religion

All posts tagged religion

An asshole atheist chills out

Posted by Shoogle on January 15, 2021
Posted in: Holy Shit! (Religion). Tagged: , , . Leave a comment

I can’t remember what triggered it, but about 10 years ago I finally admitted to myself that a personal god doesn’t exist — there isn’t a magical, invisible man in the sky who grants wishes and gets murderously jealous if you don’t love him enough. Even though I was an adult who hadn’t been to church in 20 years, even though I’d read many books about the questionable accuracy of the Bible and the agendas of the men who wrote it…that feeling of “What if you’re wrong and God is real?” had been programmed into me since I was a kid. (I still capitalize it because it references this person that people pray to.)

It’s hard to describe what a relief that was. I’d never realized just how much this oppressive idea of going to “hell” had affected me all my life. I didn’t always believe it, but it wasn’t until I consciously denied it that I felt what a massive burden it had been. And suddenly that burden was gone, leaving me feeling free and fearless! But I also felt a deep resentment at having that fear instilled in me to begin with, and I was angry that so many people I’d come to know and love over the years had been outright abused by their religious family just for being who they were. I’m lucky to have a family (save for one) who fully embraces and accepts me as I am, but many of my friends had a very different, much darker experience.

I’ve also seen religion turn people selfish and cruel. I’ve seen it sway elections, deprive people of their rights, demonize those who are different, tear apart families, and enslave believers with fear of apocalypse that never comes. American Christianity can be especially toxic — it’s been weaponized by conservatives to inflict maximum damage to whoever its “righteous” followers think deserve it. It also carries the stench of nationalism, which opens the door to a whole new world of misery for non-believers (and everyone else, really).

Thus began what I call my “asshole atheist” phase. I fully embraced my non-belief and got a little carried away on social media, posting religion-skewering memes and news stories about Christians doing horrible things whenever I could. (Unfortunately there’s never a shortage of that stuff.) A few of my friends and family weren’t too happy about it, but I felt it was fair play — Christians love wearing their religion on their sleeve, so why can’t I do the same for my lack of one?

This all began to wind down after a couple of years, however. I began to feel like the kind of person I’d normally unfriend or unfollow on Facebook/Instagram/whatever: someone whose posts are mostly just joyless complaining and shit-stirring. Plus, the atheist community on social media can be suuuuper annoying and antagonistic. I started to worry that my friends were seeing me the same way, and I didn’t want to be That Guy.

So one day I stopped cold. I decided to stick to the approach I’ve taken for many years, which is to shout my complaints into the void, a.k.a. a blog that few people read. Being clinically opinionated having a compulsion to rant, this has always worked just fine. (Whenever I get off my ass and put some time & effort into it, that is! 2020 was so depressing I could barely fight back my apathy enough to write anything, let me tell ya.)

So am I still a godless heathen? Well, mostly.

Despite waving my atheist flag in everyone’s faces, I hadn’t completely written off the possibility of certain “woo-woo” topics as having some substance to them. As an atheist you’re supposed to dismiss and ridicule that stuff, but in the last few years I’ve read some fascinating books that have pried my mind open a little more. Quantum physics weirdness, the source & nature of consciousness, experiences with DMT & psilocybin, and scientific studies of near-death experiences (yes, they exist) are some of my favorite things to read about. I should also mention that my grandmother experienced some very weird stuff in her lifetime, things I know she would never lie about or even need to, and they’ve always stuck with me as exceptions to things I’d normally dismiss as fantasy. One of them even involved me! Personally I’ve only had a couple of what I’d call “unexplainable” experiences, but nothing like hers. Maybe I’ll write about those sometime.

So my “fuck all religions and fuck all that loony spiritual shit” phase didn’t last long, and it wasn’t 100% authentic besides. It made for some fun writing, but it wasn’t really the whole picture. Going back and reading through some of that stuff, I think I was still processing my open rejection of what I was taught as a kid, and feeling emboldened by not having the shadow of Hell following me any longer.

I still don’t believe in a personal god of any religion who grants wishes and condemns you to a fiery eternity of pain and suffering for insufficient groveling, but I’m open to certain other possibilities. It’s complicated.

