Thanks Joe and to you and all members, have a good Easter/ secular celebration. And go out for a run to work off those Easter eggs.
Secular Celebrations
This got me thinking…
What does an Atheist think around Easter?
Why is religion an apparently universal feature of humans conditioning from the ancient Egyptians to the Aztecs to the Romans and beyond, is it evolutionary or are we conditioned from birth by our parents or social surroundings.
Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist and even Scientologist have revolved around some concept of at least one god with or without a corresponding supernatural world involving aliens !!
There is an evolutionary explanation why human minds generate religious beliefs and why we generate specific types of beliefs, and why our minds are prone to accept and spread them. In the past when we didn’t understand something we attributed a god to it
Charles Darwin (MY HERO) and Science gave me a clear understanding of how we evolved and why our minds produce and accept religious ideas and why we will alter our behaviour and even die for and kill for these ideas.
All religions have sets of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe that begin with belief in a god that is capable of interacting with us, able and willing to intervene in our lives, to hear our silent wishes, and to grant them, and capable of doing literally anything.
Myth 1
The first myth is that god is paternal and like a good father, loves us unconditionally.
Usually, though, he only hears our prayers if we worship him hard enough, make sacrifices of some sort, acknowledge that we are highly imperfect and thank him profusely (whether or not he grants our wishes), and believe that we are all born bad. This god makes decisions based on not only our prayers but also the prayers of every other human being, or at least every other human being who shares the particulars of our beliefs.
Even when he refuses our wishes or needs, we continue to believe that whatever occurs is in our best interests, even if it doesn’t seem that way, and that this invisible god has a purpose for everything. And all of this goes on in our mind even when we’re not thinking about it.
This is why we are so willing to believe in an invisible god that does all of that, and more. Even when we are distressed, we turn to a god that hears our prayers, grants our wishes, protects our loved ones, and reassures us of reward no matter how adverse our troubles.
That’s what I call a bit of nice salesmanship and why wouldn't we want to believe.
I’ve experience firsthand religious people dump their faith when the cards didn’t fall their way.
My silly way of thinking -- in times of stress religious people would call on their faith rather than question it or dump it.
It’s easy to believe in a god, love a god, fear a god, envision a god, pray to a god and assume prayers would be answered, create rituals to worship a god and even die and kill for a god -- and -- for most believers it’s extraordinarily difficult to have an alternative view and depart from those beliefs, even if and when you are so inclined.
I’m an Atheist and saying it out loud was a difficult day for me but that confirmation of being an Atheist was liberating – liberating in a way I would find difficult to put into words.
I’m not a fallen angel but as the evidence overwhelmingly shows I evolved along with all other living things from the waters that covered the earth, where life on earth really began.
From a purely scientific viewpoint, we are apes as we share 98% of our DNA with chimpanzees while sharing our DNA with common ancestor that lived millions of years ago who are now extinct.
As an ‘Atheist’ one thing I don’t do at Easter is think about Joshua Ben Joseph, (Joshua Ben Joseph was his real name for the man we know as Jesus of the Bible) the man whom the Jews nail to a tree (a common criminal of his day) dying for us and in doing so shielded us from the fear of death, assuring our salvation, and provide an afterlife that more than compensates for all of our human suffering here on earth --- nope I don’t think of that at all at Easter.
Myth 2
Jesus birthday is the 25th December -- Don’t get me started on Christmas, December 25th the pagan Sun god birthday – a date that was hijacked for convenience in 325AD aligning the birth of Joshua Ben Joseph and the Sun god to give commonality with the Pagans – that’s the Second BIG Myth
In many ways, a god is our imaginary friend and understanding the attachment is just the beginning of understanding the ways in which our mind can be tricked into belief.
I know most religious people believe in one true GOD and in ‘essence’ they are an Atheist when it comes to all the other wacky religions – I just take my Atheistism one more religion further than they do.
Looks like I’m going to Hell..
opps… I forgot ‘THERE IS NO HELL’ not even a purgatory.
DISCLAIMER
I should say DYOR - but if you find this post offensive, just remember it was written by a non-believer.
If the post is not offensive it’s an alternative view espoused by many.
Gods can’t be proven or disproven but on a PROBABILITIES scale -- god doesn’t even rate
Myth 3
As god can’t be proven to exist, religion invents a BELIEF system that we get suckered into..
Myth 4
When we don’t believe – we are told that it’s just the Devil doing his work.
Myth 5
We are made in Gods image when really man has created a God in their own image
Have you ever wondered what could make an Angel fall from God’s grace -- or -- ever wonder if an Egyptian ever achieved immortality ?
Have you ever noticed that God was so active with our ancestors -- BUT -- so silent today, it appears the more we know the less relevant God is.
Happy Easter from a Reverent Atheist
skate