If you can’t think of something nasty to say about your adversaries, just follow the religious right — and make stuff up.So now we have a war on Christmas. You gotta respect the marketing guys they have over at the Christian Coalition. They are literally trying to bring intolerance back into vogue. Wal-Mart says Happy Holidays? Blame the Atheists! How dare they take Christ out of Christmas! Who cares that there has been NO effort to make private enterprises say Happy Holidays? Who cares that there have been NO press releases or email petitions, or even that the Atheists actually condemn affronts to freedom of speech? Who cares that it’s the very definition of the OPPOSITE of what we want, which is the separation of church and state (which includes the right for private enterprise to say what they want)?And who cares that private enterprises are simply executing their freedom of speech and choosing — get this — to be inclusive and nice! How dare they! Don’t they know that diversity and tolerance leads to peaceful coexistence? We can’t have that!So they LIE — yes, they LIE and tell their parishioners that we want to erase Christmas. Again, this is a LIE (so much for their commandments).American Atheists supports the separation of church and state. This goes both ways. It means the government can neither promote nor prohibit religion, and that means we are NOT seeking any legal actions anywhere against any private enterprise for saying Merry Christmas.We appreciate the efforts of any and all stores and chains who strive to be tolerant of non-Christians, and hope it continues, but come on, folks! A War on Christmas??? We’ve got REAL problems in this country, people! Lets not invent new ones for the sake of ratings or rabble rousing!
THE WAR ON CHRISTMAS, HAPPY HOLIDAY, WINTER SOLSTICE & SCROOGE, OH MY! WHAT THE ATHEISTS DO — AND THINK ABOUT — DURING THIS TIME OF YEAR!Jerry Falwell is convinced — those nasty Atheists/Secularists are out to ruin Christmas and replace this festive time of year with “Happy Holidays” greetings and “Holiday Tress,” right?Probably not.* Atheists ARE concerned about government endorsement of religion especially during this season. Taxpayer money should not be used to erect or host Christian nativity creches, Jewish menorahs or anything else suggesting sectarian religion. Private individuals and businesses should have the right to recognize and celebrate the holidays as they see fit. “Happy Holidays” is an inclusive, broad recognition of our country’s diversity.* Over 30 million Americans profess “no religion” according to the American Religion Identification Survey. This includes Atheists, Freethinkers, Secular Humanists and others of no religious belief. Many of these celebrate this time of year by recognizing the Winter Solstice which occurs on December 21, 2005 at 1:35 PM ET. This marks the Sun’s lowest point in its apparent annual journey across the sky. It is a “natural holiday,” one celebrated (along with the Summer Solstice and the equinoxes) by human beings since ancient times. It has no supernatural overtones, and for many Atheists, well, it’s as good a time as any for convivial gatherings.If your news organization wants to know more about Atheists and the Winter Solstice season, please contact us. Atheist/freethought groups across the country are having social events (see: http://www.atheists.org/wintersolstice.html for one example). Some Atheists do not celebrate this season, and consider “Christmas” to be just another day in the course of the year. For more information, contact American Atheists.AMERICAN ATHEISTS is a nationwide movement that defends civil rights for Atheists; works for the total separation of church and state; and addresses issues of First Amendment public policy.American Atheists, Inc.P. O. Box 5733Parsippany, NJ 07054-6733Tel: (908) 276-7300Fax: (908) 276-7402
What sacrifice? According to you guys, Jesus was only dead for three days or so. God gave his only begotten son, then had second thoughts and took him back.
God is an indian giver.
(please excuse the un-pc term. I am only being facetious as usual.)
Goose,
Bullshit. I personally find it insulting that by inference you are saying that non-god-lovers have malformed conciences.
Of course the god-lovers that do commit atrocious deeds (think Preists of Cathol) can then just be disowned as not ‘real’ Xians.
I personal know a very religious man who kidnapped his ex-girlfreid, sodomized her over several days, then when brought to trial managed to overpower a sherrif, steal a gun and kill four people. I know he was and still is very ‘god-loving’ – what happened to his concience transformation?
The reality is that god-loving people and non-god-loving people both have their fair share of malcreants.
“What sacrifice? According to you guys, Jesus was only dead for three days or so. God gave his only begotten son, then had second thoughts and took him back.”
He suffered death for our sake. And torment and humiliation, you name it.
The point is that God himself became man in order to redeem man with himself.
God didnt’ have second thoughts, it was clear that Jesus was to rise from the dead after three days.