One thing that isn’t complicated, however, is my belief that evangelical Christianity is a cancer that’s eating this country alive and dragging us down into madness. That view has never wavered, so more blathering about that is bound to show up sometime. 😀

Religious conservative “morals” are anything but

Posted by Shoogle on May 19, 2019
Posted in: Holy Shit! (Religion), Idiots & Assholes (Politics). Tagged: , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

worship or elseHere we have two stories that perfectly sum up the fucked-up values of America’s religious conservatives.  Let’s start with this:

Republicans Are Pissed About Crackdowns on Vaccine Exemptions

The fight against measles in a handful of states is facing staunch opposition from Republicans and anti-vaxx parents as lawmakers crack down on exemptions that let kids skip vaccinations.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that through Friday there have been 839 individual cases of measles throughout 23 states. That’s the most cases since 1994, making this the worst measles outbreak in decades. In response, a number of states where it’s spread have been trying to limit exemptions, with efforts mostly led by Democrats.

Washington State got rid of personal/philosophical exemptions.  California is making it harder to claim false exemptions.  Oregon got rid of the “moral” exemption.  Connecticut is looking at removing religious exemptions.  Maine has tossed philosophical exemptions.  Slowly but surely, reason and common sense are making headway against tidal waves of anti-vaxxer bullshit, and naturally Republicans are howling like the infantile little assholes we all know they are.  Oh, you don’t want the government dictating your health choices in the face of a nationwide epidemic?  Let’s come back to that when you stop taking womens’ uteruses  hostage because you think a blob is a person.  And speaking of which…

Alabama Governor Signs Abortion Ban Into Law

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed a controversial bill that bans nearly all abortions into law Wednesday evening.  It’s considered the most restrictive abortion law in the United States. The law makes it a crime for doctors to perform abortions at any stage of a pregnancy, unless a woman’s life is threatened or there is a lethal fetal anomaly.

This is the “pro-life” world we now live in, folks:  religious conservatives (overwhelmingly men, naturally) forcing women to give birth to unwanted children, while at the same time fighting legislation that prevents those same children from getting sick…and possibly dying.  They’d also like to let anyone of any mental state purchase automatic weapons, because without all those dead schoolkids they wouldn’t be able to look and feel compassionate by publicly spouting their Thoughts And Prayers™ on Twitter.  And let’s not forget that they overwhelmingly support the death penalty.  Yep, sounds “pro-life” to me all right.

But wait, we shouldn’t stop there.  We can take this so much further.  First we need steep fines on non-procreative ejaculations.  Outlaw jerking off — it’s causing trillions of innocent pre-babies to die in a holocaust of towels and tissues!  Next we need to outlaw the burning of coal and oil, because carbon is one of the building blocks of life (if you believe in that science stuff, anyway).  And what about those poor fetuses and blobs which have now been granted full personhood?  First we need to give them voting rights.  They’ll also have property rights with the ability to rent out space in the womb.  Make them attend church, because Jesus died for our blobs’ sins.  And let them be the second passenger in the carpool lane, fer chrissakes!  That blob is a person, you monster!

But enough of that.  To paraphrase Saint Carlin, these people don’t give a shit about you once you’re born.  Once you’re out of the womb, you’re on your own.  They’ll use their power to bring you into the world, but they don’t want a single government dollar going to help feed and care for you if your mother can’t do it all on her own.  They just want you born, and then you’re not their problem.  This is how they keep women in their place, as the Bible clearly dictates.  Praise be!

This all leads me to believe that the mind of an American religious conservative can be a dark and twisted maze of contradictions and misguided piety.  Selfish, irrational, willfully ignorant and dismissive of established knowledge, compromised by their belief of a guaranteed spot in Heaven, wielding religion as a weapon against those they don’t like, driven to control the behavior of others under the guise of “moral concern” — it’s a scary place, and minds like this have been very busy chipping away at whatever legal protections we still have against their influence.  Now that Trump is in power and appointing hundreds of right-wing judges into lifetime positions, I’m starting think these motherfuckers just might get their wish of a real-world “Handmaid’s Tale.”

I’m fully aware that conservatives automatically call this attitude intolerant.  “Typical intolerant libtard! Can’t stand different opinions.  Fuckin snowflake.”  But you know what?  Nobody should tolerate the kinds of immoral and inhumane things these people are getting away with.  So if I’m an intolerant asshole to them (and I’ve been told as much by a few), I’m fine with that.

Under His Eye…

Namaste, my ass.

