Christmas is a Religious Festivity

Christmas is a religious festivity – us atheists should not recognise it – do you agree?

This was a question posed by NewcastleBoy via twitter a few days ago. I decided I’d answer it here on my blog instead of twitter because it needs more than 140 characters to provide a full explanation.

Firstly, where did the modern day Christian Christmas season and festivities come from? Why was the 25th December chosen as Christmas Day?

There is no evidence that the 25th December was Jesus’ birthday despite this being cited as the reason for that day being chosen (there is no evidence that Jesus ever existed at all, but that’s another story).  Some say the 25th was just a date chosen to commemorate his birthday, much like the Queen of England’s  birthday is celebrated at various dates around the world. It has been said that the 25th was chosen as that is the winter solstice (in the northern hemisphere) or that it coincided with historical Roman festivities. I tend to think that those reasons are most likely; with the church trying to convert the pagans into christians there are definite advantages to just accosting the pagans’ days and rituals and converting them to christian equivalents.

Of course the Jews aren’t very big on Christmas, not recognising Jesus as a god and all that, and one has posted an article (despite the anti-christian rant) on the historical origins of Christmas. There are many more of these on the internet, Christians really should learn about the pagan origins of many of their celebrations and rituals, they might be quite surprised.

So the the origins of Christmas are most likely Roman and pagan festivals accosted by the Christians, but where does that leave modern atheists when it comes to recognising those traditions?

Like many people in Anglo countries (America, UK, Australia, large sections of Europe, etc) many of us are what could be called “Cultural Christians”. In so much that the Christian faith is the biggest (by numbers) of all the many faiths. Many of us, myself included, were raised as Christians and were brought up in an environment where Christmas was a big part of the Christian way of life. So to some extent celebrating Christmas is more of a cultural thing than a Christian thing.

Cultural Judaism is well recognised and many Jews call themselves atheists but still adhere to some of the Jewish rituals. I suspect many Christians are the same, in Guy Harrison’s book 50 Reasons (see my review) he talks about cultural Christians and sees no problem with it.

So to answer the original question. I believe atheists should not recognise Christmas as that in some way condones religion and belief in God.

However, I think these days many people just view Christmas as a time to have a few days off and get together with friends and family and celebrate life and friendship (and drink and eat too much). Christmas can be, and is to many people, celebrated without any reference to religion; barring the word Christmas meaning Christ’s Mass. These days even some non-christian nations celebrate Christmas.

Despite it’s religious overtones, I enjoy the idea behind Christmas as a day to give people presents and to share a table with family and friends, and I’ll still put up a Christmas tree (This years is going to be even more outrageous than last years, stay tuned for some pictures in a few weeks time).

I guess in some ways I’m being hypocritical, celebrating Christmas despite not believing in God or Jesus and being non-religious, but heck it’s fun. Perhaps one day Christmas will become a purely pagan ritual again? We could change the name and still have the day off, drink and eat too much, and have a great time with family and friends. After all that’s all Christmas is to me and many others.

As I have no family here, what little I have are interstate, Christmas day is mainly with friends these days. Despite being on my own I will still be doing the Champagne and Croissant breakfast on the morning of the 25 December.  You are all very welcome to attend, just let me know if you are coming so I have enough bubbles and food on hand.

But there’s more…

Interestingly, as a child many children are taught by their parents (authority figures) that Santa Claus is real and that he brings them presents (reward for being good) or not if they’ve been bad (punishment for not-believing). Much like from birth those same children are taught god is real and that he also rewards the good (promise of heaven) and punishes the bad (fear of hell).

Not surprisingly, eventually children learn that Santa is not real, that he is a made up story, that it is highly improbable that he could deliver presents to everyone on the planet. They realise that there is no credible evidence for Santa, so stop believing in him. Surprise surprise nothing bad happens when they stop believing in Santa, they still get presents from their parents, though now they know it’s them, not a mythical being, that provides the presents.

Strangely many of these same children remain believers in a god, despite there being no more credible evidence for a god than there is for a Santa Clause. Very strange indeed. From personal experience, and from what many others have told me, much like when you stop believing in Santa nothing bad happens, nothing bad happens when you stop believing in god(s).

