Occasionally, I come across a religious person who suggests that I, as an atheist, must believe that the universe and everything within it came into existence from nothing at all, and that the belief that everything came from nothing on its own accord requires greater faith than does belief in an eternal creator that caused everything to come into existence. The entire basis of this argument hinges on the notion that there existed a time when matter and energy, and indeed the universe itself, did not exist. Not only is this unprovable, but is highly unlikely given what we know of the existence of matter, energy, and the universe.
The law of conservation of matter and energy states simply that matter and energy cannot be created nor destroyed, only changed from one state to another. It also states that the total quantity of matter and energy available in the universe is a fixed amount and never any more or less. Consider the burning of a match: The wood fibers of a match are converted into heat and light energy, as well as carbon; the heat and light energy that was the source of the wood is essentially released, as the wood that the match was made from occurred as a conversion into matter of light and heat energy from the sun, as well as carbon from the environment. Of course, there's more to these events than that, but for the sakes of describing this law in a way that is easily understood, I chose to simplify the process.
What we understand of the universe is that it is composed of matter and energy that is continually changing from one state to another of stuff that cannot be created nor destroyed, going through natural cycles governed by physical laws that we still have a lot to learn about. I don't know about you, but I consider that which cannot be created nor destroyed to exist infinitely. That which exists infinitely, by a believer's own definition of the god they believe, requires no creator.
At this point, the believer scrambles from their cherished beliefs back to the realm of science and asks, "But what of the big bang?" It's at this point that the believer requires yet another lesson in science; that lesson being that the big bang theory is a theory which explains how the matter and energy in the known universe has come to its current arrangement, and does not state where that matter and energy came from. It assumes that all matter and energy in the universe existed as a singularity prior to the event, and does not suggest a violation of the law of conservation of matter and energy.
The big bang theory will most likely continue to go through revisions, and may even be superseded by an entirely new theory as our knowledge grows. However, the law of conservation of matter and energy is a safe bet, because it is something we can test and observe today. Therefore, given our current understanding, I propose that it takes more faith to believe that energy, matter, and the universe needed to be created than it does to believe it had always existed without needing a creator.
Monday, June 18, 2012
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
In recent news, a grade 12 student in Nova Scotia took it upon himself to wear a T-shirt that pushes his beliefs on everyone that sees him at his school. I confess, I was equal to this kid in his beliefs at his age, but I was never such a douche as to wear a T-shirt like that. A simple change to the T-shirt would magically transform it from perpetuating a lie to speaking the truth:
It truly is. He should try it, then he wouldn't have to quit school and he might actually be able to make some friends.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
The intellectual dishonesty of Easter
Last week was Easter; the time when Christians are to believe that Jesus Christ, their saviour, was to have been crucified and then arose from the grave. Their ritual demonstrates blood cult roots, where they partake in holy communion. During this event, a cracker would represent the flesh of Christ, and wine would represent the blood. As I was a child when I learned to partake in this ritual, grape juice was used instead of wine.
The problem came when, at home, we would decorate boiled eggs, go on an Easter egg hunt, and were led to believe their was an Easter bunny who was responsible for creating these eggs and hiding them. You see, none of this fits with the story of the crucifix. When I asked, the response was, "It`s just a fun thing to do." If it was a fun thing to do, why didn't we decorate eggs every Sunday? Clearly, there must be meaning to this ritual of decorating boiled eggs, because so many people do it and have been doing it in various western cultures for many generations. As a Christian, it was necessary for me to allow myself to become intellectually dishonest to ignore the meaning of this tradition which clearly had nothing to do with the resurrection story. Even the name Easter didn't seem to have any meaning or connotation with the resurrection of Christ.
