A Call To Action for Adult Atheists… from a 15 year old.

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Guest Author: Cassie Huye

HEY GOD, LISTEN UP… You are consistently inconsistent, forcing us to struggle to coexist in thoughts. Your presence in conversations fabricates any truth that may have previously manifested in the context.  Your refusal to look past your nose handicaps you, and all whom you have contact with are tainted, forever, from every obtaining any abilities to have insight to intellectual, superior thoughts above that which have already been pondered over. You are the localized, original, widely, and blindly accepted form of plagiarism. Your hatred pollutes our planet more than anything tangible could even dream of.

Religion is the cause of more hate in the world than all other causes combined and duplicated. Some may say that only extremism will cause such hatred through religion. I believe otherwise.

Religion separates society into groups. Separation is, generally, bad. Separation by class, separation by race, separation by region, separation by culture, separation by orientation, separation by gender… the list goes on and on. What good does any separation do? None.

As a society, in order to successfully accomplish everything we can as a race,(the human race that is) we need to be moving forward together. All of this argument over who’s magic man in the sky is best is just pointless babble that waste all of our time.

I have a question about god though. Why doesn’t he talk to me? He supposedly loves us all right? But why not me?

If anyone can look me in the face and tell me about how awesome their magic man is but still can come up with a good enough explanation as to why he bluntly ignores my existence is welcome to induct me into their religious cult. No one can do it; I promise.

Religion holds back society from doing many of the great things we have potential for. Maybe all of our babies would be healthy by now, without religion. Hopefully in a couple of hundred years we can look back and realize how stupid all of this is, like we do now on many things that happened just a century or two ago.

We can only hope generations after ours can see past all this foolishness. For now, we just need to have an epidemic of atheist epiphanies all over the world.

Religion holds us back from everything we could be. Maybe not solely, but many of the other separations that limit us root in religion. This is why a secular world is so important. People can be so much more efficient and kind without religion.

This is where I need you. Not me personally, but kids my age. We look up to adults. We need atheist adults to be confident enough to admit what they are. Your views on the world are nothing to be ashamed of, and maybe things will be difficult for a little while, but it gets better. One person can give enough confidence to many others to admit to what they are. And then, just like that, a century or two later you have had something to do with ending all of this stupidity.

Talk about it with someone. Don’t pretend to be something you are not. Most importantly, get some kids thinking. All you have to do is plant the seed of doubt and let them decide for themselves. It is pretty easy, and completely worth it. Your legacy of rational thoughts will live on to see a new generation, and then hopefully they will do, as you had done, by getting more kids thinking. I just want to move forward, without religion. Maybe I can’t, but my grandchildren might be able to, with your help.

  • Akigawa

    Wow, this is…You have some balls, kid.
    This perfectly sums up the current situation and what needs to be done about it.

  • Evan

    Do you honestly want an answer to why “God doesn’t talk to you”
    Well then, here it is.
    You aren’t listening. You are clouding your mind, your heart, and your soul with the constant disbelief that God could exist, or the thought that he doesn’t care about you. He talks to you. You don’t hear, because you are simply not listening.
    That is it. I will not profess why you need to turn to God. Just know that He is not ignoring you. In fact, it is quite the opposite.
    If you ever truly want to hear God, just listen. Actually listen.
    That is all.

    • Adam

      @ Evan: Many of us were Christians for many, many years. I “listened” to god many times and realized that I was speaking to myself. God never revealed anything more profound than what I discovered on my own… because he doesn’t exist! You speak to yourself and call it god, well done. Don’t try that “no true scottsman” argument here. I was a “true” Christian and gave it up when better evidence was presented to me. I was in the praise and worship tea, trained as a minister, and have read the bible several times. God had his chance. Bt, it’s hard to keep believing in someone who isn’t there.

  • http://crommunist.wordpress.com Crommunist

    ^ gotta love the circular reasoning at work here:

    “If you were REALLY listening, you’d hear God.”
    “But I AM listening!”
    “Do you hear God?”
    “Nope”
    “Then you’re not REALLY listening! I win again!”

    Nice job, Cassie. Keep kicking us in the ass. Unlike SOME people, adult atheists actually exist, and some of us will listen.