In fact many people are much happier and content when they no longer have to fear or worry about god. It’s actually easier to live life when you no longer have to try to live up to some mythical god(s) expectations.  If you are a believer perhaps you should think about that this Christmas.

So my answer:

Atheists shouldn’t recognise Christmas as a religious festivity, and I don’t.

But what do you think, should non-believers recognise and/or celebrate Christmas?

 

50 Reasons – A Review

50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God by Guy P. Harrison – A Review by OzAtheist

Finished reading the above book on my Kindle today, did I mention I have a Kindle?

This is an excellent book for atheists and theists alike. For theists it gives them some questions to answer as to why they may believe in a god. For atheists it provides 50 reasons why believing in a god has no basis in reality, but it does it in a very nice way.

Unlike many other atheist tracts (Dawkins, Hitchens take note) this book is rather polite and not condescending (well not much) to believers. The book has certainly given me some positive ideas on how I should better interact with believers. Harrison makes some very good points about how non-believers might persuade believers to think about their position when it comes to believing in a god.

A fair few of the observations made in this book have been said many times before by many people. However, I think Harrison has done a very good job of putting them all together in the one book, and in a polite and thought provoking (particularly to theists) manner.

Here is the list of 50 reasons why people believe in a god:

1. My god is obvious
2. Almost everybody on Earth is religious
3. Faith is a good thing
4. Archaeological discoveries prove that my god exists
5. Only my god can make me feel significant
6. Atheism is just another religion
7. Evolution is bad
8. Our world is too beautiful to be an accident
9. My god created the universe
10. Believing in my god makes me happy
11. Better safe than sorry
12. A sacred book proves my god is real
13. Divine justice proves my god is real
14. My god answers prayers
15. I would rather worship my god than the devil
16. My god heals sick people
17. Anything is better than being an atheist
18. My god made the human body
19. My god sacrificed his only son for me
20. Atheists are jerks who think they know everything
21. I don’t lose anything by believing in my god
22. I didn’t come from a monkey
23. I don’t want to go to hell
24. I feel my god when I pray
25. I need my god to protect me
26. I want an eternal life
27. Without my god we would have no sense of right and wrong
28. My god makes me feel like I am part of something bigger than myself
29. My religion makes more sense than all the others
30. My god changes lives
31. Intelligent design proves my god is real
32. Millions of people can’t be wrong about my religion
33. Miracles prove my god is real
34. Religion is beautiful
35. Some very smart people believe in my god
36. Ancient prophecies prove my god exists
37. No one has ever disproved the existence of my god
38. People have gone to heaven and returned
39. Religion brings people together
40. My god inspires people
41. Science can’t explain everything
42. Society would fall apart without religion
43. My religion is so old it must be true
44. Someone I trust told me that my god is real
45. Atheism is a negative and empty philosphy
46. Believing in a god doesn’t hurt anyone
47. The earth is perfectly tuned to support life
48. Believing is natural so my god must be real
49. The end is near
50. I am afraid of not beleiving

By all accounts all of the above 50 reasons have been told to Harrison, I think I’ve heard most of them myself. Harrison does repeat himself a few times, but I have to forgive him this faux pas as so do most theists!

Overall, a good read, another book that should be compulsory reading by everyone on the planet.

 

Agent of Satan

Many believers think that non believers believe in Satan, which is clearly ludicrous as we don’t believe in any gods, good or bad. Some even believe non-believers are Satanists, which is even more ludicrous.

In the book “50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God”, Guy P. Harrison discusses the topic of believers linking non-believers with Satan. He counters most of the arguments but this one:

… you [atheists] are an “unwitting” agent of Satan.

Harrison has this to say about the suggestion put to him:

How do you reassure someone that you are not consciously serving Satan? If you were, you wouldn’t know it. Of course you will deny it because the devil is controlling you without your knowledge.

Harrison states that he finds this argument difficult to respond to.

Whilst I (and I’m sure Harrison does as well) know the “unwitting agent of Satan” argument is ridiculous, how do you respond to it?

