I’m no fan of the gospel, but I have to admit that I rather like gospel music.  Of course,  I usually don’t have much use for the typical lyrics.  However, that’s not always the case.  Here are a couple with the type of lyrics I can listen to.  Enjoy!

It’s pretty predictable.  In a large a majority of cases,  if you tell someone who is a churchgoer that you’re an atheist, you get a reaction like you had told them that you practice Satanism.

Christians have been taught to equate atheism with evil.  There is absolutely no rational reason for this – there is no history that supports or illustrates this association.  Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for religion. Still, most God-believers attach a stigma to atheism.

Unfortunately, this cartoon hits very close to the mark.

The truth is that atheism is nothing more than a non-belief in spiritual, mystical, and mythical beings.  It is not a credo of violence and evil.  Atheism means rationality and belief in science over mysticism and “religious faith”. We don’t promote Satanism.  In fact, we don’t even believe in the existence of such a being.

If you look at history, you’ll find that since the dawn of civilization, religious organizations have been responsible for some of the worst actions imaginable.  In particular,  Christianity, in a large part Catholicism, has been responsible for untold evils done in the name of God.  The Crusades, Spanish Inquisition, violent, forced “conversion” of peaceful native civilizations,  genocide, supression of scientific research, and witch hunts are responsible for untold numbers of people being tortured and killed.  Jesus’s message of loving ALL people has been ignored by Christians for almost as long as Christianity has existed.

Additionally, the Catholic Church has harbored hundreds of pedophile priests who have abused thousands of children.  I cannot blame the Church for the actual abuse, but they have attempted to cover up the actions of these perverts, moved them to new parishes where they abused additional children, made legal settlements with sexual victims dependent on gag orders, and have instructed parishes not to report the priests to the authorities, but instead refer them to the Catholic authorities for “rehabilitation”.   Not reporting pedophiles to the local authorities is bad enough.  But putting them in a place where they will undoubtedly abuse other children makes the church as responsible as the priest.  There isn’t a rational person alive who would not call these actions evil.

On the other hand, none of these types of activites can be attributed to secular humanist organizations.  So why is there so much hate of atheists by religious groups?  The answer is pretty plain – religious leaders are afraid that if their followers are more exposed to rational reasoning, that they might actually start thinking for themselves, and realize that they don’t need someone else telling them how to live.  Most religious leaders, in my opinion, are more interested in their own stature, power, and importance than the salvation of their followers.   So they label any idea that threatens their power as evil,  those that believe in in as enemies, and attach a stigma to it that puts it out of the reach of the “faithful”.

The sad truth is that if you look objectively at historical events,  you’ll find that in reality, it has been the religious organizations, not atheists that have been responsible for a good deal of the evil activity of the past. 

So please,  don’t judge me for my beliefs (or lack of them), judge me on my actions towards others, which in many cases, are more “Christlike” than a lot of people who call themselves Christians. 

Take a look at the humanitarian efforts put forth by secular humanist organizations.  Their morality is driven by a love of people, not a fear of the wrath of God.  It’s time for everyone to realize that there can be good without God.

In the video below, Stephen Fry does an excellent job of illustrating some of the points I made. Please watch it with an open mind. And PLEASE understand that no personal offense is intended in this post or the video below.

The Intelligence² Debate – Stephen Fry (Unedited)
Uploaded by Xrunner17. – Watch feature films and entire TV shows.