The other day I was reading an article written by a gay expert on the Christian religion. He said that Jesus never said anything about homosexuality. Well, of course, that's completely untrue. Jesus thoroughly condemned homosexuality in Leviticus and in various books in the New Testament.
But just about any expert of the Christian religion would respond by saying: "No, no, you don't understand the Holy Bible. Jesus was not featured in the Old Testament." Well, okay, not by that name, but Jesus is busy throughout the Old Testament, slaughtering multitudes, inflicting swarms of insects and drought, aborting babies, etc.
How do Christians define their god(s)? Christians tell me that their monotheistic religion (actually, it's a polytheistic religion) consists of "three gods in one." One is the father, another is the son, and another is a "holy ghost."
What is a holy ghost? I thought about that. It has to be something that can't make a whole lot of noise, so it's probably their pet cat. But anyway, all three of those gods have been described--by Christians--as "eternal."
The father, son, and their little pet always existed, but one of them, the father, decided to send his son down to earth, give him flesh and have him pretend to be a human--an act of divine deceit.
Here's what all three said about gay people: From the Good News Bible "No man is to have sexual relations with another man; God hates that."--Lev. 18:22. "Even the women pervert the natural use of their sex by unnatural acts. In the same way the men give up natural sexual relations with women and burn with passion for each other. Men do shameful things with each other, and as a result they bring upon themselves the punishment they deserve for their wrong-doing."--Romans 1:26-27.
In both of these cases, the father, the son and Fluffy are speaking with one voice--and using poor St. Paul as their press secretary--something like a dummy. Hence, Jesus, in both books of the Holy Bible, condemns homosexuality.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Monday, June 08, 2009
OPEN LETTER TO BELIEVERS
Dear Believer,
FROM CHURCH LEADERSHIP TO ATHEIST
You asked me to consider Christianity as the answer for my life. I have done that. I consider it untrue, repugnant, and harmful.
You expect me to believe Jesus was born of a virgin impregnated by a ghost? Do you believe all the crazy tales of ancient religions? Julius Caesar was reportedly born of a virgin; Roman historian Seutonius said Augustus bodily rose to heaven when he died; and Buddha was supposedly born speaking. You don't believe all that, do you? Why do you expect me to swallow the fables of Christianity and other religious beliefs?
I find it incredible that you ask me to believe that the earth was created in six literal days; women come from a man's rib; a snake, a donkey, and a burning bush spoke human language; the entire world was flooded, covering the mountains to drown evil; all animal species, millions of them, rode on one boat; language variations stem from the tower of Babel; Moses had a magic wand; the Nile turned to blood; a stick turned into a snake; witches, wizards, and sorcerers really exist; food rained from the sky for 40 years; people were cured by the sight of a brass serpent; the sun stood still to help Joshua win a battle, and it went backward for King Hezekiah; men survived unaided in a fiery furnace; a detached hand floated in the air and wrote on a wall; men followed a star which directed them to a particular house.
Jesus walked on water unaided; fish and bread magically multiplied to feed the hungry; water instantly turned into wine; mental illness is caused by demons; a “devil” with wings exists who causes evil; people were healed by stepping into a pool agitated by angels; disembodied voiced spoke from the sky; Jesus vanished and later materialized from thin air; people were healed by Peter's shadow; angels broke people out of jail; a fiery lake of eternal torment awaits unbelievers under the earth... while there is life-after-death in a city which is 1,500 miles cubed, with mansions and food, for Christians only. Oh the list is endless.
If you believe these stories, then you are the one with the problem, not me. These myths violate natural law, contradict science, and fail to correspond with reality or logic. If you can't see that, then you can't separate truth from fantasy. It doesn't matter how many people accept delusions inflicted by “holy” men; a widely held lie is still a lie. If you are so gullible, then you are like the child who believes the older brother who says there is a monster in the hallway. But there is nothing to be afraid of; go turn on the light and look for yourself.
If Christianity were simply untrue I would not be too concerned. Santa is untrue, but it is a harmless myth which people outgrow. But Christianity and all other beliefs, besides being false, is also abhorrent. It amazes me that you claim to love the god of the bible, a hateful, arrogant,sexist, cruel being who can't tolerate criticism. I would not want to live in the same neighborhood with such a creature!
The biblical god is a macho male warrior. Though he said “Thou shalt not kill,” he ordered death for all opposition, wholesale drowning and mass exterminations; punishes offspring to the fourth generation (Ex. 20:5); ordered pregnant women and children to be ripped up (Hos. 13:16); demands animal and human blood to appease his angry vanity; is partial to one race of people; judges women to be inferior to men; is a sadist who created a hell to torture unbelievers; created evil (Is. 45:7); discriminated against the handicapped (Lev. 21:18-23); ordered virgins to be kept as spoils of war (Num. 31:15-18, Deut. 21:11-14); spread dung on people's faces (Mal. 2:3); sent bears to devour 42 children who teased a prophet (II Kings 2:23-24); punishes people with snakes, dogs, dragons, drunkenness, swords, arrows, axes, fire, famine, and infanticide; and said fathers should eat their sons (Ez. 5:10). Is that nice? Would you want to live next door to such a person?
And Jesus is a chip off the old block. He said, “I and my father are one,” and he upheld “every jot and tittle” of the Old Testament law. Mt. 5:18 He preached the same old judgment: vengeance and death, wrath and distress, hell and torture for all nonconformists. He believed in demons, angels and spirits. He never denounced the subjugation of slaves or women.
Women were excluded as disciples and as guests at his heavenly table. Except for hell he introduced nothing new to ethics or philosophy. He was disrespectful of his mother and brothers; he said we should hate our parents and desert our families. Mt. 10:35-36, Lk. 14:26 (So much for “Christian family life.”) He denounced anger, but was often angry himself.
