Atheists, agnostics etc? Does it bother you that...?

Question

That we live in a world largely populated by people who:

1. Believe that only *their* imaginary sky-daddy is the 'real' one.

'2. Believe that they are in touch with something 'Holy' even though in reality they get their dogma from Bronze-age tribal/patriarchal hand-me-down texts.?

3. Believe that our world is right about now coming to an end in which they will find salvation, and that the rest of us are infidels or unsaved, arrogant, sorrowful, or evil or hateful or any number of these bad things?

4. Thinks that anyone who doesn't follow their 'faith' either 'worships' science or is tempted by the 'devil'?

5. Often know as much about scientific discovery, psychological processes, and rational thought as does a rock with wings?

6. Are convinced that their morals (no matter how out-dated or despicable) are 'absolute' and decreed by a supernatural dad?

7. Believe that everyone else wants to 'close down religion' rather than 'wake up' religionists.

8. Think that secular government is victimization of *their* religion (and strangely not of other religions)

Answer 1

It's much, much more than a bother. It is an immediate, vital and very dangerous THREAT... to the USA... to the world... to humanity. For example, consider global warming, and the environment. I think that everyone is still missing the REAL story... the story that accounts for why we're not making any real progress with regard to the environment and global warming. The real story is that the people who actually have the power to DO something about these problems do not think it matters. Every now and then, though, some blabbermouth lets something slip, which provides a critical insight:

"Reason must be deluded, blinded, and destroyed. Faith must trample underfoot all reason, sense, and understanding, and whatever it sees must be put out of sight and... know nothing but the word of God." ~ Martin Luther (This blabbermouth is for historical context, only.)

“My responsibility is to follow the Scriptures which call upon us to occupy the land until Jesus returns.” ~ James Watt, Former (US) Secretary of Interior, Washington Post, May 24, 1981

“We don't have to protect the environment, the Second Coming is at hand.” ~ James Watt, Former (US) Secretary of Interior, Washington Post, May 24, 1981

"I don't know how many future generations we can count on until the Lord returns." ~ James Watt, Former (US) Secretary of Interior, to a Congressional committee in 1981, quoted from "A Brief History of the Apocalypse"

It is not that the people who are high up in our government do not believe that the destruction of the environment, and global warming are immediate and dire threats... it is simply that they do not care about the threat. They believe that the return of Jesus is imminent... that this world will be destroyed, and a ‘new earth’ will be created for the ‘faithful’. So, it simply does not matter that the earth may soon be unfit to support human life. For this same reason, they are not concerned about the burgeoning national debt... they simply don’t think that anybody will be around to 'collect'. They are not concerned about future generations for the simple reason that they do not think there will be more that one or two future generations.

Of course, our ‘leaders’ cannot admit to this... if they were to do so, a large part of their ‘Satanically-misled’ constituency would disown them. So... they prevaricate... they obfuscate... they lie... they deceive... they misrepresent... they ignore and even discredit the ‘science’. To them, it is no more than a delaying-game... a ‘rear guard’ action in what is a very real ‘war’... a war against Satan and his minions... and they think that they are the ‘good guys’. In short... our leaders are quite insane.

These people think that they are the most moral of men... working tirelessly to further “god’s plan.” And since they are are working on behalf of ‘god’, they see absolutely nothing wrong with lying, cheating... whatever it takes to thwart and delay those who would interfere with “god’s plan.” In other words, lying to those who are doing the work of Satan is not regarded as a sin. They think that god gave man ‘dominion’ over the earth (from Genesis)... and they view it as their god-given duty to claim the earth, subdue it and use it... physically and politically... for the glory of god... and anybody that opposes those aims is, of course, working directly for (or deceived by) Satan.

This is the real story... and it is a BIG story... bigger than Watergate... bigger than global warming itself... real ‘Woodward and Bernstein’ stuff. It needs to be told... and these crazies need to be exposed... and stopped.

Don’t take my word for this... it is relatively easy to research. The best place to start would be in investigating ‘dominionism’... ‘theonomy’... ‘Christian reconstructionism’. Here are a few good places to start:

http://www.religioustolerance.org/reconstr.htm

http://www.yuricareport.com/Dominionism/DirectoryRiseOfDominionismInAmerica.html

Here is an excerpt from the first link:

“Dominionists, are attempting to peacefully convert the laws of United States so that they match those of the Hebrew Scriptures. They intend to achieve this by using the freedom of religion in the US to train a generation of children in private Christian religious schools. Later, their graduates will be charged with the responsibility of creating a new Bible-based political, religious and social order.”

This endeavor has been underway for almost 20 years now, and guess what? It's working.

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Answer 2

2

Answer 3

1 & 2. It baffles more than bothers me. A guy on a forum I was on insisted that the holy spirit has told him he's following the right path. When I pointed out that others believe that to yet believe completely different things he said something them translating it wrong

3. Thats a bit bothersome. When they're wrong (ie the date just passes) they never hold their hands up and say - hey apparently it was a crock of....

4. Yes that bothers me and baffles me. They seem to have this obsession with everyone worshipping something. Which is complete codswollop and just exposes their own insecurities

5. What are we teaching people in schools - how many times have we heard "evolution just doesn't sound believable to me" WTF?! Oh well then if you can't believe it then it mustn't be true. All that evidence is jus wrong

6. Oh yes - and any believer that breaks the rules isn't a true believer in the first place. HAH!

Answer 4

Having studied quite a few religions in depth, nothing surprises me and certainly the only thing that can really bother me, at the moment, is if some behavior is actually causing harm and/or suffering. To be bothered would mean that I have more work to do, taming my mind's perceptions of many things... which I do have much work to do.

_()_

Answer 5

Not particularly. Most people I know who are openly religious have too many concerns in daily life to waste energy judging mine. The rare few who do brush up against me I wave away like gnats, then forget about them.

Answer 6

You know, a lot of the things you mention are typical of US hardcore fundies and not a global phenomenon.

Answer 7

Actually, I'll have to agree with Jamus on this one (surprise surprise)... But everyone is entitled to believe what they believe and as long as they leave me alone I really don't care.

They're just ignorant, but to each their own.

Answer 8

I find it profoundly disturbing.

But I do what I can to stem the tide; and take no small amount of pride in knowing that my son (who just turned five) already understands that gods and myths are "just pretend".

Answer 9

It bothers us Theists:
That you would pull down everything religious
Close down every charitable institution.
Turn states into the former Soviet Union and Chernobyl.
Bend the truth in science to accommodate your agendas.
If you had your way.

Answer 10

No.

I've got used to being surrounded by stupid people with the morals of the gutter.