  • Rainer

    What Evan means by 'listen', although he probably isn't aware of that, is to distort your own view of reality so much that you accept an illusion as real, in other words deluding yourself.

    Great work, Cassie ! Keep it up.

  • http://www.babblesofmybrain.com/ Brandon

    I would like a follow up to this to explain statements like "Religion holds back society from doing many of the great things we have potential for", "Religion holds us back from everything we could be.", "Maybe all of our babies would be healthy by now, without religion.", "Religion is the cause of more hate in the world than all other causes combined and duplicated.", "Religion separates society into groups.". Those are all bold statements, but she doesn't back them up in any way.

    • Heather

      I’m not Cassie but perhaps I can assist in explaining:

      “Religion holds back society from doing many of the great things we have potential for”, “Religion holds us back from everything we could be.”, “Maybe all of our babies would be healthy by now, without religion.”

      Historically, religion has been a HUGE obstacle to just about every scientific advancement humans have made. Didn’t the Pope put Galileo on house arrest because of his ‘heretical’ findings about the Earth, solar system & general astronomy? How many other scientists, philosophers, authors, etc. have been imprisoned or put to death throughout history because of their ‘heretical’ discoveries or points of view? Don’t christians oppose stem cell research because of where the stem cells come from? All of the above sound to me like religion (primarily monotheistic religions) has stood in the way of our advancement all throughout history. And the few examples I gave are merely the tip of the iceberg. I’ve often wondered how much further along the human race would be had monotheistic religions (christianity, islam & judaism) not become so prevalent around the world – like where would we be had the dark ages not happened, and scientists & philosophers had not been persecuted for having ideas & making discoveries contrary to what the church taught?

      “Religion is the cause of more hate in the world than all other causes combined and duplicated.”

      How many millions of people throughout history have been killed in the name of god? Millions died from just the Crusades & the witch hunts that occurred in Europe for hundreds of years during the middle ages. And that’s just 2 examples! There are many, many more that could be cited from throughout history, which paint a hideous picture of the so-called ‘peaceful’ monotheistic religions.

      “Religion separates society into groups.”

      Not only do those who practice monotheistic religions think that they’re the only ones who go to heaven, but they actively seek to separate themselves from & persecute those who do not believe in their child-tyrant god. In addition, even those who practice monotheistic religions separate themselves from each other; according to Baptists, they’re the only ones going to heaven, ask the Catholics & they’ll tell you the same. The muslims think that ALL of us except for them are going to hell; jews think the same thing. That doesn’t really foster an environment of togetherness, in my opinion.

  • Christine H

    I understand where you are coming from, Cassie. I really do. But I feel obligated to point out that not *all* religious ideas are bad. For example, the idea of equality upon which America was founded came from the Bible. "All men are created equal." Our founding fathers were, for the most part, very Christian oriented thinkers. It took a while for slavery to be eliminated, but eventually it was because people of faith risked their necks to help slaves and to fight in the Civil War. I know the Civil War wasn't *just* about slavery. There were significant economic and political forces at work, too. But that's just one example.

    I know that to people who don't believe in God, the panoply of different belief systems and the fighting that goes on both within and between groups is incomprehensible. I'm not going to try to explain it because I can't. But all I can say is that people of faith are just people, after all. They don't become perfect once they believe in God. They still have hurt feelings and temper tantrums and go to extremes to make a point, just like atheists do at times. The important thing is that we respect each other. Calling names and ridiculing the beliefs of either side is not going to promote the harmony you so earnestly want.

    I want it, too.

