Why Hate Religious People?
April 16, 2008
Sometimes, as someone who is an “unbeliever,” I am asked why I hate believers; why am I so against their beliefs?
It’s a funny question. Maybe I come off arrogant and intolerant. That’s entirely possible (I’ve been known to be so), and if that is the case I must apologize both to people of faith, and atheists. I apologize to the people of faith because I really don’t mean to project hate. I apologize to the atheists because I don’t want to contribute to the stereotype “angry atheist” that is often portrayed.
Let me be perfectly clear: I don’t hate “believers.” I hate their beliefs.
What people of faith are probably picking up from me is impatience and my discomfort with an absolute certainty on their part, and a double standard.
Somehow, it is okay to question and debate someone’s beliefs about physics, astrology, medicine, politics, psychology, parapsychology and astrophysics. Yet it is (as far as I can tell) not acceptable to debate someone’s religious beliefs.
Here I am simply re-phrasing Sam Harris. None of this is new to atheists, though I am sure it is new to some people of faith. For them, I would suggest reading Mr. Harris, or at least spending twenty minutes watching him here:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=J3YOIImOoYM
He’s not perfect, and I don’t agree with everything he says.
But I do think he makes quite a few good points.
Let me be clear: I don’t hate religious people. I just hate their religion. I’m not entirely sure how different this is from “love the sinner, hate the sin.”
I hate what religion does to people. I hate the evil that has been committed in this world in the name of God/Allah/Jehovah — whatever.
To be honest, that’s kind of a funny thing because I don’t believe in evil. Let me quote Robert Jay Lifton of Harvard (visiting professor of psychiatry):
“…one has to be aware of any claim to absolute virtue, because it’s absolute virtue that you call forth to kill large numbers of people. It may be impossible to do that without that claim.”
I’m hard-pressed to come up with a more apt description of the horrors of history.
Most of the evils of the world can probably be traced back to such sentiments. It is the adherence to absolute virtue, the belief one is serving God, that provides us with the means to commit unspeakable horrors. Some evils can be traced to selfishness, competition for resources, exploitation, racism, untreated mental illness and just plain stupidity. But I still believe the majority of the atrocities that have taken place on our planet were done in the name of “absolute virtue.”
I’m posting this on an atheist site, obviously. I suppose I am posting this to ask all of you atheists to recognize that we don’t hate people, we just hate what their beliefs have contributed to.
In a future post, I’ll address the popular belief that atheism has given us the dictators of the world. What makes that ludicrous is the belief that atheism is a philosophy that has adherents.
But for now, let’s agree that people of faith are not people to be hated, and we (atheists) don’t hate them. We just don’t like the bi-product.
I’m new here. But ….. Is that a fair start?
I want the Witnesses to leave me alone!
March 24, 2008
I can’t stand it anymore! I came home from the store the other day and found my husband standing at the back door talking to a young lady. In the driveway, blocking my way into the garage is a minivan being driven by a young man dressed in a suit. Great, I thought, another one. My husband and I have lived in our new home for less than a month and this is the third time we have had a Witness on our door step. The first thing that I wanted to do was whip the door open and apologize to the girl, maybe tell her that he was visiting for Easter from his group home or something…anything to save her from all of his questions. The poor girl had no idea what she had gotten herself into when she knocked on our door. None of them ever do. She finally left after stuttering a little about Easter and her beliefs. I don’t know if she cried. Maybe she got into the van and they all prayed for our family. Maybe (please please PLEASE) they crossed us off the list of places to stop. Either way, we got noticed, for you see, I am married to a special man. My husband is TJM admin, and the Witnesses will never leave me alone. First I was invited to the memorial service for Jesus, and then they had a meeting of some sort to talk about who was qualified to rule the world. I would have LOVED to go to that one. I can’t remember why this poor girl was here this time. She told him that she had talked to me before, so I guess I am in her precinct. I should go back and read the “Porch Monkeys” article again. When we were first married we lived literally right next to a meeting hall. We would watch those little 6 year olds run into the building carrying their little brief cases. We were there for 4 years and were only visited once. I miss those days. My hubby told me that those “No soliciting” signs don’t work either. Did you know that? They aren’t solicitors. I guess I will just have to let TJM admin keep answering the door! Poor little Witnesses…
Our Nation, a Side Note
March 15, 2008
Just taking a brief hiatus from my normal critiques on religion for a moment to rant about something that has really been under my skin for quite some time; our nation, the United States. With our growing deficit (both economical and trade), plunging dollar and unhealthy population, there are quite a few things that need to be changed here in America. The rest of the world has seen this coming for some time as we sat complacently on our couches watching our HD T.V.’s and playing our $500+ gaming systems, all the while stuffing our faces with calorie ridden chips and washing it down with a liter of Coke. Read more
Middle East earthquakes: It’s the gays what did it
February 24, 2008
SIX earthquakes have struck Israel and neighbouring Lebanon and Jordan in recent months, with two coming last week alone – and what is to blame? Homosexuality.