Allowing oneself the luxury of intellectual honesty permits one to discover the truth that Easter was not originally based on the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and that the decorating of eggs and the story of the Easter Bunny has been passed down through the generations in celebration of a much older and more meaningful celebration, where the decorating of boiled eggs is very significant. I've discovered that the origins of Easter are secular in nature, based on observable celestial and seasonal events. In the Northern hemisphere, Easter occurs at a time when the weather turns warm, and life returns to the planet. Flowers bloom, leaves emerge from their buds, and animals like bunnies become much more active. It is a very good reason to celebrate, as the days get noticeably longer and warmer, and peoples' moods become generally much more cheerful.
As an atheist, I remember my Christian past and feel sorry for the Christians I know who are still burdened with this unnecessary guilt at a time of year when they should be happy, care-free, and celebrating the warmth and new life sprouting up around them. I hope that, one day, they can allow themselves to become intellectually honest, and instead of attending mass on Easter Sunday, enjoy that time with their friends and family, decorate some eggs, and get outside and breathe in the life that surrounds them at this time of year.
The problem came when, at home, we would decorate boiled eggs, go on an Easter egg hunt, and were led to believe their was an Easter bunny who was responsible for creating these eggs and hiding them. You see, none of this fits with the story of the crucifix. When I asked, the response was, "It`s just a fun thing to do." If it was a fun thing to do, why didn't we decorate eggs every Sunday? Clearly, there must be meaning to this ritual of decorating boiled eggs, because so many people do it and have been doing it in various western cultures for many generations. As a Christian, it was necessary for me to allow myself to become intellectually dishonest to ignore the meaning of this tradition which clearly had nothing to do with the resurrection story. Even the name Easter didn't seem to have any meaning or connotation with the resurrection of Christ.
Allowing oneself the luxury of intellectual honesty permits one to discover the truth that Easter was not originally based on the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and that the decorating of eggs and the story of the Easter Bunny has been passed down through the generations in celebration of a much older and more meaningful celebration, where the decorating of boiled eggs is very significant. I've discovered that the origins of Easter are secular in nature, based on observable celestial and seasonal events. In the Northern hemisphere, Easter occurs at a time when the weather turns warm, and life returns to the planet. Flowers bloom, leaves emerge from their buds, and animals like bunnies become much more active. It is a very good reason to celebrate, as the days get noticeably longer and warmer, and peoples' moods become generally much more cheerful.
As an atheist, I remember my Christian past and feel sorry for the Christians I know who are still burdened with this unnecessary guilt at a time of year when they should be happy, care-free, and celebrating the warmth and new life sprouting up around them. I hope that, one day, they can allow themselves to become intellectually honest, and instead of attending mass on Easter Sunday, enjoy that time with their friends and family, decorate some eggs, and get outside and breathe in the life that surrounds them at this time of year.
Monday, January 16, 2012
The truth of atheism discovered by a missionary
Frankly, this doesn't surprise me, though I am surprised that it doesn't happen more often. I suppose it's a rare person who has the honesty and integrity to recognize when they are in the wrong. In any case, this book is on my "Must buy" list; I will review it after reading it.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
How religion held me back in life
Growing up and being raised with religious beliefs has profound negative psychological effects on a person. In Christianity, I was taught that the Lord God was the creator of everything, and was the cause of all that did or didn't happen. This was all according to His unknowable plan, which was ultimately to lead to some greater purpose in the cosmos. At the same time, I was taught that we all have the "Gift" of free will, though the existence of this "Free will" would seem to create a paradox given the plan. To help find one's way, we were taught that all was ours through the power of prayer to Jesus Christ. These three elements - the Holy Plan, the gift of Free Will, and Prayer served to create a trinity of confusion which served only to hold me back in life, as I will explain in this blog post.
I was raised with religious belief before I entered into the public education system; by the simple virtue that I was taught by those I trusted to hold my religious teachings in higher esteem than that which I was taught in school, I did so. I was taught that true knowledge and understanding was to come through knowing God through the power of prayer. Therefore, when it came to understanding and learning subjects such as mathematics or science, I would pray for Jesus Christ and the Lord to endow me with the knowledge I needed to succeed. When this did not happen, I automatically assumed that it was not part of God's plan for me to know these things. It therefore became easy for me to fall into a cycle of uncaring complacency as I barely passed from one grade to another.