“God is an indian giver”
Don’t know that expression
HeatheNZ
“Bullshit. I personally find it insulting that by inference you are saying that non-god-lovers have malformed conciences.”
I just speak from my own experience. I know what my thoughts were like before and what they are like today.
And i must add that i am in no way a better person today but now i love Gods law instead of when i was living in sin. Then i hated Gods law and found pleasure in being ungodly
“Of course the god-lovers that do commit atrocious deeds (think Preists of Cathol) can then just be disowned as not ‘real’ Xians.”
Well i always thought of the catholic church as a big political organisation as opposed to a “real” church. But hey maybe it is a church.
I can’t speak on behalf of the vatican, i know nothing of it. Except for the pedophile priests. I think that is horrible of course.
“I personal know a very religious man who kidnapped his ex-girlfreid, sodomized her over several days, then when brought to trial managed to overpower a sherrif, steal a gun and kill four people. I know he was and still is very ‘god-loving’ – what happened to his concience transformation?”
Can’t say. Are you sure he loves God? I doubt it. Actually it is more likely that he couldnt care less about God, which is quite obvious from the story you told.
“The reality is that god-loving people and non-god-loving people both have their fair share of malcreants.”
Nobody is saying otherwise either. The question is does one love God or not? God can live with “malcreants” but he can’t accept that you turn your back on him.
Goose
No true Scotsman, eh?
So we can’t believe that anyone who says he loves God, but commits horrible crimes, really loves God.
Then how is it known that the person who says he loves God , but commits more minor sins really loves God either?
Loving God seems to have no real bearing on actions, and therefore can’t be relied upon as a moral compass.
When you say you love God, can you describe just exactly what it is that you love?
Many have suffered far worse, and with a greater expression of bravery and heroics. Remember that the night before his betrayal Jesus asked God to “take this cup away.”
Contrast this with the story of Socrates, who was given a chance to renounce his beliefs and confess to the alleged ‘crime’ that his ideas were responsible for the misery Athens had brought upon itself. Instead of confessing, he told the crowd that he should in fact be rewarded, for he had been the lone dissenting voice against the madness of the war with Sparta. Thus he was condemned to die, but was given a choice as to the method of his execution. Socrates chose hemlock poisoning, and cheerfully took the cup with his own hands, rather than betray the one true possession he had ever owned – his mind.
Athens was deeply shocked by this sacrifice, and as a result their entire culture was transformed. This was how classicism was born, and the philosophies birthed by the students of Socrates eventually led to the Italian Renaissance, the Age of Reason, modern science, and now philosophical atheism and modern skepticism.
Now that is what I call a worthy sacrifice.
Goose
An Indian giver is someone who makes himself look important or generous by giving something, but has the knowledge that he is going to get the gift back anyway, sometimes in an underhanded manner. The term refers to the deals our ancestors made with Native Americans, effectively cheating them out of their land, possessions and way of life.
Karen
Well, Jesus said you can judge the tree by its fruit. Juicy grapes will not grow on a bad tree.
Actually as a christian. who loves God, it is just as easy making minor sins as well as big ones. Life isn’t free from bumps.
And no, loving god has no impact on some moral issues. But definetely on others. Views on sex, drugs, entertainment etc. But the moral laws concerning these are considered stupid from you point of view.
Christians – Gods laws are superior
Atheists – Gods laws are stupid
I love God because he loved me first. He has been graceful to me and saved me. I have only good things to look forward to. Why shouldnt’ i love my creator?
Suffered? SUFFERED? He got to go right on to Heaven afterward. He has to come back for a while, but then gets to live in eternal bliss. Any ’suffering’ would be on Earth living as a man, not after dying. Such a sacrifice! I completely see your point.
“Remember that the night before his betrayal Jesus asked God to “take this cup away.”
Yes, fascinating isn’t it? Imagine that they would include something like this in the bible. The saviour fears his destiny.
Almost makes you think that it can’t have been made up by man.
“Athens was deeply shocked by this sacrifice, and as a result their entire culture was transformed. This was how classicism was born, and the philosophies birthed by the students of Socrates eventually led to the Italian Renaissance, the Age of Reason, modern science, and now philosophical atheism and modern skepticism.”
Well we could have lived without that. The human mind is very limited anyway, i wouldn’t recommend basing your life’s philosophy on that
r4d
Thank you for recounting the story of the Socratic sacrifice. Socrates was much more worthy and honorable than Christ.