That’s the view of imbecile Shlomo Benizri, MP, of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish Shas party, who, according to the Telegraph, believes that the tremors could be stopped by repealing various liberalising laws on homosexuality that have been passed by the Israeli parliament, or Knesset, in recent years.
Since decriminalising homosexuality in 1988, Israel has passed several laws favouring gay Israelis , including decisions to recognise same-sex marriages carried out abroad, and granting inheritance rights and other benefits held by married couples to gay partnerships.
Last Sunday, to the outrage of the religious Right, the country’s attorney general, Meni Mazuz, ruled that same-sex couples should be allowed to adopt children.
In what Mr Benizri clearly believes is no coincidence, the first of last week’s quakes hit the country just two days later.
Why do earthquakes happen? One of the reasons is the things to which the Knesset gives legitimacy, to sodomy. God says that if you shake your genitals where you are not supposed to he will shake the world in order to wake you up.
In 1999 this crazy god-botherer caused controversy by saying homosexuals were mentally ill. Quoted in the Israeli newspaper Maariv, he said he was “ready to fund the creation of special closed sections for them in psychiatric hospitals.”
Seven Kids, No Heat, No Water, In Foreclosure…It’s God’s Will Though
February 16, 2008
Before you jump to conclusions, let me just say this; I do not usually watch Dr. Phil. In fact, today’s program is the first one that I have ever seen. A friend of mine called me to let me know what the subject matter was so I recorded it for later viewing. Sure glad that I did…well, maybe not. Read more
“McCain is a Good Christian…
February 7, 2008
with family values and Obama is a Muslim. That’s all I need to know.” Wow. Read more
The Demonization Of Matthew (or Religion is the Problem, not the Answer)
December 13, 2007
Matthew Murray’s world was haunted by demons.
Somehow, a child of a prominent doctor, someone who was home schooled in a comfortable Denver suburb, evolved from would-be Christian missionary to a killer trying to rain Columbine down on the Christian world.
A family spokesman said Murray grew up in a loving home. But other interviews and what appear to be Murray’s own online ramblings portray a disturbed individual who resented his sheltered upbringing, had problems with his mother, heard voices in his head, felt rejected and abused — and yet appeared to be searching for a place to belong.
He sought refuge in everything from an online forum for recovering Pentecostals to an occult group.
End of quote and beginning of my rant.
I feel so much pity for this young man. It was no loving home he grew up in; if it was his parents would have known about his problems. Voices in his head? Did they think it was Jesus talking to him? Wasn’t it a warning? Or is it a given that the religious expect to hear voices? Isn’t that what is taught from the pulpit and in the Bible where and everpresent but invisible being hears and sees everything we do and say, but only speaks to the chosen in the heads?
I know only too well about the isolation of growing up in a fundie home. No one to talk to, no one to discuss anything with; from religion to social aspects. God is supposed to be your best friend and he is supposed to provide all the answers. The contrary is however true. God is not the answer, it is the problem; remove God/Allah with his unfair and inhuman expectations out of the equation and leave us to be normal human beings with normal desires and emotions.
I blame Mathews parents and ultimately religion for what happened. When the bubble burst and Mathew needed support, he was alone; so he went on internet forums to have the outlet he so desperately needed. He wanted to disassociate himself from his religious background but was so brainwashed that it caused him only pain and anguish, intense bewilderment and in the end, a tragedy.
What will happen now is that fundie parents will prohibit their children to have access to the internet - and the snowball becomes only bigger. The young men and women will become increasingly isolated and bewildered in a world full of temptation, a flesh and blood body screaming for release which is sinful in the eyes of the God they pray to.
A few of Mathew’s cries for help on forums:
I remember growing up in pentecostalism/evangelicalism, we were always told to support the republicans/conservatives and to “hate those evil satanic democrats.” Jesus never said to put our trust in any political leader, yet we see so many christians trying sooooo hard to believe that “America was founded on fundamentalist evangelical christianity and we must turn america back towards God!!!(the evangelica/fundamentalist/pentecostal version nontheless)”
Another one:
Internet was treated as one of Satan’s special weapons in the “end-times” to promote sex(which everyone knows is of the Devil…..) Everyone was terrified that one of us teenagers *might* get a glimpse of a naked body and become demon possessed. This always confused me for how can viewing what God designed be satanic at the same time? And if we “lust” are the demons able to read our thoughts and somehow *know* to seize upon us? Isn’t it possible to see nudity without *lusting* somehow? Of course, the senior pastor’s two oldest children, one male the other female, got someone pregnant and got pregnant; the other two younger ones were proven to be sexually active. Other church leader’s children were sexually active.
