Atheism has no future, a local church says

The First Presbyterian Church of Wilkes-Barre's minister Rev. Zanicky put a sign outside of his church that says, "Atheism has no future."

Unfortunately, the sermon has been taken off-line: http://www.fpcwb.com/Audio/090920_000.mp3

Here's what Rev. Zanicky has to say in his sermon:


"Radical secularists are championing the popular bestseller atheist books today highlighting the evils of religion..."


"God is dead encompasses all of their reality."

"It's only the here and now, let's make the most of it...but my friends, in my opinion, most people don't get it. the real maginude of what is being said is today's atheism. There is no future in atheism; there is no purpose, there is no meaning, there is no morality, there is no truth apart from the present construal as defined by the particular power group. .. this way of seeing the world, living in the world, this does not have a necessary drive to push into the future."


"...no higher meaning, no higher purpose, no higher direction...there is great similarity with today's atheists and paganism...basically all meaningless...Pagan mythos has been replaced by Christianity...the one true story of the world...atheism has no future..there is no constraining vision for the little atheist followers...there are no master stories...no absolute morals...there are no transcendant values.


My concern here is not individual atheists, it is the radical secularists...make no mistake about it, there is a definite disjunction between atheism and theism..."

"the new atheism is doing everything it can to convince us that the universe is pointless and in end our lives are destined for nothingness as well...not the most favorable setting for the flourishing for our capacity for goodness."

"It will make a profound difference if our society believes...the christian alternative has blessed our world greatly...we believe in a created, meaningful, purposeful world."


Can an atheist be a good citizen? The formative ideas of our nation were taken from the judeo-christian conception of human nature...george washington says religion is needed...

In such a nation as America, an atheist can be a citizen, but he can not be a good citizen."

"what values, what morals, what meaning, what purpose? what authority higher than ourselves that transcends...atheism has no future."


Atheism offers nothing...its magitude, its emptiness, its abyss, its dread...there are those pushing today for a faithless generation, its there, we can't help it, why? because we are all children of God...we whimper up to Jesus!

Questions posed to me

-What happens after death?

I don't know, but I think it will be like before we were born: we didn't know anything or feel anything. We might enter into a new life. There might be a computer simulation that made this life. Who knows? To tell the truth, no one does. What I will say, though, is that this life is certain and a life after death is not. Let's live this life to its fullest with the understanding that we're going to die someday. Let's make the most we can out of this wonderful oppurtunity.

- Why, then, should we be good without God?

We should be good because we need to share this life with other human beings. Why should we be any less than good? We need to ask questions of morality to ourselves: "Do I want to be raped?" Since you don't you do not and should not want to rape others. We should be the best we can in this only life we know we have: goodness will make others' lives better and will make your own better. You also want to be good to establish and fortify meaningful relationships with others. Perhaps you want to do good to feel good. Whatever reason you establish is fine. At the end of the day we don't need God to do good. We choose to do good and should be great people. Wouldn't life be amazing if everyone agreed with this paragraph? Too bad, though, God got in the way. It's ironic, don't you think, that a being that wants so many to do good actually"causes" them to do evil? Once we can truly and fully idealize goodness we can be amazing people. The whole notion, though, of doing good just because of God, I believe, is immoral. Believer, are you only doing good to gain an eternal reward? You know (hopefully) it's more than that. Goodness is within us. Let's show it!

- Why are we here?

"Why" is an odd question to ask. This question typically presupposes that people were born "for a reason" and have a certain goal that is unknown, yet instilled by a creator.

We should assign and establish our own meanings. We're so ridiculously fortunate to be alive today! Let's make the most out of our lives.

- If there is no god, what is the point of life?

I believe that we ought to make the best out of this life that we possess. It's certainly wonderful, amazing, and breathtaking! The human body is so amazing! This computer is breathtaking! What a wonderful life we have! You need to make your life meaningful by deciding what you ought to do to achieve that end. There, is, though, one exception: don't do something that is harmful to humanity or yourself. Personally, I feel that my education, potential career, potential for a loving and meaningful relationship, authoring, the search for knowledge, and bringing joy to others makes life meaningful. I feel that this blog, my activism, and my future work as an author and psychologist is meaningful. If I'm able to make a significant impact on the world, I have won the game of life and surely will be remembered for ages to come. Death shouldn't be depressing. The realization that we have only one life should be stupendously empowering.

- How do you explain "x" without God?

