My last post here

As time moves on, people change. My interests have changed greatly in the past 3 months. I no longer feel the need to talk about atheism and religion. I constantly run into the exact same arguments made from both sides and I’ve come to be bored of the debate. The funniest thing is, neither side is correct since neither side can prove anything until death.

I’m living my life now. My atheism has become an every day thing and is nothing special to me any more. No, I obviously won’t switch to religion to make things feel special, especially since I am pretty positive that there is no god or gods. My own personal quest for happiness has begun. My days of depression, fear, and thoughts of suicide are lifting and giving me a more hope for accomplishment that doesn’t revolve around me curling up in a ball in my room hoping that things will just get better on their own and that time will fix everything. Life doesn’t work that way; whether you believe in a deity or not. The only thing that exists for sure is myself at this moment, nothing else. I am now dedicating my energy into living my life first and helping those around me as best as I can. I finally have a chance to do for myself and I’m not going to look back, especially since I know that every bit that I help myself, I help others along, too. We’re all connected in this world, some greater than others, and I want to be one of the great ones.

I have started up another blog. This one is both personal and follows my road to recovery from my depression and phobias. If you’re interested, please visit: http://chroniclesofphobia.wordpress.com

Thanks for visiting ~ David “Greateighthsin”

Post-Rapture

I woke up this morning to children playing in the streets, the hum of cars passing by, the sound of a jet above, and the over all workings of a modern society going through its every day routines. Once again, another viral end of the world prediction didn’t come to light.

Boy, my hole-in-the-wall blog definitely got a lot of attention during this week, though. I topped out at 89 hits in one day, and even 81 hits two days before. Absolutely crazy! I would like to thank everyone that visited, and even subscribed to this blog. Even a bigger thank you to those that posted my blog onto Digg, Reddit, and even Facebook.

So what does this mean, and what will happen next? My next prediction says that Harold Camping will apologize not to those people he had mistaken, but for his own personal misfortune of being wrong. I’m not sure if he will make another prediction or not, but if he gets the chance, I’m fairly sure he will squeeze one in before his death. As for Christians around the world who have mocked Camping and his followers, I want you to look a bit more introspectively. If you believe that the rapture will happen, then you’re not much farther than Camping and his followers. To mock and ridicule those people is to mock and ridicule a part of your beliefs, too. For those that are agnostic or atheistic and ridiculed Camping, then you’re doing nothing but kicking a dead horse. Best to leave the “I told you so” to yourself and use this as evidence that Christianity, and religion, can be false.

Now with 5/21/11 out of the way, expect to hear from end of the world believers again in 12/21/12; the Mayan end of the world believers.

May 21st Rapture

We are just ten days away from the supposed rapture that is suspected to take part according to Harold Camping of Family Talk radio. Through analyzing the bible, he selected May 21st, 2011 as the day of the Christian rapture, and October 21st as the day the world ends.

Do I believe any of this? Obviously not. Not only because I’m an atheist, but also that Camping has predicted the end of the world before (September 1994), and look at how accurate that came out. Not to mention the long list of other failed end of the world prophesies that have come to pass. A thorough list can be found on the Tacoma Atheists End of the World section.

What is going on? Well, Family Radio has been spending hundreds of thousands in advertising for their prediction. Rather than attempting to make the end more comfortable for others, they would rather instill fear in order to get their message out, and for people to follow like sheep.

What will happen? Probability, like always, states that his prediction will go completely unaccomplished and everyone will continue to live in their day to day lives without any disruptions; aside from Camping’s followers asking questions.

What will Camping do if his prediction fails? Do just like every other “prophet” and recreate yet another date, most likely another date that is well after his death.

What this little stunt only proves to me is that religion remains nothing more than emotional manipulation over the act of reasoning. Rather than doing something of real good for everyone who doesn’t know, or doesn’t want to believe, Camping and his followers use fear propaganda to twist the minds of others in order to give the illusion that they are doing good. I  have always seen this as being nothing more than an abusive parent thinking that the abuse will raise their child up straight, but in reality, is causing more problems with the child like rebellion, hate, and even emotional trauma (I grew up in an abusive household).

If Camping is right, what would I do? Well, since the rapture states that non-believers will be tossed into Hell, I accept this wholly. I have no fear of Hell and will put my humanly principals well before my physical well-being. I would refuse to explain myself to any God, but would be asking that God to explain Himself. If He can not come up with a reasonable answer for me, or refuses, and punishes me, then He is nothing more than a demon in my eyes and I do not wish to be in its company.

Is America REALLY a Christian nation?

Image from Wikipedia

Many fundamentalist Christians love to scream and claim that America is really a Christian based nation. The Amendment to our Constitution currently states:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Many like to twist the word play on the first statement to mean that the government can no set up their own religious establishment, or that the government can not base it’s workings around one single establishment, or denomination, of Christianity. Thus, eliminating the idea of “separation between church and state” as written to the Danbury Baptists by Thomas Jefferson.

This last week, I came across a little gem and have been doing some homework on it. After America signed and approved it’s Constitution, we began to set up our own private trading routes. Many of these routes were lined with Barbary pirates of the Mediterranean sea and Atlantic ocean. Soon, war broke out and trade slowed.

