Proof that Guardian Angels don't Exist (sort of)

Taken from Snopes.com

This is an excerpt taken from a post regarding child fatalities as a result of being left in a car alone.  How could god, with his omnipotence, or angels sit by as a child slowly roasts to death, and the parent/guardian/anybody remains completely oblivious? Makes me sick.

"More shocking than these accounts is the knowledge that this list represents only a tiny fraction of the infant and toddler deaths that regularly occur from kids being left in cars. In 2002, 30 children died in the United States after being left alone in cars, and in 2001 there were 34 such deaths. A parked car on a warm day can quickly become the last place you'll see your child alive. Some days, it takes only 30 to 45 minutes to kill a little one left inside. And cars heat up quickly — that it's the morning and the sun isn't yet properly heating up the air doesn't delay matters much. Neither will cracking the window a bit, as many a bereaved pet owner will tell."

A Problem with God's Omniscience

This is just a simple post, but profound when we're discussing a benevolent god.  I really can't fathom how it never bothered me much when I was living as a Christian.  

This issue has been dealt with many, many times, but it's nice to put it in my own words and express my own bewilderment and thoughts.

The crux of the  issue lies in the omniscient god of the Bible creating life with the full foreknowledge that his creation will be destroyed and ultimately cast into an eternal inferno.  If indeed Yahweh is omniscient, he could easily eliminate this issue by not creating those that will ultimately fail to obey and believe in him.  Instead, in an incomprehensible fashion, he goes ahead and creates those who will ultimately inherit eternal punishment.

Let's just look at the world wide flood.  Every single living being with the exclusion of Noah and his family is now roasting in hell, forever separated from god's love (or anyone else's for that matter).  Is there any reason why a loving god would allow this?  How about a just god?  Would a just god create beings that he already knew would fail?  Rhetorically speaking, is god not promulgating a greater injustice by setting people up for inevitable failure to begin with?  

Perhaps, god isn't omniscient after all.  This places problematic limitations on god and appears to contradict Biblical passages proclaiming his seeming omniscience:  1 John 3:19-20

By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.

Everything?  He knows everything yet he creates those that he knows will betray him and inherit eternal punishment.  I have a real problem with this and wonder how Christians reconcile it when made privy to it.  I never paid much attention to the dilemma as a Christian, and I suspect many just avoid it altogether.  

Two sighs in one day

Just Wondering

Why did many people in the Bible purportedly get the opportunity to know Jesus firsthand, while I do not.  Many of these people probably had the opportunity to change their mind from skeptic to believer directly as a result of witnessing many miracles of Christ, including the resurrection.  Meanwhile, I get a book to read that may or may not have an accurate depiction of Christ.  I mean just look at what's at stake.  Heaven and hell are in the balance but not every man has even remotely the same opportunity to validate Christ as genuine.  Isn't the main crux of the issue for most skeptics centered primarily on the supernatural claims of the Bible?  It would of been nice to see these firsthand:  Jesus multiplying fish and bread to feed thousands;  zombies roaming Jerusalem; Jesus resurrecting from the dead; Jesus ascending into heaven,...etc.   I've never witnessed anything else remotely like the aforementioned events.  Why aren't Christians doing the same kinds of miracles today?  To me, it just makes the stories seem all the more implausible.  

Prometheus

     I just saw Prometheus the other day and really enjoyed it.  There are some in the atheist community that are calling the movie "antiscientific" and downright embarrassing.  I mean, the main character of the movie dons a cross necklace and  seems to value  her personal  beliefs more dearly than science.  I could just envision  many atheists stampeding for the exit signs on that notion alone.  I, on the other hand, wasn't basing the value of the movie on a particular characters beliefs but simply on the entertainment value, or fun factor  if you will.

     There are basically two ways you can view a movie like Prometheus, merely as entertainment or with a magnifying glass that is hellbent on criticizing every inaccuracy down to the most minuet scale.  Indeed, there are noteworthy blunders in the movie,  like Theron suggesting that they were 35 light years  away from planet earth and equating it to half a billion miles; there are characters that act extremely foolishly and stretch credulity to its outer limits. For instance, one particularly stupid engineer decides to get way too close to a hissing snakelike creature that eventually breaks his arm and takes a dive down his throat.  All the while, I'm thinking to myself that nobody would be so foolish, but it did made for a great scene.

     I guess my point is that movies are rarely very accurate factually. They are generally quite contrived in many areas too.  You can nitpick just about any historic or science fiction  movie out there and find a litany of misinformation.  If you want facts, you should probably stick to textbooks and research journals, but, if you want entertainment, you go to the cinema.  