I would greatly appreciate if anyone can come up with a good argument to counter the “unwitting agent of Satan” accusation.

 

Books – brief reviews

Updated my reading list in the sidebar with some new additions.

The Greatest Show on Earth by Richard Dawkins.

An excellent lay-persons guide to Evolution. It is such a pity that books like this have to be written to try and counter-act the complete misinformation that the Creationists, ‘Intelligent Designers’ and other narrow minded religious people spout.

Evolution is a Fact, get over it people, especially the misinformed sheep that believe anything if it come from a pulpit.

The saddest thing about this book is that the people who really need to read it won’t, in fact most will flat out refuse to.

It should be compulsory for everyone on the planet to read at least chapter 1 of this book, it would be good if this was freely available to download and read (perhaps it is?), then no one would have an excuse to use the “just a theory” pathetic argument against evolution.

Deer Hunting With Jesus by Joe Bageant.

A book that tries to explain why so many Americans vote against their own best interests, and discusses the class war that no one else wants to talk about, the white American underclass. This book is written in a easy to read story-telling style but covers a lot of topics, including the American health care system (or complete lack thereof), Americans at War, and why so many Americans want a theocratic state ( a rather scary section of the book).

He does get on his soap box a few times, but overall an interesting and thought provoking read.

Blog Update

I have also added tw0 comments to my previous blog post, about my new Kindle eBook reader, that will be of great interest to any Australians who are considering buying one.

 

Kindle 2 International – Review

Kindle 2 International – A Review

Firstly, the cost. The US version is $259 US, whereas the international (Australian) version Kindle is $279 US, [Ed note: as of 22 Oct 09, it is only $259US. I bought mine one day too early!] add the cover $29.99US and the total cost (for me) came to $378 AUD (this may be slightly different for you depending on current exchange rates).

You really should buy a cover as well, as it is the only way to stop the thing getting damaged. The Kindle actually clips into the special leather cover and then even looks like a book! The cover folds back on itself for a nice flat surface, which will also protect the back of the Kindle when putting it down on rough surfaces. The speakers are on the back of the Kindle, but the cover does not seem to reduce the volume or clarity of the sound by much at all. There are alternate non-Kindle covers, but not having acquired one of those I can’t comment on them.

OK, now you have a reader you need a few books. These can either be bought and downloaded directly via the Kindle or bought from Amazon.com via your PC then automatically downloaded to your Kindle. The downloads are done using what Amazon/Kindle call WhisperNet, via WiFi, using 3G where available.

The advertising states downloads take about one minute. In practice I’ve timed this at more like 2-3 minutes, I guess this depends on the WiFi you have access to. The unit works on 3G and GPRS, so far I have only seen the 3G symbol a few times, but then again I rarely see it on my Optus phone either. Which leads me to a question, for which I have no answer, what network does the Kindle use here in Australia?

I do have one concern regarding the download, during download of a book there is no evidence it’s downloading, all you get is a message once it’s completed. I’m also unsure what would happen if you went out of range during a download, I’m fairly sure the Kindle will just continue downloading once you are back in range, in practice I have not tested this.

However the ordering, payment (it uses Amazon’s 1-Click function) and delivery were seamless. In fact too easy and seamless. Being able to access the on-line Kindle book store directly from your Kindle anywhere you are, could end up being a very expensive exercise. Way too easy to spot a book you like and just click the buy button (and it uses the recommendations feature that Amazon normally has, so when you open the store on your Kindle you are presented with pictures of four books from your recommended list).

Note: if you lose your book, or it gets stolen, anyone can access it and buy books for the device. This is not a major problem as you get an email for every book you buy, so if you suddenly get a stack of emails for books you haven’t bought you can contact Amazon, get a refund and get them to de-authorise your account on that book.

The Kindle has 2Gb of memory but .5Gb is taken up by the OS, so you have 1.5Gb to store all your books, etc. This may not sound like much, but they reckon you can fit 1,500 books onto the Kindle; that’s a lot of reading.

