Historic TV moment: 'I'm actually an atheist'

Someday, somebody's going to look back at this moment on CNN and draw a "before and after" line in the history of the U.S. and religion.

All I can say is, thank God for this lady.  Oh wait, woops!  I mean, just thank this lady for being honest about the good fortune of her decision, but with tolerance and a sense of humor for those who want to chalk it up to an invisible, all-powerful ghost.  If only religious folks would show the same tolerance when faced with those who don't share their "wrong" beliefs!  





I'll say it again, I can't stand people saying, "Thank God," or "Thank the Lord" when they've survived some tragedy while many others died. That makes no fucking sense. Do they think God wanted them to live and everybody else to die, or what? What makes them so fucking special, do you think?  Or is it all just part of God's mysterious plan that they got lucky? [Spiritual shrug of the shoulders].  

Same deal with those killed in a tragedy.  Believers say, "It was God's will," or "It was their time to go," or "They're in a better place now."  Oh really?  Are you sure?  Has anybody ever managed to interview the dead people flattened by debris in tornadoes, drowned by floods, swept away by tsunamis, or swallowed by earthquakes, where they're actually at (besides a grave) and if indeed it's better than where we're at, alive?  The dead tell no tales, they say.  That's OK, we tell spiritual fairy tales for them.  

Well, I'm glad more & more folks are realizing how self-serving and presumptuous our rationalizing really is.

UPDATE: A friend of mine replied:

You are irritated at religious people who are intolerant, yet you go off in your blog about hating it when people thank God for not being killed when some kind of natural disaster happens.  Practice what you preach a little.

Besides, what people mean when they use phrases like "thank God", or "due to the grace of God", what they doing is acknowledging that it could have just as easily been them that were killed.  If they had the attitude you want to believe they did about being "special", they wouldn't be thankful for anything.

Stop being so intolerant and judgmental.  You like this lady because she is a brave atheist.  Great, be happy for her.  To use it as an opportunity to kind of give a middle finger to those people who lost their homes, but survived and who happen to believe in God, is pretty low class.  Coexist.

To which I replied:

Wolf Blitzer, who is allegedly part of the liberal media axis, pushed this woman whom he didn't know to thank the Lord she was alive.  That has been considered a normal, even appropriate reaction to tragic events. However she didn't cooperate. On live TV. That was historic.   

Imagine if the Blitzer had said, "It wasn't God or fate that saved you, but your own quick thinking!  Right?  Right??"  You and all the conservatives would be up in arms about the lib'rul media and the degradation and godlessness of modern culture.   

Just have a bit of honesty and admit that your side dominates the conversation, and it's a rare person who has the courage to stand up to people like you, for fear of offending your precious half-thought-out beliefs and being ostracized. 

I am precisely criticizing the thoughtlessness in the phrase "thank God!"  It means something!  It applies not only to the person saying it, if you follow it to its logical conclusion.  But no, you choose to leave it at that.  It's brainless.  I can and do coexist with thoughtless people, I have no choice, but I'm not going to ignore their flawed thinking.  If they -- you -- can't take my pointing out the crazy logic in their beliefs, it's not my problem, it's a problem with their logic.  Don't blame the messenger.

Grieving over Newtown - without God

Here's a brave voice! To see this on CNN shows that the times they are a-changin'. It's no longer shameful to proclaim your non-belief.

But back to Krauss's argument: if God causes everything, or at least in His infinite goodness allows everything, having been forewarned, to happen, then God wanted these 20 children to be murdered. Then, in our grief, we are obliged to pray to Him lovingly, seek solace and give thanks. GWTF?

Sums up Krauss:

If instead of automatically assuming that prayers to a deity callous enough to allow this sickness, or worse, to encourage it out of divine retribution, are what families in grief need from their president and from the media, that we focused on rational grief counseling and community support, including better mental health care combined with sensible gun control, we as a society might ultimately act more effectively to stop this madness.

Why must the nation grieve with God?

By Lawrence M. Krauss

December 26, 2012 | CNN

URL: http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/26/opinion/krauss-grief-faith/index.html?hpt=hp_bn7

Another nail in the GOP's coffin

The GOP is already in trouble, demographically.  They already lost blacks and women, and they're losing Hispanics; meanwhile, the GOP is "not generating enough angry white guys to stay in business for the long term."  And now there's this:

The [Pew] study, titled "Nones" on the Rise, indicates that 1 in 5 Americans now identifies as "religiously unaffiliated," a group that includes those who say they have no particular religion, as well as atheists and agnostics.

Perhaps more instructive is a close look at the age breakdown: If you're under 30, there's a 1-in-3 chance that religion plays little or no role in your life, according to the survey.

"This finding and the growth of this group has very real political consequences and political implications," says Greg Smith, a senior researcher at the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life and a co-author of the study.  "It's heavily Democratic," he says.

Why are so many under 30s turning away from religion?  I side with this explanation:

"There is considerable evidence suggesting that the 'nones' have actually been caused by politics," says Campbell, co-author of American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us. "Many people have pulled away from the religious label due to the mingling of religion and conservative politics."

Conservatives, by making their religion political (or actually subordinating their religion to their politics, I would say), have turned off a whole generation of people from religion (and politics, too).  This all started in the U.S. in the 80s, so it's no surprise that kids born then and grew up in this evil mix of religion and politics can't stand it as young adults.

Young 'Nones' Set To Transform The Political Landscape

By Scott Neuman

October 9, 2012 | NPR

URL: http://n.pr/UPOpOE

Spiritual not religious = Stupid not profound

Call me Jerry Falwell, but I totally agree that "spiritual but not religious" people are false and annoying.

Pick a confession already.  

I  have strange feelings in my gut, too, but it's usually something I consumed.  It's not religion.

You know what these people remind me of: GDIs. Yeah, those Goddamn Independents.  You know, those people who tell you they don't belong to any political party, because the perfect one for them isn't out there, and they're so choosy and discriminating and all that.  Although they vote 95 percent of the time for the same party.  Mm-hm.  Right.  Them and Bill O'Reilly: big independents, big free-ranging desperados of the political-consumer prairie that no pollster or registration list can corral.  No responsibility to anybody or any party.  Gimme a break.

Just like these spiritual-not-religious types: they think their true religion hasn't been invented yet.  Or -- dude! -- maybe they'll be the ones to invent it!  Whooooaa!!  Dude!  

"Ommm... O, Great Spirit Douchebag, make me one with Your doucheiness!...Ommm...."

My Take: 'I'm spiritual but not religious' is a cop-out

By Alan Miller

September 29, 2012 | CNN

URL: http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/09/29/my-take-im-spiritual-not-religious-is-a-cop-out/?hpt=hp_c2