  • redbert

    In his book Out of Control: Global Turmoil on the Eve of the Twenty-first Century (1993) Zbigniew Brezezinski estimates that Communist oppression has killed sixty million people. Remember, Communism is the supreme atheistic government. These numbers are staggering, especially when compared to the Spanish Inquisition, which is estimated as causing about 32,000 deaths, and the Crusades, between one and five million. The same site with the above death tolls has a median estimation of seven and a half million, which is likely high. Lastly, Pitirim Sorokin estimated that in all the medieval wars in Europe, less than five hundred thousand Europeans were killed. Thus, even if one were to say that Christians were responsible for all the deaths caused in Europe amongst the hundreds of wars (and this, while certainly an exaggeration, is not too far-fetched, for the Catholic Church was directly involved in the majority of European wars), and the Crusades, and the Spanish Inquisition, and the Thirty Years War, at the median of the estimates given, it would turn out to be around 1/4 of the deaths caused by just Communism.7 Add, for example, the deaths caused by Nazism and Fascism in Germany and Italy, respectively. Or, perhaps, the number of deaths caused by abortion between 1920 and 2000, estimated by the same site to be between 500 and 850 million. You get totals far exceeding anything Christianity or any other religion has ever done.

    These stats simply destroy the atheistic argument against religions based on the deaths caused by them. Quite frankly, atheistic governments and societies have killed far more people than any one religion, and likely more than several of the major religions combined. Thus, atheist’s view that religious groups have killed more people than any other organization is not only false, but also hypocritical. Yet atheists constantly use the deaths caused by Christianity to accuse it of being made up of bloody, violent people, hypocritical in their teachings of love and kindness.

    • Adam

      @ Rebdbert: We have destroyed the "atheism kills" argument on here before. NO PROOF that Hitler or Stalin killed BECAUSE of Atheism. Hitler was a Catholic anyway: http://www.atheismresource.com/2010/stalin-killed…

      As for abortion, statistics show that believers have more abortions than atheists and more teen pregnancies by %: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbef07aQtB8&fe… You can't blame atheism for abortions. A lack f belief in god doesn't CAUSE action. IT isn't a belief in something else. People don't kill for NOT believing in something. Hitler and Stalin didn't believe in unicorns either. Did their lack of belief in unicorns lead them to kill? Come on, Redbert, save your speeches for a group that cares.

  • redbert

    Adam asks in the OP; “I have a question about god though. Why doesn’t he talk to me? He supposedly loves us all right? But why not me?”

    We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. –John 9:31

    let me guess: If Adam was God he would do things differently: therefore there is no God.

    • Adam

      @ Redbert: I was a Christian for 17 years and trained to be a minister. I was a "true" believer. God never answered me at all. I talked to myself a lot and thought it was god. But, let's look at what you say: "God listens to the godly person who does his will. –John 9:31 But, do you see the riddle here? Prayer without action leads to no change. Prayer with action leads to change. Action without prayer leads to change also. So, it's the action making the change. Prayer has never healed an amputee… no matter how diligently the faithful ask god. But, the bible clearly says that prayers will be answered. We can move mountains, right?

      In Mark 11 verse 24 Jesus says: "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."

      In John 14, verse 14, Jesus says: "Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son; if you ask anything in my name, I will do it."

      This seems pretty simple. Jesus is supposed to be God. God is supposed to be perfect. When God says something, it should be true. Prayer should work. So, you decide to try it out. You pray to God in this way,"Dear God, please help me to roll six sixes. I have faith that you will answer my prayer as you promise in the Bible. In Jesus' name I pray, amen."

      And you roll the dice.

      What do you suppose is going to happen? If you are a normal, intelligent person, you know what will happen. Nothing. You will not roll six sixes any more often than normal if you pray.

      We can scientifically prove this. We can roll the dice thousands of times, praying to God each time. We find that prayer has no effect on the dice whatsoever.

      Any intelligent person can see what is happening here. The prayer has exactly the same effect as the horseshoe. That's because the belief in prayer is a superstition, just like the belief in lucky horseshoes. Whether it's dice o physical healing. The results are the same. Prayer or no prayer, things will happen or not happen in the same mathematical probability.

  • Robbie

    @Christine H -Calling names and ridiculing the beliefs of either side is not going to promote the harmony you so earnestly want.

    It would help if your religion was not ridiculous (like Buddhism e.g), then there would be no ridicule of your belief.

    Don’t have a funny religion, there will be no ridicule. If you do, be prepared. Or you can turn the other cheek as commanded to you. Or as normally happens, you can find another quote in the Bible where you’re commanded to prosletyze. You can go either way. There is of course a hiway to hell to those who point the ridiculous inconsistencies your god has imposed on you. Not that I believe in that or anything. Just saying – don’t have a funny religion, nobody will be ridiculing you.