The Australian Kindle only comes with a USB cable for charging the Kindle and transferring files. There is no power pack USB charger as the American release gets, and apparently you cant use just any power plug USB charger, some people have reported that iPod/iPhone power plug USB chargers cause the Kindle to malfunction requiring a full reset of the device! Additionally some low power laptops/netbooks will not charge the Kindle via the USB port, my Eee PC didn’t charge the Kindle properly.

I have only had my Kindle for a week, and have just started to look around the net for Kindle and eBook related sites. So far I have found the Kindle Review blog to be very good, I suggest if you are thinking of buying a Kindle to have a look at this site, and once you have one check it again for usage tips and links to some free eBooks.  As Kindle Review points out the Kindle International is basically the same as the Kindle 2, with the WhisperNet feature tuned to your specific country. However the free web browser does not work in Australia, neither are blogs available. I have not checked yet whether newspapers and magazines are available so can’t comment, but see below about the program called Calibre. There are less books available for International Kindle owners than American owners, but with over 200,000 books I’m sure you’ll find enough to entertain you. Speaking of which, there are some free books on Amazon.com, however they charge you $2 to download them. Another good site to check is the Mobile Read Forum which has topics for the Kindle as well as Calibre (see below) and heaps of other eReaders and eBook related programs, books, etc.

However, even though the web browser does not work internationally, Wikipedia does. To use Wikipedia, from the Home page, click the Menu button then select Search. This gives you a text box, in which you type, using the full qwerty keyboard, the text you want to search for, with six options:

• My Items
• Kindle Store
• Google (doesn’t work – Due to local restrictions, web browsing is not available for all countries – is the message you get)
• Dictionary (the American Dictionary that comes free with the Kindle, you can buy other dictionaries if you can’t stand American spelling)
• Wikipedia
• Web (see Google above)

Frankly I’m not overly concerned that it doesn’t work as a web browser, I bought this to read books not surf the net, having an in-built dictionary and access to Wikipedia (it’s the m mobile version, but does display some pictures) will probably be enough for me to find out the meaning of a particular word or whatever.

There are three Experimental functions on the Kindle, from the Home page, click the Menu button then select Experimental:

• Basic Web (which doesn’t work Internationally)
• Play MP3 (you can load a few songs, but remember you only have 1.5Gb space on this device, via USB from your PC. You can then play these songs in the background while you read. This is no media player, there are only two basic functions Stop/Play and Next Track, and there is no track display or information. Again, I bought this to read books, I have other MP3 players, including my mobile phone, but I can see this basic mp3 playing functionality might be nice if you like listening to music while you read, and you really don’t need much functionality beside Stop/Play to do that.
• Text to Speech (Selected by the text button (Aa) where you can switch it on – play / pause, set the speed – slower / default / faster, or change the voice – female / male. I have only had a brief play with this function, it worked but I found the voice a bit robotic. I guess the fact it’s basically doing the conversion ‘live’ it’s pretty good, I didn’t hear any mistakes, even with the word yearsafter – (there is no space in the book I had open, but the voice gave it a slight space).)

Functionality

The screen uses eInk, whatever that is, so it doesn’t have a back-light like a normal LCD screen, it is also only black and white (well, lots of shades of grey) It displays pictures and seems to convert colour photographs to grey scale very well (more on this later). The text is very easy to read in most light conditions, you can vary the size of the text and how wide it is on the screen to suit your needs, but that’s about all the adjustments available. However, in the dark you will need a light shining on the screen to be able to read it, but then again you need a light when you are reading a real book.

Oddly, I tried ordering one of the book lights (not the M-Edge one) from the Amazon.com site during my initial purchase, but when it came to the final payment section it wouldn’t allow me to purchase the light. Not available outside the US apparently, though why a little battery operated book light can’t be shipped overseas I have no idea. Amazon is very weird like this sometimes, that’s not the first time this has happened to me with a seemingly innocuous object. Strangely they had no problems shipping the nuclear weapons technology. oops 

Changing pages or selecting items is done by the few buttons on the front at the edges. At first I found these to be slightly unresponsive or slow to respond, however this may have been because the unit wasn’t fully charged (see note above about charging).  It should be noted that due to the eInk screen, screen refresh rates are rather slow, when you press the next page button it can take a moment or two for the new page to appear. You can think you pressed a button and nothing’s happened, when in fact it has, it’s just a matter of getting used to the slight lag.  Selecting items is done by using the small toggle button (a bit like the one’s on some laptops) to highlight what you want then depressing it to select it. You can also use this to highlight words to get dictionary meanings or to highlight and select a selection of words to clip for saving to your clippings folder.

