Saturday, June 22, 2013

Atheists Believe in Nothing

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It was a mistake, I know. I shouldn't have watched the video, but I was asked by some online friends to watch it. And so I did.

It was a video of a compilation of Creationists plying their wares. Anywhere from dragons/dinosaurs in the Garden of Eden to a worldwide flood putting the fossils into strata to Kurt Whats-His-Name telling kids that evilution suggests the eventuality of a crocoduck.  

I'm tired of it. I really am.
I'm tired of giving any more of my attention to the Ken Hamms of the world. It is boring hearing their droning drivel.

Believe in nothing?  Really?

  • I believe in the taste of salt water on the lips of my son with a quick kiss, forehead to forehead.
  • I believe in the tangible, humming sparkle of my daughter's glow after a great performance.
  • I believe in the crinkled brown eyes of Jerry's smile when he's teasing me into a smile of my own.
  • I believe in bubbling laughter.
  • I believe in the unknown bird with the amazing whistle outside of the window of an evening.
  • I believe in meeting my friend for tea and losing track of time.
  • I believe in comfortable shoes and gorgeous earrings.
  • I believe in leaving better-than-average tips.
  • I believe in the delicious smell/taste of sunscreen in the summer.
  • I believe in the years to come where my kids become the type of adults who separate their recyclables and who help people that they don't even know.
  • I believe in a superb baritone.
  • I believe in the prolific and insatiable thing called LIFE in this immense universe in which we live.
  • I believe in the decency of "thank you" and the healing power of an extra long hug.
  • I believe in the atmosphere.
  • I believe in supporting families, breadwinners, mothers, children, in every way possible.
  • I believe in equality and respect and peace.
  • I believe in whispered, smiling secrets.
  • I believe in saying "I love you".
  • I believe in horseback riding.
  • I believe in caring for the sea and its creatures.
  • I believe in a great bongo drum.
  • I believe in arms around shoulders and long, even strides together, left foot first.
  • I believe in delicious, cool, necessary water.
  • I believe in authenticity and ethics.
  • I believe in the depth of green eyes and the breadth of blue.
  • I believe in midnight book reading and late wake up.
  • I believe in all forms of art.
  • I believe in living fully each day.
  • I believe in the power of words.
  • I believe in the solidity of my husband.
  • I believe in rain.
  • I believe in living simply and sharing.
  • I believe in the world in a tea cup.
  • I believe a person can change if they are truly ready.
  • I believe in good intention and duct tape.
  • I believe in climbing the tree and scaling the wall.
  • I believe in kisses on the nape of the neck.
  • I believe in misty days.
  • I believe that sex is natural and normal and that practicing it safely is A-OK.
  • I believe in leaving comments on blog posts that I read.
  • I believe in the hope of the breaking of each new day.
  • I believe in equal pay for equal work.
  • I believe in the heart of a child.
  • I believe in singing in the shower.
  • I believe in guitars and keyrings.
  • I believe the sheer number of planets in the universe guarantees life in many places.
  • I believe in the inherent value and potential of every person.
  • I believe in this place and this time.
  • I believe with all of my heart that Hollywood producers have more up their collective sleeves than super heroes and vampires.
  • I believe in protecting our atmosphere and earth.
  • I believe in smaller cars.
  • I believe that, although it is difficult being misunderstood, it is important to maintain dignity and authenticity.
  • I believe that the criticism of others reflects more on the criticizer than the criticizee.
  • I believe in sharing the road with cyclists.
  • I believe in listening to that small voice inside that says 
  • Keep trying, what you are doing is making a difference.
  • I believe in small gestures of thoughtfulness.
  • I believe in the gentle squeeze of my hand as my daughter tells me of the depth of her love at those times when she can't put it into words.
  • I believe in majority rule.
  • I believe people perform best with they have their dignity.
  • I believe in mothers and fathers.
  • I believe in children.
  • I believe in a ponytail, high and tight.
  • I believe that a picture really is worth a thousand words.
  • I believe in poetry.
  • I believe in saying "yes" whenever possible.
  • I believe in extra ice in my water.
  • I believe in the small group of people who are in my life.
  • I believe in dancing to Super Freak every time it comes on, no matter where I am.
  • I believe in trying again.
  • I believe in the power of learning.
  • I believe in my husband, my daughter, my son, and myself.

