Atheism is the belief there is no god the word atheism originated from the Greek (atheos), meaning “without god”. Atheists tend to be sceptical of supernatural claims, citing a lack of empirical evidence. And the best explanation so far for why the natural world looks the way it does is the theory of evolution first put forward by Charles Darwin

Evolution is the process by which a population or species change over time to better there survival in an environment, this is a fundamental part of biological studies. Some critics say Darwin’s studies were only a theory and have no creditability. When people refer to the theory in this way they suggest is only a guess. Evolutionary studies are not guess work but scientifically proven study. Some argue with the lack of a missing link disproves man evolution. Even though fossils have been found some religion say man was created by intelligent design. The alternate explanation to this is what if a race of intergalactic genetic engineers visited earth and decided it would benefit for a race of logical and problem solving mammals and genetically alter some of the primate species to create what we are today if enough people believed that then you have an alternative religion. Even with the lack of evidence and same theory can be applied to man was created in gods image (imago dei).

thanks

Reverend mark taylor
Middlesbrough
England

I am a relatively young atheist but feel so free and happy since making this decision that it has trumped every other “religious” based choice I have ever made. Simple reason being, I have made a decision based on logic I have always realized yet failed to accept simply because the tradition I grew up in prevented me from realizing I could say they were wrong. Simply because something has been around for thousands of years doesn’t make it true.

Now I do find myself in a bit of a quandry. While I respect folks like Hitchens, Dawkins, Harris, and others, I’ve come to be a little hesitant in accepting what I feel is their attempt at condemning anyone and everything associated with Christianity. Maybe I’m over simplifying it and I encourage folks to correct me line of thought if I’m not seeing things in the correct way. But I don’t find EVERYTHING assocaited with the Christian faith for example to be totally evil.

I think the Golden Rule as presented in Christendom is a great way to live your life. Treat others the way you want them to treat you. That’s just common sense. I don’t care if Jesus or Stone Cold Steve Austin said it. When it’s wise advise, people should follow it. Me personally, I have a problem with being so vehemently against other folks beliefs. Not that I don’t feel I can’t defend my beliefs but I feel we live in a world where it’s ok to say we’re going to agree to disagree. Yes, there are elements of religion in general that are leading us towards untold evil, pain, and hardship and we should be fighting that tooth and nail. I personally feel we should praise them for doing what’s right….all the while pointing out that their acts of kindness aren’t due to some magical creature in the sky who forces us to do it. We do it cause that’s what human nature impels us to do.

I love the freedom Atheism has given me. I don’t hate religion. I don’t have an anger toward a God creature if he or she even exists. I just feel that there’s too much evidence showing that there is no spiritual grand poohbah running the show. Plus I really don’t want to associate with folks who take their religion too far, i.e. politicians and extremeists. This world will be a peaceful place once we shed this last crutch we’ve had since the cave man days.

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Thanks. And while you’re on the web check out my website

http://bullshitfighter.wordpress.com

But It was this Emerson quote and David’s critique that really caught my eye.

“Speak what you think now in hard words, and tomorrow speak what tomorrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing you said today. — `Ah, so you shall be sure to be misunderstood.’ — Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood.”

Remembering this quote has protected me from so many instances of shame and self-doubt for things I’ve said and stances I’ve taken. One truth I keep encountering again and again is that one cannot stay the same person throughout life. As we experience more and more, our perspectives change and consequently so do our beliefs. Change is the unchangable state of the universe, so how could one’s beliefs stay the same throughout life?

Yet society seems to value a certain consistency of belief. We are expected not just to share our opinions, but to be them, to swear to them as a lifelong conviction. People proudly declare, “I am a conservative. I am a Christian. I am a Democrat.” If you equate your beliefs with yourself in this way, there is no room to ever genuinely reconsider, not without an insurmountable bias towards the beliefs you’ve already embodied. You’ll always feel a compulsion to protect those beliefs, as viscerally as if it’s your internal organs that are threatened, because you consider them to be just as much a part of you.

When someone is that afraid of being contradicted, they are no longer concerned with the truth, only with protecting their priceless investment in what they have said. To honor a statement you made yesterday as a binding declaration of who you are is a tragic, yet extremely common mistake. This is the fundamental error that plagues humanity: to mistake one’s ego for oneself. Enforcing an impossible, lifelong consistency in what you say and believe can only lead to dishonesty and despair.

Someone whose opinions change freely with experience is clearly someone who is not guided by dogma or the expectations of others, but instead by a clear internal compass of inquiry and honesty. To such a “pure and wise spirit,” it is far more important to seek the truth than to be regarded as having had it all along. “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds,” said Emerson.

Whenever I feel a pang of regret for something I’ve said, I remember that all I did was speak what I thought at the time in hard words, even if today I speak different ones. It’s only human.

Via-Raptitude.com

If more people, god fearing and atheist, acted like this we’d be doin’ pretty good.

Thoughts?