Sometimes I forget that the majority of people in the world still believe in some kind of god

Sometimes I forget that when people say the word god, they actually mean something, when to me it's just a word that's tacked on at the end of "oh my" to form a common phrase. The word god doesn't mean anything to me, it doesn't hold any significance. And a lot of the time, I keep forgetting that the majority of the world is completely unlike that.
I'm not going to complain about it. Believe whatever you want, I don't care, whatever keeps you happy at night. I'm completely satisfied with the belief that I am a small speck in a big universe and I'm going to die someday and that will be the end of me, that I am in total control of my own life, that everyone else is also in total control of their lives, and that nothing other than that fact and the laws of physics which govern the universe cause anything to happen.

Of course, I get a nice little reminder when people on facebook post religious stuff. I saw this the other day, and at first it seemed okay, and then I kept reading. I really should have stopped:

"Apparently the White House referred to Christmas Trees as Holiday Trees for the first time this year, which prompted CBS presenter, Ben Stein, to present this piece which I would like to share with you.

The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary.

My confession:
I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejewelled trees, Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are, Christmas trees.

It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, 'Merry Christmas' to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu. If people want a nativity scene, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from, that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.

Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her 'How could God let something like this happen?' (regarding Hurricane Katrina). Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, 'I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives.And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?'

In light of recent events... terrorist attacks, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave, because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said okay.

Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with 'WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.'

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell.
Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says.

Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing.

Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Are you laughing yet?

Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.

Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.

Pass it on if you think it has merit.

If not, then just discard it.... no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what a bad shape the world is in.

My Best Regards, Honestly and respectfully,

Ben Stein

 — with Terry Reed."

*cracks knuckles* oh, where do I begin?

Oh, poor baby, you have atheism shoved down your throat? How about we don't have religion in public schools because not everyone believes it anymore? I'm not saying let's not have religious discussion in school- by all means, let's have a class that teaches about the various different religions in the world, their beliefs and practices, so that people can make up their own minds. What I'm against is people acting like atheism is wrong and being "shoved down their throats" and like atheism is the immoral thing that's causing all these bad things to happen.
Newsflash: school shootings don't happen because schools are secular. School shootings happen because of bad gun laws and people who somehow get it in their heads that shooting other people is okay. That has absolutely fucking nothing to do with your god. Nothing. LITERALLY NOTHING.
That's what I really hate about this, it implies that religion is the only way through which people can be moral. Second newsflash: I'm a moral person (according to societal standards), and guess what, I am totally not religious. WHOA HOW THE FUCK DOES THAT WORK?? Well, maybe it's because I'm a human being who was raised by human standards, by parents who raised me to be honest and kind, parents who raised me not to steal and hurt other people, simply because those things hurt other people, sometimes myself, and so I shouldn't do them because, at the bottom of it all, humans are social creatures who need to be able to live together to survive, so hurting each other isn't really in our best interests. The end.
Another bit I really hate is the "we aren't allowed to worship god." WOULD YOU PLEASE TELL ME WHO THE FUCK IS STOPPING YOU OH MY GOODNESS, all we are saying is that if you want your kids to learn the bible, don't make the school do it, because the school is where kids who come from families who don't follow the bible go too. Maybe those families believe in another holy book, or, like mine, no holy book at all. And, you know what, I actually have several bibles lying around the house because WE WERE FUCKING GIVEN BIBLES IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. Don't even whine to me that public schools are completely atheist if I was given a fucking bible in a public school in Canada. That is such an absolute load of fucking crap.
And the whole thing is written under the bias of a person who believes that god exists, too. Third newsflash (have you been living under a rock?): there's actually no proof of that. No, literally. There's none. NONE. And don't try to use the bible argument. "Oh, well god exists because it says so in the bible." Who wrote the bible? "It is the word of god." So... to assume the bible is truth, one has to assume god exists, which is the only way to get proof that god exists (unless you're Descartes and you work out the causal principle, which can also be argued to be incorrect). That's a circular argument, that's a logical fallacy. I can't accept a deductive argument based on premises like that. If the premises aren't true, the conclusion isn't true.

Just. The whole thing. Pisses me off so much. People like this... I just don't understand how they function on a daily basis. You guys are aware that other people in the world believe other things, right? You can't change that. You can't do anything about it. There's lots of people who don't believe what you do, people like me even, who don't believe in any sort of higher power. How does that sit with you?
I have accepted that there are plenty of other people in the world who don't believe what I do, and I'm fine with it, so fine with it that often times I actually forget that that's the case. I don't have to prove my beliefs to anybody, I don't need them shoved down other people's throats and stuffed into the minds of children for me to be satisfied with them. I don't need to build buildings about it, I don't need to write books of crazy stories about it with a list of ironclad rules that have severe punishments. No, my belief is simple: I should be a good person because it is to the benefit of myself and to the benefit of those around me, often equally.
This is another part of religion I don't like; often times I've heard kids say things along the lines of "first comes god, then comes others, and then lastly, myself." That's just not healthy. There's nothing wrong with taking care of yourself, looking out for yourself. Look after others, too, but for crying out loud, have some balance. Help people, but don't be afraid to help yourself, don't be afraid to ask for help. Just keep things balanced. That is all I can say.

I am just so sick and tired of being called immoral because I don't believe the same fairy tale that a large portion of the world believes. I think Miley Cyrus actually said something to this effect, something like "Going out doesn't make you a bad person, just like going to church doesn't make you a good person." Just because you're religious, doesn't automatically mean you are better and wiser and more moral than me. You are just another human being, just like me. Your beliefs do not make you better- likewise, they do not necessarily make you worse. However, there are some people in the world who do use their beliefs in such a way that I think it does make them worse, like those people who think that "religious freedom" means that their religion is the only way and that no others, like atheists, should have religious freedom- this has a lot to do with birth control in the states. If you don't like birth control, don't f*cking use it. But just because you don't like it doesn't mean you get to impose your way of life on other people. Sorry, sweetykins, that's not how the world works, and it's about time you grew up and realized that.

I do realize this post is pretty nasty and condescending, and I realize that I should be the bigger person, but sometimes that's really hard. Sometimes this happens.

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against people who are religious and choose to go to church and read the bible and believe that jesus died for our sins. I do have something against people who judge me for not being religious and doing all that stuff that goes with it. If you want to quietly live out a religious life, go right ahead, just leave other people out of it when they ask, okay?

And for the love of the nonexistent god everyone seems to believe in, can you not pray for me? Seriously. I'm fine. I don't need it, it's really annoying and just kind of patronizing. Don't pray for the salvation of my soul. Just let me be. I don't need saving, thanks. I'm just fine.
Oh, and don't be that woman on Google+ who thought it was okay to tell me I was angry and confused and did need help. Don't try to tell others what they're feeling, k? K. All settled then.

yer pal,
swegan