An amazing quote
Offline So why am I so outspoken
About my Atheism?
"You may be 38 years old, as I happen to be. And one day, some great opportunity stands before you and calls you to stand up for some great principle, some great issue, some great cause.. And you refuse to do it because you are afraid… You refuse to do it because you want to live longer…You're afraid that you will loose your job, or you are afraid that you will be criticised or that you will loose your popularity, or you are afraid that somebody will stab you, or shoot you, or bomb your house, so you refuse to take a stand. Well, you may go on to live until you are 90, but you're as dead at 38 as you would be at 90. And the cessation of breathing in your life is but the belated announcement of an earlier death of the spirit"
Rev. Dr Martin Luther King Jr.
November 5th, 1968
Words that ring true never go out of style
"Imperious, choleric, irascible, extreme in everything, with a dissolute imagination the like of which has never been seen, atheistic to the point of fanaticism, there you have me in a nutshell.... Kill me again or take me as I am, for I shall not change.
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Wow! Very cool. Thanx for that...
EDUCATION! EDUCATION! EDUCATION!
You are right, that is an excellent quote. He is right breathing doesn't matter if your 'spirit' is dead and you don't stand up for your principles.
Seems kind of dumb to me. What if your principles include keeping a job, living as long as possible, and not getting shot or stabbed, or spit on, or ridiculed, or outcast? Many people sacrifice their own personal dignity in order to live up to these principles, yet you never hear anyone singing their praise. Is it not just as heavy a burden to them as the risk of losing life and limb is to those who carry their pride and dignity with them?
Lame.
The idea is that a person isn't living if they are not being them self.
Spit on, ridiculed, or outcast are social concerns. If a new culture and society is created a person's social needs a meet that way.
Keeping a job would be needed for living, but if it really become that big of a problem people can look into anti-discrimination laws or form another network of non-discriminatory employers, something that more then just atheists could benefit from.
As for the losing a limb bit I'd simply see that as a good opportunity to improve medicine by allowing my body to be used in experiments.
If a person has to hide who they are, assuming who they are isn't a mass murder or something, to function in this world I'd think it means something needs to be done about the world. Allowing the idea that its perfectly reasonable to hide or keep quite won't solve anything and can only add to the problem.
If your only goal is to exist and never rock the boat then not saying anything about anything is perfectly fine, but good luck if you ever wanted to change to world.
Jesterspace! I've missed you.
I hope you are well.
Welcome back!!!
This brings up the question: what is the self? What if myself happens to desire a job more than it does to express my views on a subject? Am I being myself? Am I only myself when I am feeling comfortable? If this is so, then what about people who suffer from chronic anxiety? Could it be said that they are never themselves (or even that they lack a "self"
? What do you think about these things?
Yes, but perhaps the person doesn't want to have to suffer in order to bring about this new culture.
I'm not just talking about atheists here. Broaden the scope a bit, thanks.
Why not mass murderers? What about pedophiles? Alcoholics? Other drug abusers? Compulsive liars? Kleptomaniacs? People guilty of commiting sex crimes?
What problem?
Not everyone in this world has been afforded the privelege of the choice to change it. As the noted apothecary once said, "My poverty, but not my will, consents."