ON THIS SITE WE DO NOT SHY AWAY FROM THE “DIFFICULT” QUESTIONS… WE CAN BE CONTRARIANS TO OTHER CONTRARIANS. 

LET’S INVESTIGATE A [NOT SO OLD] BOOK IN REGARD TO ATHEISTS BY CHRIS HEDGES WHO EXPOSES THE FUNDAMENTALISATION OF RELIGION AND THAT OF ATHEISM… 

I WILL HUMBLY POINT OUT THAT ATHEISM IS NOT A RELIGION, NOR IS IT FUNDAMENTALISTIC. NOR IS IT FASCIST. THE “NEW ATHEISTS” HAVE ONLY BEEN DEFENDING THEIR OWN FORT, AS THEY HAVE BEEN UNDER ATTACK FROM VARIOUS SECTIONS OF THE COMMUNITY THAT DEMANDS THAT WE BELIEVE IN A SUPERIOR BEING OR SOMETHING ABSOLUTE… AND THE “NEW ATHEISTS” HAVE MORE OR LESS VANISHED FROM THE MEDIA HEADLINES, NOW OCCUPIED BY WARS, RIGHT-WING POLITICS, RELIGIOUS BIFFO BETWEEN SUNNIS AND SHIAS, AND THE CONTROVERSIES ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING.

When Atheism Becomes Religion 

Free Press (March 10, 2009)

America's New Fundamentalists

By Chris Hedges

From the New York Times bestselling author of American Fascists and the NBCC finalist for War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning comes this timely and compelling work about new atheists: those who attack religion to advance the worst of global capitalism, intolerance and imperial projects. 

Chris Hedges, who graduated from seminary at Harvard Divinity School, has long been a courageous voice in a world where there are too few. He observes that there are two radical, polarized and dangerous sides to the debate on faith and religion in America: the fundamentalists who see religious faith as their prerogative, and the new atheists who brand all religious belief as irrational and dangerous. Both sides use faith to promote a radical agenda, while the religious majority, those with a commitment to tolerance and compassion as well as to their faith, are caught in the middle. 

The new atheists, led by Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and Sam Harris, do not make moral arguments about religion. Rather, they have created a new form of fundamentalism that attempts to permeate society with ideas about our own moral superiority and the omnipotence of human reason. 

I Don't Believe in Atheists critiques the radical mindset that rages against religion and faith. Hedges identifies the pillars of the new atheist belief system, revealing that the stringent rules and rigid traditions in place are as strict as those of any religious practice. 

Hedges claims that those who have placed blind faith in the morally neutral disciplines of reason and science create idols in their own image — a sin for either side of the spectrum. He makes an impassioned, intelligent case against religious and secular fundamentalism, which seeks to divide the world into those worthy of moral and intellectual consideration and those who should be condemned, silenced and eradicated. Hedges shatters the new atheists' assault against religion in America, and in doing so, makes way for new, moderate voices to join the debate. This is a book that must be read to understand the state of the battle about faith.

A BATTLE OF FAITH???… AS GUS LEONISKY HAS SAID :

The atheist’s mantra: There’s none. 

And I am not trying to convert you. It's impossible. 

So, god does not exist. Full stop. I had this conversation with a Christian the other day… He believed in the ONLY god, of course, because His is better than yours… (or it could be the same, but with a different colour, or beard or pants).

So, Richard E. Simmons III — a Christian author, speaker, and the Executive Director of The Center for Executive Leadership, (if by rare chance the word “leadership” or “ministry” does not appear in the credential of preachers, it’s because the next epithet is “humble” or "faith-based” — or all of them together...) tells us:

We live in a time where people are truly perplexed over what has gone wrong with our world. There seems to be so much instability in people’s lives. When you look into what’s happening within our culture and world, there seems to be so much moral confusion. How does a modern person determine what is right or wrong?

Hello? We live in a time in which ONLY a few people are dangerously perplexed. Many do not think about the nature of the beast and this is fine. They press buttons, look at their smartphones, have a good time, eat and drink (in moderation whatever that is), work, get paid for it. Good... To tell the truth, if you have lived long enough like me, you would know that there has always been something gone wrong with our (homo sapiens) world for the last 2,500 years at least (possibly 42,000 at a pinch with the extinction of our cousins, the Neanderthals, and the polar reversal) — and far worse “wrongs" than what we are experiencing now. People did not have the scientific tools to deal with pandemics, plagues, toothaches, nor “surgical wars”, thus becoming victims of “carpet bombings” or they died in one-to-one armed combat… 

To some extend there is very little instability in our society nowadays, as most of us have learned to read and write, cook and think about various ways to amuse ourself. What has changed is the gamut of influences — and in regard to moral confusion, you should know that this is not new either. Many of our past religious leaders, including popes (they waged wars with armies) and protestant leaders (Luther hated the Jews and the Muslims), were completely immoral by their application of what they thought was the words of god. These words may as well been those of Satan for the pain they did inflict on others, should you be satirical like Dante. 

First, we’re the sum of our indoctrination and explorations, until we learn to revalue our personal stylistic human relativity — our humanism in relation to pain and relative contentment*. This is hard work. Many people do not revalue, but let some concepts fall by the wayside... Shaking indoctrination can often lead to a new form of “submission” to a worse form of religious extremism (born-again Christian or becoming al Qaeda). This is the purpose of morality, religious morality: it is designed to make us submit to the idea of god in whichever religious format we are born into for as long as possible. For us, Western plops, this religious format is Christianity which of course is superior to others because we have invented better/nastier weapons to defend it.