Posted by Shoogle on December 7, 2016
Posted in: Heterosexually Challenged, Holy Shit! (Religion). Tagged: , , . Leave a comment

Science!  Thank goodness we have these people around to explain in sooooper technical terms just what’s wrong with all those homos in the world.  It was so obvious.

Paranormal Organization Claims Gay Men are Possessed by Female Ghosts

According to a paranormal organization 85% of all gay men aren’t really gay, they’re just possessed by female ghosts that cause them to have attractions towards men.  The Spiritual Science Research Foundation (SRF), which has 12,000 followers on Twitter, claims, “The main reason behind the gay orientation of some men is that they are possessed by female ghosts. It is the female ghost in them that is attracted to other men.”

As you might imagine, they believe that lesbians are possessed by male ghost.

If this had any possibility of actually being true, what’s wrong with it?  I know plenty of people who could use a little Spirit o’ Fabulousness in their lives!  It might help them feel some acceptance towards people different from themselves — and the very least it could do is give them an appreciation for campy cult movies.

Pretty hilarious stuff…until you start wondering if they’ve ever tried exorcisms on people possessed by these imaginary spirits.  Innocent people are routinely tortured and killed by fundamentalist Christians trying to turn them straight, so I wouldn’t put it past these people to be into something similar.  They all kind of run in the same herd, you know?

homosexuality-remedies

Their website says you can “treat” gayness with Chanting, Mudra, and Nyas. I decided to fix their photo titles for them.

And if there’s any doubt about where these people are really coming from, all you need is this quote from their website about Pride parades:

Organizing such Parades in the name of human rights and freedom does not indicate that society is progressing. In fact, this evidences its decline.

There are groups who are opposing Gay Parades and these groups should be supported, even if such groups are in the minority in a particular country or city.  Remember that even if a majority of people think that something is right, this does not make it is true. For example, if the majority says that drinking and driving is acceptable, does this mean we should engage in such behavior?

So you’re equating the way I was born…with a deliberate and dangerous act like drunk driving and the decline of civilization?  Wow.  I guess my eye color makes me a serial rapist.  Probably causes global warming, too.

It just goes to show that you can dress up your bigotry in all kinds of pseudo-religious spiritual peepeecaca, but at the end of the day you’re still just a shitty human being.

Such an imagination we have…

Posted by Shoogle on June 11, 2016
Posted in: Holy Shit! (Religion). Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

Now, this is the way to scare the shit out of people and make them do what you say.  Some of these would look right at home in John Carpenter’s “The Thing.”

012yhvbhk0hjv012_465_620_int

Donald Trump before the makeover.  Or maybe after, it’s hard to to tell.

THE DEVIL AND HIS SERVANTS: DEMONIC ILLUSTRATIONS FROM 18TH CENTURY OCCULT BOOK

With the warning “NOLI ME TANGERE” (“Do Not Touch”) on its cover, the compendium can be seen as a last attempt by those of faith to instil fear among the superstitious. After all, the Compendium Artis Magicae was produced during the decade of revolutions (American and French) and in the Age of Enlightenment—when reason, science and the power of the individual dominated, and the first stirrings of industry were about to change Europe and the world. The horrendous witch trials of the 16th and 17th centuries were long banished and the last execution in England for witchcraft took place in 1716 (1727 in Scotland, 1750 in Austria, 1782 in Switzerland), while the practise of witchcraft ceased to be a criminal offense across Europe during the century (England 1735)—all of which makes this Compendium Artis Magicae all the more bizarre.

I’ll bet many people today can look at such things and feel a stab of fear, because they’ve been programmed to think there’s an evil creature lurking in the shadows trying to lure them into its sinful clutches.  (Side note:  what’s with the gargantuan wangs on some of these demons…?)

Shoot, die, pray, repeat

Posted by Shoogle on December 3, 2015
Posted in: Holy Shit! (Religion), Idiots & Assholes (Politics). Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Not exactly subtle, is it?

.facebook_1449165100471

My thoughts exactly.  We’re reaping what they have sown, and all they can do is say they’re praying for the victims…which does absolutely nothing except make you look compassionate and feel good about yourself.

Look, I’m atheist but I get it.  I know that many people feel that the only thing they can do is pray, and I know that it makes you feel good.  Of course in cases of natural disasters these praying folks could at least donate some money to help the survivors, though I’m sure many don’t because praying (and telling everyone about it on Twitter, naturally) is just easier.