Mt. 5:22, Mk. 3:5 He called people “fools” (Mt. 23:17,19), “serpents,” and “white sepulchers,” though he warned that such language puts you in danger of hellfire. Mt. 5:22 He said “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth. I came not to send peace, but a sword." Mt. 10:34 (So much for“Peace on Earth.”) He irrationally cursed and withered a fig tree for being barren out of season. Mt. 21:19 He mandated burning unbelievers. Jn.15:6 (The Church has complied with relish.) He stole a horse. Lk. 19:30-33 He told people to cut off hands, feet, eyes and sexual organs. Mt.5:29-30, 19:12 You want me to accept Jesus, but I think I'll pick my own friend, thank you.
One of Jesus' many contradictions was saying good works should be seen, and not seen. Mt. 5:16, 6:1-4 One of his mistakes was saying that the mustard plant has the smallest seed. Mt. 13:31-32 The writers of Matthew and Luke could not even get his genealogy straight, contradicting the Old Testament, and giving Jesus two discrepant lines through Joseph, his non-father!
I also find Christianity and other beliefs to be morally repugnant. The concepts of original sin, depravity, substitutionary forgiveness, intolerance, eternal punishment, and humble worship are all beneath the dignity of intelligent human beings and conflict with the values of kindness and reason. They are barbaric ideas for primitive cultures cowering in fear and ignorance.
Finally, Christianity and other beliefs is harmful. More people have been killed in the name of a god than for any other reason. The Church has a shameful, bloody history of Crusades, Inquisitions, witch-burnings, heresy trials, Western colonial intolerance, disrespect of indigenous traditions(such as the Baganda,You have just recalled those 22 men in Namugongo),support of slavery, and oppression of women. Modern “fruits” of religion include the Kanungu massacre, the callous fraud of “faith healers,” recent wars and ethnic cleansing, and fighting in Northern Ireland. Religion also poses a danger to mental health, damaging self-respect,personal responsibility, and clarity of thought.
Do you see why I do not respect the biblical message? It is an insulting bag of nonsense. You have every right to torment yourself with such insanity — but leave me out of it. I have better things to do with my life.I still want to enjoy my freedom from religious beliefs while celebrating this only one life that we have.
Kirumira Mpagi Micheal
Former Church Leader.
www.aauganda.net
FROM CHURCH LEADERSHIP TO ATHEIST
You asked me to consider Christianity as the answer for my life. I have done that. I consider it untrue, repugnant, and harmful.
You expect me to believe Jesus was born of a virgin impregnated by a ghost? Do you believe all the crazy tales of ancient religions? Julius Caesar was reportedly born of a virgin; Roman historian Seutonius said Augustus bodily rose to heaven when he died; and Buddha was supposedly born speaking. You don't believe all that, do you? Why do you expect me to swallow the fables of Christianity and other religious beliefs?
I find it incredible that you ask me to believe that the earth was created in six literal days; women come from a man's rib; a snake, a donkey, and a burning bush spoke human language; the entire world was flooded, covering the mountains to drown evil; all animal species, millions of them, rode on one boat; language variations stem from the tower of Babel; Moses had a magic wand; the Nile turned to blood; a stick turned into a snake; witches, wizards, and sorcerers really exist; food rained from the sky for 40 years; people were cured by the sight of a brass serpent; the sun stood still to help Joshua win a battle, and it went backward for King Hezekiah; men survived unaided in a fiery furnace; a detached hand floated in the air and wrote on a wall; men followed a star which directed them to a particular house.
Jesus walked on water unaided; fish and bread magically multiplied to feed the hungry; water instantly turned into wine; mental illness is caused by demons; a “devil” with wings exists who causes evil; people were healed by stepping into a pool agitated by angels; disembodied voiced spoke from the sky; Jesus vanished and later materialized from thin air; people were healed by Peter's shadow; angels broke people out of jail; a fiery lake of eternal torment awaits unbelievers under the earth... while there is life-after-death in a city which is 1,500 miles cubed, with mansions and food, for Christians only. Oh the list is endless.
If you believe these stories, then you are the one with the problem, not me. These myths violate natural law, contradict science, and fail to correspond with reality or logic. If you can't see that, then you can't separate truth from fantasy. It doesn't matter how many people accept delusions inflicted by “holy” men; a widely held lie is still a lie. If you are so gullible, then you are like the child who believes the older brother who says there is a monster in the hallway. But there is nothing to be afraid of; go turn on the light and look for yourself.
If Christianity were simply untrue I would not be too concerned. Santa is untrue, but it is a harmless myth which people outgrow. But Christianity and all other beliefs, besides being false, is also abhorrent. It amazes me that you claim to love the god of the bible, a hateful, arrogant,sexist, cruel being who can't tolerate criticism. I would not want to live in the same neighborhood with such a creature!
The biblical god is a macho male warrior. Though he said “Thou shalt not kill,” he ordered death for all opposition, wholesale drowning and mass exterminations; punishes offspring to the fourth generation (Ex. 20:5); ordered pregnant women and children to be ripped up (Hos. 13:16); demands animal and human blood to appease his angry vanity; is partial to one race of people; judges women to be inferior to men; is a sadist who created a hell to torture unbelievers; created evil (Is. 45:7); discriminated against the handicapped (Lev. 21:18-23); ordered virgins to be kept as spoils of war (Num. 31:15-18, Deut. 21:11-14); spread dung on people's faces (Mal. 2:3); sent bears to devour 42 children who teased a prophet (II Kings 2:23-24); punishes people with snakes, dogs, dragons, drunkenness, swords, arrows, axes, fire, famine, and infanticide; and said fathers should eat their sons (Ez. 5:10). Is that nice? Would you want to live next door to such a person?
And Jesus is a chip off the old block. He said, “I and my father are one,” and he upheld “every jot and tittle” of the Old Testament law. Mt. 5:18 He preached the same old judgment: vengeance and death, wrath and distress, hell and torture for all nonconformists. He believed in demons, angels and spirits. He never denounced the subjugation of slaves or women.