As you said, many have died more painfully, in the name of God and against the name of God.
Goose-I hope you can understand that any sacrifice Christ was no more noteworthy than any other person. I know you will say, “But his dying saved us through Grace.” Think of the people who died whose deaths meant nothing at all. They were killed because they either believed or didn’t believe, but their deaths did nothing to further anything. Isn’t that the greater sacrifice?
Karen
“Socrates was much more worthy and honorable than Christ.”
Why?
Think of the people who died whose deaths meant nothing at all. They were killed because they either believed or didn’t believe, but their deaths did nothing to further anything. Isn’t that the greater sacrifice?
Ok. Consider that God chose to be born as Jesus. The almighty creator decided to become flesh and die just so he could spend time with little old me and you in eternity. If this is true no sacrifice is greater.
However, if you choose to believe that Jesus was a mere mortal then of course, it becomes difficult to say whose life and death is more important than somebody elses life and death. Really, it just comes down to personal preferences then.
Sin, by definition, means aginst the god’s rules. If you do not believe there is a god, then it stands to reason that you cannot live in sin. But perhaps you mean you always believed in god …. just thought you’d be a rebel for a while?
HeatheNZ
Well the concept of sin cannot fully be understood before you get out of it.
When i was living in sin it was just an irritating, religious word.
After i was saved i slowly learned what it really meant.
And perhaps i’ve always had some sort of belief. I don’t think that anyone lacks belief completely. We’re born with it.
Goose
Well, I’m a pretty decent person, if you judge by my “fruit”…My flirtations with Hairless notwithstanding
. For the sake of argument, let’s just say I’m pretty much a saint, but I just don’t believe in God. How does God judge me?
This just doesn’t make sense. Why would loving god have impact on some moral issues but not others?
But the moral laws concerning these are considered stupid from you point of view.
How do you know what my POV on all these issues happens to be? Atheists don’t subscribe to a set of rules or mores as a group. We all have widely differing opinions on moral issues. The only issue we all agree upon is a lack of evidence to support a belief in a deity.
Why shouldn’t you love your creator?
You should love your mom and dad if they treated you with love and respect. Have you ever even met the one you call your “creator”?
Eloquently stated Sir! I was thinking on the way home, how common crucifixion was in Roman times. I know there were at least tens of thousands of people cucified, and probably hundreds of thousands. I really am at a loss to know where the special pleading for the gravity and humiliation of the Baby Gee’s crucifixion comes from. Certainly there were far more painful and humiliating deaths available. I mean at the very least he could have been gang raped.
Goose
You are a caracature of the famed expression
Believe and you will Believe.
(Keep charging the card r4d)
Well, I’m a pretty decent person, if you judge by my “fruit”…My flirtations with Hairless notwithstanding
. For the sake of argument, let’s just say I’m pretty much a saint, but I just don’t believe in God. How does God judge me?
Your flirtations are just mosquito stings.
Well God won’t have much to say since you’ve made your decision. I assume you don’t want anything to do with him, right? Correct me if i am wrong. Whatever you choose, God will honor your decision.
One might be a saint, but if one ignores God, one is still a rebel.
“This just doesn’t make sense. Why would loving god have impact on some moral issues but not others”
Its a mystery. We agree on things like killing, raping etc. etc. When it comes to decision on lifestyle it begins to differ it seems.
“Have you ever even met the one you call your “creator”? “
You have to experience God, you can’t meet him in person. This is up to everyone to do. No one can show God to you in order for you to make up your mind on if you should join him or nor.
Its called taking the leap of faith, which you probably heard.
It is in a book and involves supernaturalism. I need no other proof that it was written and embellished, or perhaps even completely fabricated, by man.
Sure we could, but we wouldn’t have such luxuries as democracy, or modern medicine, or the computer you’re typing on (not to mention electricity,) or even a general understanding of the cosmos. You name it. In fact, life would basically suck.
“One thing I have learned in a long life: that all our science, measured against reality, is primitive and childlike ? and yet it is the most precious thing we have.” – Albert Einstein
Goose,
I beg to differ. It’s a simple concept. Someone tells you that yur imaginary friend has this set of rules that someone else has kindly written down for you in something called a bibble. If you break a rule it’s called a sin. How hard is that to understand?
Problem is there is negliable valid reason to assume the imaginary friend is real, negliable reason to trust that the rules come from anywhere other than the heads of some long dead men, and no reason to assume that following them ala an automaton will make you a ‘better’ person.
