My Brand of Firebrand Atheism by Michael A. Sherlock
I am frequently told by atheists and religionists alike that my brand of firebrand atheism is too overbearing, too disrespectful, too brutal, too insensitive, and that it does nothing to appeal to religious people who might otherwise de-convert from their particular strain of insanity and become rational atheists. I would like to take a moment to explain my approach to religious criticism. I do not write for the pleasure of believers. I do not care about de-converting the faithful, although, judging from messages I have received in the past, I have accidentally succeeded in this regard on a number of occasions. When it comes to convincing believers that their lives are being spent on lies and false promises, and that they have no real or rational reason to squander their precious existence on the delusions of our ancient and comparatively ignorant ancestors, I always think of the wise words of Thomas Paine:
“To argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority of reason, and whose philosophy consists in holding humanity in contempt, is like administering medicine to the dead, or endeavoring to convert an atheist by scripture”.
I do not write to persuade, I write to alleviate. What do I mean? I mean, I do not write to convince believers that they should become atheists – I write to alleviate the psychological pressure and relentless oppression suffered by non-believers who are forced to suffer the insanity of their religious surroundings. The last thing such a person needs to read during their brief parole from their religious prison is polite pandering to the ideological warden that keeps them in a cage patrolled by family, friends, and the society at large. No. What these people need to read is brutal honesty and unapologetic mockery concerning the hellish matrix that keeps them veiled, erased, fearfully obedient and psychologically suffocated.
So, please stop asking me to build bridges with wilfully ignorant believers, because I do not write for insane adults who choose to believe and behave like children – I write for sane adults who are sick of being treated like children, by such children.
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2 comments
Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.Fanaticism can apply to any belief system, even atheism!
I enjoy letting my atheist fanaticism loose every now and again, usually when some poor Christian tries to convert me with scripture and I throw social sciences in their face.
That said, I have met people who have such a strong attachment to their invisible sky faeries they refuse to listen, as to do so will release fears of being wrong.
For myself, I came to atheism through a nagging doubt that Christianity was wrong. The Biafran war was going on and I saw lots of children on TV with bellies bloated with hunger. How could god let this happen? I was at school, and why couldn't we send them shepherds pie? Then there was Vietnam, how could the godless Commies be beating America? Why didn't god wipe out the Russians who were also godless Commies.
I asked one of my granddad's if god was on our side in the world wars, why did they go on for so long? He replied, the Gerries (Germans) had Gott Mit Uns on their belt buckles, we had Made in Birmingham (England) on ours, and left it at that!
Just before my 14th birthday, our religious tutor had a sabbatical in India bothering Hindus for a summer, so the Deputy head stepped in. He introduced us to the word 'Atheist' and atheism. In under 30 minutes every boy in the case bar one became atheist.
I've looked for gods many times, but since that early hot summer of 1976, I've never found any. I like to think that I would accept a god if the reasoning behind their existence produced irrefutable evidence which I could scrutinise. But all I find is some bloke in old Judea said their cousin's, friend's dog-walkers, auntie's bosses, sister in laws, great grand father met another bloke who reckoned they saw Jebus/Mohummed/Cthulu in a bar in Jordan sixty years ago, which is no good reason to believe!
Sofabeast
Level 7
June 18, 2022
3
They like to feel persecuted, we like the brutal truth or at least we like to be as close to it as we can get. We confuse them when we tell them that we have no reason to believe and that's a pretty good reason to not believe it.
I have been spit on, and physically attacked by theist. The spiter was a Hare Krishna and the physical attack was by a fundamentalist Christian that sucker punched me in the gut and left me unable to breath for about a minute. Somehow I wasn't convinced by either approach to change my mind. But these self identified persecuted few will win the kingdom on Earth, by firearms if necessary. As the Templars said in the movie "Kingdom of Heaven", "God wills it!" just before they marched off to war completely unprepared just before they were slaughtered by the Arabs.
Willow_Wisp
Level 8
June 18, 2022
6
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Posted by KilltheskyfairyAnd this is the behavior that followers of Abrahamic religions have emulated for centuries.
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Posted by of-the-mountainReality!!!
Posted by of-the-mountainReality!!!
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Posted by KilltheskyfairyReligion is ridiculous!
Posted by KilltheskyfairyReligion is ridiculous!