Women were excluded as disciples and as guests at his heavenly table. Except for hell he introduced nothing new to ethics or philosophy. He was disrespectful of his mother and brothers; he said we should hate our parents and desert our families. Mt. 10:35-36, Lk. 14:26 (So much for “Christian family life.”) He denounced anger, but was often angry himself.
Mt. 5:22, Mk. 3:5 He called people “fools” (Mt. 23:17,19), “serpents,” and “white sepulchers,” though he warned that such language puts you in danger of hellfire. Mt. 5:22 He said “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth. I came not to send peace, but a sword." Mt. 10:34 (So much for“Peace on Earth.”) He irrationally cursed and withered a fig tree for being barren out of season. Mt. 21:19 He mandated burning unbelievers. Jn.15:6 (The Church has complied with relish.) He stole a horse. Lk. 19:30-33 He told people to cut off hands, feet, eyes and sexual organs. Mt.5:29-30, 19:12 You want me to accept Jesus, but I think I'll pick my own friend, thank you.
One of Jesus' many contradictions was saying good works should be seen, and not seen. Mt. 5:16, 6:1-4 One of his mistakes was saying that the mustard plant has the smallest seed. Mt. 13:31-32 The writers of Matthew and Luke could not even get his genealogy straight, contradicting the Old Testament, and giving Jesus two discrepant lines through Joseph, his non-father!
I also find Christianity and other beliefs to be morally repugnant. The concepts of original sin, depravity, substitutionary forgiveness, intolerance, eternal punishment, and humble worship are all beneath the dignity of intelligent human beings and conflict with the values of kindness and reason. They are barbaric ideas for primitive cultures cowering in fear and ignorance.
Finally, Christianity and other beliefs is harmful. More people have been killed in the name of a god than for any other reason. The Church has a shameful, bloody history of Crusades, Inquisitions, witch-burnings, heresy trials, Western colonial intolerance, disrespect of indigenous traditions(such as the Baganda,You have just recalled those 22 men in Namugongo),support of slavery, and oppression of women. Modern “fruits” of religion include the Kanungu massacre, the callous fraud of “faith healers,” recent wars and ethnic cleansing, and fighting in Northern Ireland. Religion also poses a danger to mental health, damaging self-respect,personal responsibility, and clarity of thought.
Do you see why I do not respect the biblical message? It is an insulting bag of nonsense. You have every right to torment yourself with such insanity — but leave me out of it. I have better things to do with my life.I still want to enjoy my freedom from religious beliefs while celebrating this only one life that we have.
Kirumira Mpagi Micheal
Former Church Leader.
www.aauganda.net
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
ARE YOU AN OPPRESSOR
I sometimes find myself in a place where there appears to be nothing in particular to blog about;although in reality there is a multitude of thoughts taking place in my head at the same time,none of which has been articulated to the point of lending itself to literation in a blog post.
Its as if the mind is being pulled in different directions.But thankfully, this blog exists and it provides a means by which to vent some of the emotion,the frustration and more. I think I need to learn how to concentrate on individual thoughts more consciously and do less on many issues which I am so liable.
I stay in a country where oppression,violations of human rights,strong religious beliefs are so deep.This religious stand is attached on almost everything in an African life,even when its not necessary.
Oppression of one sort or another is endemic among humans and includes parental bossiness; bullying; street violence; and systematic, institutionalised repression of groups and individuals for reasons as varied as ethnic and racial difference,intellectual superiority or inferiority,gender,religious beliefs,atheism,sexual orientation,wealth or poverty,perceived social class. Oppression matters because it diminishes us as humans and many sufferers never recover,becoming street-kids,dropouts,depressives,suicidal, substance abusers, criminals,insane.
Everyone in our society has been forced at some time or other into operating as both oppressor and oppressed. Until we understand the deeper nature of oppression,our struggle to end it will be in vain.We will continue looking for "the enemy out there" and thus carry on the long,sad history of desperate,bewildered human beings replacing dictators with tyrants; Kings and Queens with Presidents.
I stay in a small house that i pay on a monthly basis.Am the only Atheist around,i have seen people dehumanizing me,cursing me,some even attempted top poison me and this sent alerts to my brain always to be extra cautious. Some times,i feel unhappy,just for things that may neighborhood do,and whenever i try to say how if feel,am either being seen as someone who is thinks to be special.
Just imagine,music from evening to almost midnight at a loud deafening sound and you have to keep quite. My landlord and the entire neighborhood are doing nothing.Tonight i had a bad sleep as a result of loud music,when i complained,they switch power off for the tenant who was playing music and they left me with power, still my fresh crept for this as i thought,that's not the right way to handle it.As i write this,i still feel madness over that.
What would you do if you got my point? or if you are in my shoes?
Its as if the mind is being pulled in different directions.But thankfully, this blog exists and it provides a means by which to vent some of the emotion,the frustration and more. I think I need to learn how to concentrate on individual thoughts more consciously and do less on many issues which I am so liable.
I stay in a country where oppression,violations of human rights,strong religious beliefs are so deep.This religious stand is attached on almost everything in an African life,even when its not necessary.
Oppression of one sort or another is endemic among humans and includes parental bossiness; bullying; street violence; and systematic, institutionalised repression of groups and individuals for reasons as varied as ethnic and racial difference,intellectual superiority or inferiority,gender,religious beliefs,atheism,sexual orientation,wealth or poverty,perceived social class. Oppression matters because it diminishes us as humans and many sufferers never recover,becoming street-kids,dropouts,depressives,suicidal, substance abusers, criminals,insane.
Everyone in our society has been forced at some time or other into operating as both oppressor and oppressed. Until we understand the deeper nature of oppression,our struggle to end it will be in vain.We will continue looking for "the enemy out there" and thus carry on the long,sad history of desperate,bewildered human beings replacing dictators with tyrants; Kings and Queens with Presidents.
I stay in a small house that i pay on a monthly basis.Am the only Atheist around,i have seen people dehumanizing me,cursing me,some even attempted top poison me and this sent alerts to my brain always to be extra cautious. Some times,i feel unhappy,just for things that may neighborhood do,and whenever i try to say how if feel,am either being seen as someone who is thinks to be special.
