Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Non-Believing
Great article that you should read in its entirety at The Evangelical Atheist, but the short version is this... countries in which Atheists are the majority are much more well-off and happier. Period. Take religion out of the argument, and humanity is better taken care of.
This happens in countries with "organic" atheism -- that is, non-belief in deity naturally followed by the people, instead of imposed by the government (q.v. parts of the former USSR; modern-day communist China.) On every possible quality of life scale, the atheist countries (all four of them) win.
And it makes me weep and gnash my teeth. If only we could combine American techological know-how with purely rationalistic atheisism, we might get somewhere. Instead, we have big science here, along with the insistence upon superstition and stupidity and the whole religion thing.
My eyes turn toward Sweden... most atheistic nation in the world, and purveyors of fine furniture and interior design, but... not having the money to do otherwise, not much else.
True, when the division is "do you believe in god" and "do you go to church," America probably splits much more toward the latter. But, until everything else in this country admits that the latter is true -- a lot of Americans probably believe in god, but don't behave like they do -- we're stuck in a rut.
Socio-political advancement and belief in god is impossible. Period. If you want to move forward into the 21st Century, then dump the god fairytale now. If you want to move firmly back to the 13th Century, then feel free to believe the religious bullshit, abandon all logic, and waste your days in church.
And no, I'm not being prejudicial here. Whether you're Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Mormon, Scientologist or whatever... if your religion rules your world... fuck you. You're an idiot. Do you really think that Santa Claus will drop by on Christmas Eve? No? Why not? When was the last time you saw the Easter Bunny, hm?
If you think that some invisible cloud being is keeping a tally on your life right now, then you're just as big an idiot as an adult who believes in Santa. Or the Easter bunny. Dump the myths your parents taught you. Wake up to the real world. There are no gods, no rules, no heaven, no hell. And the sooner you wake up to that simple fact, the better. The sooner you stop judging this world by non-existent criteria, the better.
And the better and better Sweden looks to me. After all, when was the last time Sweden invaded another country based on lies and bullshit?
Um... not since about the 9th Century, when they sucked up Norway. But, trust me, they've gotten over that. And Norway is Norway, Sweden is Sweden, and that's more than I can say for anything the US has done since at least 1959...
This happens in countries with "organic" atheism -- that is, non-belief in deity naturally followed by the people, instead of imposed by the government (q.v. parts of the former USSR; modern-day communist China.) On every possible quality of life scale, the atheist countries (all four of them) win.
And it makes me weep and gnash my teeth. If only we could combine American techological know-how with purely rationalistic atheisism, we might get somewhere. Instead, we have big science here, along with the insistence upon superstition and stupidity and the whole religion thing.
My eyes turn toward Sweden... most atheistic nation in the world, and purveyors of fine furniture and interior design, but... not having the money to do otherwise, not much else.
True, when the division is "do you believe in god" and "do you go to church," America probably splits much more toward the latter. But, until everything else in this country admits that the latter is true -- a lot of Americans probably believe in god, but don't behave like they do -- we're stuck in a rut.
Socio-political advancement and belief in god is impossible. Period. If you want to move forward into the 21st Century, then dump the god fairytale now. If you want to move firmly back to the 13th Century, then feel free to believe the religious bullshit, abandon all logic, and waste your days in church.
And no, I'm not being prejudicial here. Whether you're Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Mormon, Scientologist or whatever... if your religion rules your world... fuck you. You're an idiot. Do you really think that Santa Claus will drop by on Christmas Eve? No? Why not? When was the last time you saw the Easter Bunny, hm?
If you think that some invisible cloud being is keeping a tally on your life right now, then you're just as big an idiot as an adult who believes in Santa. Or the Easter bunny. Dump the myths your parents taught you. Wake up to the real world. There are no gods, no rules, no heaven, no hell. And the sooner you wake up to that simple fact, the better. The sooner you stop judging this world by non-existent criteria, the better.
And the better and better Sweden looks to me. After all, when was the last time Sweden invaded another country based on lies and bullshit?
Um... not since about the 9th Century, when they sucked up Norway. But, trust me, they've gotten over that. And Norway is Norway, Sweden is Sweden, and that's more than I can say for anything the US has done since at least 1959...
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