| Atheist Life vs Religious Life |
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Some argue that religious life is the best
way to live. They claim life without a god is
sad and depressing. Statements like "I could
not imagine my life without God", and "My
life would be meaningless without God", are
common defenses for a religious life. The
following is a list of advantages atheists
enjoy over a religious life. I invite the
religious viewers to submit a response video
with the advantages of a religious life.
1. Atheists can make moral decisions based on
the specific context. Having absolutes like
"Though Shall not Lie" stops people from
thinking for themselves and making the right
decision based on the situation at hand. In
what situation would be okay to lie? Most
religious people would say, never. Atheists
would disagree. For example: If you were
living in Germany hiding Jews in your attic
during the holocaust, and Hitler's Nazis
knocked on your door and asked if you were
hiding Jews, would it be okay to lie to save
the lives of the Jews in your attic? I
believe trying to save their lives would the
moral and proper choice. Atheists have the
power to do what's right for all humanity,
rather than the forced perspective of doing
what is right for a god.
2. Atheists can experience healthy outrage at
the outrageous without fear of questioning
God's plan. We can be outraged when a friend
dies of a horrible disease, or is killed in a
car accident. It is okay to be upset at
disasters and horrible events. It is not a
part of any plan. It is just a horrible
event. Atheists try to learn from them and
not just chalk it up to God's Plan. We use
science to understand catastrophic events
like hurricanes, and tsunamis. This gives us
the ability to save lives. If we think a
magical plan is going to happen no matter
what, then why try to stop the events or make
things better. Atheists do not wonder if a
god is punishing us. Yes, there is cause and
effect, and our actions effect how we live,
you should save for retirement, and if your
diet is bad you'll end up fat, or sick, or
both. But if an airplane part falls on your
house, it is an accident. If you find a 5
dollar bill on the sidewalk, it is an
accident. No magical intervention, no magical
wrath, these are just accidents. Life has an
element of chance. This may not seem
comforting, but here is another way to look
at it: Your loved one dies in a completely
random car accident where nobody could
possibly be blamed. Is it more comforting to
know the accident happened because of bad
luck or is better to think the accident could
have been prevented by an omnipotent being
that could have stepped in and saved them
from an untimely death, but your god decided
to just let them die? You don't have to be
frustrated thinking "Was it because I didn't
pray enough?" "Was God mad at me or them?"
"Maybe I should have prayed more." Atheist
take comfort in knowing there is no plan.
3. Atheist can be friends with everyone
without having the thought in the back of
their mind that this person's lifestyle may
be evil. You have the power to accept people
for what they are. Enabling you to enjoy
their quirks rather than chastise them for
being unique. Atheists can have relationships
with people who have alternative lifestyles
without feeling like they have to save them
from some deity that is going to condemn them
for being themselves. After all, if there was
a creator, then he has made everyone the way
they are. Atheists don't fear that a large
part of the earth's population is going to
hell for being true to themselves.
5. Atheists do not live with the fear of
hell. This is one of the hardest things for
religious people to shake and one of the best
rewards. Religious people love the thought of
heaven, but fear hell as a consequence. In
order to lose the fear of hell, you have to
let go of the false hope of heaven. Atheists
have done both.
7. Atheists raise freethinking children; let
them pick a religion, or none. What would you
have picked? This is hard for parents. If a
child wanted to be another religion, or even
atheist, it would be devastating to most
religious parents. Why not teach them about
all religions and tell them why you believe
the one you do, and then let them choose?
Atheists do not force atheism on their
children. We simple let them see the evidence
for and against religion and let them make up
there own mind. They may change there mind
several times. This is okay. Atheists love
their children no matter what belief they are
drawn too. That is the beauty of free
thinking. You can raise your children
according to your values without feeling as
though you have to defend Bible stories that
even a child can see are fiction.
Tags : atheist atheism religion jesus church bible god faith christian satan science creationism evolution islam mormon |
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Affichage : 523199
Durée : 596 s |
| When Christians Misbehave: Self-Induced Religious Fit |
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From the series, "When Christians Misbehave"
This is a two part benediction at a public
college in Texas given by the very religious
valedictorian of that school. This came after
some wrangling about whether to even have a
benediction, since some students objected.
This is unbridled Christian advertising in
the form of a self induced fit on stage.
At the near end of the video, the
brown-uniformed woman walking up the aisle is
a Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper,
going up on stage to render aid. She
obviously doesn't think it's a very serious
emergency. I don't think anyone else does
either.