When the unit goes into sleep mode it displays a random picture, often a famous author, and locks the keys from accident al operation. A quick flick of the power switch wakes it up. Supposedly there is a hack to put your own pictures on it, but at the moment I couldn’t be bothered doing that.

Folded up in it’s leather case it measures about 145mm * 210mm * 18mm, in comparison an actual paperback book I’m currently reading “Deer Hunting for Jesus” measures 130mm * 200mm * 25mm. It’s also reasonably light in weight, so you should have no more problem lugging the Kindle around than you do any paper book, with the added advantage you can lug 1,500 books around inside the Kindle if you want.

There are a lot of free eBooks legally available on the net, particularly old ‘classics’, a lot of ‘romance’ novels, and quite a few from new unpublished authors. Some pay sites, like Amazon, also have the occasional specials costing as little as $1 for quite new releases. I’ll leave it up to you to find reading matter that suits you.

The Kindle, apart from it’s native file format can also read a few other eBook reader formats, particularly the Mobi format .prc files. PDF files won’t natively work on a Kindle but there are a few simple ways to convert a PDF file to a format suitable for the Kindle. Apart from Amazon’s own conversion process, free if the file is sent back to you via email, or $2 if file sent direct to Kindle via WiFi, there are several programs that will do it for you. Kindle Review has an article on converting .pdf files to a file format suitable for the Kindle.

I’ve tried three of these so far, Stanza which I had fail on me, Mobi Creator (make sure during the install you select the Creator version) and Calibre

Calibre is also an excellent book manager, and source of newspapers. There is a function (highly programmable) to schedule the downloading of numerous newspapers (and you can add your own) into Calibre then when you plug your Kindle (or one of many other eReaders it supports) it can automatically download the paper into your reader. This could be a fantastic function for commuters – schedule your download for the morning, connect your kindle, hey presto, papers to read on the way to work. (the articles come from the RSS feeds of the online papers (or magazines, or blogs I guess?) and you can customise which feeds you want). All these programs also have built in eBook readers, or an extra program (mobi reader). Note: Amazon have announced they will have a desktop (PC) eBook reader out sometime in November.

Whilst writing this review I found out about the new Nook eReader due out in November from Barnes & Noble. It gets some good (advance) reviews. The Nook has two screens, the main grey-scale eInk screen and a smaller colour touch-screen which displays the book covers which you can select by scrolling through them then tapping to open. I’m also guessing the Nook uses the touch-screen for it’s text input as there is no keyboard like the Kindle has. The Nook also has a slot for a memory card so you can add extra memory, another 17,500 books by all accounts!

So if you are considering buying a Kindle, or other eBook reader, then perhaps you should consider the Nook, there are a few reviews and comparisons around the net to assist you in making a decision. Additionally the Kindle is now priced the same as the Nook, unfortunately I bought mine one day too early and paid an extra $20US, I guess that’s what happens when you buy on impulse after a few drinks. 

Overall I rate it 8/10, it would score 9/10 if the browser function worked and 10/10 if it had a larger in-built memory or memory card slot (which would  then enable you to store quite a few mp3s for background listening.)

I will still buy paper books, but I think the biggest asset the kindle has is the ability to store so many books in such a small form factor. I see this as useful in two ways:

1. When travelling, no need to carry several novels. You can store as many as you need in the Kindle.
2. For research/reference, having access to many reference books (this is of course dependant on purchasing them all) in the one place you can carry anywhere could be very helpful. Hence why I am loading mine with a few books and lots of pdf files relating to my blogging/foruming topics of interest.

