Yay for Atheist Women!

Great video, but it’s only a fraction of the impressive atheist women out there. I didn’t see Eugenie Scott, Carolyn Porco, or Ann Druyan in that video, to name just a few. There’s also the women at skepchick.org of course, and many more. Can anyone else name some more notable atheist women?

A real man would try to help save women from a burning place. Why don’t you try to keep them from hell instead of encouraging destructive behavior. It takes far more love to confront then to ignore the situation.

Would you let a blind woman heading for a cliff just keep walking also? Those women and your fate is in peril, don’t you understand? Be a man and stand up for what is right instead of encouraging women to perish. Repent and Trust in Jesus today because you are thankful. At least a real man named Jesus Christ paved a way to allow us all to be saved from the eternal lake of fire.

God’s word declares that this is God’s plan of salvation; 1. Hear the WORD of God. 2. Believe that Jesus is the Messiah. 3. Repent of your ways that are contrary to God’s will. 4. Be Baptized INTO Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 5. Remain faithful to the Covenant you have made with God.

No go help save those women, chivalry is not dead.

Dan Marvin:

Yes, Jesus was a real man. That is, he was a MAN and nothing else. Your god is too small to encompass that notion.

Miresse: “Despite how the patriarchal male-dominated religion of Christianity would have you believe, we ladies aren’t wandering around waiting for some man to save us from our own brains.”

“Many women don’t like what the Bible says because it calls wives to “submit to their husbands.” However, submission is not limited to wives submitting to their husbands. We are told to submit to God, governmental authorities, our boss, and leaders in the assembly. We are also told to submit to one another, which includes men submitting women and vice versa. God is a God of order. In a sinful world, submission to those in authority is the only way to maintain order.”

Genesis 1:27 “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”

Traits from man and woman equal make up “image of God”

What about Genesis 2:18 where it says it is “not good” for man to be alone.

How did God treat women? Remember story of Esther?

You then have to ask, How did Jesus treat women? Like the woman at the well or Mary Magdalene or even the prostitute about to get stoned.

“The women described in the Bible are not always homemakers and mothers. Obviously, the biological function of women is to produce children. However, Deborah was both a judge and leader of Israel.(Judges 4:4) Other women were involved in ridding Israel of her enemies.(Judges 4:21) Quite a number of women are described as being prophetesses.(Exodus 15:20,2 Kings 22:14,Luke 2:36) Other women in the Bible were involved in teaching the Word of God(Acts 18:26)”

Countless other verses point to Jesus holding high regard for women.

“God’s people are referred to as female, not male. In the Old Testament, God’s people are the “daughters of Zion.” The Body of Christ (including us men) is referred to as the “bride” of Christ and God is said to be our “husband.” Whenever referred to by sex, the assembly is described as “she” or “her.” (Ephesians 5:25,27)”

In conclusion we have one verse that sums it all up: Galatians 3:28 “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.”

Amen

Does it ever seem like men are overrepresented among atheists? Maybe it is just me, but I’m always happy to hear about atheist women because there seem to be so damn few of them.

I have to admit, when I first saw Dan’s mention of a burning place, I thought he was going to refer to the burning of witches.

There’s no doubt Kathy Griffin is an atheist. She just got censored at the Emmys because of her negative comments about religion and religious people. Also, there’s this.

People recently asked Christopher Hitchens and Ayaan Hirsi Ali about the paucity of females in atheists groups and they had some interesting responses. Hitchens related it to the fears of child-rearing being assuaged by religion and Ayaan talked about how women are thoroughly indoctrinated and sublimated in Islam, so they’re less likely to ever have a chance to think for themselves. I think that’s true, but to a far lesser extent, in some versions of Christianity as well.

Mriana, if more kids were not indoctrinated with religion in childhood, I bet they’d have the same reaction to the bible that Richard Wade described reading it for the first time as a young adult. It would be obvious that it was metaphor and that much of it made no sense.

The reason we don’t get more reactions like that is that most of us were taught about religion from the young age when kids don’t question what trusted adults tell them. It takes a long time to grow out of that, and for many people it never happens at all, as you well know.

Karen, I think what you said was what I was trying to say. If we didn’t indoctrinate them into religion, the awe of nature might take that place, but whatever the case, the Bible and religion would not look the same.

