A Social Lens - 'Militant' Atheists and Religious Radicals

My cousin and I were discussing the concept of the 'militant' Atheists... More aptly called evangelical Atheists or 'recruiters' if you will... This is what we came to as far as a consensus in concerned.

Keep it in church.

Everything's fine in moderation blah blah blah take whatever adage you enjoy for this but it all means the same shit in the end. It is perfectly fine to have a belief, but please don't go forcing it on other people because rape is wrong... And what you're perpetrating is what I would call 'righteous rape', forcing your beliefs on someone who doesn't want you doing so under the belief or guise that your faith or belief structure is 'right' and therefore you should be allowed to foist it upon these poor people.

So here's what sparked it...

A certified 'militant' Atheist

 This guy just wasn't content to quietly go about his business believing that structured theological beliefs are not based in reality, or that they are universally incorrect... No, he had to stir up shit for what really amounts to no better reason that "because he could". He argued that as he was a patron of "The Church of The Flying Spaghetti Monster", that he should be allowed to wear his religious headwear (a strainer) in his Austrian driver's license photo. Basically, my cousin and I decided to just call this guy an idiot and leave him alone as really, he hasn't hurt anyone.

Now I know what some of you are thinking... "But he's mocked our religion, our beliefs, how can he get away with this?" My feelings on this matter are as follows and please heed my advice:

• Stop getting so bent out of shape over nothing.
• Accept that your subscription to whatever religion you hold dear is a CHOICE and as such is within the realm of human criticism.
• Take this man's actions worth a grain of salt. If YOUR God(s) is/are right, then he'll suffer in the end so why worry? He's not damning YOU by his actions, HE'S the one with a bloody kitchen tool on his head for an official federal ID photo who's REALLY suffering here?

I'm betting point #2 up there's got a couple of folks miffed... GOOD. Unfortunately no matter how pissed off you are with the statement or me for making it, the point's still an indisputable fact. Yes, there are things in life that we can't choose like who our biological families are, our race, our born gender, our medical differences and complications etc, sexualities... All of these things are simply ingrained in our genetic coding and we can't just up-and-change them however people DO change their religious beliefs and they do it more frequently than you'd think. The point here is, you CHOOSE to believe in something folks, it's that simple. You aren't compelled to get up and go to church, to conduct your daily prayers, or to go about whatever religious rituals you practice, you just choose to do so. In this case your belief is akin to that of a belief in a certain political party and just as politics comes with debate, so can and will theology.

Now a lot of offense has been made here either through Niko's Pastafarian case or through my words typed out as you see them here but what I'd like to say is this... Remember to consider if any offense was really meant here, and if it was, consider WHO it was meant to be taken by.

In my case, no offense has been meant. Yes, I've said things that I know will rile people up, but I've not denounced anyone's faith I've simply stated the cold hard facts. If you take offense from this, that is not my fault as you have CHOSEN to read this and you would the n be CHOOSING to take offense from the article. In the case of our Austrian individual I'm sure he meant to piss some people off, to get under their skin but I think those people are a select group. Do you know why I think this???

How often do you hear "I hate those quiet, polite religious individuals who don't pester me or anyone else with their beliefs and just choose to practice their religion on their time!"? Probably not something you hear on a daily basis right? Right.... If you disagree I'd caution you to consider who you're associating with when you hear this on such a frequent basis. So yeah, there's not a tonne of folks out there hating on the quiet atheists or quiet religious, but what about the evangelicals and the radicals? These are people who actively seek out those who do not believe in the same rhetoric and then seek to convert them in an almost aggressive behaviour... EX: This video (a parody as it may be)...

Yeah, we all know the types. The issue is that they get into people's faces and sometimes it goes WAY over the line as in the case of pro-lifers bombing abortion clinics, or "jihadists" suicide bombing mosques, churches, and this is all done because a God said it needed to be? I doubt that any righteous or loving God would encourage such behaviour.

In any case, the message here is simple... Keep it in church and remember that sometimes it's okay to NOT take offense from something... Especially when it wasn't intended as an attack against you.

Enjoy your swim,

Joshua J. Taylor