Sarah Silverman Visited by Jesus

I saw this video a couple days ago and had to share it. Watch it and feel free to leave your comments.

President Obama recognizes atheists and agnostics

President Obama's proclamation for 'Religious Freedom Day' recognizes atheists and agnostics - Washington Times

As you can imagine, President Obama recognizing atheist and agnostics for Religious Freedom Day is going to open a huge can of worms for the Religious Right in this country. Most Christians claim to not have a problem with non-theists but we know this to be false.

Most theist would rather duct tape our mouths shut instead of having to face the fact that we have something to say about the truth of our nation. We are expected to stand idlely by and take whatever bashing they deem necessary but when we stand up for equality of all people we are labeled trouble makers and antichrists.

It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words... this picture speaks volumes.

Satan: One of God's Creations?

In almost every Christian church in this nation, pastors are teaching about an adversary, an enemy of God, the tempter of all people or Satan as he will be called in this post. Most theists look at me with a raised eyebrow when I say God created Satan, they often forget about Isaiah14:12-18 which tells about Lucifer falling from grace or the fact that they believe God created everything and is still at this moment in constant creation. If we can understand the idea that God created everything, we can easily understand that God also created Satan. This can be a stretch for most theists because they do not want to focus on this aspect of God. They would rather focus on the good aspects and when someone reaches into the closet and brings out a skeleton they get nervous.

Let’s look at the events of Isaiah through rational eyes. Lucifer was cast out of heaven for the offense of wanting to place himself above God. This leaves me, a rational and logical thinker, to question how Lucifer came to this way of thinking if there is was no one to tempt him especially if he was to become Satan. Where did Lucifer get the desire to be higher than God? Was there a Satan before this Satan or did the desire come from his creator and if the desire came from his creator, why did God throw him down out of heaven for doing exactly as God intended? Did God create the desire and make Lucifer fall for the sole purpose of making him the General Manager of hell? It is apparent to me that God needed someone to look over hell, so he placed the sin in Lucifer then punished him for it. Does this sound like the loving God all believers follow?

Why is it that people who claim the bible to be the infallible word of God can read the account of Lucifer and not wonder these things? The answer is simple; they are programed not to question, just accept it all with blind faith, with the understanding that God’s ways are higher than man’s ways, so who are we to question his authority? This is a slave mentality, just lower your head in full submission say yes sir and never question. Well, I am no longer a slave or a bond servant of God. I’ve seen his morality and I want nothing to do with it. Any God that would create billions of people knowing that ninety percent of them are to spend all eternity in a lake of fire being tortured without any hope of relief or ever getting out is not a God I am willing to serve. My blinders have been removed and I am no longer living a life afraid of eternal damnation. I have no hope of spending eternity in some far off paradise. Therefore, I now enjoy a life that is focused on making each day count and doing my best to improve the lives of others .

God needs Satan and uses him to do his bidding. We see this clearly in the life of Job. Isn’t it ironic that God and Satan are hanging out together and chatting about Job? How it is that God would hold a conversation with someone he cast out of heaven? Isn’t the sole purpose of being cast out total separation from God, then how is God and Satan communicating? Better yet, how can they justify bartering over Job’s life? Job was supposed to be one the most righteous men on earth. So why would God allow such hardship to come upon him? Is this how God treats his most righteous; take his children, all his livestock and cover him with boils? Who in their right mind would have the desire to be righteous after reading this monstrosity? Bottom line is, God allowed his buddy Satan to do it all!

I know most Christians who read this are thinking that I am taking it all out of context and that God is using Job to prove a point to Satan. I would question why God feels the need to prove a point to anyone, much less Satan? Is he that insecure? We can see his insecurities by reading the bible; things such as not having any other God before him and him being jealous. Have you ever tried to have a relationship with a jealous person? If so, did they need to know everything; where you are going, who you talked to while you were gone and worried that you are going to find someone better? Are you willing to have this type of relationship for all eternity? Sadly most Christian are.

So, God created Satan, placed the ability to sin within him, allowed him to fall from heaven and then gave him a promotion. Sounds like most corrupt corporations in the world today. I realize you may be wondering what promotion I am talking about, he is now the Chief Executive Officer of Hell. His job is to watch over the daily torture operations of billions as well as roaming the earth collecting the souls of all the people God created knowing they would forever be tortured, yet many still call him a God of love. If this is love I think I will pass.

Ten Commandments thru the eyes of a Freethinker

Ten Commandments through the eyes of a Freethinker

These are the commandments allegedly passed down to Moses on Mt. Sinai.

I – You shall not have no gods before me.

                When someone who is without “God Goggles” looks at this commandment they see that God is worried about his followers serving any other God. This can easily be used to prove the existence of other gods. Christians would tell you that the other gods God is speaking of is the golden calf’s the people were worshiping while Moses was hanging out with the “real” God on the mountain. This does not seem to hold water because God doesn’t worry about the golden calf until the second commandment which we will look at next.