We have all managed to evolve a rather complex brain… it seems a waste to let it atrophy.
r4d
“It is in a book and involves supernaturalism. I need no other proof that it was written and embellished, or perhaps even completely fabricated, by man.”
So there is absolutely no supernatural? Everythign we’ve heard about “stuff” happening is just made up?
“Sure we could, but we wouldn’t have such luxuries as democracy, or modern medicine, or the computer you’re typing on (not to mention electricity,) or even a general understanding of the cosmos. You name it. In fact, life would basically suck. “
Maybe we’d have luxuries, maybe not.
It might have arrived by other means.
I am sure you’d still be jumpy if somebody came up to you and said “don’t go through the forest at night, “stuff” has happened. Or am i wrong?
oops sorry it was meant to be like this:
So there is absolutely no supernatural? Everythign we’ve heard about “stuff” happening is just made up?
I am sure you’d still be jumpy if somebody came up to you and said “don’t go through the forest at night, “stuff” has happened. Or am i wrong?
I beg to differ. It’s a simple concept. Someone tells you that yur imaginary friend has this set of rules that someone else has kindly written down for you in something called a bibble. If you break a rule it’s called a sin. How hard is that to understand?
Those sins i refer to as mosquito bites, they are forgivable SinS (plural if you like). The SIN however (the unforgivable one whose power Jesus broke) cannot be fully comprehended
until you get out of it
Problem is there is negliable valid reason to assume the imaginary friend is real, negliable reason to trust that the rules come from anywhere other than the heads of some long dead men, and no reason to assume that following them ala an automaton will make you a ‘better’ person.
Well we can discuss back and forth about the existence of God for ages without results. Either you go look for yourself or otherwise accept the fact that God, Jesu, heaven and hell and all other truths might be realities but you choose take your chances.
“We have all managed to evolve a rather complex brain… it seems a waste to let it atrophy. “
Absolutely.
Goose
*sigh* If, for no other reason, Socrates gave us the Socratic method of teaching, which is the single most useful tool in learning. Guided questioning. Not being satisfied.
Jesus would say, “Believe in me, question nothing.”
Socrates would say, “Believe in nothing, question everything.”
Socrates gave the world something USEFUL.
Jesus gave the world something USELESS.
Socrates accepted death gracefully, and with dignity, and aggressively. He took death; it didn’t take him.
Jesus went whining to his daddy when he knew it was only for “a few days” anyway.
You’re correct. I don’t want anything to do with your god. But the biggest thing is, HE”S NOT THERE. So even if I wanted to associate w/him, it would do no good. He’s made up, you see. Like all the other gods. There’s NOTHING to show that he exists and the others don’t. You don’t believe in the others, do you?
I took that leap a long time ago. No one was there to catch me. I learned the hard way.
Yes, you are. The only way to conquer fear of the of the unknown is through knowledge. All things that directly effect us in the natural world are knowable. This has been proven time and time again as our superstitions have given way to real knowledge, forcing the gods to recede into ambiguity.
I do not fear the unknown. I seek to conquer fear through understanding.
Karen
“I took that leap a long time ago. No one was there to catch me. I learned the hard way”
Ahh, so you were saved (i’d love to hear your testimony:))
Was it some disappointment that made you leave fellowship with God?
Anyway, bedtime, its late over here
Good night
Off topic.
Anyone know of a theist blog that actually has any activity? I felt like asking a few questions, but the ones I find have like 1 or 2 comments per entry.
Are atheists just more chatty?
Goose
No…the point was, I was definitely NOT saved. Are you only reading half the words I’m typing?
You could say there was a certain disappointment involved. You’ve not caught my story before? I’m sure the regulars don’t want to be burdened with it again. If you do know of it and are feigning ignorance for the chance to say “Ahh, so you were saved (i’d love to hear your testimony:))”, then you’re one sick bastard.
But anyway, the disappointment itself only planted the seed of my growth toward enlightenment. It was pretty hard to maintain fellowship with something that no one could prove was real and did not measure up to all the lies I’d been sold.