But when it comes to these daily mass shootings, there’s definitely a feeling of helplessness.  I understand why peoples’ first reaction is to pray for the victims, and that’s fine…whatever helps you cope in this increasingly shitty world.  But when politicians make a big show of it, especially these right-wing champions of gun proliferation and American jingoism, it’s sickening because everyone knows it’s simply lip service and not genuine in the least.  Worst of all, they take no actual action because doing so would mean they’d be perceived as “weak” by their frothy-mouthed supporters.  Can’t have that, can we?  Can’t risk those votes!

Not to mention that these shootings are a huge boost to their religious and racist agendas.  I’ll bet Ted Cruz actually gets a raging boner each time news of a new shooting hits the wire.  “OMG another one!  I hope it was a Muslim!  Ohhhh, baby…”

Meanwhile, people keep getting murdered, gun sales spike, and soon it will all happen again.  And how fucked-up is it that we’re now used to it?  We are a sick, sick country.

Maybe there’s hope for the Vatican after all

Posted by Shoogle on October 12, 2015
Posted in: Heterosexually Challenged, Holy Shit! (Religion). Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

Well that’s a nice change from the usual Vatican line.  Of course they’re still going to think gay folks (and the divorced) should feel guilty for being chock-full of sin, but it’s a teensy bit better than what we’re used to hearing.  The cynical side of me thinks it might just be a little PR work because the Church’s numbers have been plummeting in the past few years, but I’d like to think they’re slowly being dragged into this century…though they’re digging in their heels and making it as difficult as possible.

Vatican Spokesman: Gay People ‘Are Our Sons and Daughters and Brothers and Sisters’

Vatican spokesman Thomas Rosica, speaking at the synod yesterday, talked of the need for the Catholic Church to be more inclusive, particularly with regard to gay and lesbian people.

“There must be an end to exclusionary language and a strong emphasis on embracing reality as it is; we should not be afraid,” he said.  “We do not pity gay persons but we recognize them for who they are. They are our sons and daughters and brothers and sisters.”

Your life, your choice

Posted by Shoogle on October 10, 2015
Posted in: General Blatherings. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

This is pretty interesting:  California just legalized assisted suicide for “mentally competent adults who have been diagnosed with a terminal illness and face the expectation that they will die within six months.”  It’s an important choice to be able to make, as well as an extremely personal one.  And Governor Brown didn’t make this decision lightly.

After struggling, Jerry Brown makes assisted suicide legal in California

Caught between conflicting moral arguments, Gov. Jerry Brown, a former Jesuit seminary student, signed a measure Monday allowing physicians to prescribe lethal doses of drugs to terminally ill patients who want to hasten their deaths.

Brown appeared to struggle in deciding whether to approve the bill, whose opponents included the Catholic Church.  “In the end, I was left to reflect on what I would want in the face of my own death,” Brown wrote in a signing message. “I do not know what I would do if I were dying in prolonged and excruciating pain. I am certain, however, that it would be a comfort to be able to consider the options afforded by this bill. And I wouldn’t deny that right to others.”

…The California law will permit physicians to provide lethal prescriptions to mentally competent adults who have been diagnosed with a terminal illness and face the expectation that they will die within six months.

I can’t imagine having to make this decision for myself or a loved one, but our time on this planet is short…and if someone close to me was living in constant agony or with very little quality of life, I hope that I would be able to respect their choice to let go.

I don’t support people committing suicide in just any scenario, however.  Last year a friend of mine killed himself after battling depression for years, which was truly awful because he had given up hope and (as far as I know) wasn’t seeking any help.  That is something we should never have to see.  But if he were months away from death due to an illness and his life was a painful living hell, who am I to deny him release from that?  It’s not an easy choice to make for yourself, but nobody should be able to deny you that option.

And of course some people tried to deny Californians that option.  Guess who?

Tim Rosales, a spokesman for Californians Against Assisted Suicide, which includes doctors, advocates for the disabled, the California Catholic Conference and other religious groups, criticized Brown’s action.  …Catholic Church officials, when asked for comment, said Rosales would speak for them.

Surprise, surprise.  And we’re not just talking Republicans here — Democrats voted against it too, on religious grounds.  Once again people are using religion to try and take away peoples’ important life choices.  This is simply nobody’s business but your own, and you should be able to make that decision for yourself.