It was fortunate for me that I had a genuine interest in all things technical; as I reflect, I attribute any success I had in certain courses to a genuine interest in the subject rather than any actual studying, as I had spent much of my study time in a state of prayer. I looked for signs in shadows as I sought answers to my prayers, and honestly believed I saw them, with disastrous results. In the end, I relegated myself to a simple humble life of whatever minimum wage job came my way. I even took up smoking because at one point I believed I received a sign from prayer that led me to believe that taking up smoking would lead me to a greater understanding. Such is how religion poisons the mind.
It was my path to atheism which led me towards my true potential. I had spent many hours in deep meditation, which led me to at first to agnosticism. I was able to see my future self in my mind's eye and recognized the truth that allowing myself to drift through life according to some unseen and unknowable plan was not going to end well. I recognized the truth of the future effects of things that I would cause today. I realized that I could make my own plan to yield whatever result I desired, and that doing this was much more effective than prayer.
Had I not been indoctrinated with religious nonsense, had I instead been taught to find my strengths and how to make my own plan, I would have been able to achieve the success I have been able to achieve as an atheist much earlier in life. Hindsight is 20/20, but I recognize when I was on the right path, and when what I believed at the time were answers to prayers led me astray. It is for this reason that I regard religion, and Christianity in particular, to be harmful to young minds. This is one of the main reasons why I created this blog, and why I believe it necessary to share my reasons for not believing.
Thanks to my agnosticism, which grew into atheism, I have managed to succeed in building the life I want, and have achieved the success in life I dreamed of as a child. There is no Holy Plan, there's no God or Lord Jesus Christ listening to our prayers, and the so-called "Gift" of free will is a gift, but it was given to us by those men and women before us who were brave enough to stand up against religion to create a secular society in which we are all free to plan our own destinies. This is a fight we must all continue in if we are truly to keep ourselves free from the tyranny of religion.
I was raised with religious belief before I entered into the public education system; by the simple virtue that I was taught by those I trusted to hold my religious teachings in higher esteem than that which I was taught in school, I did so. I was taught that true knowledge and understanding was to come through knowing God through the power of prayer. Therefore, when it came to understanding and learning subjects such as mathematics or science, I would pray for Jesus Christ and the Lord to endow me with the knowledge I needed to succeed. When this did not happen, I automatically assumed that it was not part of God's plan for me to know these things. It therefore became easy for me to fall into a cycle of uncaring complacency as I barely passed from one grade to another.
It was fortunate for me that I had a genuine interest in all things technical; as I reflect, I attribute any success I had in certain courses to a genuine interest in the subject rather than any actual studying, as I had spent much of my study time in a state of prayer. I looked for signs in shadows as I sought answers to my prayers, and honestly believed I saw them, with disastrous results. In the end, I relegated myself to a simple humble life of whatever minimum wage job came my way. I even took up smoking because at one point I believed I received a sign from prayer that led me to believe that taking up smoking would lead me to a greater understanding. Such is how religion poisons the mind.
It was my path to atheism which led me towards my true potential. I had spent many hours in deep meditation, which led me to at first to agnosticism. I was able to see my future self in my mind's eye and recognized the truth that allowing myself to drift through life according to some unseen and unknowable plan was not going to end well. I recognized the truth of the future effects of things that I would cause today. I realized that I could make my own plan to yield whatever result I desired, and that doing this was much more effective than prayer.
Had I not been indoctrinated with religious nonsense, had I instead been taught to find my strengths and how to make my own plan, I would have been able to achieve the success I have been able to achieve as an atheist much earlier in life. Hindsight is 20/20, but I recognize when I was on the right path, and when what I believed at the time were answers to prayers led me astray. It is for this reason that I regard religion, and Christianity in particular, to be harmful to young minds. This is one of the main reasons why I created this blog, and why I believe it necessary to share my reasons for not believing.