He did? I thought that was Marx. “Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.”

OK I got my people mixed up, thanks for straightening that out for me, Olvlzl.

Dan, I can’t believe you said “The Bible is infallible, inspired, and inerrant word of God without fail”. You’re either a troll, or quite worthy of ridicule.

@olvlzl no ism no ist,

Maybe fundamentalism leads to atheism.

No doubt about it. (excuse the pun)

It’s all-or-nothing thinking that leads directly to either viewpoint. It’s the xian moderates who seem to have the most tenacious grip on their faith. I say this, of course, as an ex-fundie.

You’ll be surprised, Polly, how many moderate believers you’ll probably come across who are now non-theists. It’s not only us ex-fundies who deconvert, but we’re undoubtedly more vocal about it because it’s more difficult for us. Moderate deconverts don’t have as far to fall, in a sense.

Interesting definition Dan. Unique, even.

@Richard….not even a little ridicule? Please?

Oh, ok. Do not feed the troll. Got it.

We are after all in Jesus’ rest and not much is required of us because all the work had been done already.

I thought Christ was in us.

No matter, but what makes you so sure JC is it. I mean, Brahma is in everything and everyone. We are Brahma, the table is Brahma, but Brahma is not the table or us.

I don’t see a whole lot of difference. Must make Moksa!

Those who worship Allah, say Christians are infidels and they are going to hell. Gee… Seems like only Muslims are going to Heaven and there won’t be any Christians in Heaven.

Oh but no worries. The Jews are God’s choses. Meanwhile, Yahweh will smite you with plagues.

Oh Buddha. I missed Buddha. What can I say about him? Ah Nirvana. What’s the difference between that an heaven. I don’t know.

What it all boils down to, Dan, is that heaven, hell, and God are just a human concepts. This human concept was started by primitive people to explain what they could not explain and to give comfort to those who felt the need for a supernatural being to protect them- a security blanket. It’s all just a human concept and nothing more.

Boy, I’ll tell ya’, it was a busy week!

Wowee – a week!? Yikes, that was one quick drop. DagoodS, whose blog I’ve been enjoying recently, deconverted over about a six-month period and I thought THAT was about the fastest time period I’d ever heard of.

My stages: Absolute Christianity, all doubting repressed or dismissed – 30 years of repressed doubts resurface during midlife crisis – research to “assuage” doubts – doubts not assuaged but reinforced by research – decision to pursue doubts & research despite fear & trembling – drop Christian belief for generic theism – drop theism for deism – drop deism for agnosticism – eventual surrender: “Oh hell, I’m an atheist, I might as well admit it!”

The process total took about 5-7 years although once I shed Christianity itself the slide into atheism was probably only 1-2 years.

i thought one of your kids was buddhist? you’re missing half the joke – in buddhism, there are several levels below nirvana where you too can become a god! the really funny bit? in buddhism this undesirable – if you become a god, your chances of reaching nirvana are actually lessened, due to the higher chance of your becoming complacent, lazy and enjoying the good life at the expense of developing enlightenment. god = rubbish position to be in!

Yes my 18 y.o. says he is, but that doesn’t mean I understand what he says about it nor does he explain things very well. He’s not making much sense to me lately in general.

I think for me it was “Xianity or bust.” That’s why it didn’t take very long. I’d vaguely considered other religions before, but I had a real problem with the concept of a loving god and harsh universe, anyway. If it wasn’t believable in xianity, why would it be in any other religion?

I hung onto Christianity desperately for a few years, clinging to the personal experiences I’d had of feeling god’s spirit, hearing his voice or having prayers answered. A major turning point was when I heard someone say that all religious people have spiritual experiences that are valid to them. I realized that it was unbelievably arrogant of me to think that mine were legitimate, but the non-Christian spiritual experiences weren’t. They were either all true – the Buddhists, the Muslims, the animists, etc – or all false. That was a d’oh! moment for me.

Did you look at any other religions during the downUPward spiral?

I went to some moderate Christian churches (non-fundy) for part of one year, but didn’t like them. It seemed like they were cherry-picking what they liked from Christianity, which ultimately felt wishy-washy and meaningless for this ex-fundy. Then I did some reading on Judaism (my dad was Jewish) and went to a couple lectures on Buddhism. Some of the principles of Buddhism were helpful in terms of coping with the midlife crisis and the loss of faith. I still meditate when I do yoga and I find it helpful, although in the end Buddhism seemed so complicated that I didn’t have a hope of really understanding the bulk of it.