Just imagine,music from evening to almost midnight at a loud deafening sound and you have to keep quite. My landlord and the entire neighborhood are doing nothing.Tonight i had a bad sleep as a result of loud music,when i complained,they switch power off for the tenant who was playing music and they left me with power, still my fresh crept for this as i thought,that's not the right way to handle it.As i write this,i still feel madness over that.
What would you do if you got my point? or if you are in my shoes?
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Secular Government
Levi Ochieng in the Daily Monitor Janet should be honest to God and to us
The danger with using God’s name to pursue secular goals is that it begs more questions than answers. It clouds rationality. It is used as a cover up and is often a conspiracy. There is absolutely nothing wrong with Janet being politically ambitious.
It is her God-given right, but the same God requires forthright, honest and clear articulation of that right, which is also constitutional and inherent in Uganda.
WHY AM AN ATHEIST
Today 17th March 2009,It is nine years today since the horrible and devastating Kanungu massacre occurred.
On that fateful day, about 500 members of the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God were burnt to death in Kinkizi county in the south-western Uganda district of Kanungu, about 50km from Rukungiri town. The victims were doused with petrol and paraffin, before being set ablaze.
Days after the inferno, six more bodies were discovered in a pit at the residence of the church leaders. Yet another 494 bodies would be found days later, under the cult’s buildings in Buhinga, Rutoma and Rukungiri.
Other buildings and mass graves were found at Rugazi, Bunyaruguru, Rushojwa and Buziga in Kampala. Pathologists’ reports showed that many of the victims were clubbed, strangled or hacked to death.
It was also believed that some of them could have been poisoned. The cult was headed by self-styled prophet, Joseph Kibwetere and ex-Roman Catholic priest, Rev. Fr. Dominic Kataribaho, Credonia Mwerinde and John Kamagara. Area residents said Kibwetere had collected money from believers for a trip to Europe, in quest of a replica of the Biblical Noah’s Ark.
Two days to the massacre, the residents said, the cult members had thrown a big party for themselves. They also gathered their personal belongings and those of the church and set them ablaze in the middle of the camp. The following day, they toured the villages bidding farewell to their friends and neighbours
The sect was registered under the NGO Statute in 1997 to carry countrywide activities to observe the Ten Commandments, preach the word of Jesus Christ and Virgin Mary and provide education and health care. Well, it is close to a decade since, but nothing has yielded from condemnations and warrants of arrest issued for the leaders.
Their whereabouts is to date not known, or at least is not in the public domain. Days after the massacre, President Yoweri Museveni vowed that the Government would intensify the hunt for the cult leaders after he inspected the scene. “Forget this scandal and concentrate on building your families and improving your incomes. We shall arrest those people if they are still alive,” Museveni, said then.
The then second deputy premier and internal affairs minister, Moses Ali, in December 2000 appointed Justice Augustus Kania to head a committee to probe the massacre. But to date, the report has never been released. The massacre scene has been eaten up by a bush and unlike in the past when the place was guarded, these days it is abandoned. So, will justice also be engulfed by the ‘bushes’ as years go by? Only time will tell.
There's so many trouble's in Uganda today and millions of Ugandans continue to ask God to save them,am Atheist and i usually laugh loud for them.Here are the reasons why am Atheist.
Many people, famous and not so famous, have written at length on this title. Having read quite a number,I had never therein found another one's reasons to be sufficient in explanation.Perhaps being an Atheist is a personal choice of multiple paths or it may be that sufficient inward motivation to explain oneself has not been properly utilized.
There may be a cacophony of experiences in life which lead to an Atheistic outlook being adopted but, considering the varying degrees of ostracism which go with the territory, a deeper and more meaningful state of mind must be inherent in the whole process.If this were not the case reversion would be a far bigger percentage outcome than reality shows.Once an Atheist on intellectual grounds, always an Atheist.
"An unexamined life is not liveable for a human being," said Socrates in his own defense when charged with impiety.I agree, and lament the lack of philosophical studies in many schools. Questioning our personal attitudes and ideas from time to time, and consciously subjecting them to the spotlight of reason and logic,can prevent us lapsing into lazy acceptance of corrupt and dogmatic ideas and values imposed by those who would rule and control us.
My unbelief began at the age of 18, when I caught my Christian mentor slipping out of his Father Christmas costume. Having learned there was no Santa Claus, it was no great leap to also dismiss fairies, elves, goblins and other supernatural creatures. This was somewhat of a relief, I recall, as it increased my enjoyment of Grimm’s Fairy Tales, Superman, Captain Marvel and other tales involving magical phenomena over the years, because I wasn’t obliged to believe in them.
Such fables are a painless method of instilling values, certainly more exciting than the Baptist Sunday school and bible class which, to please my American Missionary mentor, I attended until I left the congregation, before he disowned me, despite considering the teachers to be somewhat pathetic.
As Nobel Prize-winning author André Gide wrote: "The closer you get to religion, the further you get from reality." Unfortunately, I grew up seeing dogma, as a guide to good living and blessings.I see many people who believe in this dying with frustration and rejection from God since no answers being delivered after years of praying!
By the time I was 22, mere unbelief had become full-blooded atheism because I'd realised that the purpose of religion is control, and the earlier the indoctrination starts, the more mind control religions have. "Give us a child until he is four and you can do what you like with him thereafter; he will always be ours!" say the Jesuits with good reason.
Religions control their ‘flock’ by the use of fear – psychological and physical.
1. Psychological fear: By taking natural instincts such as sexuality, dancing, pleasure in eating… and declaring them to be ‘sins’, control is asserted.This is psychological torment for those who believe,and in the worst cases can result in self-abuse and suicide as the "guilty" attempt to propitiate a demanding, frightening and jealous god.This guilt is reinforced through fear of excommunication and punishment after death in hell, all at the whim of an ever-watchful and omnipotent god who knows everything, even what you’re thinking!!!
