God Who Cares? (Atheist) by DeYtH Banger, VeNgeR GrEenTag (speed reading book TXT) 📖

and their respective issues are so serious that some justifiably throw them out and discredit them completely.

Informed readers know that Jefferson thought Jesus, though he believed nothing of Christian mythology, one of the greatest moral teachers in human history. I am perplexed how someone as clear thinking and enlightened as he was overall could believe this so strongly, because even he acknowledge much of what came out of the character Jesus' mouth in scripture was absurd and deplorable. But he convinced himself much of the absurd and deplorable content was inserted by his "biographers" and others who corrupted his simple teachings. Jefferson also knew well, being one of the absolute greatest pioneers for secularization of government and freedom of religion in all of history, just how awful and bloody the legacy of Christianity actually had been, and he knew it derived directly from scripture (something he had no problem cutting up with a razor to separate its "diamonds from dunghills"),the ending of which, the book of Revelation, he called the "ravings of a maniac." He knew the God of Moses was "cruel, capricious, and unjust", he knew Jesus was portrayed as thinking demons cause sickness and much else that he concurred was nonsense, whose "spells on the human mind", along with priestcraft, held the progress of the human mind in an "ominous" state.

I haven't come upon any commentary by Jefferson on the idea of eternal torture for non-Christians, but that doctrine certainly is the height of sadism and injustice and has caused unquantifiable harm through history, and is advocated clearly by the "prince of peace" who often isn't quite so peaceful, and who (or at least the character crafted by the biblical writers) espoused many other very questionable things, from preaching the imminent end of the world, to encouraging followers to hate and abandon their families, to pronouncing it ok to not wash your hands before eating,to urging us to not think of tomorrow and to not resist evil, to applauding Old Testament barbarism. He himself also says nothing against slavery and uses slavery analogies. The character of Jesus does get credit for not directly espousing so much of the blatant misogyny that he nevertheless surely knew about and permeates the Bible. I'd say, even taking into account all the good that the very best ideas attributed to the character of Jesus have inspired (though much of it coming thanks to the religion being stripped of power by modernity), this is at the very least a very, very mixed picture.

 

 

 

With respect to Thomas Jefferson, unlike with Jesus, I actually am a fairly big fan, despite his flaws. I have many books. For one, he never claimed to be and was never perceived to be anything more than an imperfect human being. As stark as the indictment is regarding the deep contradiction of the great ideas of freedom and equality that he so eloquently articulated and his actually owning slaves, the positive attributes and the effect they had in the world overcome that admittedly conspicuous blemish that rightly stains his image. Because again, the issue of slavery was ubiquitous and ancient, as unflattering as that fact is for humanity, and he was still to a degree a product of his time, though he was, for a time,one of the first and greatest opponents of slavery. And if we start judging all historical figures by modern standards I think we're heading down a very useless and unreasonable path. I agree with Carl Sagan that Jefferson was an enormous and indelible pillar that erected and holds up the modern world and all the progress and Enlightenment ideals that have seen humanity make such unprecedented progress in absolutely every possible area, scientific to moral to political.

I have no problem looking upon Jesus as an imperfect historical figure or myth who had and preached some good things. I have no problem appreciating those things and acknowledging any good they have done. I do have a problem with venerating such a figure and the context he comes in, the book his name is attached to, and holding such things as supreme and perfect, that are so obviously imperfect, and filled with so much absurdity and poison. I have problems with foundations made of intellectual dishonesty, obfuscation, and indoctrination. I would have a problem with The Iliad or The Odyssey being venerated as the supreme object of reality as the Bible is. How we look upon The Iliad or The Odyssey, how we appreciate and criticize those man-made books is precisely how we should treat their Near Eastern counterpart in the Bible. I sit back and imagine how the world would be if the tides of history had flowed differently and mankind viewed these things based on their actual merit and support of evidence and validity. How much better would the world be for it? Or better yet, how much better would the world be if a benevolent and wise god actually had produced a book and gave it to us from the beginning? It would be clear and unassailable what that book was. What would the world look like then?