Tips:

It’s easy to make your own customised Notepad to use the Kindle as a note taking device.

Simply open your computer’s Notepad application.

Type in:
A
B
C
(etc.)

or something like:
Memos
E-mail
Book Ideas
Misc.
(etc.)

Save and import your Notepad file into your Kindle, then open it in your Kindle.

Bring your cursor to the desired location. Type your note and save. To view, edit, or delete your note, click on the superscript number that has appeared beside that entry.

To view all your notes, open your file and select “My Notes and Marks.”

To view on your computer, import your Kindle’s “My Clippings” file to your Documents folder and go to the last entry for your desired Notepad section.

thx to http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=60358 for this tip.

Games on Kindle: (why? because they can)

There are two built in games on the Kindle – Minesweeper and GoMoku

From the Home page:
Alt-Shift-M = Minesweeper
Once Minesweeper is open press G for GoMoku

Here’s the shortcut keys in Minesweeper:

I,J,K,L up,left,down,right
M mark mine
R restart
Space open cell
Scroll move cursor up/down
Alt-Scroll move cursor left/right
H return to Home screen

thx to http://igorsk.blogspot.com/2007/12/hacking-kindle-part-3-root-shell-and.html for these and more.

I found a bug in the current release of Calibre (0.6.19). The included newspapers (and there’s lots of them) are sorted into categories. There are three newspapers listed under English (AU) however the Daily Telegraph is listed in the English category. There is no way to move the Daily Telegraph listing to the English (AU) category, additionally any new or modified listings appear in the Custom category and can’t be moved to a more relevant category. I have been notified by the programs author that this is a known bug and should be fixed in the next release.

What if anything has this to do with atheism, religion or politics? Nothing unless you count that the two books I have purchased so far for my Kindle are:

• “50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God” [Kindle Edition] By: Guy P. Harrison, and
• “The Counter-Creationism Handbook” [Kindle Edition] By: Mark Isaak

If you would like further information or questions answered from this Kindle user, leave a comment or contact me on Twitter

I may add more as I use the Kindle more and find out what it can and can’t do.

 

Apatheist

Apatheist

-noun

A person who is not religious, but doesn’t identify as such, or care either way.

-diminutive of

Apathetic and Atheist

I have come to realise that the world is full of apatheists, or people who, whilst not religious, don’t, identify themselves as atheists, even though legitimately they are atheists or at least agnostics. Many of these people actually identify themselves with some religion or other, but never attend their church or indulge in any religious ceremonies. When pushed the best they come up with is “there might be a god” and/or “I was bought up a  (insert denomination here)”. I’ve met people who have said that they are an atheist, but don’t want to identify as such, who usually just indicate they aren’t religious when asked, or who say they are just not interested.

In some ways I can identify with the last type of person. Until recently my twitter handle was OzAtheist, but as you would have noticed, it’s now OzAz. This came about by meeting twitter people IRL, and trying to explain that whilst I’m an atheist it’s not what I’m all about. Like most people I  have many and varied interests, atheism and discussing religion is just one of them. I still have no problem identifying as such if asked, or if it comes up in conversation, but I was finding it increasingly odd and somewhat disconcerting to meet knew people and to be identified as an atheist first and foremost. It would be a bit like meeting someone for the first time and saying to them “nice to meet you Fred the Catholic” it just doesn’t really make sense.

As Richard Dawkins discussed in his book, quite rightly, children should not be identified as Catholic children or Muslim children. Conversely, should children be identified as Atheist children or Agnostic children?

So herein lies the problem, religious people get all sorts of considerations partly because it appears that there are so many of them. Whereas I am of the firm belief that there is no where near as many religious people as everyone thinks. The numerous apatheists, including those that state they are a certain religion but only because that was what they were brought up as, inflate the supposed number of religious people. The numerous apatheists create an atmosphere wherein people think they have to bow to religious influence because there are so many of them, and that they can get away with it because there is such small opposition.