"Be afraid , be very afraid. You will be tortured by the devil for eternity unless you obey god’s will." The fact that god’s will is by no means clear,having been ‘interpreted’ in a multitude of ways by imperfect humans,and that there’s no basis either in reason or reality for these scenarios doesn’t bother the priests and ministers. "Have faith!" they cry. "God works in mysterious ways…." "god will be angry if you question his commands."
You have to admit it’s a very cunning trick. Not only is everyone born sinful, but they can never liberate themselves from that dreadful state.Even death doesn’t secure release. Unless one has abided by the church’s or mosque's rules,after death there will be torture, pain, and misery for eternity. Truly, the Judeo/Christian/Muslim religions are among the most sadistic creeds ever invented for the psychological enslavement of humankind.
2. Fear of physical force: Those who weren’t taken in by fear of an invisible warlord in the sky, have to be persuaded with less subtle means through the real and present fear of torture, burning at the stake, the imposition of fines, confiscation of property and goods, physically painful penitence,See whats happening in Uganda?The robbing has its foundation in religious centers.
It is a damning indictment of humanity that with few exceptions the fear of force has been the major method of control used throughout human history by both religious and secular rulers, and remains the preferred ,indeed virtually the only method of ‘people control’ in all countries of the world.
Two other methods of control, Temptation and Reason, are seldom used by either religious or secular governments.
Temptation: The makers of consumer goods use temptation to make people consume their products but revert to fear of force when dealing with their workforce.
Reason: It was hoped by [mainly French] thinkers in the 1700’s that if people were educated they would use Reason and Logic and Commonsense to see the world as it is, and would behave ‘well’ because that’s the sensible, kind, non wasteful, peaceful, productive thing to do. For various reasons, not least among them the overweening influence of religion, that hasn’t worked.
There are and always have been a small percentage of humans who have used reason,logic and common sense to govern their lives, and invariably [inevitably perhaps] they have denied the existence of supernatural gods and monsters.
Everything existing in our world must be considered "natural", therefore the supernatural cannot exist on earth because if it did then it would be natural-not supernatural — and available to our senses – we’d be able to see or hear or smell or touch or taste it.
This proposition holds no sway with more than half of the citizens of the USA [and probably many people in developing World like Uganda] however, who, according to surveys, believe in the reality of witches, spells, vampires, angels, and extraterrestrials living among us, despite there never having been a case where they have been seen, heard smelled etc...........................
In other words despite a total lack of believable evidence.The following quote has been attributed to Charles Darwin’s father: Whoever wrote it, it makes excellent sense.
"Man is an eating animal, drinking animal and a sleeping animal and one placed in a material world, which alone furnishes the entire human animal can desire. He is gifted besides with knowing faculties,to practically explore and to apply the resources of the world to his use. These are realities. All else is nothing; - conscience and sentiment are mere figments of the imagination.Man has but five gates of knowledge, the five senses, he can know nothing but through them; all else is vain fancy. And as for the being of a god,the existence of a soul, or of a world to come, who can know anything about them? Depend upon it… these are only the bugbears by which men of sense govern fools; nothing is real that is not an object of sense”.
My metamorphosis from a ‘live and let live’ atheist to a rabid antagonist of religion came with the realisation that the objective of all religions is a desire to create a state in which their prejudices are enforced. Anyone who thinks the Taliban are unusual in this regard should think again. Blood is spilt daily all over the planet in the fight for religious control over the minds and bodies of the inhabitants. Ireland,Philippines,Ivory coast,Angola,Somalia,Kenya,Togo,
Nigeria,USA,China,Afghanistan, Israel, Lebanon,Uganda,Somalia and many more...........................
And past atrocities perpetrated by colonialists on the indigenous inhabitants of all countries with the tacit approval of religion, continue to haunt society in broken lives, drug abuse, impoverishment and misery.
Every year in Uganda and many African countries, dozens of men are murdered and thousands suffer abuse ranging from bullying to grievous bodily harm and permanent maiming as a direct result of religious teaching. And hundreds, if not thousands of boys are thrown onto the streets to live ‘rough’ by parents who are simply obeying the teachings of religion. These two years,we are seeing a great number of human sucrifice to please divine powers wherever they are.
Many succumb to disease, brutality, prostitution… and when you pass on the streets of Kampala and Nairobi, you will be greeted by thousands of street people as a result.
Both the Uganda and the USA governments are controlled by ‘devout’ Christians who see nothing wrong with lying to their constituents and waging war on innocent people, destroying civilizations, murdering, maiming and degrading the environment for economic gain.And it is the Fundamentalist Christian/Zionist certainty that heaven will not arrive on earth until there’s a Zionist state encompassing most of what we call the Middle East that ensures ongoing horror in Palestine…
History offers us a continuum of atrocities in the name of religion - wars,torture,murder,maimings,witch-hunts,incineration,the "Children’s Crusades" when thousands of homeless, unwanted kids as young as five were forced to walk, barefoot to Mediterranean ports from all across Europe, piled onto leaky ships and sent to the ‘holy land’ to fight the heathens.
All died horrible deaths of loneliness, starvation, drowning, disease, rape, abuse, slavery… in the name of a loving god. And anyone who cares to look at the lives of such sadistic monsters as St. Dominic and his henchman Torquemada, Calvin, Knox and the Borgia popes, or the perfidy of the Jesuits,to mention only a few of the millions of treacherous men and women who, in the name of their god have committed ghastly crimes against humanity, must, if they have a heart, weep.
And when I consider the unimaginable oceans of misery heaped on the indigenous people of The Americas, Africa, Australasia… with the blessing and assistance of the churches, my flesh creeps.
Christianity and Islam are death cults ,you must die to attain everlasting life. Human sacrifice on crosses… Sacrifice yourself for god! Inevitably and tragically this will end with the sacrifice of all life because of religious insistence on human supremacy/dominion over nature.
People who have spent time with animals in their natural state know that humans are simply animals.We are not better at providing for ourselves.We are not happier, more contented, more peacefully inclined.We do not respect other humans more than other animals respect each other; we are not more generous, caring or thoughtful.
