The other day I visited Blue Collar Atheist, one of the blogs at the new Freethought Blogs site. Hank, the really nice guy who runs Blue Collar Atheist, wrote about the way christians think atheists must believe in god, way down deep inside. Made me chuckle. No way, hon. There ain't no god.
I commented on the post to say that I'm the reverse of this christian notion: I don't believe anyone truly believes in god. I'm sure lots of people think they believe in god but that just means they haven't taken their brains out for a test drive. They've never actually thought about anything. Their "belief" is merely a way of life -- it's posturing as a lifestyle. They live as if they believe in these gods. Sorry, but I don't buy it.
Look at christians who are close to death. They're terrified, every last one of them. If they actually believed in god, why would they fear death? There's a simple answer: they're afraid because they don't believe. They say there are no atheists in foxholes. I say there are no believers on death beds, only people who want to believe.
The evil, self-effacing notion of "faith" is a large part of the problem. Faith means believing in something even when you don't believe in it. Handy, that. It's a trick you're supposed to use in moments of doubt. Just have faith, the priests wheeze. What this translates into, in a practical sense, is don't think, just follow.
No, I don't believe anyone believes in god. Priests just want to keep their jobs, especially in this economy. They know there's no god.
If you ask christians what they believe, you'll get a wide range of mushy answers. They're not even consistent, one to the other, in their "beliefs". That's because they have none.
I may be an outlier on this, but that's my opinion. No one believes in god. It's too stupid a notion.
I commented on the post to say that I'm the reverse of this christian notion: I don't believe anyone truly believes in god. I'm sure lots of people think they believe in god but that just means they haven't taken their brains out for a test drive. They've never actually thought about anything. Their "belief" is merely a way of life -- it's posturing as a lifestyle. They live as if they believe in these gods. Sorry, but I don't buy it.
Look at christians who are close to death. They're terrified, every last one of them. If they actually believed in god, why would they fear death? There's a simple answer: they're afraid because they don't believe. They say there are no atheists in foxholes. I say there are no believers on death beds, only people who want to believe.
The evil, self-effacing notion of "faith" is a large part of the problem. Faith means believing in something even when you don't believe in it. Handy, that. It's a trick you're supposed to use in moments of doubt. Just have faith, the priests wheeze. What this translates into, in a practical sense, is don't think, just follow.
No, I don't believe anyone believes in god. Priests just want to keep their jobs, especially in this economy. They know there's no god.
If you ask christians what they believe, you'll get a wide range of mushy answers. They're not even consistent, one to the other, in their "beliefs". That's because they have none.
I may be an outlier on this, but that's my opinion. No one believes in god. It's too stupid a notion.