More important:
Well, I got all fed up with the insanity, hypocrisy, conflicting doctrines, the and lack of absolute answers in regards to “salvation,” heaven and hell and other theological issues, the child abuse, brainwashing, lies, gossip, scandals, threats and fear mongering. I got tired of always hearing “oooohh, you’re saved by grace, not by works!” “Everybody loves you! Jesus loves you!” only to hear about how I was going to hell for watching “The simpsons” or could lose my salvation and could never be certain if 30 years from now I might lose it due to some odd sin and die in an accident and end up in this eternal hell preached to us day and night.
Me, I found a new Law to live by and I realized……I don’t have to be abused nor submit to these liars and their lies nor do I have to be afraid of this make-believe hell and false theory of salvation which no fundamentalist Christian could ever give solid answers on.
Me and many others are waking up.
We will rise up above and against these abuses against humanity.
Men will no longer be ruled by fear and superstition, oppressed by bigotry and tyranny.
Charlie Brown Christmas
December 5, 2007
This is a very simple post. Go to Newsday.com and look under the title of “Bah humbug to puny Christmas tree”. I am sure that I don’t even have to comment on this one, really. I have always heard that it isn’t the size that matters.
Islam Idiocy (Moronic Mohammedans)
December 4, 2007
Now that we’ve hit Jehovah’s Witnesses over the headHere, Here and Here, it’s time for someone else to get their turn in the “My religion says I should prefer death to proper medical care” barrel.
Muslim woman are not allowed to be viewed by men outside the family, not even by physicians.
Pregnant Belgium Muslim woman needs an emergency cesarean delivery, only anesthesiologist available is a man, and the woman’s husband bars his entry into the operating room.
At this point, a rational person would have the husband arrested, but our doctor doesn’t do this. Instead, (After TWO HOURS) an Imam is consulted - the anesthesiologist is permitted to apply an epidural injection, but only if the woman is completely covered except for a small patch of skin. During the surgery (conducted by a female OB/GYN) our anesthesiologist is relaying instructions and observations through a nurse: he is forced to stand in the hallway while his patient is in surgery.
Fortunately, the surgery went OK. It could have turned into a disaster: had the mother or child died during the procedure, the anesthesiologist would be responsible for their lives. This doctor risked his patients’ well being - and his career - following the religious beliefs of a sexist, bigoted religion.
The beautiful Kelly of the Rational Response Squad covered this one.
Source
8th Grader kills himself for God
November 30, 2007
A 14-year-old boy, Dennis Lindberg, killed himself under the instructions of a sadistic cult. This action was blessed by Skagit County (Washington) Superior Court Judge, John Meyer, who prohibited the State of Washington from interfering in the youth’s suicide pact.
Unfortunately, no criminal action will be brought against either the “Cult” or Judge Meyer, because the “Cult” is the Jehovah’s Witnesses, and the method of suicide the youth chose was to refuse treatment that would have given him a 70% chance of survival.
TJM author Luci recently wrote about another senseless death associated with Jehovah’s Witness prohibition on accepting blood transfusions.
Basically, JWs are prohibited from consuming the blood of an animal. “Church” leaders decided that hospital patients can be fed intravenously, a blood transfusion is food.
What?
TJM reader Jerry Jones (his link) commented:
Jehovah’s Witnesses refuse to acknowledge that when human blood is transfused into their body’s circulatory system that the transfused human blood remains to be human blood and continues to function as human blood. Jehovah’s Witnesses refuse to acknowledge that if blood is eaten, then the ingested blood enters the body’s digestive system, where the blood would be treated by the body exactly the same as it would treat a hotdog, a potato chip, or any other food item.
Before you start thinking that I’m singling out JW’s, remember that MANY religions/dogmatic beliefs require the individual to harm himself/herself in the name of worship and/or conformity. Judaism (and others) requires the partial amputation of male genitalia. Sects of Islam require adherents to flog and/or lacerate themselves as a part of their worship. (Check out “Ashoura”) Female Genital Mutilation is still widely practiced in several locations around the world. Foot Binding, an old Chinese custom, has crippled millions of women.
Dogmatism turns otherwise rational people into lemmings. Religion is the single largest source of Dogmatism. Religion is also the most “Protected” in its application. Without Religion to back up this boy’s decision, his parents would have been brought up on child endangerment charges, he would be declared a ward of the court, and his doctors would be ordered to begin treatment.
Read more:
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2007/11/religion_kills.php
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/11/29/jehovahs.witness.ap/index.html
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