Don't get me wrong,there are some great individuals who are struggling to make lives of other's better than well!
In general, human marriages are no longer-lasting than the matings of many other animals and birds.We do not treat or educate our offspring as well as most animals.And, instead of living in harmony with the natural world, our tool-making skills have enabled us change it to the point where there are hundreds of extinctions daily and it is more than likely we will soon render ourselves extinct.
Christians,Moslems and all other religious denominations insist that theirs is a "God of Love". When asked why this loving god allows dreadful things to happen to his ‘children’, they answer: "It’s to test you.To see if you can overcome your affliction and be worthy of god’s love." In other words, god allows people to go around maiming, laming, murdering and spreading dread-diseases, and sends plagues, pestilence, war and death - to test his flock! To see if they are worthy of his love… A god that organises his own ‘snuff’ movies -chilling!
Perhaps "believers" should exercise their minds on the following proposition rather than condemn a raped woman for having an abortion are we have been observing the Catholic church both in Uganda and Brazil!
If god is all-wise and all-powerful he has the power to arrange things better. If he chooses not to, then he’s the personification of evil.A creature so horrible that only the truly depraved would follow.
If, on the other hand, he isn’t all-wise and all-powerful, then he’s not worth following.
Those with minds uncluttered by fear of gods and monsters can accept that ‘life’ has no ‘meaning’ per se. ‘Life’ simply is, and we can either accept it gratefully and make the most of it, or waste it in the pursuit of false desires.
Without gods there’s no imposition of ‘right’ ways to live, but that doesn’t deny ‘good’ and ‘bad’. There are universal values for good such as decency, fairness, compassion… but they’ve been common to all humans in all ages.They are not the invention of religion.
I am responsible for my life and I’ll make it as worthwhile as I’m able. It’s up to me. And when I die, that’s it. That’s what makes life precious. That’s what makes life bearable. That’s why it’s important to live as ‘good’ a life as possible.
QUITSTORM
You can also visit this link below
Bhagat Singh on Why I Am An Atheist?
On that fateful day, about 500 members of the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God were burnt to death in Kinkizi county in the south-western Uganda district of Kanungu, about 50km from Rukungiri town. The victims were doused with petrol and paraffin, before being set ablaze.
Days after the inferno, six more bodies were discovered in a pit at the residence of the church leaders. Yet another 494 bodies would be found days later, under the cult’s buildings in Buhinga, Rutoma and Rukungiri.
Other buildings and mass graves were found at Rugazi, Bunyaruguru, Rushojwa and Buziga in Kampala. Pathologists’ reports showed that many of the victims were clubbed, strangled or hacked to death.
It was also believed that some of them could have been poisoned. The cult was headed by self-styled prophet, Joseph Kibwetere and ex-Roman Catholic priest, Rev. Fr. Dominic Kataribaho, Credonia Mwerinde and John Kamagara. Area residents said Kibwetere had collected money from believers for a trip to Europe, in quest of a replica of the Biblical Noah’s Ark.
Two days to the massacre, the residents said, the cult members had thrown a big party for themselves. They also gathered their personal belongings and those of the church and set them ablaze in the middle of the camp. The following day, they toured the villages bidding farewell to their friends and neighbours
The sect was registered under the NGO Statute in 1997 to carry countrywide activities to observe the Ten Commandments, preach the word of Jesus Christ and Virgin Mary and provide education and health care. Well, it is close to a decade since, but nothing has yielded from condemnations and warrants of arrest issued for the leaders.
Their whereabouts is to date not known, or at least is not in the public domain. Days after the massacre, President Yoweri Museveni vowed that the Government would intensify the hunt for the cult leaders after he inspected the scene. “Forget this scandal and concentrate on building your families and improving your incomes. We shall arrest those people if they are still alive,” Museveni, said then.
The then second deputy premier and internal affairs minister, Moses Ali, in December 2000 appointed Justice Augustus Kania to head a committee to probe the massacre. But to date, the report has never been released. The massacre scene has been eaten up by a bush and unlike in the past when the place was guarded, these days it is abandoned. So, will justice also be engulfed by the ‘bushes’ as years go by? Only time will tell.
There's so many trouble's in Uganda today and millions of Ugandans continue to ask God to save them,am Atheist and i usually laugh loud for them.Here are the reasons why am Atheist.
Many people, famous and not so famous, have written at length on this title. Having read quite a number,I had never therein found another one's reasons to be sufficient in explanation.Perhaps being an Atheist is a personal choice of multiple paths or it may be that sufficient inward motivation to explain oneself has not been properly utilized.
There may be a cacophony of experiences in life which lead to an Atheistic outlook being adopted but, considering the varying degrees of ostracism which go with the territory, a deeper and more meaningful state of mind must be inherent in the whole process.If this were not the case reversion would be a far bigger percentage outcome than reality shows.Once an Atheist on intellectual grounds, always an Atheist.
"An unexamined life is not liveable for a human being," said Socrates in his own defense when charged with impiety.I agree, and lament the lack of philosophical studies in many schools. Questioning our personal attitudes and ideas from time to time, and consciously subjecting them to the spotlight of reason and logic,can prevent us lapsing into lazy acceptance of corrupt and dogmatic ideas and values imposed by those who would rule and control us.
My unbelief began at the age of 18, when I caught my Christian mentor slipping out of his Father Christmas costume. Having learned there was no Santa Claus, it was no great leap to also dismiss fairies, elves, goblins and other supernatural creatures. This was somewhat of a relief, I recall, as it increased my enjoyment of Grimm’s Fairy Tales, Superman, Captain Marvel and other tales involving magical phenomena over the years, because I wasn’t obliged to believe in them.
Such fables are a painless method of instilling values, certainly more exciting than the Baptist Sunday school and bible class which, to please my American Missionary mentor, I attended until I left the congregation, before he disowned me, despite considering the teachers to be somewhat pathetic.