No, that new fossil discovery doesn’t prove your Bible stories are true

Posted by Shoogle on October 2, 2015
Posted in: Holy Shit! (Religion). Tagged: , , , . 3 Comments

“Share this post on Facebook and Twitter because this is a huge discovery that goes against the conventional wisdom of our anti-Christian society.” Pardon my Esperanto, but this “anti-Christian society” stuff is utter horseshit.  They’re actually turning people away from Christianity with this kind of nonsense.

It’s so entertaining when religious folks try to use scientific discoveries to add historical credibility to their myths.  This fossil proves nothing about Adam and Eve, or any of the other Genesis stories.  And let’s face it:  they are just stories, not historical records.  (I caution against clicking on the story link below, because their website is chock-full of annoying pop-ups and interstitials trying to get you to subscribe to their frothy-mouthed ravings.)

PHOTOS: New Fossil Discovery Provides Massive PROOF of Bible’s Story of Adam and Eve

A fossil from Brazil which has been hidden in a private collection for decades has now been determined by scientists to show a snake with four legs that it presumably used to walk on instead of slither on its belly.That is significant when you read the account in Genesis 3:14 where God cursed the snake by taking away his ability to walk, causing it forever after to have to “crawl on his belly.”

The Pope does the unspeakable!

Posted by Shoogle on September 19, 2015
Posted in: Holy Shit! (Religion). Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

001-HypocritesHoly shit, this will be fascinating to watch:   the Pope is actually calling on churches to help the poor and needy — you know, like actual servants of the community — or cough up some taxes like the rest of us.  Apparently many churches in Europe are making money by renting out their spaces, but they’re turning away poor refugees because there’s no money to be made there.  For years I’ve thought American churches should pay taxes since they seem so interested in having a political influence (Prop 8 being a famous example), but this rental thing is something I wasn’t aware of.  As George Carlin wisely said years ago:  tax them on their real estate holdings, because the Catholic church alone would wipe out the federal budget deficit.

Anyway, this kind of “help those in need” scolding might just get this Pope booted from the Vatican.  On many issues he’s not exactly going down the same tired path as previous Popes who were determined to stay firmly rooted in the Dark Ages thinking.  I wonder if they’re already planning for his replacement.  He might want to start riding that bulletproof Pope Mobile to the office…

Pope warns religious orders: Take in refugees, or pay property taxes

ROME — On the eve of a trip to the United States, Pope Francis has called himself a “son of immigrants” and confirmed the point by issuing a blunt warning to any religious orders in Europe that spurn his recent call to open their doors to refugees because they want to make money off their properties instead.

Go ahead, the pope said, but be ready to pay taxes just like everybody else.

“Some religious orders say ‘No, now that the convent is empty we are going to make a hotel and we can have guests, and support ourselves that way, or make money,’” the pontiff said.

“Well, if that is what you want to do, then pay taxes! A religious school is tax-exempt because it is religious, but if it is functioning as a hotel, then it should pay taxes just like its neighbor. Otherwise it is not fair business.”

If you’re an atheist, don’t let the assholes silence you

Posted by Shoogle on September 12, 2015
Posted in: Holy Shit! (Religion). Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

fish evidence eats faithI agree with some of what this guy says about today’s atheist movement.  There are a lot of angry, bitter, even hateful atheists out there who are relentlessly vocal on social media.  (I’ve written dozens of pissy posts about Christians and their antics, but I don’t think they were hateful.  Well, maybe a couple.)  But the presence of Asshole Atheists shouldn’t cause one to flee from the Atheist label altogether.  You can still declare your non-belief and not be a frothy-mouthed Dawkins/Hitchens/Harris worshipper…even though they have some good things to say, ahem.

Can having an aversion to Christians (or Muslims, whatever) be called xenophobia, as the author implies?  I’m not sure.  I guess I’m Christianophobic…but even when the “phobics” like me call themselves atheists, is that any reason to hide yourself in the shadows?  Guilt by association?  That’s why we have personal blogs, my friend.  Get one and spout your opinions like the rest of us!  It’s kinda therapeutic. 😀

Why I Drifted Away from the Atheist Movement

But for at least a couple years, from sometime in 2006 until sometime in 2009, I was a militant atheist, dashing off dozens of blog posts condemning religious thought for promoting murder and mutilation. I thought we, the atheists of the world, were railing against injustice and speaking truth to power.

Atheism felt just and true and important. But no longer. What happened?