I have been atheist most of my life and proud to be so but the basic hypocrisy of many declaring they loath the dogmatic way religions declare they are right whilst declaring they have all the answers and are the true path insulting to all, especially me as an atheist. This group are calling themselves anti-theists and to my mind are as guilty of being religious zealots as any faith before them.
There was a thing i watched on you tube about whether the catholic church is a power for good which directed me to one of them. The debate itself was a whitewash against and in fairness I don't think any group who go beyond the scriptures to ban contraception causing poverty, child starvation and spread of fatal disease can expect anything else. They do some very good things but as long as they maintain this standpoint the harm will always go beyond their good. Anyway I digress.
This is going to take a step by step approach to explain why and has some fundamental parts to it.
Disproving one part doesn't automatically disprove others.
Someone proving I didn't have eggs for breakfast this morning doesn't prove I don't like eggs and certainly doesn't prove I am dead because we have to eat to survive, if this looks ridiculous then consider some of the below.
Evolution was dismissed by many when the missing link showing we evolved from modern apes wasn't found, more so when the one exhibit hailed as the missing link proved to be a fake. This doesn't disprove evolution, there is plenty of evidence and there have now been documented and researched cases of this in action over the last few hundred years.
Jonah wasn't swallowed by a whale, the giant whales from the stories can't swallow anything larger than an orange. Noah couldn't have built an ark carrying 7 of every clean animal and 2 of all beasts for 40 days and nights without more than a few pooper scoopers, several other boats full of food and a way of controlling population that allowed the animals that don't live 40 days to breed but not infest. These and all of the other snippets of scientific fact don't disprove the existence of one or more controlling beings or gods as we tend to refer to them.
Science isn't absolute truth, it's current understanding
There are a lot of areas where science has disproven things from various religious texts. Big deal there are equally as many where science has disproven previously long held scientific theories.
Much of science is a bit like a house of cards where so much is built on other areas that a new discovery can have far reaching consequences. This is why those worshipping the science books instead of religious alternatives need to remember the ground they are standing on is not stable, and also that this is not a bad thing.
I enjoy science precisely because it tries to explain answers with our current understanding and when you get to the really intelligent scientists they will declare the limits of their understanding.
We are disproving stories that are thousands of years old with state of the art technology and science. If that impresses you I can only imagine how thrilled you were to find out pigs don't build houses and wolves don't blow them over.
One thing I am proud of with science is the discoveries showing flaws in these stories have virtually all been part of other research not done just to show fiction in religious writings. Most scientists are too mature to waste time doing so.
Atheism is a faith
Faith is believing in something without absolute proof.
I believe to the very core of my being that there is no divine presence single or multiple in control of our world or lives. I don't not believe in god for that statement implies there is one and I just haven't recognised them and is the arena of agnostics, I believe there is no such thing outside of the minds of believers.
There is absolutely no proof whatsoever that I am right. Finding there was no beardy guy sitting on a cloud didn't prove it, and nothing since has either. I don't need proof, in my mind there is no doubt that there is nothing out there guiding our lives, that is the strength of my faith.
My faith has helped me in my life in many ways. I have set my own moral standards, which have changed over time but often been more stringent than a number of religious settings insist upon. I do good things because I want to not in the hope of eternal reward after death but because I feel better for doing them now. If I do something wrong to someone I apologise to them and if suitable ask their forgiveness not someone separate from the entire reason. When I was asked what I believe in years ago my response was simple, I believe in me and that is very important.
Peaceful atheists, yeah right
One of the biggest criticisms of religion is religious wars, something I hate as much as any other pacifist but peace isn't just absence of war it is living in an environment without fear. I have witnessed first hand the verbal and physical bullying carried out against religious people by atheists, both as a child and an adult. As a child I was just glad they were picking on someone else not me, but as an adult I have stood up for others in support of freedom to choose.
Not all atheists will do so but that doesn't make us right, in the same way as not every Christian will be starting a crusade into Jerusalem or every Muslim is part of a jihad. If we want to use the argument of being peaceful in our faith, it must be universal and we aren't.
I reject dogma and insist you all should
This is where I take serious objection to anti-theists. We all take our journeys of faith. We can and should seek advice and knowledge before making a choice and continue to question it after as well. At no point should we change from this to blind obedience because that is when we start to be used by those in charge of the faith rather than be enriched by it.
Insisting that only their way is right is the very thing criticised about dogma, so how can someone justify doing this only to declare they have all the answers and the way we should live. That is the very definition of a religious zealot and a disgrace to every decent atheist in the world.
The truth as I see it
The as I see it is very important here, this is my opinion so please don't set up a religion about me or jump to following my example, in fact by doing so you wouldn't be following my example.
We all have to choose our own path.
Acceptance means you have stopped questioning and become blindly obedient.
Faith should enrich you not control you.
If it feels right and improves you as a person accuracy is not important.
Accepting faith is belief without proof shouldn't stop you trying to find some.
Give people advice and information, not conclusions.
There is no winning side in religion vs. science or religion vs. religion.
None of us are likely to know if we are right before death so don't let it ruin your life.
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