Avris
religion
Recently, I'm getting approached online by people trying to pick a fight about religion and about how terrible I am for not being a fan (to put it mildly). Which surprised me quite a bit, since I honestly don't remember the last time religion was even properly on my mind, let alone having brought up this topic publicly.
(~6 min read)
So apparently I'm supposed to respect the belief that there are witches who have hexed the moon, because otherwise it would justify other people's homophobia.
What a pile of absolute bullshit.
(~2 min read)
I keep hearing this one argument over and over again: “if I see things around me that have been created, that means everything had to be created, that means there is a god”.
What they don't seem to notice (apart from such extrapolation being unjustified) is that looking in that direction actually points us towards there being no god.
(~3 min read)
Under a news that yet another church keeps being an asshole towards queer people some guy is asking why don't they just ignore it and find a better church.
Oh the privilege...
The very first thing I’ve ever tattooed on my body is a symbol of atheism. It might sound stupid for some (“if you don’t believe in god, why do you care so much about the nonexistent?”), but it’s a really important thing for me. Let me tell you why.
(~4 min read)
For whatever reason, many monotheists seem proud of believing in just one god as opposed to those “pagans” who believe in many. They consider it some kind of a “progress” (well, one is closer to the actual number of gods – zero – so technically it might be correct). But are they really monotheistic?
When you walk into the church I used to attend as a child, what do you see in the very center? Yes, the tabernacle, allegedly containing god himself. But what’s way way above it? What’s surrounded by golden ornaments and votive offerings? A figurine of Mary.
(~3 min read)
‘All stand for Their Majesty, Ruler of the Seven Continents, Sovereign of the Three Moons, Protector of Freedom, Emperor Kĥalɨd, the fourth of this name!’
Fanfares resounded and all hundred forty-four Senators (what an unusual attendance!) rose from their seats as the Emperor entered the Senate Plenary Hall, followed by a dozen generals. Well, “crawled into” might have been a better word to describe it, but since that was the ordinary for their species, I guess just “entered” is fine. The point is, even though for humans it might have looked sluggish and repulsive, for mendrɨans the whole scene looked ultimately royal and dignified as fuck. The Sovereign Senate doesn’t invite the Emperor that often. Whatever is happening, is gonna be huge.
‘My dear Senators’, started the Emperor after reaching the podium, ‘this war is unwinnable’. There was a loud gasp. Even though they knew that the immense power of their Empire is nothing compared to what the invaders from Earth can unleash, they were still holding on to their hope. Does it mean there’s officially no hope anymore?
Kĥalɨd continued: ‘but if we don’t win it, our entire species will perish, our Beloved Planet and its Three Moons will be destroyed to pieces. So we cannot lose it. It’s unwinnable, but we have to win it.’
Their voice started shaking. ‘What the fuck do we do?’, they cried.
(~9 min read)
‘Wszyscy powstać przed Jenu Wysokością, Władcum Siedmiu Kontynentów, Suwerenum Trzech Księżyców, Obrońcum Wolności, Cesarzum Kĥalɨdu, czwartum tego imienia!’
Rozbrzmiały fanfary i każdu ze stu czterdziestu czterech Senatorów (cóż za niebywała frekwencja!) powstału, podczas gdy Cesarzu wchodziłu do Sali Plenarnej Senatu, a tuż za num tuzin jenu generałów. Cóż, “wpełzłu” byłoby może ciut lepszym słowem, lecz jako że ich gatunek tak właśnie się poruszał, pozostańmy zwyczajnie przy “wchodziłu”. Tak czy siak, choć dla ludzi mogło to wyglądać ospale i odrzucająco, dla mendrɨanów scena ta wyglądała niezmiernie królewsko i godnie jak cholera. Suwerenny Senat nieczęsto zapraszał do siebie Cesarzum. Cokolwiek się zaraz wydarzy – będzie ogromne.
‘Moju drogu Senatoria’, rozpoczęłu przemowę Cesarzu tuż po dopełznięciu do podium, ‘ta wojna jest nie do wygrania’. Słychać było głośne westchnięcie zdziwienia. Choć wiedzieli, że niezmierna potęga ich Imperium to nic w porównaniu do piekła, które potrafią im rozpętać najeźdźcy z Ziemi, to jednak trzymali się resztek nadziei. Czy to znaczy, że teraz nawet nadziei już nie ma?
