The Atheist Camel Rants Again! by Hump Dromedary & Centre Bart

Author:Hump, Dromedary & Centre, Bart [Centre, Bart]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781439287446
Publisher: CreateSpace
Published: 2011-05-28T05:00:00+00:00

52

Those Damn Arrogant Atheists!

24 Feb 2010

I recently joined a new Facebook page entitled “Atheism—we believe in ourselves.” I don’t join every atheist group or page suggested to me, but I like to give support to Facebook friends who start a page. I also am not crazy about the use of the word “believe” in the name, but I won’t push the point.

One member of the group posted this: “It’s self-centered and unenlightened to say one believes in oneself.”

I found this a rather peculiar comment coming from a self-proclaimed atheist. What? Is it more enlightened to believe in a Sky Buddy who manipulates your life and promises you eternal existence after death? If not, what’s the alternative to belief in oneself (aka, confidence in one’s self, self-reliance): dependence on others to manage your life for you? People who do not believe in themselves lack self-esteem, lack independence, lack self-reliance, never take risks that could advance their career or give them a competitive advantage in any life endeavor.

In discussing this in another atheist forum, one member said this: “…announcing to believers [in his very Catholic country, the Philippines] that one believes in oneself as opposed to an invisible being in the sky simply comes across as putting one’s self over God. It is therefore to be expected that (some) believers will find it arrogant and self-centered…”

Do we not put ourselves over all imaginary beings? I know I do. Do we need to be ashamed of that? I’m not; in fact I couldn’t be more proud of it. And if theists find us arrogant in our acceptance of reality over superstition and open dismissal of their delusion, do we need to concern ourselves about it? I could understand that being the case fifty or one hundred years ago or during the Spanish Inquisition, but not now. Not anymore.

I’m unconcerned about bruising the sensibilities of those who prefer we remain contrite in our acceptance of reality and reason, or that we remain invisible to the theist majority. We must embrace confrontation. If it wasn’t for Madalyn Murray O’Hair, Ingersoll, Dawkins, Hitchens, Dennett, Harris, and others who have kicked wide the door and said, “Enough!” to false respect for theist beliefs, to religious dominance, to salving theists’ fragile sensibilities, we’d all be pretending to be believers. I doubt I could even openly write this piece, or this book.

The degree of religiosity in the Philippines, I dare say, is no worse than the degree of religiosity in certain parts of the US. Mississippi is the most religious state in the union with 96 percent believers, according to the Pew Forum survey. Yet there are a number of groups down there who openly declare their atheism, challenge fundamentalist intrusions across the line of church/state separation, and are quite vocal. Yep, they are probably perceived as arrogant by their believing neighbors, especially given their more advanced “book larnin” and godless rationality. Good!

Yes, I put myself over gods, all of them. Yes, I have complete confidence in my ability to manage my life without incorporeal nonsense.

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