The Bible: The #1 book about Child rape, murder and sodomy

You 've seen them. The passive aggressive action of the devout: 'type amen if/to/for [fill in whichever cause of the day]'. I had recently seen a meme that asked me to type 'amen' if I believed everything in the bible to be true.

I'm going to make it simple,  because this concept seems be widely misunderstood amongst theists: For something to be true, it has to be verifiable. Just because you say it doesn't mean it's true. It should be an objective observation, if not observed first hand, then through a trusted source.

Take the virgin birth, for example. Before we even get into the details of the story, it doesn't take a diehard skeptic to question the trustworthiness of the story. What is a person called who has not had sex? A virgin. How are babies born? Conception via sexual intercourse (back then, there was only one way to get knocked up-- there were no turkey-baster babies). So, if you believe in the virgin birth, I would venture that you don't put much stock in science. 

Here's where I have a problem with this concept...aside from the obvious that there needs to be sperm and egg and fertilization and all that scary science stuff to make a baby...belief in the virgin birth propagates the evil of sex. The tree of knowledge included Adam and Eve knowing each other's bodies, or carnal knowledge. What happened after they ate the apple? They were made to be ashamed of their nakedness, their sex, and began to wear clothes.  They became wise. 

If you believe that the trinity, then you believe that the father, the son and the holy ghost are one (if you believe everything in the bible is true, that includes this). The father and the son are the same, or Jesus is his own father; then Jesus is the holy spirit and Jesus is god. Fifteen year old Mary was Immaculately conceived by god and Jesus and the holy spirit. Namely, the whole Christian religion is based off an incident of child rape. 

The awakening of an atheist

God Concept was dead for me a long time ago. I remember questioning it during mass when I was younger, maybe around the age of 12. I listened to the sacrament of Eucharist, and that’s when it started to make me feel uneasy. All throughout Catholic school, I had been taught the word of god is right and true. So, the church’s attempt at wiping away the blood had become clearer to me, and I thought, ‘why?’ Why give yourself to your children in the guise of flesh and blood? Why was eating their flesh a sign of your love and gratitude for them?

It wouldn’t be until much later that I started to connect its rites and customs with those of religions that predated christianity. For many years, I could have given a shit about jesus, god or anything to do with religion. It was something I had been indoctrinated into and did it to appease parents, grandparents, clergy, etc. Growing up, we were never overtly religious as a family, unless you counted the fact that my brother and I went to Catholic school for twelve years. Unless I had to do it for school, I never read the bible. I read it more now than I did in all my twelve years of Catholic school. When I went to college, I went to church on the weekends, and later not at all.

It wasn’t until after my first son was born that I really started to take a hard look at religion and its role not only in my life, but in the lives of those around me, then society and the world as a whole. My father had asked me when were we going to baptize our son. My wife and I had talked about it before the baby came, but this was the first time that faith had come up when I was an adult in anything remotely resembling a conflict. He asked me if we were worried about his soul, that if it would go to hell. I told him that is not what we believe and that is something we want him to decide for himself. And that was it.

That, I think, was the beginning of my real research. In college, prior to being married and having the baby, I had written a paper on Simon de Beauvoir for a writing class. I read quite a bit on existentialism and religion. So, as an adult I had a starting point: existence. This was when the flood gates opened. I started to question everything.

What was our purpose here? How did we come into being? How did the world come about? What about the universe? Is there a god? As an adult, I hear the normal, ‘thank god,’ ‘god bless you,’ other sayings that I had always taken for granted as just part of everyday speech.

In a nutshell, that's how I 'became' an atheist.

Atheist AF: You Have Been Chosen

When I decided to learn about the bible, I did not know that the most difficult part would be actually finding one. In my search for a class, I have included links to churches offering study in case you want to check it out yourself.

The first one I tried was the International Bible Teaching Ministries, which is run by by the  International College of the Bible.  I had to read and then take a quiz. I bypassed the answers and commented. I said, 'I'm not going to BS you.' I'm not here to debate, I just want to learn the bible from someone else's perspective.

I have to wait to be matched with a teacher.


Bible Study Fellowship offers actual classes where you can question, discuss, listen and learn. You explore daily questions in the scripture. Then you discuss the passage with the class. Then you listen to the lecture. I sincerely want to go, and will if my schedule allows.


Master's: An International Online University offers not only university level classes, but also masters degrees. Being an independent course, which is another way of saying you on your honor, you need to apply for a certificate. By ordering the diploma, you "are affirming that you actually completed the course for which you are requesting the Official Certificate of Recognition, and that you understand that the fee is non-refundable." So, there's that. 


I found that at least a couple of these suggest that you pray to start out each lesson, or ask what church you go to, what your affiliation is, etc. A friend cautioned me that there are a lot of Christians who aren't very 'Christian.' Should make in-person meetings interesting. That will also play a big part in my decision in exploring other religions.

Joining an online bible study

Atheist AF: So, I am now in the habit of collecting religious publications. You know, those little publications that demonstrate what happens to the righteous and the wicked? I also have three bibles now (and like a naughty, baby-eating atheist, I even stole one...from a little free library, but, you know...)

At first, I was not sure why I wanted to collect what people normally throw away.
Now...I know.
I think I've found my calling.

via GIPHY

Just kidding. But I have been trying to find a reason to write. I'm going to join a bible study.

My intention is not to ridicule, not to argue. My intention is to follow a natural progression of thought. To learn.

That being said, I do have a sense of humor. Should be interesting.

Doubt and Faith: Watch your attitude, mister!

I recently found myself in a conversation with a flat earther a last week. Right off the bat, I felt as though he was angered, maybe threatened. But here's the thing: if you don't want to argue or if you want to be among people with whom you agree, then go to church.