As Nobel Prize-winning author André Gide wrote: "The closer you get to religion, the further you get from reality." Unfortunately, I grew up seeing dogma, as a guide to good living and blessings.I see many people who believe in this dying with frustration and rejection from God since no answers being delivered after years of praying!
By the time I was 22, mere unbelief had become full-blooded atheism because I'd realised that the purpose of religion is control, and the earlier the indoctrination starts, the more mind control religions have. "Give us a child until he is four and you can do what you like with him thereafter; he will always be ours!" say the Jesuits with good reason.
Religions control their ‘flock’ by the use of fear – psychological and physical.
1. Psychological fear: By taking natural instincts such as sexuality, dancing, pleasure in eating… and declaring them to be ‘sins’, control is asserted.This is psychological torment for those who believe,and in the worst cases can result in self-abuse and suicide as the "guilty" attempt to propitiate a demanding, frightening and jealous god.This guilt is reinforced through fear of excommunication and punishment after death in hell, all at the whim of an ever-watchful and omnipotent god who knows everything, even what you’re thinking!!!
"Be afraid , be very afraid. You will be tortured by the devil for eternity unless you obey god’s will." The fact that god’s will is by no means clear,having been ‘interpreted’ in a multitude of ways by imperfect humans,and that there’s no basis either in reason or reality for these scenarios doesn’t bother the priests and ministers. "Have faith!" they cry. "God works in mysterious ways…." "god will be angry if you question his commands."
You have to admit it’s a very cunning trick. Not only is everyone born sinful, but they can never liberate themselves from that dreadful state.Even death doesn’t secure release. Unless one has abided by the church’s or mosque's rules,after death there will be torture, pain, and misery for eternity. Truly, the Judeo/Christian/Muslim religions are among the most sadistic creeds ever invented for the psychological enslavement of humankind.
2. Fear of physical force: Those who weren’t taken in by fear of an invisible warlord in the sky, have to be persuaded with less subtle means through the real and present fear of torture, burning at the stake, the imposition of fines, confiscation of property and goods, physically painful penitence,See whats happening in Uganda?The robbing has its foundation in religious centers.
It is a damning indictment of humanity that with few exceptions the fear of force has been the major method of control used throughout human history by both religious and secular rulers, and remains the preferred ,indeed virtually the only method of ‘people control’ in all countries of the world.
Two other methods of control, Temptation and Reason, are seldom used by either religious or secular governments.
Temptation: The makers of consumer goods use temptation to make people consume their products but revert to fear of force when dealing with their workforce.
Reason: It was hoped by [mainly French] thinkers in the 1700’s that if people were educated they would use Reason and Logic and Commonsense to see the world as it is, and would behave ‘well’ because that’s the sensible, kind, non wasteful, peaceful, productive thing to do. For various reasons, not least among them the overweening influence of religion, that hasn’t worked.
There are and always have been a small percentage of humans who have used reason,logic and common sense to govern their lives, and invariably [inevitably perhaps] they have denied the existence of supernatural gods and monsters.
Everything existing in our world must be considered "natural", therefore the supernatural cannot exist on earth because if it did then it would be natural-not supernatural — and available to our senses – we’d be able to see or hear or smell or touch or taste it.
This proposition holds no sway with more than half of the citizens of the USA [and probably many people in developing World like Uganda] however, who, according to surveys, believe in the reality of witches, spells, vampires, angels, and extraterrestrials living among us, despite there never having been a case where they have been seen, heard smelled etc...........................
In other words despite a total lack of believable evidence.The following quote has been attributed to Charles Darwin’s father: Whoever wrote it, it makes excellent sense.
"Man is an eating animal, drinking animal and a sleeping animal and one placed in a material world, which alone furnishes the entire human animal can desire. He is gifted besides with knowing faculties,to practically explore and to apply the resources of the world to his use. These are realities. All else is nothing; - conscience and sentiment are mere figments of the imagination.Man has but five gates of knowledge, the five senses, he can know nothing but through them; all else is vain fancy. And as for the being of a god,the existence of a soul, or of a world to come, who can know anything about them? Depend upon it… these are only the bugbears by which men of sense govern fools; nothing is real that is not an object of sense”.
My metamorphosis from a ‘live and let live’ atheist to a rabid antagonist of religion came with the realisation that the objective of all religions is a desire to create a state in which their prejudices are enforced. Anyone who thinks the Taliban are unusual in this regard should think again. Blood is spilt daily all over the planet in the fight for religious control over the minds and bodies of the inhabitants. Ireland,Philippines,Ivory coast,Angola,Somalia,Kenya,Togo,
Nigeria,USA,China,Afghanistan, Israel, Lebanon,Uganda,Somalia and many more...........................
And past atrocities perpetrated by colonialists on the indigenous inhabitants of all countries with the tacit approval of religion, continue to haunt society in broken lives, drug abuse, impoverishment and misery.
Every year in Uganda and many African countries, dozens of men are murdered and thousands suffer abuse ranging from bullying to grievous bodily harm and permanent maiming as a direct result of religious teaching. And hundreds, if not thousands of boys are thrown onto the streets to live ‘rough’ by parents who are simply obeying the teachings of religion. These two years,we are seeing a great number of human sucrifice to please divine powers wherever they are.
Many succumb to disease, brutality, prostitution… and when you pass on the streets of Kampala and Nairobi, you will be greeted by thousands of street people as a result.
Both the Uganda and the USA governments are controlled by ‘devout’ Christians who see nothing wrong with lying to their constituents and waging war on innocent people, destroying civilizations, murdering, maiming and degrading the environment for economic gain.And it is the Fundamentalist Christian/Zionist certainty that heaven will not arrive on earth until there’s a Zionist state encompassing most of what we call the Middle East that ensures ongoing horror in Palestine…
History offers us a continuum of atrocities in the name of religion - wars,torture,murder,maimings,witch-hunts,incineration,the "Children’s Crusades" when thousands of homeless, unwanted kids as young as five were forced to walk, barefoot to Mediterranean ports from all across Europe, piled onto leaky ships and sent to the ‘holy land’ to fight the heathens.