Thanks to my agnosticism, which grew into atheism, I have managed to succeed in building the life I want, and have achieved the success in life I dreamed of as a child. There is no Holy Plan, there's no God or Lord Jesus Christ listening to our prayers, and the so-called "Gift" of free will is a gift, but it was given to us by those men and women before us who were brave enough to stand up against religion to create a secular society in which we are all free to plan our own destinies. This is a fight we must all continue in if we are truly to keep ourselves free from the tyranny of religion.
Friday, January 13, 2012
How religion taught me to hate
I was baptized as a Christian in the United Church of Canada, which probably is the most laid back, liberal, easy-going sect of Christianity you're likely to find. Anyone familiar with this church might find themselves wondering how in heck could a church that includes the marriage of same-sex couples teach anyone to hate. It's not anything specific in the teachings of Christianity, but rather is something inherent in religious belief itself, which I will explain in this blog post.
With Sunday School being my first exposure to education, I was taught to believe the basics of this religion, which were: 1) God created everything, 2) God is the one who is "In Charge" to cause things to happen (or not happen) as He sees fit and according to His plan, 3) God is a fair and just God, 4) We go to church to thank God for providing us with everything He created, 5) By virtue of going to church to sing the hymns and say the prayers that God likes to hear, God will be happy with us and answer our prayers delivered through Jesus Christ whenever we need something. Perfectly logical to a 4 year old mind.
I spent my early childhood believing in this. I would pray for something good, but maybe it didn't happen because maybe I wasn't good enough; so I was encouraged to become more pious. As it happens, I was a student of the public school system, which is, by it's nature, secular, and therefore inclusive of people from different beliefs, including those who have no religion. Advancing through the different grades exposed me to different people from different backgrounds. I had assumed that everyone held the same beliefs as I did, because that is what I was taught. Then I learned that there were people who didn't go to church, who didn't pray, and perhaps they didn't even believe in God, or if they did they showed no reverence for the almighty.
I assumed that these godless people lead empty, meaningless lives. They were probably the poor, the drug addicted, the sick and the lame. If only they believed in God like I did; if only they learned about being saved through Jesus Christ, maybe their lives would get better. I would pray for these people. Then a funny thing happened. I learned that there were other kids my age who did not believe and, by all outward appearances, were better off than I. When I say better off, I mean more than just money. These kids got better grades than I did, had more friends than I had, always seemed to get whatever they wanted, didn't have any issues or problems, and had all kinds of varying talents and much more freedom. They were creative and funny. They were all the things I wanted to be.
When a person is raised to believe that a fair and just God created everything and is the cause of things that do and don't happen, and when one is raised to believe that the act of going to church and paying reverence to this God is the path to happiness, and when one sees the success and happiness that one seeks in the outwardly godless, one becomes resentful and hateful towards the godless who are flaunting their good fortune. It's no different than, say, when a colleague in the workplace who's been obviously slacking off gets a promotion over you when you've been busting your butt for that same promotion. Except when it comes to God, it's worse because we can expect our bosses to make mistakes; they're only human. The Lord doesn't make mistakes, or so we're taught; it's our fault somehow, so the resentment becomes even greater.
There are tricks that religion plays when a believer feels this discontent. Perhaps the Lord is testing me and other believers by bestowing good fortune upon the unbeliever, but in the end, I will go to heaven and the heathen will burn in Hell! Or at least not get into heaven and just die; let the heathen have his good fortune now and I will have a greater reward later. Again, the natural outcome of this belief is hateful, malicious thoughts. It's completely unavoidable for the believer if they are going to continue to believe, and we see it time and again when certain sects of Christianity lash out at homosexuality, Atheists, and generally anything that causes them to feel less than what they believe their potential should be.
Many Christians today wear a thin veneer of love and understanding, but I've been inside the mind of a believer, because I was one. I know what goes on under that thin veneer. As an atheist, it's easy to accept that good things can happen to bad people, bad things can happen to good people, because there is no god in control of things. I do not feel bitter resentment at those who may be doing better than I in certain aspects of life, because, as an atheist, I am free to direct my life towards the goals I set for myself. I am no longer tormented with thoughts questioning whether or not a god is interfering with my affairs.
