Welcome to a little place I call 'reality'... (reprint)

Louis_Cypher's picture
Skeptic; Noun (skep-tik)
1. a person who questions the validity or authenticity of something purporting to be factual. 2.a person who maintains a doubting attitude, as toward values, plans, statements, or the character of others. 3.a person who doubts the truth of a religion, especially christianity, or of important elements of it.

 

That’s me in a nutshell.

 

Part of my skepticism, the part that gets me in the most trouble, is my Atheism.   I don’t believe in a god or gods. I also don’t believe in fairies, unicorns, ghosts, goblins, vampires, werewolves, little green men, angels, demons, leprechauns, Atlantis, ESP, Spiritualism or honest republicans. The only thing on the list that has its own label is my lack of belief in god(s). I don’t get criticism, derision or the occasional death threat because I don’t believe in Big Foot, (and calling myself an ‘anti-sasquatchian’ just doesn’t sing).      I was born without a god belief, we all were.      At an early age however, my grandmother who raised me in the backwoods of south east Texas, took me to church. It was Pentecostal, a primitive, dark and uncomfortable place where in the sweaty heat of a summer Sunday the sounds of fire and brimstone preaching led to holy wailing and the gibbering of glossolalia that rattled the clapboards.   They had a small baptismal, made I think from a livestock watering tub behind the preacher’s raised wooden platform. One Sunday, out of boredom and a desire to fit in, I joined the small que and got myself Baptized. I sputtered and coughed after being held down for a long 10 count, and didn’t feel a bit different, just soggy and a little foolish. I guess it didn’t take.   Somewhat later, I began going to a Southern Baptist church with my Aunt and Uncle and an old car jammed full of cousins. Sometimes the car was so crowded that my Uncle would open the trunk and us young kids rode the 4 or five miles back there.   This church was a bit more modern, with air conditioning and running water. The people didn’t yell quite so much and there was a lot of kids my age there as well. I liked the singing and the arts and crafts of Sunday School. And as I grew older, I developed a liking for the pretty girls in their Sunday dresses. Again, I was dunked, this time in the muddy, slightly brackish waters of the Sabine River.  Again, I was soaked to the bone and didn’t feel anything but a little silly.   This was all well and fine for an adolescent boy in the deep south in the early 60′s. I liked singing, visiting with my friends, fine southern food at the socials and pot lucks, and the pretty girls and such… One tiny problem, I didn’t believe the central thesis.  I didn’t really believe in god.   I kept it to myself, because I was sure there was a place that they put people like me who didn’t conform to the norms of society. As I grew older, I felt a prickling of conscious, an overwhelming sense of hypocrisy. I reached a point in my early teens when I could no longer pretend.  I quit the church and never returned.

 

 

LC >;-}> 

 

Christianity: A disgusting middle eastern blood cult, based in human sacrifice, with sacraments of cannibalism and vampirism, whose highest icon is of a near naked man hanging in torment from a device of torture.

Brian37's picture

I forget who said this,

I forget who said this, maybe Mark Twain? "It's not the parts of the bible I don't understand that scare me, it's the parts of the bible I do understand that scare me".

But, skepticism should always be available and used vigorously no matter the religious or political claim, no matter the label. We single out Christianity, but I also have a problem with shows that promote Big Foot and JFK conspiracies and homeopathy.

I also forgot who said, "Those who accept absurdities can go on to commit atrocities".

I'd say Hitler's claim that Germans were god's chosen people, and the Kool Aid the Germans swallowed in following his absurd claim was a great example of this".

"Gott mit uns" THE BELT BUCKLE OF THE SS.

 

"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers."Obama
Check out my poetry here on Rational Responders Like my poetry thread on Facebook under Brian James Rational Poet, @Brianrrs37 on Twitter and my blog at www.brianjamesrationalpoet.blog

Vastet's picture

A good read. Thanks for

A good read. Thanks for sharing.

Enlightened Atheist, Gaming God.

 Louis, I'm glad you're

 Louis, I'm glad you're blogging here.  Thanks for taking the initiative.  Since everyone else is unaware allow me to introduce one of the new bloggers for Atheism United.  Louis Cypher (pen name).

 

Louis_Cypher's picture

Much Thanks...

I've been looking for a home for a while now, I think I've found it.

LC >;-}>

 

Christianity: A disgusting middle eastern blood cult, based in human sacrifice, with sacraments of cannibalism and vampirism, whose highest icon is of a near naked man hanging in torment from a device of torture.