I believe I'll have another cookie. 
 

What about you,
does this stuff by Ken Hamm and Kurt What's His Name get to you?


Extra greetings to readers in France!


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If you enjoyed this post, you may also like:    
Your Life has no Meaning   
You Were Never a Real Believer   
On Being Religion-Free

11 comments:

  1. I was told recently that atheists *by definition* MUST be nihilists. Why do people insist on defining others?? I can't count the number of times I've said, "my beliefs are not a comment on your beliefs."

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  2. I particularly like the one about leaving better than average tips. Me too! I used to freak out about calculating what was due (and to be fair, I used to be pretty broke, so it was an issue). Now, I figure, heck! What's an extra couple couple bucks, or five bucks, when I can afford it and the folks working in the restaurants are usually working hard and long for not much. Why not be lavish in a little way like that?

    I never even think about creationists anymore. No time, no interest.

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    Replies
    1. The thing is, although I have NO TIME for that crap, it seems important that those things are being taught to CHILDREN.
      What to do???

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  3. I think on the whole that it's being taught to fewer and fewer children, and has a lot less base in culture than it used to, in spite of individual cases. But I'm saying that as a Canadian, so it's definitely different up here than it is in the States.

    How do you find it in Oz?

    What I've seen, growing up fundie and then converting to Catholicism, and now as an avoider of religion, is that there are a lot fewer people in society in general who would base their lives on The Law as they might have learned it, a lot more people who are opening up to acceptance of others, and much less acceptance of bigotry in the name of religion. I guess my hope and faith in humanity is that just the fact that there is a growing demographic of non-religious or non-bigoted religious people out there makes the exposure of those who grow up in fundie homes (of whatever stripe) more likely. And that it becomes normalized in day-to-day life.

    Sometimes when I look around and realize how much change there's been since I was a kid I can't believe it! Hallelujah! ;-)

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    Replies
    1. Hallelujah indeed!
      Here in Australia, it is very, very secular.
      If a person has a religion, they keep it private. In fact, I don't know who is religious and who is not because there is no discussion about it whatsoever.
      If I have ever brought up religion in a conversation, it is considered quite gauche.

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    2. When I lived in Australia then visited again (a year in 1981, a month in 1991) I don't remember religion *discussed* a lot but it was implied. I lived in rural areas with Christian (Uniting Church) people, and it was assumed in the area that if you weren't visible in the local Protestant (usually UC) services, it was because you were Catholic or maybe Anglican. I think I knew more Catholics than Anglicans.

      Someone known to be atheist would be suspect.

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    3. REALLY!!!!!!????? Interesting!!!!

      MY understanding is that the population has grown so rapidly in the last two decades that the changes have been staggering. But I was in a fairly large city; maybe the smaller, more isolated towns still have some of this... Hmmmmm!

      Thanks so much for your insight.

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  4. It's quite a lot like that in most of Canada too. And a lot of western Europe, I understand. So the US is the anomoly... prepare to be assimilated!

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  5. Such a lovely post and a fantastic list! :)

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    1. Thank you!
      Others are welcome to add to it!

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  6. Found your blog via the Secular Homeschool forum. I'm just starting out with homeschool. I consider myself a radical atheist... Pretty darn rad. ;) This is a lovely post! Your blog looks great! I live in northern NSW, just moved back from a short stint in Darwin where there the homeschool community was VERY religious with US creationist textbooks, quite mind-boggling as I didn't think that existed in Australia, although the people were nice and didn't talk much about it...! I worry that with science and technology becoming incredibly pervasive, some of these kids could be in for a pretty rough adjustment period at some point in the future.

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