Without God, Life is Everything
I am an atheist. I don’t believe in any god, afterlife, or supernatural phenomena at all. We are biological beings; we live and die once, in the world that we see around us in our everyday lives. Although many theists assume that atheists are morally lacking, this is mere ignorance and prejudice on their parts; I am no more a nihilist than anyone else. But in our christian majority culture, anti-atheist prejudice is one of the few forms of prejudice that most people aren’t even a little embarrassed at themselves for espousing. Christians who would never utter an anti-semitic remark out loud (whether they might think it or not) think nothing of equating atheism with satanism, cruelty, child molestation, and a host of other evils.
My atheistic rabble-rousing has in recent years mostly centered on a group blog I’ve done with some other anti-religious folks called God is for Suckers! which you can check out if you like. But I’ve retired from that, and let others carry the banner now. Not because I’ve mellowed so much (I don’t think I have), but more because I’ve come to a lull in the energy I have for yelling about the wacky irrationalism of religion. But it’s still a fun and lively place; if you’re interested, go check it out at gods4suckers.net.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. (From the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution)
And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men… But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret… (Matthew 6: 5-6)
