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Upon the hundreds and hundreds of fallacies and errors, we find that religion itself is something deprived of both merit and science. It has, for ages, worked against the instruments of truth, often times denying the population the right to think and believe as they wish. We also find that the foundation for the belief in religion is identical to the foundation for the belief in many cultural myths which have also been abandoned. There is little truth to be found in religion, once an open-minded investigation has been allowed to examine its institutes. Instead of finding a realistic and open-minded viewpoint of the world, we find flaws, oppression, ignorance, and a sizable amount of cruelty.
Only a small investigation into the real world would allow us to discover that many individuals put much stock into the institute of religion. If we were a free and intelligent people, without the tyranny of a Capitalist class and government defending them, people would put less concentration into the things unseen and put such focus onto the real, materialistic world. Instead of investing in prayers, people would be offering their kindest and warmest affections to those around them. We would not build churches, but homes -- we would not ask the gods for forgiveness for our actions, but those we harmed -- we would not pray for things to happen, but make them happen -- we would not rely on the superstitious myths that have guided so many to bigotry, or rely on the unseen to do what we must do for ourselves, or praise anything that was nothing more than an idol representing cruelty and misguided violence. If a man reserves his love for a god and for angels, he simultaneously deprives love from those around him. By giving our kindness and affection, our sincerest dreams and hopes, desires and aspirations, to this being without evidence, we are losing focus of the one thing that we do know: our lives. And by losing focus on our lives, and those around us, we are ignoring the one thing that we know for sure: that we, as material beings, do exist, and that we are capable of feeling joy and suffering. To ignore this is the greatest of ignorances, and the most grave of all follies.Tolerance and Acceptance
If there was a god, I would make only one prayer to him: That his followers would follow truth over scripture, benevolence over cruelty, science over myth; to ask his followers to be more focused and concentrated on the things that exist -- their lovers, their family, their children, their friends -- to uphold truth as beautiful, and kindness as sincerity. There is no other prayer I could give to such a deity ruling over our Universe. If I were to make such a prayer, though, it may very well be that such a god would ask him followers to turn against him. That would only be so, however, only if the god that exists was the one of a popular Monotheistic religion. Such gods tend to be described by their scripture as vicious and unrelenting in their pursuits to control mankind to devious ends.
Religion and its followers have embraced intolerance and have called it duty and reverence to their lord. Though the disciples of the cross have managed to do everything in their power to destroy liberty and happiness, I would be the last man on this Earth to say that nobody should be allowed to be a disciple of the cross, or a follower of any religion. It has been the custom of religion to oppose freedom of thought, but I certainly cannot oppose this freedom in any form. Whether a man desires to be a Christian or an Atheist, a Buddhist or a Hindu, it is their own decision. It is their actions, and not their beliefs, that ought to be monitored. My belief that everyone should be entitled to their belief (as well as beliefs about beliefs) is not derived from the idea that we should not be like those we oppose. Rather, it is formed from the idea that everyone deserves the right to believe as they wish, to consider and investigate for themselves, that power lies within the individual, and even more deeper, because I believe in humane and fair treatment, I believe in justice and compassion. Those are the reasons that are behind my belief in the right to think and believe as one wishes.
There are some Christians who I have heard say, "I will not speak to that man or deal with that man unless he is a Christian." There are also many Christians who speak of myself as though I am the first Atheist to walk this planet. But as well as speaking of me with that harsh, grave tone, they have systematically made up lies about myself, claiming that I hate all who claim to be Christians. It seems impossible to some of the followers of the divine for Atheists or Agnostics, or any infidel or heretic, to hold charity and mercy as good values.It may sometimes even be considered unfulfilling to aid an nonbeliever in any way, to offer them any sort of affection or kindness, to give them the fruits of a warm heart. But whether someone believes that a god exists or not, or in any religion, there will be one fact about that person that will not waver my humane treatment of them: that they are a conscious being, that they can feel pain and suffering or joy and happiness, that touching their skin gently will produce feelings and emotions of security and happiness. This is something that will not be erased, no matter what creeds an individual professes to believe, no matter what ideologies an individual follows.
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Andy Carloff
Punkerslut (or Andy Carloff) has traveled all across the United States and has experienced American life in the urban centers, as a homeless squatter and as a blue-collar, working-class laborer. Since high school and early development, he has composed a variety of ideas on education, politics, and economy. His positions are ultra-leftist: politically an Anarchist, economically a Socialist, and culturally a Syndicalist. His writings are available through his website: http://www.punkerslut.com
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