In the end, I found that I just didn’t miss religion. I seem to be able to live just fine – better in fact – without it. Maybe I don’t have the god gene or something, because I had very little of the longing to return to faith that some ex-fundies express.

In the end, I found that I just didn’t miss religion. I seem to be able to live just fine – better in fact – without it. Maybe I don’t have the god gene or something, because I had very little of the longing to return to faith that some ex-fundies express.

I must not have that gene, either. I don’t miss it. It’s startling how I could just drop such an important facet of my former life.
I know what you mean about “Cherry-Picking” scriptures. Some can pull it off, but the fundie mind (and the atheist mind) just can’t accept that “compromise.”

I read that Bhuddist texts can run into many massive volumes. I asked someone who claimed to be Buhddist if there’s a particular holy book or set of writings to focus on, she didn’t know of anything (I guess “nominal” isn’t just for Xians).
But, really, other than my own coping method – writing – I don’t think I need much else, either. (btw, I typically spell Buddhist in EVERY possible permutation before getting it right)

Mriana,

It makes sense to me. I’ve had “that feeling” when I was a christian and attributed it to god. As an atheist I continue to get “that feeling” watching the sunet or spending time with my wife and daughter. I believe the feeling is within, but people raised with religion think it is evidence of god in their lives.

@Mriana,

Is THAT what you meant? Oh, I totally get that. I’ve gotten that feeling, too. I used to attribute it to god when I was a believer. Usually while skiing and one time while mountain biking (slowly up a steEP mountain). Hmmm, endorphins at work? Nah, must be divine inspiration!

But, you know I got that same feeling reading a science book not too long ago. That transcendent feeling of the beauty of the universe. I’ve also gotten other, more personal feelings that I would’ve ascribed to god – a sort of peaceful, “everything’s gonna work out despite the crap all around you” feeling.
The funny thing is, even as an atheist, I get feelings of “peace that surpass all understanding” when I’m really stressed out sometimes.
If I were to take note of the specific circumstances surrounding those moments and record them as sure paths for others, then that could rightly be called a religion. Only problem is, it wouldn’t work because I think the experiences are both personality-dependent and quite possibly random as far as our ability to predict.

I just had a conversation with a psychiatrist and I pointed out some key points about God so I just wanted to share with anyone that reads this.

Richard: “You are not asking yourself why the Law supposedly exists in the first place. It is not, in Christian teaching, about arbitrary “accountability,” for its own sake. It is about repairing a disrupted relationship.”

I believe you are missing the point of the Law, friend. Let me explain it fully for anyone to understand.

Romans 3:19 “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.”

1 Timothy 1:9-10 “Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;”

Romans 7:7-8 “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.”

The law was made as a mirror for us. In the same way, we don’t realize what a bad state we are in until we look into the “mirror” of the Ten Commandments.

Richard: “You are not “glorifying God” because you love him, you are glorifying God because you’re scared sh**less not to.”

Again yes, that is Biblical while you are a proverbial ‘child’ learning about God.

Proverbs 9:10 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.”

Hebrews 10:31 “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

The Bible describes hell as unquenchable fire,(Mark 9:43) outer darkness,(Matthew 22:13) a furnace of fire and a place where people wail and gnash their teeth,(Matthew 13:42) and a lake of fire.(Revelation 20:15) where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched,(Mark 9:48) and where people are in agony in flames.(Luke 16:24) Perhaps the most terrifying passage in the Bible describing hell says that men will “drink the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; and they have no rest day and night.” (Revelation 14:10-11)

That should make all of us have fear, like a child fears a spanking if they run out in the street after the parent told them not to.(milk) When the child grows up then the child understand the perfect love and doesn’t fear the spankings but honors and respects the parent.(meat).

1 Corinthians 3:2 “I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.”

Hebrews 5:11-13 Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.