II – You shall not make for yourself a carved image.

                God goes on to say that he is a jealous God. How is this possible? Jealousy is a human emotion. Is God saying he is human and who is there for him to be jealous of? Perhaps the other gods he forbade you to worship in commandment one! What’s the problem with carved images? Everywhere we look in society we see many carved images of crosses, statues of Jesus, the special Jesus fish on your car, but I guess those are acceptable carved images because of what they represent.

III – You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

                Well, there goes sex! All of you women who moan “oh god” out of pleasure are surely going to hell now. Also, every single person who has ever taken an oath that started with “do you swear” and ended with “so help me God” you’re screwed to! 

IV – Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.

                Where should I begin? Let’s begin with teaching believers to use a calendar. Sunday is the first day of the week thus making the Sabbath on Saturday. Therefore, if God was willing to kill a man for picking up sticks (Numbers 15: 32-35) on the Sabbath, how do you think he feels about you working on Saturday? How do believers justify making the first day of the week holy? Did they forget how to count? If you were to actually live your life according to the bible, every believer would be taking every Saturday off and would hold church services. Then they would be able to watch the game on Sunday.

V – Honor your father and your mother

                God forgot to add “or you will be stoned to death” to this commandment (Deut. 21: 18- 21). I find it interesting that God would add this as a commandment knowing Jesus would teach the opposite (Luke 14:26). Why make this commandment if it were not intended to be permanent?

VI – You shall not murder.

                Evidently this commandment applies to everyone EXCEPT God.  All throughout the bible we read where God is killing millions of people; Sodom and Gomorrah, Amalekites, the flood, just to name a few. Why is it okay for God to kill men, women and children? My theist friends would justify these killings by saying “He is God, he do anything he wants with his creation.” I would add “Except set a good example.” If we were to follow the example set by God this commandment would definitely read differently.

VII - You shall not commit adultery

                Unless God tells you to of course. In the bible God tells a man to sleep with his brother’s wife and plant his seed inside of her. While the man is enjoying the pleasure of his brother’s wife, he pulls out and spills his seed on the ground. This angers God and God kills him.  Also, let’s not forget Abraham who had a child with his maid servant while married to Sarai. In fact, God allows him to do so. So, I guess we can kick this commandment to the curb as well if we were to live according to the bible.

VIII – You shall not steal

                Only plunder after following God’s order to wipe out an entire city and every living inhabitant. But then again I guess it isn’t stealing if they are dead right? Maybe this commandment applies only to living people, I'm sure that’s it, it’s only applies to the living.

IX – You shall not bare false witness against your neighbor.

                This leaves the question who is your neighbor? If we are to understand that our neighbor is our fellow man, when Abraham bared false witness to the Pharaoh by calling his wife his sister does this count as well? How about the second time when Abraham pulls the same stunt on King Abimelech, does this count? I guess not because Abraham kept all the livestock and money paid to him for his wife err sister.

 

X – You shall not covet your neighbor’s house, wife, male and female slave or anything belonging to him.

                In the bible there is no need to covet anything.  All throughout the bible we read of numerous times when God told men to go into a city and kill everyone then take their belongings as spoils of war. Even sadder God tells them to kill all the women who have been with a man but keep the virgins alive and do as you wish with them. 

I have heard on more than one occasion Christians saying they live their live according to the Ten Commandments. I know they think that these are the Ultimate Laws to live by, but I wonder if they have ever actually compared these laws to what is actually written in their holy book.  I know this article is going to upset a lot of the theist that read it, but I would say to those theists who happen across this article to please consider what is written here without passing judgment. I know it is easy to pass judgment and not give any thought to what is written but at some point everyone should approach the bible with level of skepticism when verses do not seem to add up.

Just say NO to Hatred

There are many things I have done throughout my life that I am not very proud of. I have said some things that were very hurtful to people without any remorse what-so-ever. Being raised in the south, my parents raised me to have certain types of belief. I do not claim to speak for all southerners in this blog post but I can speak for one specific southerner; myself. People with a different pigment of skin were looked down upon, they were seen as people always looking for a handout and certainly were not worthy of my respect. I'm ashamed to admit that for many years I held on to the beliefs of my family and to the southern culture. As I began to mature and began to see the world through the eyes of a man who could think for himself, I began to see people for who they are instead of the color of their skin. I began to see the struggle they faced in life simply because they were different. I remember sitting and watching the movie The Help. This movie made me absolutely sick to my stomach to see how our fellow Americans were treated by my own people. If you have not seen this movie, I would highly recommend it but if you are someone who actually cares about your fellow man it may raise your blood pressure a bit. So be prepared!