In 1796, the Treaty of Tripoli was signed by America’s 2nd President, John Adams. This treaty was approved by a landslide majority of the Senate, and received absolutely no debate in it’s enactment into law. Now, here’s the gem of it all. Article 11 to the Treaty of Tripoli states:

“As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion,—as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility, of Mussulmen,—and as the said States never entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.”

Yes, you see it. The treaty clearly states that America is not founded on the Christian religion. Approved by the Senate and signed into full law by President Adams with absolutely no debate, this treaty is evidence that the founding fathers of this nation did not want any religion, or even non-religion, to be the rule of the land. America is called the “land of the free”, not the “land of the free for only people who only think like me”. To say the latter, is to turn your back on the foundation of this nation and to be on the position of ruling the mind, body, and freedom of choice.

~E pluribus unum

Happy Easter!

Gotta be a little quick with this post since our internet is being highly unstable today. Happy Easter to everyone! I’ll be spending the day with family, dinner, and chocolate ❤ Of course, no church for my parents and me. Unsure about the rest of my family, but I don't think they will be attending any services, either.

Probably the biggest question I've ever had, though. Why the heck does Easter chocolates always taste the best!? Even the cheaper chocolates!

Purpose without a God

There’s no point in living if you don’t believe in God.

Boy, have I seen this normative argument plenty of times. Especially since this is completely wrong. Whether or not you believe in a God or not, doesn’t change a thing about the value of life. It’s not just western atheists that don’t believe in God, but also many Asian and African civilizations. Buddhists, though they have spirituality, have absolutely no God that they worship, just a man that lived and relived. Yet, you don’t see these people committing suicide because live serves no purpose. Instead, they live on and in their own friends and families.

Many years ago, I remember watching a documentary on ancient Egypt. I remember watching a man pull out an old broken up pot and explaining what that pot was used for. At that moment, I had the most amazing epiphany ever in my life. The person that made that pot is immortal. Odd to think that someone who has no name or face lives on in immortality. No, not because of a God or Heaven, but because of his work done here on Earth. That one simple pot helped others, and even today, still helps others. That pot may bought by someone who used that pot to make their life more simple. In return, that pot was paid for and that money was used to help the person that made that pot. Those people went on to live their life through their friends and their families. They passed on experiences that brightened up someones’ day, or maybe even changed the society. Also, those people may have passed their experiences and genes on to their offspring which, in turn, helped keep their society alive, and ultimately, all of humanity. Finally, the fact that they existed in the first place, no matter the magic or force used, can never be erased. These thing alone are more than enough to keep giving me value and purpose to live my life with, or without, a God.

Now, thinking about life is fine, but what of the afterlife? Many claim that it’s complete bliss. You receive the things you want and get to stand and worship the God that you spent your life loving. This, to me, seems completely empty. Much like cheating on a video game, you would become very bored with it all. You put no effort into getting any reward you desire. One of the main great factors of being human is the fact that your hard effort and time and rewarded with not only the things that you pleasure, but that pat on the back that you accomplished something. Can it be that the idea of a Heaven and afterlife completely removes a huge part of what it means to be a human being?

100% Evidence God Doesn’t Exist!

I stumbled upon this blog post last night! It gives absolute 100% proof and evidence that God does not exist! The math is incredible and extremely simple. I’m amazed no one has ever spotted this before!

The link is HERE. The site may take a bit to load since it runs on flash, but it’s well worth it! You will be blown away!

April fools! According to my WordPress stats, looks like I actually got 3 people to click the link!

Also got quite a few hits from that, too. Thanks for visiting everyone!

First year

So, this blog finally hit it’s first year while I move onto my second year of being an atheist. 777 hits right on the dot (midnight). Hmm.. math… 7 – 1 = 6. So, 777 – 111 = 666. OMG! It’s a sign! Haha, yea right.

Anyways, it’s been a decent year for this blog. Very few hits, very few regulars, but either way it doesn’t matter to me. Popularity has no bearing on me, probability does. That probability being the fact that this blog exists and has the opportunity to help the atheist community, and maybe help someone deconvert from their religion. There’s even the chance that this blog can bring religion and atheism closer together as partners, but I don’t see that chance happening at all since this is such a minor spot on the internet.

Either way, thanks for the year, and thanks for being patient with the slow times. Hope this next year is better not only for the blog, but for everyone else out there, too!

Reddit Gem

So, I’ve been getting quickly addicted to Reddit lately… I found this nice little meme gem some made and posted.

To any follower of creationism and holds the idea of “original sin”, try explaining the reasoning behind that one. Definitely a very good argument to try and beat, all summed up in one quick image.

View from Mercury

That bright white dot with the little dot next to it is one of the most precious things in our galaxy. That, right there, is earth. The Messenger Space Probe took this picture while on it’s way to orbit the planet Mercury. It never fails to amaze me at how tiny we really are, yet how huge we really are. To know that that there are whole other galaxies out there with itty bitty stuff in them like this is absolutely awe inspiring. To further that awe, it takes the power of an uncountable amount of molecules and atoms to create those massive galaxies, stars, planets, and even you. Embracing that awe has really changed how I think about everything around me, and even the own value of my life.