If you have raw video of Christians
misbehaving, feel free to send it to me, and
I'll edit it up real nice, and post it. :o)
Joe Zamecki aka aajoeyjo
Texas State Director, American Atheists
www.atheists.org/tx
Tags : atheist when Christians misbehave comedy prayer religion fit religious jesus god state/church separation |
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Affichage : 28019
Durée : 293 s |
| Ambon's Religious Bloodbath - Indonesia |
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April 1999
It's no wonder inhabitants are risking their
lives to leave a Place where there is so much
death. Rare video captures a mob wielding
machetes and fire-bombing houses. "I took out
my sword and took off four heads," says one
gang member. 50,000 Muslims gather at the
dock to escape, clambering up makeshift ropes
onto an overcrowded ship. Christians soon
arrive on another boat, refugees from a
different island. They are chased back to
their ship. The army is all that stands
between the factions. Many accuse local
criminals of exploiting religious tension to
gain power in the vacuum left by Suharto. The
migration policies that forced the
archipelago together are now falling apart,
and the islands are left hanging together by
a fine political thread.
ABC Australia
Tags : indonesia civil war religous muslim christian militias journeyman pictures |
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Affichage : 33558
Durée : 1242 s |
| Roger Federer as Religious Experience |
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"If you've never seen [Roger Federer] play
live, and then do, in person, on the sacred
grass of Wimbledon, ... you are apt to have
what one of the tournament's press bus
drivers describes as a "bloody near-religious
experience." It may be tempting, at first, to
hear a phrase like this as just one more of
the overheated tropes that people resort to
to describe the feeling of Federer Moments.
But the driver's phrase turns out to be true
— literally, for an instant ecstatically."
-- David Foster Wallace, from the special to
New York Times' Play Magazine, "Roger Federer
as Religious Experience"
"To bear witness ... is to evoke some sort of
spiritual experience that occurs only a
handful of times in a lifetime - if you're
lucky. To try to describe the way Federer
plays tennis is like trying to describe how
Nureyev danced or Heifetz played the violin.
Common words or images cannot do justice."
--The Age
"Part of the pleasure of the Federer
experience comes from watching people watch
him. On Sunday, a spectator is propelled by
awe out of his seat when confronted by a
short cross-court forehand that lands and
runs almost parallel to the net. Later, a
fellow simply bows in Federer's direction, as
if applause is an unsatisfactory response.
... Some sigh, exhale, cry "Oh my God". It is
an opera of exclamation. Cynics who believe
they have seen everything need to watch
Federer. ... How, how, we ask, as if mind is
still disputing what the eyes have seen. With
other players, even in other sports, we
sometimes see their shots as beautiful, we
wish we could play like that. With Federer we
accept almost that we can never play like
that, his shots arrive from another
dimension, it is too much to wish for." --
Rohit Brijnath, The Hindu
Tags : roger federer religious experience |
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Affichage : 82049
Durée : 290 s |
| Religious, But Not Spiritual? (with Father Thomas Keating) |
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Religious, but not Spiritual?
Good News and Bad News from the World's
Largest Religion
It takes a moment to reconcile oneself to the
fact that the religious tradition of St.
Francis and Mother Theresa is also the
tradition of the Crusades and the
Inquisition. Fr. Thomas Keating, considered
one of the great contemplatives of our time,
has spent a lifetime in the practice of
Christianity, seeking and sharing its depths.
The goal of the tradition, suggests Fr.
Thomas in this week's video, is
transformation—but transformation into
what?
The answer depends on what stage of
development you're at. Beyond becoming a
better person (though your family and friends
may thank you profusely), beyond even
becoming a saint, Fr. Thomas suggests that
the goal of the mature Christian life is to
become no thing. As with any developmental
sequence, the subject of one stage becomes
the object of the subject of the next—in
this case, until absolute Subjectivity
itself. The problem—and the
challenge—lie in the fact that, among its 2
billion adherents, relatively few are aware
of Christianity's mystical tradition and
contemplative path. Statements like "I'm
spiritual, but not religious" actually come
from a fairly evolved place, from which one
rejects external aspects of the tradition,
while still longing for its esoteric wisdom.
Integral spirituality offers an entirely new
perspective on this question. From this
perspective, we can see that although the
stories of the world's religious traditions
vary wildly, the contemplative experience is
essentially similar. And from Integral, we
can appreciate the stories for what they are,
the first rung in a ladder of
development—both our own development, and
that of anyone on a similar path. In the
end, no matter how profound the state in
which we experience the divine, it is always
interpreted from our stage of development.
Integral also points to the reality of our
shadow, and points out that we might need
something other than our contemplative
practice to bring it into the light.
Finally, Integral can help us both to
transform into deeper stages of awareness and
compassion, and to translate our current
stage in the healthiest way possible.
Tags : integral naked life ken wilber father thomas keating christianity spirituality |
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Affichage : 20753
Durée : 937 s |
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