Well, almost everything has been explained. If we can't explain at the moment, we are working on it. Some things may never be explained. This, though, does not mean that God has to be the answer just because we don't understand something. Perhaps an umber hulk "started" the universe, perhaps a team of fifteen beds made out of spherical cubes set our universe in motion....

- Are you taking away peoples' right to be religious or their free speech?

No, all I am doing is criticizing religion and beliefs. People will choose, after hearing and reading my arguments, what they will do with this information. Free speech, though, works both ways.

Why do so many believe?

Religion is deeply ingrained within our society. Most children are born into religions and are "Christian babies" right from birth. This is insulting. Children are being forced to believe in absurdities against their wills and are being labelled as Christian/Jewish/etc.

Don't teach young people that religion is true or label them as religious. Teach them critical thinking skills, skepticism, science, and history. At an older age, let them choose what they will follow. There's no way that you can justify that a young child has a conclusive idea about the metaphysical nature of the universe when he/she cannot sufficiently grasp or think about those concepts. Let's be honest.

Would you call a two-year-old a republican baby? an existentialist? a nihilist? a nationalist?

(I'll blog more about children in another post)

Religion almost always starts with childbirth. I believe that this is why so many people believe. Very young children are very susceptible to information and will believe almost anything authority figures tell them.

All that religious leaders have to do to reinforce or establish religion in older people is

- promise an eternal reward to gullible people via immortality and people are hooked.

- guilt trip with the threat of an eternal punishment

- say, "Oh, it's God's will and you can't hear God"

The problem is this: no one knows God's will. Gods (at least as we know them) actually most almost certainly do not exist. It's 2009: there's no solid, concrete evidence to prove any of the gods we had throughout human history. There are also many problems such as the existence of evil, the errors in every holy book, a horrible standard of morality from an all-loving being, no words from the future in an "eternal book," "scientific nonsense" in holy books, etc.

Believers even reject, without a thought, every other god except for their own. I just go one god further.

It is so hard, though, to relinquish beliefs you had for almost two decades (or more) of your life.

Why do people believe these promises?

- People fear death

- People think gods are the only way to moral thinking

- They believe that religious authority figures are correct and should be listened to

- They believe that they know the answers and are content with God being the answer for everything we don't know.

- They are ignorant of scientific explanations and thus accept the supernatural

- Family members all believe and they are afraid to rebel or are not able to

- Our world seems like it was designed and is so complex that *only* God could have made it.

- People are afraid that they'd go to Hell if they stopped believing (ironic, isn't it?)

- Religion has been a part of their entire life so they just believe it

- They haven't heard objections from non-believers

Epica sings about the dangers of religion

Here are some of my favorite songs from a Dutch band called Epica.
Many of their songs deal with religion... here are three really good ones :)
I hope you enjoy!


Epica - Cry of the Moon

http://www.youtube.co...

Follow your common sense
You cannot hide yourself behind a fairytale forever and ever
Only by revealing the whole truth can we disclose
The soul of this sick bulwark forever and ever
Forever and ever

Indoctrinated minds so very often
Contain sick thoughts
And commit most of the evil they preach against

Don't try to convince me with messages from God
You accuse us of sins committed by yourselves
It's easy to condemn without looking in the mirror
Behind the scenes opens reality

Eternal silence cries loud for justice
Forgiveness is not for sale
Nor is the will to forget

Follow your common sense
You cannot hide yourself behind a fairytale forever and ever
Only by revealing the whole truth can we disclose
The soul of this sick bulwark forever and ever
Forever and ever

Virginity has been stolen at very young ages
And the extinguisher loses its immunity
Morbid abuse of power in the garden of Eden
Where the apple gets a youthful face

Eternal silence cries loud for justice
Forgiveness is not for sale
Nor is the will to forget

Follow your common sense
You cannot hide yourself behind a fairytale forever and ever
Only by revealing the whole truth can we disclose
The soul of this sick bulwark forever and ever
Forever and ever

You can't go on hiding yourself
Behind old fashioned fairytales
And keep washing your hands in innocence


****


Epica - Facade of Reality

http://www.youtube.co...

Sanguis meus tibi non iam perbibendus sit

Macula aeternitatis
Numquam detergenda
Quisnam surget et deteget
Imaginem veritates?