     As an aside, it is unfortunate that the scientific minded are still generally depicted as dry, nerdy, unattractive and weak while those of faith have this seemingly greater inner strength that motivates them to survive and overcome insurmountable obstacles.  Science is still denoted in the movies much like mainstream America perceives it, dull and lifeless.

Making decisions based solely on religious belief

This is why I can't tolerate religion.  We don't live in a vacuum and decisions of others affect the rest of us.  When people don't mind polluting the environment and participating in wars, since the end of the world is coming anyway, we see a lack of motivation to make the world a better place based on spurious beliefs.  

We find creationists demanding that we "teach the controversy", and children end up believing that the Bible holds the same evidential merit as hard scientific evidence.  The physician you are seeing may have very little understanding of evolution and not believe in it.  Medical schools generally do not teach evolutionary biology even though it is the very foundation of biology.  One wonders how much of this has to do with religion.

Obviously, people that demand no separation of church and state don't realize what they are asking for, or don't care about the consequences.  They want a theocracy, where people lose the very freedoms that America was founded upon.  The separation  of church and state actually protects the rights of a Christian more than hinders them. 

 Anyone else sick of hearing about Christians complaining that they are like some  mistreated minority here in the U.S.?   By far, atheists are the minority with a much smaller voice.  Although, I do think we are kicking ass in places like YouTube;  we are getting the message out at very little financial cost to us.  But, I digress.

I'm not a big supporter of abortion but wanting it banned just because of religious conviction is not a good reason.  You need to be able to make an argument based on evidence and sound judgment.   I believe that abortions can have devastating effects on the mother and many other members of the family but so can having a child that you are not capable of providing for.  In cases of rape and incest, albeit a minority of cases, should a woman really be forced to carry a fetus to term that was often violently and inappropriately forced upon her? Christian lawmakers would say an unequivocal, "yes" simply based on religious grounds.

We also make poor decisions in our personal relationships when we base them on religious belief.  We stop taking personal responsibility for the way we treat others since we can always ask for God's forgiveness in the end.  We fail to realize what little time we have on earth before it's all over.  

Some people place their children in Christian schools simply because it's a Christian school.  Millions attend religious events on a weekly basis, spending often multiple days of the week at a religious event; they spend hard earned money on tithes and Christian paraphernalia all because they have this baseless belief.  I'm sure the world would be a much better place if we all devoted our time and efforts to real issues.  

Geoge Carlin's religion is bullshit piece

This piece is still just as poignant and effective as ever. In our disobedience or disbelief, we send ourselves to hell where there is eternal suffering, but god loves us.

My Story (pt. 4) Reflections

I believe that atheism frees a person to think independently without any sort of religious crutch to rely on. It can be a bit intimidating at first but is far more rewarding than trying to make heads or tails of the Bible and its ambiguity. As a budding atheist, I occasionally wanted to return to the delusional comfort of god, but the red pill had already been swallowed. I saw things without the religious filter and couldn’t go back. I was also scared because there was no life after death to provide solace when things were uncomfortable here on earth. There’s also the sense of losing a part of who you are as you no longer have the social network of the church to connect with.

Essentially, everyone in my immediate family and some extended family knows that I’m an atheist at this point. I don’t talk about it much to them; I’d prefer to do my talking on this blog and facebook. My mom didn’t berate me when she found out but was very disappointed. She still catches herself talking to me about the miracles of god and how I shouldn’t speak negativity into my life because words have power of their own. My wife refuses to read or listen to anything that would surely make her question her faith and give her a better understanding as to why I lack faith anymore; this is a pretty frustrating situation at times.

I know that my writing has made an impact on some. I don’t want to name names but there are those that were questioning their faith and have made the trip to the other side with some assistance from my blog and others. The advent of the internet has allowed sort of a chain reaction in the de-conversion process. I was de-converted primarily as the result of discussions I had with Mike D. which led me to creating this blog and ultimately others were aided in de-conversion from reading this blog. The wide dissemination of ideas, some quite anti-religious, which the internet provides have put a chink in religion’s armor. It’s imperative that more and more voices speak out so that others can free themselves of religious ideology.

Religion affects our government’s legislation; just days ago, our local senate passed the personhood bill that prevents mothers from seeking abortion even in the case of rape. It also prohibits certain forms of contraception. I have no doubt that this bill was profoundly influenced by the Christian faith that is ubiquitous here in Oklahoma. We must continue to fight for reason and what’s true and discard supersttions of the past.

It took some time, but I‘m now proud to be an atheist. I don’t go around advertising it, but we shouldn’t be ashamed despite the fact that many consider atheists about as trustworthy as rapists. I think it’s a misunderstanding that many have which can only be remedied by speaking out via writing or other forms of communication. We all have a story to tell regardless if we never were affiliated with a religious faith.