So what’s to be done about this, even a strong atheist like myself doesn’t always want to be explicit in their ‘religious’ leanings. Whilst my car has a Richard Dawkins Out Campaign A sticker on it, and I occasionally wear my A lapel pin, I’m not prone to introduce myself as being an atheist. Also there are occasions where I have not spoken up when someone is spruiking religious nonsense (mainly in a mixed social situation where I thought it would cause too much discord). So how can we expect the “rank and file” apatheist to admit they are actually atheists and be prepared to state that and speak out against religion?

How can we get the apatheists to realise the importance of stating they are non-believers? To go that one step further and become an actual atheist?

I still believe there is a stigma attached to the term “atheist”, and that for some it seems like a commitment to state they are an atheist. A commitment they are not prepared to make. People have said to me they are not religious and don’t really believe in god, but don’t consider themselves an atheist. I know that some consider stating you are an atheist is akin to having to be outspoken towards theists. How can we overcome these concepts?

I seriously think things like the atheist bus campaign are a good way to let people know that they aren’t alone and there’s lots of other atheists out there. That it’s OK to admit to being an atheist. But it can sometimes be a two edged sword, in that some apatheists see this as ‘those noisy atheists, I don’t want to be associated with them, I just want to be me’.

It’s thanks to Sean that I started writing this today, as I had to re-think the reason I blog. I gave Sean many reasons why I do (he may perhaps post them on his blog) but in doing so realised I have become a bit of an apatheist myself of late.

So maybe, just maybe, my reason to blog should be to convert all the apatheists to atheists.

BUT, how do I, and the hundreds of other atheist bloggers, get the apatheists to read our blogs? How do we get the message out there that there are hundreds of people discussing the problems with religion, that there are valid reasons we should declare ourselves as atheists (even if we don’t like that particular word)?

The upcoming Atheist Convention in Melbourne in March 2010 could be a great way to raise the awareness of atheism and why it’s important. I’d like to see the question of apatheism raised during the convention, I’d like to find out others thoughts on the matter, and ways it could be solved.
[Feel free to leave comments here on how you think some of the problems I've raised could be addressed. Perhaps I may be able to raise people's concerns or ideas at the convention if you aren't able to attend?]

Until people, particularly the governments that run our countries, realise that religion may not have such a stranglehold on ‘the numbers’ as they think, then nothing much will change. No government is going to have the ‘balls’ to stop the enormous tax breaks that churches get until they think the majority (or at least a very large minority) of their constituents agree with them.  For instance, no government is going to accept euthanasia whilst religious groups are so vehemently opposed to it. (example: in Australia several polls have indicated up to 85% of the population agree with euthanasia but because of the outspoken religious lobby the one Territory that legalised euthanasia was overruled by the federal government.) Religions have had two thousand years to organise themselves and despite their many differences will band together to fight for their ‘rights’. Despite their ‘rights’ not necessarily being what the majority of the populace actually wants.

There needs to be lobby groups that oppose some of the religious lobbyists but until more apatheists join the rest of us atheists, we won’t seem as big a group as we actually are, which makes lobbying that much more difficult.

Another problem that many apatheists have is they don’t regard religion as a problem. Despite people blowing themselves up, and killing innocent bystanders, in the name of religion, it is still seen as “mostly harmless” (apologies to Douglas Adams). People seem to have a blinkered view that religions are generally useful and provide worthy services. But they are wrong.  [I'm not going to get into any depth on this subject here.]

So any apatheists who stumble upon this blog, have a think about it. Are you happy to have your life ruled by religious groups? Are you happy that your tax dollars are going towards promoting religion? Are you happy that science has been stifled by religion? Have you really considered the negative impacts religion has on society as a whole? Then maybe you should reconsider and take a stance and become an atheist.

 

Belief gone bad

Belief in Satan is evidence you have a mental illness.

At least that’s a conclusion one could make from the very sad tale of the youth who stabbed his mother and father, and had planned to kill some classmates.

Mental illness is a huge problem in this country and one that is under-funded and under acknowledged. Not trying to make light of mental illness, but if someone is judged (quite rightly by the sounds of it in this case) to be suffering from a mental illness based at least in part because they acted irrationally in the name of Satanism. Then shouldn’t religious people be considered to have a mental illness if they act irrationally (like by blowing themselves and other up, or by killing a family planning doctor) in the name of God?

