This is a combination of things I have said here on these boards, but also a short blurb from a graphic I saw on the WWW. I tried finding the author but couldn't. It is almost like I do sometimes. Create a graphic and throw it onto the WWW anonymously.
WHAT I BELIEVE
Not only am I an Atheist.
I am also an Anti-Theist.
And an Anti-Religionist.
And I am a Soul Haunter.
I publicly argue passionately against any religion.
I publicly question any religion.
I publicly laugh at any religion.
I publicly shame any religion.
I publicly resist any religion.
I publicly defile any religion.
Why? Because I believe in something too.
There is no philosophical ideology more divisive than religion. Religion does nothing but pervert, demoralize, subvert, and bribe all persons with the belief that it possesses the one and only truth. And, the worst part of ANY religion is that it is an ideology that is implicitly and explicitly protected from any and all criticism from both within and without. Why should any ideology, especially religion, be so privileged? Can you not see how disastrous this way of thinking can be, and is?
I believe religion is, and has always been, tremendously harmful to Humanity. I believe that religions, and their way of thinking, and their theological disagreements, have created the greatest violence, destruction, injury, death, bigotry, harm, immorality, intolerance, wickedness, and abuse to the human species than any other cause. The main problem is not religious fundamentalism, but the fundamentals of religion. Religion’s loose version of “morality,” has NO place in a civilized society.
Sure. You can argue that it is the extremists, not the doctrine. All this says to me is that you have never truly read the various doctrines. It is both. Extremists might be using it as an excuse, but it is an excuse that the religious texts readily provide. I firmly believe, and shall take this belief to my grave, that the human species would have been much better off had there NEVER been ANY form of religion.
I see NO evidence of ANY gods, but plenty of evidence of religion’s harm.
And I am a lot more concerned with the welfare of my fellow human beings than I am about “offending” or “hurting the feelings” of a bunch of barbarians who choose to believe in the faerie tales of an obsolete, irrelevant, savage, offensive, and unsubstantiated, immoral Bronze Age religious text about an imaginative Sky Faerie and Magic Zombie Virgin.
Offended? So the fuck what!
Ultimately, it is Religion that is Humankind’s worst enemy.
— What I Believe, ARAKISH
Here is a High Resolution Photographic Quality JPEG of the above text.
8½ × 11 inches (21.59 × 27.94 cm) (4.13 MB (4,337,484 bytes))
https://i.imgur.com/LENDKzx.jpg
rmfr
EDIT: added graphics dimensions
Subscription Note:
Choosing to subscribe to this topic will automatically register you for email notifications for comments and updates on this thread.
Email notifications will be sent out daily by default unless specified otherwise on your account which you can edit by going to your userpage here and clicking on the subscriptions tab.
I applaud. Religion thrives off tribalism, narcissism, self-entitlement, greed, intellectual laziness and dishonesty, a refusal to take responsability, conformity and insecurity. The last time I checked history books, religion was everywhere on the side of powerful people, negating all claims of establishing a peaceful utopia.
Don't forget to abhorrent practice of religion being forced on billions of the most vulnerable people. Young children, the ones by nature that soak up everything their parents and other "respected" adults tell them, no matter how fanciful, long before they learn independent thought and critical thinking. The very same age where they will believe in santa claus until their parents and peers tell them it is not real.
Anyone care to guess how many religious people there would be if brainwashing vulnerable children was outlawed and people could decide for themselves if god was real once they reached 18 and learned critical thinking skills?
- I would put it at less than 10% with that number falling to less than 5% within a generation of people that would "choose" religion.
I agree, if one day i have children, i won't tell them to believe, for three reasons:
First, by making them christian or whatever, i am negating their free will. (you can only do it with good reason such as a life-threatening situation)
Then, of course, they don't have enough critical thunking skills (if despite that, they decide to believe, it's fine by me, i hope).
