in case of emergency
If God had a face what
Would it look like
And would you want to see
If seeing meant that you would have to believe...?
We must not forget ourselves in our conceit. Too often, I think, we forget the original intentions and reasoning for our actions, and when that is forgotten we go through the motions, and that will lead to people doing things for the sake of doing things, without thinking, and this is one of the main criticisms of religion, lest we forget.
"I have no problem with God, it's his fan club I can't stand." In the battle between religion and atheism, this is one of the main rallying cries. Lest we forget, when we talk about not believing in gods, in Theos, we're mainly, mostly talking about that one particular God we're opposed to and don't believe in. We're opposed to that particular one God that doesn't exist, and the huge religious following that does, because of many reasons, but mostly because we see Him being used as the means to justify the ends of Man, or the heinous hypocrisy practiced in his organised following. We're opposed because we've met enough bastards who don't practice what they preach, or preach such hurtful, hateful things that we know, we know, deep inside, that this is wrong, and we must fight it. We know, without need to refer to any holy book, that this must be wrong.
So when we fight, we must remember what we fight for. We fight against Religious agendas masquerading under secular pretensions of Science, we fight against Religious interests hindering the due processes of law and interfering with the just rule of society. We fight against practiced indifference, and ignorance, and intentional stupidity most of all; we fight against blind beliefs in repeated mantras that would guide minds astray from their own common sense and judgment and humanity. We fight against selfishness, and brinkmanship, and foolish, stone-headed devotion that can be so easily manipulated and used in the false, unjust cause of terror and freedom. We fight against people who derive their morality from religion, and cast justification - blame - reasoning - all at the feet of the One they worship, who cannot be infallible. We fight against people shirking responsibility for their actions, in the name of religion.
We have no truck with rational, thinking religious folk. In fact we would happily accept a lift, and share a beer, and talk about the finer aspects of cathedral or the wondrous melodies of hymns. And we will good-naturedly proselytize them, just as they would not hesitate to convert us.
But a rational argument cannot prove God; and caveat - a rational argument cannot disprove God either. By definition, He is outside the realm of human imagining. So be it. I can neither prove nor disprove the existence of Russell's Teapot nor The Flying Spaghetti Monster (who hath touched me with his noodly appendage) nor God. Arguing doesn't get anywhere except show who is more eloquent and cultured in debate; and frankly that counts for fuck all in a debate about Higher Beings or if they exist.
We must remember that if we do see god, or gods, or God, if we did look upon his face, then there is nothing left to argue. Atheism is immediately disproven if we did look upon the face of god - He's right there! He exists. Praise be to him. Were we to see his face, we must put down our weapons and give up the fight.
But once again I call you to remember what fight we must give up. We are giving up the causes of Atheism - there clearly is a god, our argument is invalidated. But we must still fight for what we fight for. Against uncommon greed, gathered in the name of a higher purpose; against foolish exaltations and promises that deny medical treatments; against the charlatans and schemers and liars and serpents who would point the devout at unjust causes and groom young ones astray for their own dark purposes.
This must even now be our fight, without absolute proof or disproof of God. We are not opposed against Religion, only against Cults.
I don't know why, but I just wanted to say this. I am not one for Pascal's Wager, but I'll Wager he would approve of this.
Elysium, of the golden fields, was offered for valiant warriors who proved themselves worthy but were not particularly religious or in the wrong religion or simply never got to hear of the religion. I'd much like to go there, thank you - I hear Saladdin is particularly good at Chess, and I'd love to watch Einstein and Feynman together.
Would it look like
And would you want to see
If seeing meant that you would have to believe...?
We must not forget ourselves in our conceit. Too often, I think, we forget the original intentions and reasoning for our actions, and when that is forgotten we go through the motions, and that will lead to people doing things for the sake of doing things, without thinking, and this is one of the main criticisms of religion, lest we forget.
"I have no problem with God, it's his fan club I can't stand." In the battle between religion and atheism, this is one of the main rallying cries. Lest we forget, when we talk about not believing in gods, in Theos, we're mainly, mostly talking about that one particular God we're opposed to and don't believe in. We're opposed to that particular one God that doesn't exist, and the huge religious following that does, because of many reasons, but mostly because we see Him being used as the means to justify the ends of Man, or the heinous hypocrisy practiced in his organised following. We're opposed because we've met enough bastards who don't practice what they preach, or preach such hurtful, hateful things that we know, we know, deep inside, that this is wrong, and we must fight it. We know, without need to refer to any holy book, that this must be wrong.
So when we fight, we must remember what we fight for. We fight against Religious agendas masquerading under secular pretensions of Science, we fight against Religious interests hindering the due processes of law and interfering with the just rule of society. We fight against practiced indifference, and ignorance, and intentional stupidity most of all; we fight against blind beliefs in repeated mantras that would guide minds astray from their own common sense and judgment and humanity. We fight against selfishness, and brinkmanship, and foolish, stone-headed devotion that can be so easily manipulated and used in the false, unjust cause of terror and freedom. We fight against people who derive their morality from religion, and cast justification - blame - reasoning - all at the feet of the One they worship, who cannot be infallible. We fight against people shirking responsibility for their actions, in the name of religion.
We have no truck with rational, thinking religious folk. In fact we would happily accept a lift, and share a beer, and talk about the finer aspects of cathedral or the wondrous melodies of hymns. And we will good-naturedly proselytize them, just as they would not hesitate to convert us.
But a rational argument cannot prove God; and caveat - a rational argument cannot disprove God either. By definition, He is outside the realm of human imagining. So be it. I can neither prove nor disprove the existence of Russell's Teapot nor The Flying Spaghetti Monster (who hath touched me with his noodly appendage) nor God. Arguing doesn't get anywhere except show who is more eloquent and cultured in debate; and frankly that counts for fuck all in a debate about Higher Beings or if they exist.
We must remember that if we do see god, or gods, or God, if we did look upon his face, then there is nothing left to argue. Atheism is immediately disproven if we did look upon the face of god - He's right there! He exists. Praise be to him. Were we to see his face, we must put down our weapons and give up the fight.
But once again I call you to remember what fight we must give up. We are giving up the causes of Atheism - there clearly is a god, our argument is invalidated. But we must still fight for what we fight for. Against uncommon greed, gathered in the name of a higher purpose; against foolish exaltations and promises that deny medical treatments; against the charlatans and schemers and liars and serpents who would point the devout at unjust causes and groom young ones astray for their own dark purposes.
This must even now be our fight, without absolute proof or disproof of God. We are not opposed against Religion, only against Cults.
I don't know why, but I just wanted to say this. I am not one for Pascal's Wager, but I'll Wager he would approve of this.
Elysium, of the golden fields, was offered for valiant warriors who proved themselves worthy but were not particularly religious or in the wrong religion or simply never got to hear of the religion. I'd much like to go there, thank you - I hear Saladdin is particularly good at Chess, and I'd love to watch Einstein and Feynman together.