Scary Christians from Ocala, Florida

The above logic has interesting applications to Christianity too. There are two possibilities: either we know who created Christianity or we don’t. If we do, it’s man-made and so false. If we don’t, then it was created by the Devil and so evil.

Of course, atheism didn’t really have to be created. It’s the default position, so it would exist even if no one knew about it.

When did atheism originate? Atheism in the Western world “has its roots in pre-Socratic Greek philosophy, but did not emerge as a distinct world-view until the late Enlightenment.”

Atheism was born the first time someone claimed to have special powers, special vision or communicated with invisible entities. It may have happened something like this:

Scene: a cave 128,254 years ago.
Limper, a male born with a bad leg has always had to remain behind while the other young males and females go out on the hunt. As a result he gets only the leftovers of whatever the hunters bring back. They tolerate him because he is able to dig up roots with the elders and the little ones, but he is looked down upon and has to sleep near the cave entrance where it is colder. Although he is physically lame, he is very crafty. He carefully observes how people react to things.

Early one morning Limper is looking out of the cave entrance and sees the antlers of a buck elk just disappearing over the far ridge. Glancing around he confirms that no one else saw it. A big buck means a herd is close by! Suddenly he starts gasping and babbling, staring into the embers of the fire guarding the entrance, as if he’s seeing something amazing. He chants and sings nonsense, and grasps his one and only prized possession, a boar’s tooth, holding it up to his forehead. The rest of the clan look at him with a mixture of amusement and annoyance. Limper, moving his arm as if it is being forced by an invisible hand draws an elk in the sand with his boar’s tooth. Then as if in a trance he says that he has had a vision that an elk herd is over the far ridge.

The others look at each other with questions in their eyes. Big Hands, the leader comes up to Limper and looks him in the eye, then looks out at the ridge. After some consideration he sends two of the adolescents to go check it out. Within an hour they come back very excited, saying that they found dung sign and track sign. Big Hands looks at Limper with a new wonder and respect. He immediately organizes a two-prong hunting party in a pattern that has worked well before in the rare opportunities they have had to hunt elk.

As all the able-bodied members grab their weapons and file out, Sharp Edge, a good hunter and the best tool maker stops to look down at Limper, still babbling and scribbling in the sand. For a fraction of a second their eyes meet, and they immediately take each other’s measure. The hunt will bring back valuable meat, and Limper will enjoy a new status in the clan, with better food and a warmer place to sleep, protected by the competent but gullible Big Hands. Sharp Edge doesn’t know how Limper did it but he doesn’t believe the trance act, and both men know it. Without a word he turns his perfectly made spear down and draws a line in the sand between them. Then he rushes off to catch up with the hunting party. The struggle between them will continue for over twelve hundred centuries.

Regardless of what atheists claim, the decline of Christian morals and the increase of crime and murder are because of the humanistic and atheistic influence in our nation.

Oh great. Now we can’t even point out that many Christians have poor morals because its somehow our fault.

Has anyone done a study to see if brain function changes as a result of the constant brainwashing of being in a cult or fundamentalist religion? This is not a snarky joke but a serious question.

Also, I have to note that Christian morals aren’t really all that “moral” if you ask me. They’re juvenile and over-simplified morals that are appropriate for a 4 year old, but not for a mature adult living in a complex society.

My purpose is to point out the presidency is not a “religious” office.

Someone’s been on vacation for the last eight years.

Atheism was born the first time someone claimed to have special powers, special vision or communicated with invisible entities.

Ramen to that!

From the second letter:

Without God there is no accountability and everything is permissible.

This tired old idea that without an authority figure over our heads threatening retribution we would all become murderers and rapists, etc., etc. should be confronted every time someone brings it up.
It reveals two things about the author: one that he doesn’t pay any attention to the world around him, where many people who don’t believe in his punishing father figure still maintain a good level of civil behavior, and two that he himself is operating at a low, childish level of moral development. Most people base their expectations of other’s behavior in a hypothetical situation by their own expectations of themselves. In other words he’s revealing that without a threat of punishment he is the one who would run amok. It’s a self-perpetuating system: Using an imaginary daddy-will-be-mad to keep himself in line prevents him from growing up and taking adult responsibility for behaving himself, based on positive principles.

This is one the drawbacks of convincing people to “become as little children.”