Friendly Atheist

my post on myspace:

today i read about ‘the blasphemy challenge’, an event on Youtube which asks people to post videos of themselves denying God, the holy spirit, etc. i guess it’s supposed to encourage atheists to ‘come out’ so to speak.

anyway, apparently the co-founder brian flemming was interviewed by john kasich on fox news the other night (why he threw himself into that fire, i don’t know.) i watched the clip and it’s pretty infuriating to me for a number of reasons.

1. what kind of news reporter is so obviously biased on the subject of his interview? i thought the news was supposed to be without opinion? oh, right, this is FOX news. mr. kasich told flemming that he hopes that he will ‘eventually turn around’. flemming laughed at this….i imagine he’s been offered prayers by many people who want to save him from hellfire and eternal damnation.

2. the outrage over this issue is hypocritical. if a baptist or a christian or a muslim went on Youtube and asked people to post videos of themselves claiming that they DID believe in god, or allah, or whomever — no one would have a problem with it. how is this any different? don’t we have freedom of religion and freedom of speech as well? apparently those civil liberties don’t count when we’re discussing religion.

3. kasich asked the question of the moment regarding atheism: ‘why are you people so angry?’ i’m so sick of hearing this. why are YOU people so angry? many devoutly religious people air their beliefs constantly, and many do so in a threatening way towards those that they believe are sinful. even worse, many religious people are violent and horribly intolerant. if atheists, agnostics, nonbelievers or anyone chooses to talk about their views, or explain why they believe that religion is destructive to our society, that doesn’t mean that they are always angry, it means that they have a different opinion. what angers me is when that opinion is viewed as undignified or unacceptable.

4. like kasich, so many people do not understand one of flemming’s main talking points: young people who are ‘brought up’ with religion are not offered the chance to consider their options, weigh the evidence and decide what to believe. if you are an adult and you come to the conclusion that you believe in a deity, that’s your decision. a five year old ‘christian’ or a teenage ‘muslim’ may not have had that option – they were likely taught from their first days that whomever or whatever is the savior and the lord. when told those things at a young age (especially in more fundamentalist faiths where it leads to bigotry, intolerance, and violence) it is no better than brainwashing.

Flemming did an excellent job of articulating some good point that are almost never aired in “polite society” – let alone on Fox News. I had to laugh when he said something like, ‘Yeah, well I think atheists play basketball too.”

I think if the objectives of the Blasphemy Challenge were to 1) give atheists a way to publicly “come out,”; 2) show the world that many “normal people” do not believe in god; 3) generate some publicity for atheism and get some little-aired ideas into the mainstream – they’ve done a fantastic job! A+

“Brian, I think you’re preying on young people…”
That is a hilarious, yet sad way to start an interview.

David’s right on the money. This is a textbook on how to be interviewed by a dumbass and come out looking cool.

David – I know you’re right….sometimes I just can’t help it!

I know the feeling. Sometimes I want to scream at the screen

I can’t believe that was actually on the news. Like many of you, I was surprised at how biased John was. It was disgusting. It’s people with such close-minded views like that who do anger me. And the fact that many people won’t realize John made a fool of himself; lots will just agree with him. Meh.

This is a letter I recently wrote to filmmaker Brian Flemming after watching the film The God Who Wasn’t There:

Brian,

For the first time in my life, someone has reflected back to me the kind of kind of utter confusion, anxiety, stress, and often panic that I experienced being raised in a fundamentalist, evangelical christian community. I, too, was a christian ? one who earnestly and perpetually tried to come to terms with “reality” inside of the “absolute truth” of christian teachings. The constant presence of obvious inconsistency without logical explanation, however, which seemed rarely to weigh as significantly on the hearts of christians around me as on me, was never overcome by that “peace that passes all understanding” that Faith was taught to provide.

The beginning of the end of my identity as a christian was at the age of 27, when the lifetime of internal struggle finally gave way to the discernment best described as:
“This has never made sense enough for me to be absolutely sure of it (no matter Who says one can be absolutely sure of it) AND I’m tired of trying to make it make sense AND I’m tired of trying to simply accept through Faith what doesn’t make sense AND I’m tired of being afraid of hell for myself and others because I/they can’t feel honest in accepting it like it is”.
My departure from christianity occurred even as the programmed fear of hell and satan and antichrists and raptures with trumpets blaring and people flying up in the sky still held me. My journey beyond christendom began with me watching an 8 part PBS documentary explaining Darwinian evolutionary theory, borrowed from the library. Prior to this, even though I was always very curious about the nature of the universe, I was too scared to research such things and I certainly had no mentors to turn to. I grew up in a world were Darwin was likened to satan’s right-hand man in deception ? I even remember 2 popular christian pop songs by Steven Curtis Chapman and Geoff Moore and the Distance criticizing evolution (in fact, I just located the lyrics- see http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/s/steven_curtis_chapman/blind_lead_the_blind.html and http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/g/geoff_moore_and_the_distance/evolutionredefined.html). I watched the Darwin documentary and the more I saw and heard, the more I cried – for the first time basic questions about the nature of the world around me were not only answered, but making logical sense. My continuing, personal exploration to understand “how things work” has happily broadened since then to include many diverse sciences. And when I don’t understand something or experience skepticism toward some concept, not having everlasting damnation as a likely punishment is a definite plus.

I am crying right now, so I don’t think I will write much more at the moment even though the memories also leave me feeling compelled to provide you with details (I think because now I know there is another person who could even begin to understand these experiences). I truly believe most people not part of the mainstream christian world have little idea of the nature of the specific ideologies perpetuated there. As an analytical, thoughtful, and creative child, not only were they confusing, they were truly frightening. Lack of acceptance being equated with eternal excruciating torment was only one of many terrifying concepts that plagued my inner world even as I was perpetuating pleasantness in the foreground.

Here is a recent promotional video for the school I went to – very similar to yours. It wasn’t a small school when I attended there, and it has grown incredibly since that time. I believe most who are part of the school have the best intentions in saying and doing what they do. However, they don’t talk very much on the front end about their ideas that the God in whom these students will be taught to cultivate absolute trust is also the God who damns you if you don’t trust. This video is only about the love and nurture, not the ‘accept or else’ dimension they just as readily believe and teach about God:

http://www.lcsonline.org/about/video.asp

My entire family is still a part of christianity, and my siblings’ children are being brought up in christian schools now.

I don’t want to be an evangelist of any ideology, but I would like in some way to be a part of creating a new meme. I would also very much enjoy meeting ex-christians who are not bitter about their experiences, yet mindful of the significance of this issue ? who could be better to heartfully and compassionately create new possibilities than those who have experienced life from both sides of this issue?

Ironically, my Netflix account delivered your movie later than expected, so I’m watching it on the day before easter. Mom invited me, yet again, to easter dinner with the family. I believe I’ll pass. (lol)

- Alison