Becoming a truly atheist is not a piece of cake — and nor should it be. Many people sit on the fence and become agnostic. This is an acceptable position that should not take on board any prejudices from religion, say in regard to belittling women, raping the planet or any other goat-humans. What many people nowadays do is accept the secular code of behaviour often learnt as kid by being whacked should we do something contrary — or taught from watching the police catch-a-crook TV shows, unless we don’t want to miss on presents from Santa Claus (eternity, here we come!). 

There is a difference between a secular and religious morality, even if our behaviour “appears” the same. The secular moral behaviour is accepting that we are willing to stylistically share our life with other people without behaving like little shits (we soon discover the concept of "good and bad" through pain and contentment*) — all without having a carrot of being “judged” at the end of eternity, or whatever undefined long time, by an almighty vengeful dude who was crazy enough to send “His” son, to rescue humans from an original sin — committed by a couple of idiots called Adam and Eve — by dying on a cross in Roman times… Pull the other leg. Hey? Sure we are naive, but please… This story does not make any sense at all. Did Jesus commit suicide by letting himself be killed when he could have made a wondrous miracle on the spot — a miracle that would have had far more impact on the future than the resurrection which no one really saw, except St Thomas… Imagine, the only guy who “killed” himself was Judas — a poor remorseful soul (I don’t believe in soul) who was necessary for the trick of the calvary to be enacted. 

In regard to sonny-god, there's bit of repeat in the trick: 

For the Muslims, the Christians, the Judaics — all simplistic religiously dedicated deluded morons (sorry dear folks, I could not find another descriptive nice word) who have accepted the Adam and Eve porky — WHOSE major next brainwashing stems from the day Abraham was told by god to sacrifice his son… This is a turning point in the stupidity of it all. 

======================

THUS, I FIND IT A PRIVILEGE TO BE ABLE TO BE AN ATHEIST AND DIE PEACEFULLY WITH NO HOPE OF ETERNITY… ETERNITY IS FOR THE WHIMPS… THE SCARED, THE WARMONGERS AND THE DELUDED… THE NEW ATHEISTS ARE NOT PUSHING AN “EXTREMIST RELIGION”. 

THE NEW ATHEISTS ARE JUST POSING THE PARAMETERS OF HUMANITY IN A DIFFERENT ORDER TO THAT OF RELIGIOUS BELIEFS, JUST TO HAVE A THINK. THEY DO NOT ADVOCATE FOR GLOBALISM EITHER. GLOBALISM IS A FASCIST CONCEPT, AS MUCH AS THE CATHOLIC CHURCH WAS DURING COLONIALISM. COLONIALISM WAS BASED ON PLUNDER AND EVANGELICAL GANGSTERISM. 

MOST OF EUROPE WAS PLAYING THE GAME, WHICH LED TO TWO WORLD WARS, EUROPE NOW REPLACED BY THE USA AT THE TABLE. THE MUSLIMS ALSO PLAYED THE SAID GAME WHEN THEY TRIED TO CONQUER EUROPE BUT WERE PUSHED BACK INTO SPAIN — AND EXPELLED IN THE 1500s…

INTERESTINGLY, THE NEW “ALLIANCE” BETWEEN THE SAUDIS, PAKISTAN AND THE TURKYIE IS A SUNNI CONSORTIUM THAT WILL PLEASE AMERICA [IF IT WAS NOT ENCOURAGED/INSPIRED BY THE USA/CIA] — AGAINST THE PERSIANS, THE IRANIAN SHIAS… WE KNOW.

YET WE, ATHEISTS, WISH EVERYONE THE ABILITY TO LIVE IN PEACE WITHOUT BEING COAXED INTO FASCISM. WE SHOULD SEE DEMOCRACY AS A SOCIAL INSTITUTION WHICH ALLOWS THE POOR TO BE RESCUED AND COMFORTED, WITHOUT THE OTHERS SEEKING BENEFITS FROM ALTRUISM. 

WHEN EVERYTHING WE DO BECOMES A BUSINESS, WE SLIDE INTO THE ALLIANCE OF BELIEFS AND CORPORATION WHICH TURNS INTO FASCISM. SEEKING PROFITS IS THE SICKNESS OF CAPITALISM IN WHICH GREED BECOMES THE DISEASED BLOOD.

SINCE ROMAN TIMES, WE HAVE HAD THE ABILITY TO DEVELOP PROFITABLE MISUNDERSTANDINGS AND REWARDING DELUSIONS.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS EITHER EXTENDING OUR MISUNDERSTANDINGS OR CRASHING OUR DELUSIONS. THIS SCARES US, BECAUSE SO FAR WE’VE MANAGED TO SURVIVE WELL BY BEING SUCCESSFULLY DECEITFUL.

SEE THE AGE OF DECEIT…

PLEASE VISIT:

YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT — SINCE 2005.

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

         RABID ATHEIST.

         WELCOME TO THIS INSANE WORLD….

SEE ALSO: https://www.yourdemocracy.net/drupal/node/31847

SEE ALSO: https://yourdemocracy.net/drupal/node/31050