Lastly, i will never consider an infant a worthless piece of shit (original sin) like Yhaweh/Allah followers do.16
RE: "I see NO evidence of ANY gods, but plenty of evidence of religion’s harm."
And religion's greatest harm is stealing people's motivation, dignity, and responsibility by convincing them of a God who will do all things for them including Absolution.
arakish,
I kind of like your post. You believe something. That's a step in the right direction in my view.
Your stated belief are against things. Besides what you are against, I'd like to know what you are for.
Read it again. It is in there.
rmfr
And here is another about what I am for.
http://www.atheistrepublic.com/forums/debate-room/subject-religion-emotional-one#comment-123069
rmfr
Bravo! I especially like the part about the "extremists". As I have said a couple of times in other threads, what people refer to as "extremists" nowadays are actually the individuals/groups that follow their respective religious texts in the TRUE manner they were meant to be followed. Unlike the "extremists", the casual followers simply like being associated with their particular faith of choice because they enjoy the socializing and the "comfy-feel-good" security blanket it provides for them. Therefore, they cherry pick only those passages and teachings that "lift their spirit" and gives them "strength and hope." And if anything is ever mentioned to them about all the other barbaric teachings and atrocities in their precious book, they suddenly become "Nervous Nellies" and hide behind the excuses of "Context!" and "God works in mysterious ways!"
On the other hand, those "extremists" are the ones who should be considered the Truly Faithful, because they are the ones who take their religious texts at face value and do not shy away from the harsh and brutal teachings contained in them. They deeply and sincerely BELIEVE that any of the heinous acts they commit are done so by order of their respective god, and that they will be greatly rewarded for their efforts should they die in the process. And the worst part is that they have written "proof" in their holy book telling them exactly that.
So whenever somebody ever talks to me complaining about religious "extremists", I basically just tell them, "Hey, they are simply carrying out the orders issued to them from the same book you follow." Thankfully, there are far more "causual believers" than there are "extremists"..... (for now, at least).
I consider you an extremist.
Theists have always had a problem with atheists expressing themselves, you're the extremist John.
@John Re: "I consider you an extremist."
*chuckle*... Hey, man, you can consider me Clyde Kadittlehopper for all I care. Makes no difference to me one way or the other.... *chuckle*
I don't know who Clyde Kadittlehopper is, but I do know my comment wasn't addressed to you.
@John Re: "...my comment wasn't addressed to you."
Oh. Whoops. lol Who was it for? Hard to tell.
By the way, I have no idea who Clyde Kadittlehopper is either. Just something I remember hearing from my childhood. *chuckle*
Asking for evidence makes one an extremist? Evaluating Church / Religious dogma and making the covert overt makes one an extremist? Challenging the little minds and irrational beliefs of believers makes one an extremist?
Asking the religious to cite one example of an existent god that is not based on fallacious logic, appeals to emotion, or unfalsifiable claims makes people extremists?
I'm fairly certain Clyde is a Jungian archetype that most closely fits your personality style. I could be wrong but if we give you the MBTI and you fail it, we will be on the right track.
Breezy: "I consider you an extremist."
Why, thank you. Pot calling the kettle black though it is.
rmfr
Breezy Brain: "I consider you an extremist."
Unless it does not stay last one, the last post in this thread is your proof. And I freely admit, I am just like you, an extremist.
rmfr
One of the all time classic bloopers.
Clem Kadiddlehopper
rmfr
Oh, yeah!!! CLEM Kadiddlehopper! That's right! I KNEW I had heard that somewhere before. Clyde must be his cousin. lol
I use to watch him as a kid. Damn! Now I really do feel as OLD as quantum accused me of being.
ROFLMAO Oh gosh. That was a classic Rant. Wished I had copied and pasted it before it got removed.
rmfr
@Arakish
My Mom was a really big fan of ol' Red, so I remember hearing him fairly often on the tv. As I got older I would watch a few myself. Funny funny guy! I had forgotten he played the Kadiddlehopper character.