Kĥalɨd kontynuowału: ‘lecz jeśli nie wygramy, to cały nasz gatunek zginie, a nasza Ukochana Planeta i jej Trzy Księżyce zostaną obrócone w pył. Więc nie możemy jej przegrać. Wojna jest nie do wygrania, ale musimy ją wygrać.’
Jenu głos zaczął się trząść. ‘Co my do kurwy mamy teraz zrobić?’, zapłakału.
(~10 min read)
Today I realised how two completelly opposite techniques can be used together to manipulate people in a really consistent way. That’s what the Catholic Church (and religions in general) do: they make complex issues look simple, but they digress for ages about really simple stuff – overall turning the reality upside-down.
(~2 min read)
Religious people often threaten atheists with what will happen to them after death, if they don’t convert. Yeah, cause out of all the different made-up stories about what happens after death, it’s specifically yours that’s gonna be the right one. Right...
Let’s revert that question into “what if you’re wasting your life on religious bullshit”. It’s not as scary, because if it’s the case, you won’t notice you were wrong (that’s how being dead works). Still, your current life is the only one that you know for sure you’re gonna get. Are you really willing to waste it?
(~3 min read)
Pope Francis wrote a letter to all Catholics, in which he vows no more sexual abuse cover-ups. Cool... So when pope does it, it’s called “a Letter to the People of God”? If I vowed not to cover for criminals, it would be called “basic human decency”.
(~2 min read)
There’s a reason we don’t teach astrology, fortune-telling, horoscopes, telepathy or homeopathy at schools – they’re bullshit, they are claims not supported by any credible evidence. Yet when it comes to religion, some countries are fine with teaching it in schools. What the fuck?
Z jakichś powodów nie uczymy astrologii, wróżbiarstwa, horoskopów, telepatii czy homeopatii w szkołach – ponieważ są bzdurami, są twierdzeniami niewspartymi przez żadne wiarygodne dowody. Jednak w przypadku religii niektóre kraje nie widzą problemu z nauczaniem ich w szkołach. What the fuck?
I can’t count how many times I’ve been accused of “only being and atheist because I hate god!”. How the hell can I possibly hate something that I claim does not exists?
But no worries – if he existed, I’d hate him so much!
I’m a bit annoyed when somebody tries to convert me to their faith. Because although I know they probably do it for good reasons, wanting to give me a gift of eternal salvation and all that crap, from a perspective of a person that has spent (way too) much time getting to know religions of the world, the fact that god doesn’t exist is so obvious, and the absurdity of religions is so immense, that there’s no way back for me. It’s a waste of time to even look at it.
I have, however, found a way to spare myself all that conversional boredom. Ready?
(~2 min read)
Trochę mnie wkurza, gdy ktoś chce mnie nawracać. Bo wprawdzie wiem, że to zapewne z dobrych pobudek, że chcą mi dać prezent w postaci życia wiecznego i w ogóle, ale z perspektywy człowieka, który spędził (zdecydowanie zbyt) wiele czasu na poznawaniu religii świata, fakt nieistnienia boga jest dla mnie tak oczywisty, a absurdalność religii tak wielka, że nie ma już dla mnie drogi powrotnej. Szkoda czasu nawet na patrzenie w jej stronę.
Znalazłem jednak sposób, by sobie tych nawracaniowych przynudzań oszczędzić. Gotowi?
(~2 min read)
From a scientific point of view, of course I care for the god hypothesis. Its existence and nature are facts about our universe that are definitely worth knowing. But since we have absolutely no hard evidence supporting the existence of any god, anything we say about it and its nature must be either an uneducated guess, or just shamelessly made up.
From my personal perspective, however, should I care about god at all? Would it change anything in my life? Would I become a better person, if I just started believing against all reason?
(~3 min read)
No one can prove god’s existence. When an atheist states this obvious fact, they will almost certainly hear the response “well, but you cannot prove he doesn’t exist, either!”.
(~5 min read)
