jsanders said:
All you [as an atheist] have to have is faith, faith that mankind is the pinnacle of evolution in the universe and that mankind is in charge of its destiny.
First of all let's begin by asserting that an atheist does not have faith in evolution. Why would an atheist require faith when all they rightly need to do in order be convinced by the probability of evolution when they can just refer to the evidence. It's in books, it's scattered online, and is currently under study to further understanding.
Secondly, we are not aware of what exists out there on the estimated billions of other planets capable of supporting life, but research pushes on. We may be an advanced example of evolution on Earth but that shouldn't give us a superiority complex as per the universe.
Mankind (
homosapiens, to keep it scientific) is not in charge of his destiny. Natural selection will decide what becomes of him as it has decided how he - and all other living organisms - have reached what they currently are.
jsanders said:
all followers of “God” are idiots and whackos.
You may not be far off the truth there. What is it about their brains - that makes them part of this intelligent species we deem ourselves - that would accept such improbable nonsense as God, utter prayers to him, and waste time partaking in little rituals whether it be bowing to Mecca five times a day or chomping on a wafer? Why would they accept such rubbish - which has no basis in fact - in the face of substantial evidence favouring the Darwinian model? Idiots and whackos; you're on the money.
jsanders said:
why would you believe any thing you can’t see or imagine.
Simply because there is no evidence for it. The other alternative, being natural selection, offers much more, weighing the argument in its favour.
jsanders said:
you must be willing to sacrifice friendships, family, and, in some cases, be shunned by society.
It's a shame that by being atheist that people with religious convictions can't get over themselves to appreciate the person over their choice in belief. It's a sad state of affairs that in America
the electorate would vote in a black, Jewish, Muslim, or Catholic candidate as President over an atheist. (
More here.)The perception that someone of faith has moral integrity is a fallacy that needs to be overcome. Religion does not install morals and is therefore no indication of how good a person is.
jsanders said:
But it’s worth it because in the end if you can convince one person not to believe, than you’re a success.
If an atheist can wean someone person of their religious crutch/blinkers then it should be seen as a success. It would mean that one person no longer turns to improbable inventions based upon inconsistent scriptures and has taken a look at the evidence as to why there is no intelligent designer but why natural selection is a logical method in which to place their undestanding of their place in the world.
jsanders said:
Atheist Brothers, you are the world greatest fanatics.
An atheist can't be a fanatic. A fanatic, as defined by the American Heritage Dictionary, is "a person marked or motivated by an extreme, unreasoning enthusiasm, as for a cause." While a religious fanatic is one who rallies against common sense and eschews the evidence put forward by science in favour of the scribblings set out in their favourite holy scriptures. No matter the evidence contrary to those ancient texts they will believe unerringly in them. It's farcical. An atheist, who may currently be adamant that natural selection is the way of the world (and there is no better solution at the moment) may one day change their mind about our predicament due to further scientific study. Therefore, by the logic of the actual definition of fanatic, an atheist cannot be one because they are not unreasoning. Atheists are people who are capable of reason.
jsanders said:
Why is it that the most, vehement, obnoxious, orthodox, fundamentalist, religious fanatics, I have ever met, have been atheist?
Probably because you fail to understand them and haven't a clue about them as you have obviously show by calling them vehement, religious, and the tautological fundamentalist fanatic. An atheist personality is no more vehement than your seeming pro-
Christian Taliban spurts. They may be passionate in their argument against the existence of a God and that's because the evidence is there showing how improbable it is yet religious people don't want to see it. Atheists are also not religious because they follow no faith and practice no rituals.
jsanders said:
Why would someone who doesn’t believe in creation, care at all if we believe or not.
Because religious parents of children perpetuate such crazy notions as Supreme Creator, what is right and wrong (the skewed religion version), an afterlife, and so on. This is tantamount to child abuse on a psychological level and denies the child their human rights to choose whether they want to be an atheist or, as you so delightfully put it earlier, a whacko.
We do not become better people through religion, so what is the point in it? It's not as if we need it in order to be good. The world would not fall apart without it. Indeed, the world would be a better place
because of atheism.