The Help was accurately named because it helped me understand the mistreatment of others simply due to the color of their skin. This movie helped me build a deeper love and appreciation for those people who truly lived a life of hell at the hands of their fellow man. 

Tonight I sat and watched another movie that touched that part of me that is ashamed of my past. I sat and watched The Butler. This movie was based on actual accounts of a young black slave in the Macon, Ga in the 1950's. This young man raised himself up through all the hard times to eventually become the most beloved butler in the White House who served President Eisenhower and every other president that followed up to President Obama. I have posted the movie trailer below.

I am proud to call myself a non-theist even though many people do not fully understand what it mean to be such. As a non-theist, I do not hold a belief in any God or God's. I do not need a belief in God to care and love my fellow man. My love and respect does not come from the fear of an invisible sky daddy. It comes from having empathy for others; having the ability to put myself in their shoes. Having empathy allows me to "somewhat" understand and experience what they have gone through.

I'm often looked down upon due to my belief that everyone deserves equal rights. I stand for the equality of all people regardless of race, nationality, sex, religion and sexual orientation. I do not believe that your religious beliefs should dictate or mandate certain laws that effect the rights of others especially if they do not share your religious beliefs.  Each person should be treated equally, white, black, man or woman.

A Christian Nation?

One of the biggest misconceptions in this country is that the United States of America was founded on Christian principles. Watch this video and please feel free to leave your thoughts and comments.

Finding the positive in Atheism

Tonight I was told that instead of focusing on my "hatred" for Christians I should focus on whats positive about Atheism. What is not understood is that I do not hate Christians but I do completely disagree with their beliefs. I feel that everyone has the right to practice any religion they should choose to practice, however, what I do not agree with is when they use their religion to force laws that effect the entire country. Not everyone in this country follows the Christianity. There are Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, and many other faiths living within our boarders and I do not agree with one religion shoving their beliefs down the throats of everyone else. Along with the above mentioned beliefs are many nonbelievers, free thinkers, Atheists and Agnostics who do not believe in a God, yet everyone is expected to live according to Christian beliefs.

So about the positivity of Atheism; if you were to ask anyone who is not an Atheist about the positivity of Atheism and they would tell you that there isnt anything postive about them. Most people who are not familur with Atheism would tell you that they are Satan worshipers. This is absolutely wrong. The word Atheist means without the belief in God/Gods. Theist means belief in a deity. "A" mean without...therefore Atheist means without belief in a God. What most people do not realize is that everyone has some sort of Atheism within them. If you are a Christian, most likely you do not believe in the Muslim God Allah. If this is true, you are an Atheist as far as Allah is concerned. So, the only difference between you and me is I believe in one less God than you. Atheism is very positive although most believers and those who do not understand Atheism does not realize this. All they see is what they feel to be an attack against Christianity. Athiest fight very hard for the equal rights of ALL people. Atheist feel that every living person has the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Atheists believe that no person should be criticized because of their age, sex, race or sexual orientation. They believe that EVERYONE should be treated equally and become upset when someone uses their faith to judge anyone who does not share in their beliefs.

I know that Atheism has a very negative connotation attached to it, the thought of Atheism scared the hell out of me as a Christian, but over the years of study I've come to appreciate all that Atheism has contributed to society. If you are reading this and you are a believer in any God I implore you to seek answers before placing judgement. You just might be surprised to find that you have more in common than you think.

God Created Evil

While sitting at a traffic light today, I noticed this bumper sticker on the car in front of me. While staring at what was supposed to be an inspirational message sent out to the world, I began to wonder if the owner of the car has ever read their Bible. Had they read their Bible they would have seen Isaiah 45:7 where Yahweh said "I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and CREATE EVIL: I the Lord do all these things"(emphasis mine). 

I must ask the question, if God created evil and according to the above scripture he did, why would he hold me accountable for something he created? 

Welcome to No Religion Required

When I sat and pondered all the different titles to name this blog, one theme lingered in my mind; religion is not a requirement for living a moral and ethical life. In fact, most of the brutality in the world is brought on by religious beliefs. When we look back at the bombings of the USS Cole, World Trade Center and numerous American Embassies around the world, we can clearly see the destruction caused by religion.

Here in our country, although we are not experiencing daily bombings, we are experiencing something just as brutal; we are seeing the Religious Right's attempt to control the lives of others and using Christianity for justification. I have no problem with people believing in God as long as they keep their God out of the Federal Government and out of the voting booth. 

In this blog it may appear that I am picking on Christianity, I focus on Christianity because it is the religion I know the most about having considered myself a Christian for thirty years. I personally think we should rid our country of all religion and return to our secular roots.

This blog is for those people who are willing to take a stand and loudly proclaim "No Religion Required"! I encourage all who visit to follow and comment on anything posted here.