  • http://www.babblesofmybrain.com/ Brandon

    @ Adam. Is atheism a lack of belief in God or a belief there is no God? If it is a lack of belief, why this website, why research and articles to prove their is no God? You say atheism doesn’t cause action… how do you explain this website? Atheism caused the action of creating this website, the hours of research to write articles for this website. That’s a lot of action to strengthen and spread something that doesn’t cause action, probably more action than a lot of Christians take to strengthen and spread their faith. Your switch from Christianity to atheism took action, you don’t just lack belief in God, you adopted the belief their is no God. Atheism is a religion to you. Every article on evolution, every new scientific discovery, you use to strengthen your case that their is no God, just like a Christian uses every sermon and Christian writing to strengthen their faith. You religiously devote time to spreading atheism, just like Christians spend time spreading belief in God.

    • Adam

      @ Brandon: The James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) spends a lot of time debunking all sorts of supernatural claims… including god claims. They aren’t a religion. But, without his side showing how things like god, Bigfoot, homeopathy, etc. are all crap, those that claim them to be real would go unchecked. My website is the same type of skeptic service, but for only one skeptic claim, the god claim… the one I feel is the most important to attack since it is the most far-reaching and the most dangerous. But, I can’t be driven by a “lack of belief” in god. Any motive I have for something is a positive one, meaning, I do this website, not BECAUSE I don’t believe in god, but BECAUSE I feel that those that believe in god are harming humanity.

  • Robbie

    @Brandon

    Atheism is a religion? Not collecting stamps is a hobby? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

    I think Adam “religiously” spends his time trying to make religious people understand that that they need to keep their religious views to themselves and stop standing in the way of other people’s freedoms, keep religion out of politics, and progress of scientific and rational inquiry.

    I know a few Christians who are like this. What are you going to tell them? – they have another religion besides Jesus?

  • Douglas Kirk

    @Brandon:

    I think a lot of people like yourself are very very confused as to why atheists find your faith and the multitude of other faiths present in the world, contemptible. Let me please outline a few things that I as an atheist do not have a problem with:

    I don't have a problem with faith as a cultural and community identity. If I did why would I bother talking about what I believe and identifying myself as an atheist?

    I do however, have a problem with faith being used to delineate tribal boundaries and exclude people from social services or public positions. Only 42% of Americans have said they'd vote for an atheist president if all other qualifications were met. That's bigotry and religion is a particularly insidious purveyor of it.

    I don't have a problem with social framework. I love the basic social services and community supplied often by churches. This, however, is not religion and does not validate religious claims in any way. If, for example, every church were replaced with a community center that had a library, workout areas and an indoor track and community lead classrooms, I think it would not be just as beneficial, but more beneficial to society as a whole.

    I don't have a problem with people claiming they have reasonable knowledge of the way the world works. It's why I love science and the scientific method, because it's literally the only and best method we currently have for understanding how the world works without guessing.

    I don't have a problem with people proselytizing. I'm fine when people tell me I'm wrong and I enjoy the argument that comes from it.

    I do have a problem when those people who claim to have reasonable knowledge of the way the world works and proselytize about it are wrong. I have a really big problem when those people do not use evidence to support their claims, especially when asked. And I have a serious problem when those people commit all kinds of logical and factual errors in arguments that would look to an outside observer as intellectual dishonesty.

    And the biggest thing I have a problem with? Besides those who tell other people not to end a sentence with a preposition (yes you can; everyone does it), are those people who claim that other people's truth claims are equally valid and do not necessarily need to be supported with evidence. That is a most insidious destroyer of honest intellectual conversation. It's a fairly common idea, the idea that everyone is entitled to believe whatever they want to believe about the way the world works and claim so without consequence. It's also an idea that is very dangerous and enables the snake oil peddlers and religious demagogues to amass piles of wealth and hurt literally billions of people in the process. Ideas are subject to scrutiny. Facts are not negotiable or arguable.

    I as an atheist have a great big problem with religion because it's not true and it enables far more harm than the good it enables.