 

R E S P E C T

I thought I better write another post before I get dumped from Mojoey’s atheist blogroll for not blogging.

I’ve had a lot to say but not enough time to say it, I’ve also lost some of my drive to be out-spoken against the religious community and it’s many vagaries. Additionally by the time I get around to wanting to write about something, I usually find several other bloggers have already discussed the topic, often much better than I could.

So what to talk about?

Well, I guess I should mention the three comments sitting in my ‘pending’ queue. All three received over the last few days have requested that I remove the Lego Mohammed I posted over a year ago. To them and anyone else trying to inhibit free speech I say “Fuck Off”. Don’t expect me to be polite and respect your unqualified beliefs just because you want me to. Don’t think that just because it is of a religious nature it is off limits to criticism and ridicule, particularly when so much of religion is ridiculous and unfounded in the first place.

Not to mention that this is just another classic example of the so-called tolerant Muslim faith we keep hearing about. </sarcasm>

If the Muslim community ever wants to be taken seriously in their attempts to prove to the world that they are a ‘peaceful religion’ then they have to rein in the many radicals who get their noses out of joint every time someone barely mentions Mohammed. They need to lighten up and not get offended and go on the ‘war path’ every time someone depicts Mohammed, he’s not my prophet so why should I care what your rules are about him?

Respect needs to be earned, not forced. I respect various people including many noted scientists and engineers for their brilliant work, they have proved what they have to say and proved their worth. I have yet to see any proof for what most religious “scholars” tell me, and have no respect for  religious people who try and force their (unfounded) beliefs on me.

So religious people if you ever want to be taken seriously, a) show us some evidence for anything you have to say, and b) be a lot more tolerant.

 

Do as i say, not as I do

From Sundays news comes this story about the Pope requesting the G8 help stop poverty.

Pope Benedict has urged G8 nations to boost development aid to Africa and the world’s poorest countries in spite of the financial crisis.

He made the call in the run-up to a leaders’ summit in Italy this week.

In a letter to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi released by the Vatican, the Pope said decisions made during the summit can only be efficient if they are ethical.

He said aid programs, particularly those for Africa, risk being cancelled or drastically reduced because of the financial crisis, plunging even more people into poverty. from abc.news

Hmmm, One of the richest organisations in the world, though we’ll never know how rich they are as they, unlike proper organisations, aren’t audited or accountable. The Catholic Church (like all  religions) also get huge tax breaks in numerous countries to aid their wealth even further. But, despite being so wealthy what are they doing to stop poverty in the world? Not much I’d say.

In fact the Catholic church has for many years been exacerbating and compounding the problem of world poverty by denying proper family planning and birth control measures (they actually encourage large families). Thus  ensuring areas where Catholicism is rife have high, and often too high, birth rates. More mouths to feed only worsens poverty in many countries.

Perhaps the Catholic church could, instead of requesting others to help stop poverty, let their followers use birth control and put in measures to ensure families do not overpopulate, especially in poverty stricken areas. Additionally perhaps the Catholic church could spend some of its ill gotten gains assisting poverty stricken areas to fend for themselves.

What else do you think the Catholic church could do to end world poverty?

 

But Officer, God Made Me Drink

from abc.net.au/news come this story of an Italian priest caught for drink driving.

An Italian priest caught driving over the alcohol limit pleaded to police that it was only because of the Holy Wine he had drunk as part of the mass.

Police rejected the priest’s excuse and revoked his driving licence anyway.

Now the 41-year-old priest is set to appeal against the ruling, saying his alcohol consumption was not “voluntary” since it was part of the Catholic ritual in the four masses that he had celebrated during the day.

What a great excuse! If he gets off the drink driving charge with that pathetic excuse, I’m starting up the Church of the Unholy Pissed Idiots. Where you are encouraged to drink as much as you like, all in the name of religious ritual of course.   Care to join me, bar’s open in 15 minutes…