People created religious inventions
To give their lives a glimmer of hope
And to ease their fear of dying
And people created religious intentions
Only to feel superior and to have a license to kill

Our desire to die is stronger
Than all your desire for life
There is no getting away from it now
Only true faith survives

People created religious inventions
To give their lives a glimmer of hope
And to ease their fear of dying
And people created religious ascensions
To subject the others and to enslave, just to further enrich themselves

It doesn't matter where we die
It doesn't matter that you cry
We'll take you with us

A disgrace on the beyond

O servator, sempiterne
Te grati coluimus, Odor atrox quo nons superfundis intolerabilis est

Deceive yourself by yielding
to soft words that cause no pain
Enrich yourself with different views
Learned without disdain

A disgrace on the beyond
That can never be undone
Who shall rise and unveil
The Facade of Reality?

Is there still room for new dents in old wrecks?
A disgrace on the beyond that can never be undone
Deceive yourself by yielding to soft words
Enrich yourself by making up your own mind

Sanguis meus tibi non iam perbibendus sit


****



Epica - Living a Lie

http://www.youtube.co...

Don't believe what you see
Believe in me
In my reality
I am a man of God

God, can't you hear that I’m begging you?

Don't believe what you hear
Believe in me
And I will reappear
Salvation here at last

At last someone to answers all my prayers

Hope is a desert running dry
Deep inside
You refuse to face the facts
But pray for life
Find salvations in distress
We will wait
For the day you’ll break out and
Re-awake

Lies

Don't believe what you see
Believe in me
And my reality
Eternity indeed

Indeed it's the end all and be all there’s

Hope is a desert running dry
Deep inside
You refuse to face the facts
But pray for life
Find salvations in distress
We will wait
For the day you’ll break out and
Re-awake

Lies

Domine lesu, demitte nobis debita nostra,
salva nos ab igne inferiori,
perduc in caelum omnes animas
praesertim eas, quae misericordiae tuae
maxime indigent.

In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti.
Amen

Living a lie

Human power
Will devour
Our senses
Bring us to forget
Human sources will not save
The power of faith
Heals us all

Hope is a desert running dry
Deep inside
You refuse to face the facts
But pray for life
Find salvations in distress
We will wait
For the day you’ll break out and
Re-awake
And we wait for the day
To discover there’s no way
I can't wait at this rate
It’s too little and too late
To live this lie

Living a lie

Are atheists trying to destroy society?

I will refute and discuss this following article and video: http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/08/31/catholic-league-atheists-penn-teller/

There is a gross misrepresentation of the truth and I am not standing for this.

People like Mr. Donohue, the leader of the Catholic League, think that people like me are out to "destroy the culture" of America. Donohue is severely misinformed. He is grossly misrepresenting the position of atheists.

Some issues Donahue presents with atheism in the video (and I'll answer them):

Morals - Athiesm doesn't entail "anything goes." Atheism usually entails a heightened sense of morality (this was discussed in my previous post).

Fundamentalist Atheists? - Atheists don't have any dogma to be fundamental about. I suppose, though, you might complain that atheists demand evidence, are rational thinkers, and reject dogma. It's impossible to be "fundamental" about a stance that says, "I don't believe." Sure, we don't believe, but how can we be fundamental about it? This doesn't make sense.

Dogmatic ideas are immune to change and people fellow them regardless of new evidence or contrary evidence. If new evidence presents itself, atheists will certainly consider it and possibly even change our positions.

Are people who don't believe in crop circles and supposed alien abductions "fundamental?" Are non-leprechaun believers being fundamental when they say leprechauns don't exist?

Atheists are a burden to society? - This is certainly not the case. Secular Humanists like myself, especially, want to benefit society. This is the main goal! We want to defend constitutional rights (free speech, separation of church and state, etc), promote critical thinking, promote science and rational inquiry, etc. The "call" of atheism, at a high level, is a yearning for knowledge, intelligence, and education.

"Radicals" changing the church - (I'll step in the shoes of another at this moment) Religious people are obviously worried about the policies and leaders within their religion. They want to change it. You should be willing to discuss the possibility of change. It's obvious that some change is always a good thing as our society is changing. Regardless, faithful people and atheists would like for some traditions and rules to be changed that are hurting us as a society.

Morality vs the Vatican

Let's look at what the Pope recently said:

- Atheists are to blame for the global warming

- Don't use condoms in AIDS ridden areas

This is clearly warped thinking.

Nazi assault-- are you kidding? Seriously?

I am doing the best job I can to understand the positions of religious people. I was actually an active member in the Catholic religion for many years of my life and understand it. I'm also reading about other religions like Islam, Judiasm, Scientology, Buddhism, Jainism, etc.

Send me all the e-mails, instant messages, etc you would like.

Repond to the blog.

Do something.

Let's stop this madness of misrepresentation.

Let's have a real discussion.

I'm making my best effort to have civil discussions with everyone whether they are religious or not.