Red Skelton was my favorite growing up. Still is. Even have his entire show on DVD. Damn I gotta break them out watch... Always watched him with me dad. And then there was that other guy who could play a more perfect drunk than a real drunk, yet he NEVER drank a drop his whole life. Damn what was his name and the character? Foster Brooks (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foster_Brooks).
rmfr
I am wrong. Foster Brooks was a drunk before he began his imitation of a drunk. He stopped drinking on a $10 bet (today = $75). He then started his "drunk" routine in 1971 based on his experience with being a drunk. OK. Still cool though. And he was funny.
rmfr
One of the funniest men ever to live and a fantastic entertainer. (Total Agreement)
Not all people believe in religion because it's their incentive to do harm. People need ideas to guide their lives and finding your own principles ( and principles that can function and are pratical) are difficult to come up with. So sure some people believe in a religion just because they don't want to think. Or more likely they believe because its easy.
I BELIEVE .......
I /BELIEVE Christ on a Crunchy Cross should be one of Baskin Robbin's 31 flavors.
I BELIEVE - Anyone wearing a cross should take the little yellow bus to school in the mornings.
I BELIEVE - If you can show me a three year old running around a trailer park in dirty diapers with a bottle of Coke in his hand, I can show you a future Christian.
I BELIEVE - Every religion works better once you martyr a few congregation members.
I BELIEVE - The way to salvation is not through the heart, it's a bit further south.
I BELIEVE - The only thing worse than reading one of Gods holy books is pretending that the one you just read is somehow significant.
I BELIEVE - Guns don't kill people, theists who worship Gods kill people.
I BELIEVE - If it looks like a theist, walks like a theist, and smells like a theist, it must have an IQ below 70.
I BELIEVE - If you can't say something nice about somebody, it is perfectly okay to do it as long as you are quoting the Bible.
I BELIEVE - If you sneeze and the old lady standing in back of you in the line at the supermarket says, "God bless you," it should be legal to turn around and slap her.
I BELIEVE - If life gives you lemons, you should go on line and sell them to Theists as magical curative fruits from God.
I BELIEVE - People that say they don't like religious absolutists, have just never had one cooked the right way.
I BELIEVE - Christians who rape, murder, molest children, and lie, all belong in Church on Sundays because Jesus forgives.
I BELIEVE - If you airbrush a picture of the Mother Mary on a piece of toast, you can sell it on E-bay for $28,000.
I BELIEVE - What goes up does not necessarily have to come down. Hasn't 2000 years of waiting proved that?
I BELIEVE - Doing good works in the name of the dictates of God or gods is a completely immoral act.
I BELIEVE - Communion wafers are a failed Nutra-System experiment that some CEO turned into a money making scheme.
I BELIEVE - Idle hands are the work of eunuchs.
I BELIEVE - A blessing in disguise is a priest working his way through bible college by turning tricks.
I BELIEVE - An "act of God" is just an insurance companies way of telling you to fuck off.
I BELIEVE - Baptism by fire would be much more interesting than baptism by water.
I BELIEVE - Jesus never wants to see another cross when he returns.
I BELIEVE - A fall from Grace will piss her off and she will leave before you can finish.
I BELIEVE - that if you let me read the Bible to your kids, I could fuck them up for life and that's the Gospel Truth.
I BELIEVE - In the race to be Holier than Thou, the theists have had a few setbacks.
I BELIEVE - being in seventh heaven is a myth, even if it is in the Bible, everyone knows there is only one.
I BELIEVE - Money is the root of all evil and religion is the rest of the frigging plant.
I BELIEVE - If you can scare the hell out of a Christian, you will have an atheist.
I BELIEVE - Come Hell or high water this post is going to reach an end some day....
I just had a thought.
If I were able to time travel, I would literally become a Soul Haunter. I would use my time travel ability to keep any religion from ever forming. I would literally kill any and all dreamers of religion, keeping it nothing more a laughable imagination.
I know. Sick. But yeah... I would...
rmfr