All died horrible deaths of loneliness, starvation, drowning, disease, rape, abuse, slavery… in the name of a loving god. And anyone who cares to look at the lives of such sadistic monsters as St. Dominic and his henchman Torquemada, Calvin, Knox and the Borgia popes, or the perfidy of the Jesuits,to mention only a few of the millions of treacherous men and women who, in the name of their god have committed ghastly crimes against humanity, must, if they have a heart, weep.
And when I consider the unimaginable oceans of misery heaped on the indigenous people of The Americas, Africa, Australasia… with the blessing and assistance of the churches, my flesh creeps.
Christianity and Islam are death cults ,you must die to attain everlasting life. Human sacrifice on crosses… Sacrifice yourself for god! Inevitably and tragically this will end with the sacrifice of all life because of religious insistence on human supremacy/dominion over nature.
People who have spent time with animals in their natural state know that humans are simply animals.We are not better at providing for ourselves.We are not happier, more contented, more peacefully inclined.We do not respect other humans more than other animals respect each other; we are not more generous, caring or thoughtful.
Don't get me wrong,there are some great individuals who are struggling to make lives of other's better than well!
In general, human marriages are no longer-lasting than the matings of many other animals and birds.We do not treat or educate our offspring as well as most animals.And, instead of living in harmony with the natural world, our tool-making skills have enabled us change it to the point where there are hundreds of extinctions daily and it is more than likely we will soon render ourselves extinct.
Christians,Moslems and all other religious denominations insist that theirs is a "God of Love". When asked why this loving god allows dreadful things to happen to his ‘children’, they answer: "It’s to test you.To see if you can overcome your affliction and be worthy of god’s love." In other words, god allows people to go around maiming, laming, murdering and spreading dread-diseases, and sends plagues, pestilence, war and death - to test his flock! To see if they are worthy of his love… A god that organises his own ‘snuff’ movies -chilling!
Perhaps "believers" should exercise their minds on the following proposition rather than condemn a raped woman for having an abortion are we have been observing the Catholic church both in Uganda and Brazil!
If god is all-wise and all-powerful he has the power to arrange things better. If he chooses not to, then he’s the personification of evil.A creature so horrible that only the truly depraved would follow.
If, on the other hand, he isn’t all-wise and all-powerful, then he’s not worth following.
Those with minds uncluttered by fear of gods and monsters can accept that ‘life’ has no ‘meaning’ per se. ‘Life’ simply is, and we can either accept it gratefully and make the most of it, or waste it in the pursuit of false desires.
Without gods there’s no imposition of ‘right’ ways to live, but that doesn’t deny ‘good’ and ‘bad’. There are universal values for good such as decency, fairness, compassion… but they’ve been common to all humans in all ages.They are not the invention of religion.
I am responsible for my life and I’ll make it as worthwhile as I’m able. It’s up to me. And when I die, that’s it. That’s what makes life precious. That’s what makes life bearable. That’s why it’s important to live as ‘good’ a life as possible.
QUITSTORM
You can also visit this link below
Bhagat Singh on Why I Am An Atheist?
WHAT I BELIEVE TO BE MY FAITH
I have been asked many times what do i believe,perhaps people have asked me to explain more on my beliefs,its always harder to know how to start but being a man of narration,i always find my way to do so,despite of the limited time i always pay in internet cafes.
You are aware that am a Humanist and in the same way an Atheist,so this is a brief introduction to what i regard as my faith but its not all,its just a small part of my bigger view of life.
What is Humanism?
Humanism is the belief that we can live good lives without religious or superstitious beliefs. Humanists make sense of the world using reason, experience and shared human values. We seek to make the best of the one life we have by creating meaning and purpose for ourselves. We take responsibility for our actions and work with others for the common good.
What humanists believe?
We believe in an approach to life based on humanity and reason - humanists recognize that moral values are properly founded on human nature and experience alone. Our decisions are based on the available evidence and our assessment of the outcomes of our actions, not on any dogma or sacred text.
Humanism encompasses atheism and agnosticism but is an active and ethical philosophy far greater than these negative responses to religion.
I do believe in individual rights and freedoms but believe that individual responsibility, social cooperation and mutual respect are just as important.
I do believe that people can and will continue to find solutions to the world's problems so that quality of life can be improved for everyone including you and me.
Am positive. I gain my inspiration from our lives,art and culture, and a rich natural world. I do believe that we have only one life so it is our responsibility to make it a good life, and to live it to its fullness.
I hope that I have done all that I imagined just to give a clear view of me so that you make a right decision to join me in my quest to change the World.
Quitstorm
You are aware that am a Humanist and in the same way an Atheist,so this is a brief introduction to what i regard as my faith but its not all,its just a small part of my bigger view of life.
What is Humanism?
Humanism is the belief that we can live good lives without religious or superstitious beliefs. Humanists make sense of the world using reason, experience and shared human values. We seek to make the best of the one life we have by creating meaning and purpose for ourselves. We take responsibility for our actions and work with others for the common good.
What humanists believe?
We believe in an approach to life based on humanity and reason - humanists recognize that moral values are properly founded on human nature and experience alone. Our decisions are based on the available evidence and our assessment of the outcomes of our actions, not on any dogma or sacred text.
Humanism encompasses atheism and agnosticism but is an active and ethical philosophy far greater than these negative responses to religion.
I do believe in individual rights and freedoms but believe that individual responsibility, social cooperation and mutual respect are just as important.
I do believe that people can and will continue to find solutions to the world's problems so that quality of life can be improved for everyone including you and me.
Am positive. I gain my inspiration from our lives,art and culture, and a rich natural world. I do believe that we have only one life so it is our responsibility to make it a good life, and to live it to its fullness.
I hope that I have done all that I imagined just to give a clear view of me so that you make a right decision to join me in my quest to change the World.
Quitstorm
Friday, March 13, 2009
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