In the attachment, you will see that he initiated contact via private message through my Facebook page, Atheist AF (There's also Atheist AF Group for private discussions). The FB page is a place for nonbelievers to read things about atheism, agnosticism, the fallacies of religion and funny stuff. I have shared it and posts from it on my personal FB page, but I don't push it, and will attempt to continue to not promote it. I want as an authentic audience of this site as possible, whereas anyone who can find the site can look around and engage. So, this is exactly the kind of conversation I wanted.

I was overjoyed that someone had messaged me through the site. As I previously mentioned, the
gentleman was pissy. It made me smile. I mean, I would rather people not call me names and condemn me to hell (I am honored that he took the time to say it nice and pretty), but it kind of proves my point as of late.

The few times I come out of my shell and engage people on the issues that are important to me, there is a short exchange before they say, 'Let's agree to disagree.'   People have different attitudes toward discussing things in which they believe, or faced with contrary opinions. Some leave it alone, but others become incensed. 'How dare someone I don't know have a different opinion than mine, not to mention the fact that I have no obligation to respond to them.'

So, those of you who follow the page Atheist AF (go like it if you haven already) may have already seen these.

Enjoy.

Good ole' Catholic Guilt

"He knows when you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness sakes." It's never been easy to make sure kids are doing the right thing. What better way to enlist an omniscient being who watches over everyone to make sure they are good? I guess the same can be said for people in general. We have laws that are supposed to keep people safe and deter others from committing crimes. Then there's religion.

God is looking out for us, so we better honor him and love him. He did forgive you for your original sin...that he gave you, so you better do right by him.

Pic:Unit 70 Studios

I was not so much raised Catholic as I was raised in a home of people who were Catholic. We went to church on Sunday, knelt, stood and crossed ourselves. It was something to do on Sundays. But, I was never struck with awe by the wonder of god. I did learn things, though. I learned guilt and accountability. More specifically, religion introduced me to the concept of guilt, which I would later realize is a feeling everyone has to a certain extent, but is used by some to manipulate people into doing what they want.

Guilt is a tool I believe religion uses to keep believers humble. Followers were born into original sin, feel the guilt and give themselves to god.  Guilt is a negative feeling that is caused when you do something that is perceived to be bad. It all depends on what you define as 'bad.' If I know something is wrong, I will not do it, not out of fear of getting caught or angering god, but out of respect for myself and others.

I hold myself accountable. Any negative thing I put out into the world, it's mine. I own the consequences. I have no one to fall back on but myself.

Nix

god
demon
risen from hell

Banished, too
evil
sadistic

Fatuous in
Hell
lowly demon

children starve
sick
die

innocents
sodomy,
raped

butcher-kill
corpses

hellbound nothing
earthly cockatrice

blight of humans
or

Fairy tale....

much better story as 
nix-fiction

Intelligent Design: 'Look at me! I'm Science!'

In response to Mike Pence Wants Creationism Taught in Public Schools,

I wrote "[H]omeschool. My kids would be pulled out of school so fast if they started teaching this." I stand by this, even though my wife gave me her, Okay-honey eye roll. bracing herself for another discussion on religion.

I spared her the discussion because Intelligent Design is not religion and teaching it in schools is not teaching religion-- it is even worse: it is science tainted by religion.  The religious who push this want you to be confused. They want you to say, 'oh, that doesn't sound too bad,' and next thing you know, you're watching reruns of The Flinstones as documentaries.

I fully support the teaching of religious history, even religious theory (for lack of a better term, and on the condition that non-belief is presented as an option as well),  but Intelligent Design is built on the assumption that the bible is a historical account. A record of history. Time and time again it has been proven that the Bible is filled with discrepancies. Science depends upon the observation and interpretation of our surroundings, to constantly build new theories on how our world works. Intelligent Design piggy backs on science's credibility by calling itself a science, all the while denouncing it by its very premise: God exists.

Trying to put intelligent design on the same level as science is not bringing forth an alternative to or a new branch of science. It is a covert way to push religion onto the unsuspecting.

Bah-Bah-Bless you: Living in the Believers' World

I had a friend recently ask me if I would be offended if someone told me 'May God bless you," as a farewell. He asked this on his Facebook wall, and to his chagrin, none of the people who responded had a problem with it. Upon reading the discussion, everyone who responded was religious to some extent. No one had an issue, and neither do I, to tell the truth. Here's what I posted as a comment:

I don't have a problem if it is said to me, and I am a proud Atheist. But I can see how someone might have a problem with how ingrained religion is in our society. As an atheist, I could get all PC and say how dare you infringe on my rights, but who am I to get pissed at someone saying something they have probably saying their whole life? I see 'God Bless you' and 'Hail Satan' on the same level, personally. I know they have totally different connotations, but if you look at both in their own context, they are the same thing. imagine how you would feel if you said God Bless you and I said Hail Satan back? I know this is not necessarily how bad xxxxxx feels, but it might get you close sympathizing.

I am not normally the type of atheist who starts discussions with believers, but I will state my opinion if it is warranted. I know I am not going to change anyone's mind and I have made issues worse a couple of times by pursuing discussions. I have friends who are believers and I respect that and they respect my lack of belief and it is usually left at that. I don't usually get uppity or confrontational when people get holy on me. That is not to say that I do not have a distinct opinion on believers.

I believe that there is a certain amount of weakness that is required to have a belief in any go. To say that people have been believing in God or gods for centuries  is not really a valid reason. That is akin to saying, 'well, Billy jumped off the bridge, so I did too." I know that many believers (if not the majority) have been indoctrinated at birth. I myself was baptized christian. So I cannot necessarily hold it against them if they had no say in the matter. That is why, as I said earlier, I have little problem with them saying blessings or whatever. That's all they know.

There's a reason Jesus likens his followers to sheep.