Extra Material to Check Out

 Here is some books to check out

 

 

 

 

 

The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins (This is A Bible... Encyclopedy... it tells a lot about God... give a try)

Bible Arguments (1)

 By DeYtH Banger


"The delusional belief that what we do matters for all of eternity provides a false hope. Such a false hope falls under the Marxist critique that religion acts like a drug to numb us from the pain of injustice on earth through hope of a heaven in the afterlife. Having eyes on a heaven in the sky causes believers to be no earthly good. In fact, the hope of an afterlife devalues human life. Who really cares if people die when we go to war? The righteous will go to heaven. So let’s go to war. What does it matter if we abuse the environment? This earth is not our eternal home. What does it really matter that a tsunami wiped out a quarter of a million people? God will reward believers with eternal life. “The poor you will always have with you,” Jesus reportedly said (Matt. 26:11)."

- John W. Loftus




"Neither Sinatra’s boots nor rocks nor human beings were created by a deity for any purpose. Unlike boots and rocks though, we have evolved to be our own meaning makers. We were thrust into this world and must now make the best of this life. We cannot do otherwise Let’s talk about what we need to have a happy and fulfilling life. We need people. No one is an island. Social ostracism is painful, as is poverty, illness, or a life lived in prison. It’s doubtful any reasonable person prefers these things to having friends, wealth, food, health, and freedom. So in order to gain these benefits a person must have a kind and trustworthy character, earn his or her keep, stay healthy and fit, and obey the law. People who pursue risky behaviors or sick fantasies will eventually lose their freedom; so reasonable people don’t chase after those things.

    Since we cannot turn on and off what we value like a faucet, we must sometimes act contrary to our immediate self-interests for an overall life plan that includes friendship, love, and worth. Holistic happiness is its own reward. That is all the meaning we need in life."



- John W. Loftus




"Once locked inside the house of life we must get along if we want the benefits of a life worthy to be lived, and that means mutual cooperation. Those who refuse we ostracize. Those who choose to hurt others will eventually be caught and banished from society in jail."

- John W. Loftus



"There are other conceptions of gods with their own moralities. And how does this being communicate to us what is permitted? Isn’t it evident that the Christian God has not effectively done so, given the biblical record and the history of the church?
There is no evidence that a Christian God is needed for morality since many non-Christian cultures have done very well for themselves in their own time periods with no Christian influence at all, such as Greece during the Golden Age, the Roman Empire, China, and Japan. This is nothing but a parochial, narrow-minded, and uninformed claim. I think all a believer has to do is travel the globe to see this."

- John W. Loftus



"Morality evolves. It has done so from the very beginning. Morality is not even unique to human beings. We find precursors of it in the nonhuman species.

    But maybe I’ve missed the point?

    If this is supposed to be an argument for the existence of God, not even Richard Swinburne, one of the greatest living Christian apologists, thinks it works: “I cannot see any force in an argument to the existence of God from the existence of morality.”[3] If it doesn’t convince him, why should it convince me, or anyone else for that matter."

- John W. Loftus




"Does God create morality? If so, he can create any kind of morality at all. Then any acts—even horrific ones—could be morally obligatory simply because God commands them. Or must God instead derive morality from a higher source? If so, even God must obey it. Christian philosophers have all but abandoned the divine command theory, or at least modified it. All they can say is that God is what he is and that he does what he does. That’s it!"


- John W. Loftus



"‘Happy is the one who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.’ Really? What do you mean? You want me to kill my children? Why them? Yes, I know they are unrighteous, lacking a care for godly things. That’s my fault as a mother. Why me? You want to test me just like you tested Abraham with Isaac? Are you sure? I just can’t do that. You want me to drown them in the bathtub? If you insist, Lord."

- John W. Loftus




"Contrary to Randal, if there is a God, everything can be permitted, for faith-based reasoning can justify any evil deed. In fact, religion is what turns otherwise good people into evil monsters because they think God told them what to do, either “audibly” or from something they read in the Bible."

- John W. Loftus






"John’s Opening Statement

    Child sacrifice was commanded of the Israelites by Yahweh, the biblical God. In Exodus 22:29–30 we read:

You shall not delay to offer from the fulness of your