a version of Christianity friendly to gentiles (Romans) and judgmental of the Jews. The most obvious proof that took me out of the church was not just that the bible dates the world at 3-4000 years old, but the realization that there were older cultures, Older writings/older religions/ older than God, at least the Jewish God, even older than the culture. I now believe that we can plot the development of religous/spiritual belief from burials to ancestor worship, the names passed down to look after us and assigned job like war/fire/rain and eventually becoming Gods till an invasion brings the victors gods the roles change and one becomes supreme king god then only god. The rituals don't even change that much. Some evidence of spiritual thought has even been attributed to Neanderthals. <br /> Finally google - Asatyan, Persian god of law and order, judge jury and executioner. Under orders from the supreme god but none too popular if he came knocking on your door. Feared more than respected. The Romans called him Lucifer. Many names for the same role, how can this be?Marknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770341086445997547.post-1225092763873562842012-08-08T13:39:57.388+12:002012-08-08T13:39:57.388+12:00I call myself an agnostic because I cannot make up...I call myself an agnostic because I cannot make up my mind what to believe. I used to think that god, if there was one, must have been a Playwrite and enjoying all the tregedies he had written. I used to talk to god, imagined or otherwise, but more in the form of angry questioning. I guess the power of pray is powerful, but why can't I pray given that there is some chance that he is there.<br /><br />I have been told I think therefore I am but am I just thinking that I am? Do I have a soul, a spirit, a mind. Are they in me or outside me directing me? Are they in harmony or are they in conflict?...<br />I look at the fossils and wonder which bones are real, which are crafted and is what is ther what it was like?.....<br />I read a history book and I wonder how much is true, how much is guesswork and how much is fiction...<br />I look up into the heavens and wonder if it was as big as I have been told or was it all an optical illusion. Is the universe bounded and if so what lies beyond? Is it a discus for some god competing with another to see how far each can throw?...<br />Then I told myself I should think no more as I will never find the answer. But then, why am I drawn to sites like these?..Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770341086445997547.post-88998936006787317962012-08-07T18:41:25.872+12:002012-08-07T18:41:25.872+12:00Hey Adele
I don't think religious/spiritual ...Hey Adele <br /><br />I don't think religious/spiritual people are the only people who can write in a thoughtful way. I also disagree that atheists are some how disqualified from talking about religion (but then I am a historian - so I talk a lot about things I have no direct experiences)<br /><br />But I wasn't aiming to comment on the religious beliefs and relationships that people have with their deity/deities in general. I was talking about a particular sort of belief - which I think is damaging - that there are a God/gods or spiritual forces that reward virtue. <br /><br />As I specifically said, I don't have a problem with spiritual beliefs per se - and I have a problem with the way that some people go after the most marginalised people in the names of atheism.<br /><br />Thanks Tamara - I'll try and fix it tonight, it's a really good piece.Maiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17212711843307060731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770341086445997547.post-54559043241535967392012-08-07T13:11:55.428+12:002012-08-07T13:11:55.428+12:00Thanks for this post Maia. I also see problems wi...Thanks for this post Maia. I also see problems with the way many people practice their theism. I am also a materialist atheist. When I see Olympics athletes pray before they compete I wonder how the respond when their prayers are not granted.<br /><br />By the way, your Douglas Adams link is broken.Tamaranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770341086445997547.post-90377961361842471412012-08-07T08:17:13.441+12:002012-08-07T08:17:13.441+12:00So, you're an atheist yet your commentary come...So, you're an atheist yet your commentary comes across as soul-searching, or should that be soul-less searching. <br /><br />And as an atheist do you have the necessary insight to be able to comment on the relationship people of faith have with their particular religious belief and or deity / deities (I have noted the qualifiers).<br /><br />The analogy is akin to a male lecturing a mother on giving birth. He may have a technical / medical / philosophical / humanistic understanding but until he actually gives birth he really doesn't have a clue.Adelenoreply@blogger.com