A proud unrepentant man, such as yourself Richard, needs the milk of hell and damnation and lake of fire talk. After you grow up understanding the Lord and you are ‘born again’ you don’t fear the punishment anymore because it isn’t for you, it’s for the sinners. Do you fear going to jail for a DUI when you sit at home drinking a glass of water? Of course not that is absurd, but if you were drinking scotch all day and then get behind the wheel then yes be afraid be very afraid. It is wise to face you heavenly Father in fear when you have broken His law. When you Repent ( turn away from sin, turn away from breaking His laws) and Trust and Faith in Jesus that he washed you clean and took your punishment for you, then you are forgiven and no longer need be afraid of Him but you respect and love Him for teaching you and you chose not to live to break His laws out of honor and respect, not fear anymore.

Richard: “Indeed, what you picture is more akin to the “fire insurance” many Christians, including myself when I was one, were taught to be wary of.”

That is perfectly fine at first but you, as most, never grow up and STOP sinning like they should. They want to keep fornicating or lying or whatever their sin is at the time and start to resent the “ol man” and thinks he is too hard because He will not let them do as they want. They are spoiled brats. It is Biblical and as you said “teaching you what an pathetic self-absorbed pervert (brat) you are, it offers you undeserved rescue.(out of love)”

No where near what you are alluding to as Stockholm syndrome. Now if you get to heaven after being saved and God STILL PUNISHES you and tortures you by burning you in a lake of fire then I suppose that would happen. Hear on earth though, God is justified to use such tactics to ensure your salvation. Remember Job in the Bible? If he is being tortured in heaven that would be an unjust god but I assure you that just isn’t the case.

Richard: “Honesty about motivations is the heart of self understanding, and of freedom.” I am motivated by the gratefulness that Jesus saved me from my deserved fate. I also bleed for the lost such as yourself, you are a like a little child playing in a burning house and I just want to grab you from that fire. I love you Richard and others. I love you enough to confront you. It takes far more love to confront to just ignore the situation. Perfect love is a constant confronter. Please, I am begging you Richard to just understand what I have said. Use pascal’s wager if you must, get the milk at first so you can enjoy the meat like me, at this point of my 39 years on this earth I am enjoying God’s love and it is difficult to explain it to the lost. God is not some tyrant, he loves you enough to save you if you let Him. Don’t be like that child that keeps wanting to run out in the middle of the street (sin), It is time to grow up and enjoy the gifts that the Lord wants to give you.(meat)

The difference is experience with God (me) vs non experience (you and atheists).

A mother tells a child not to touch that hot Iron and the kid listens and ‘believes’ his Mom. As soon as the Mom leaves the room the child touches the Hot Iron and gets burned. He just went from a ‘belief’ the Iron was hot to an ‘experience’ that the Iron ‘is’ hot with 100% assurance. No one can come and tell him otherwise because his experience tells him different. He is 100% certain the Iron is hot and he has the burn to prove it.

Well I have felt the Hot Iron of God’s hand on me and cannot be persuaded otherwise because I have an experience that removed ALL doubt, I am 100% certain there is a God and he loves you very much.

For Him +†+,
Dan

But, you know I got that same feeling reading a science book not too long ago. That transcendent feeling of the beauty of the universe. I’ve also gotten other, more personal feelings that I would’ve ascribed to god – a sort of peaceful, “everything’s gonna work out despite the crap all around you” feeling.

Yes, the transcendent or numinous (great word, Mriana!) feeling does transcend (hee, hee) religious belief. That’s enormously interesting, when you realize that those feelings of peace or light or beauty can be experienced even without god.

But I think what some people miss when they leave religion isn’t the occasional transcendent moment, it’s the certainty of faith. They pine for that comfort of knowing FOR SURE that there’s a benevolent purpose to the universe, or there’s a Loving Father in heaven working all things out for good in their lives, or there’s going to be a reunion with loved ones in the afterlife and death is not the end. That’s the “god gene” I was referring to: They want a spiritual connection with something bigger that has things all figured out, and minus that they feel a loss or bleakness that is tough to live with.

I felt that too, for a few months, but it honestly didn’t bother me as much as it seems to bother some people. I conclude that’s because I highly, highly value honesty and objectivity – even bald, bleak honesty – over comfort. If life’s tough and death is the end, I’d rather acknowledge that and come to terms with it and do my best to make the world a better place while I’m here, than to adopt a happy fantasy that’s comforting.

But that’s just me. I totally understand how that’s not how a lot of people want to live.