It's ironic that religion which is supposed to teach love and compassion has the opposite effect, and I feel sorry for those who are trapped in the hate-inducing cycles brought on by the unsatisfying circular logic offered by religion. Hopefully those people can find their way out of religion and away from the hateful thoughts inherent with their beliefs.
With Sunday School being my first exposure to education, I was taught to believe the basics of this religion, which were: 1) God created everything, 2) God is the one who is "In Charge" to cause things to happen (or not happen) as He sees fit and according to His plan, 3) God is a fair and just God, 4) We go to church to thank God for providing us with everything He created, 5) By virtue of going to church to sing the hymns and say the prayers that God likes to hear, God will be happy with us and answer our prayers delivered through Jesus Christ whenever we need something. Perfectly logical to a 4 year old mind.
I spent my early childhood believing in this. I would pray for something good, but maybe it didn't happen because maybe I wasn't good enough; so I was encouraged to become more pious. As it happens, I was a student of the public school system, which is, by it's nature, secular, and therefore inclusive of people from different beliefs, including those who have no religion. Advancing through the different grades exposed me to different people from different backgrounds. I had assumed that everyone held the same beliefs as I did, because that is what I was taught. Then I learned that there were people who didn't go to church, who didn't pray, and perhaps they didn't even believe in God, or if they did they showed no reverence for the almighty.
I assumed that these godless people lead empty, meaningless lives. They were probably the poor, the drug addicted, the sick and the lame. If only they believed in God like I did; if only they learned about being saved through Jesus Christ, maybe their lives would get better. I would pray for these people. Then a funny thing happened. I learned that there were other kids my age who did not believe and, by all outward appearances, were better off than I. When I say better off, I mean more than just money. These kids got better grades than I did, had more friends than I had, always seemed to get whatever they wanted, didn't have any issues or problems, and had all kinds of varying talents and much more freedom. They were creative and funny. They were all the things I wanted to be.
When a person is raised to believe that a fair and just God created everything and is the cause of things that do and don't happen, and when one is raised to believe that the act of going to church and paying reverence to this God is the path to happiness, and when one sees the success and happiness that one seeks in the outwardly godless, one becomes resentful and hateful towards the godless who are flaunting their good fortune. It's no different than, say, when a colleague in the workplace who's been obviously slacking off gets a promotion over you when you've been busting your butt for that same promotion. Except when it comes to God, it's worse because we can expect our bosses to make mistakes; they're only human. The Lord doesn't make mistakes, or so we're taught; it's our fault somehow, so the resentment becomes even greater.
There are tricks that religion plays when a believer feels this discontent. Perhaps the Lord is testing me and other believers by bestowing good fortune upon the unbeliever, but in the end, I will go to heaven and the heathen will burn in Hell! Or at least not get into heaven and just die; let the heathen have his good fortune now and I will have a greater reward later. Again, the natural outcome of this belief is hateful, malicious thoughts. It's completely unavoidable for the believer if they are going to continue to believe, and we see it time and again when certain sects of Christianity lash out at homosexuality, Atheists, and generally anything that causes them to feel less than what they believe their potential should be.
Many Christians today wear a thin veneer of love and understanding, but I've been inside the mind of a believer, because I was one. I know what goes on under that thin veneer. As an atheist, it's easy to accept that good things can happen to bad people, bad things can happen to good people, because there is no god in control of things. I do not feel bitter resentment at those who may be doing better than I in certain aspects of life, because, as an atheist, I am free to direct my life towards the goals I set for myself. I am no longer tormented with thoughts questioning whether or not a god is interfering with my affairs.
It's ironic that religion which is supposed to teach love and compassion has the opposite effect, and I feel sorry for those who are trapped in the hate-inducing cycles brought on by the unsatisfying circular logic offered by religion. Hopefully those people can find their way out of religion and away from the hateful thoughts inherent with their beliefs.
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