I wouldn’t be jumpy if you’re referring to “stuff” like vampires, werewolves, and bigfoot. But now, if you said, “Be careful, thar’s Christians out in them thar woods…”!:-0
Karen
Here is where I would have to disagree (not about the Socrates part though). Your argument is that Jesus gave the world something useless. Socrates and Jesus taught with different methods, but both taught very useful messages. The whole love your neighbor and take care of each other I would consider fairly useful. Now, I would agree that we screw it up most of the time, but that’s the dopey followers, not a flawed message. For me it’s not a question of question nothing vs. question everything, it’s two teachers with different messages. Question everything is a great thing to be taught. Take care of each other is another great thing to be taught.
I don’t necessarily think the Jesus story is useless. Obviously it must be of some use, or else it wouldn’t have had such a profound influence on western culture. About 80% of what is said in the sermon on the mount is genius, though not entirely new by any means. Certainly the messages of charity and equality are admirable and worth emulating.
My problem is with the theological aspects. We are constantly told that ‘Jesus died for our sins’ yet almost in the same breath it is declared that ‘He lives! He lives! Jesus is Lord!’ Forgive me if I see a paradox here, but that is not all. The concept of another being sacrificing itself for our mistakes has no rational basis whatsoever, yet it is said so often that most people never stop to think about just how ridiculous this sounds. His BLOOD ‘washes away’ our sins. It’s a magic spell! How can people actually take that at face value? I don’t know, but I’m still not finished. To top it all off, we are instructed that the ONLY way to the ‘Father’ (ie the creator of the universe) is through the ‘Son’ (who is also somehow the Father as well.) We are told that if we just ‘ask Jesus to come into our lives,’ in other words if we just say the right magic words, all previous as well as future misdeeds are immediately forgiven and we have earned our ticket to heaven. If we choose not to say the magic words, if we doubt, then we still get to live forever, albeit in a state of eternal misery and torment. Essentially we are given this choice: Believe in the most absurd idea imaginable, or be subjected to the most unimaginable torture for eternity.
Sorry, I don’t negotiate with terrorists.
spanders, r4d,
My point about what Jesus leaving as useless was pretty well covered by r4d. I was referring to the everlasting life baloney. The loving your neighbor and equality messages were not exclusive to Christ. He was not necessary for thoose messages to be imparted. The whole magical mystical tour which is his bread and butter, however, is TOTALLY useless, IMO. Furthermore, it is harmful, rather than harmless.
Karen, one could argue the same thing about Socrates… question everything was not exclusive to him, but he still imparted something useful.
I make a distinction between what his modern day followers prop up rather than what he himself talked about being important. I completely understand how you could see the harmful and uselessness of what Jesus said in context of it being coopted by nutjobs like Falwell and Robertson. I would suggest that any teaching can be coopted to help centralize power. Even Atheism has been coopted for political consolidation with harmful effects. That doesn’t mean that Atheism is useless or harmful in and of itself… it simply means that people can take any message and use it for their own purposes, which can be harmful.
spanders
Yes, one could argue the same of Socrates. Yet who else was ready to die for the concept of questioning and rational thought rather than unthinking obedience to the gods?
Perhaps I’m misunderstanding you, and in danger of insulting you, but my point is that what Christ offers is useless because it is meaningless. It is nothing more than empty hope of something to come after death. Socrates offered something purposeful for the here and now.
Hey Karen,
. I think what you’re saying is that someone like Socrates had no requirements on accepting him and finding value in him.
the only time you would be insulting me is if you didn’t feel free to express yourself
Jesus, on the other hand, seems to have the requirement of getting into a pact or you’re out and what’s promised as the fulfillment of the pact doesn’t really exist.
My thought was that even if you don’t buy into the religious nature of Jesus, there are still useful ideas that can be found with what he says. The second thought I had was about the harmful aspect. It’s not Jesus who said use belief in me to justify misogyny, murder, predjudice and so on. That’s just the knuckleheads who bought into the religion who did that.
Let’s say there was no Jesus… no religion (I know, I know… don’t be so giddy
… my theory is that misogyny, murder, predjudice and so on would continue justified in the name of the great and wise socrates. My theory is that humans use whatever method available to consolidate their power and beat down those who oppose them. It seems to be our nature and I don’t think religion causes it. The value I see if what Jesus teaches is that he essentially says resist your impulse to be greedy and violent and take care of each other. Now, if we, the knuckleheads who buy into the religious part of the message actually took literally the take care of your neighbor parts of the Bible, the world would be a lot better in the here and now. We just constantly screw it up.
I was just thinking of a bumper sticker my brother has…
“When Jesus said love your neighbors, he probably didn’t mean drop bombs on them”
spanders
Actually, Jesus and Socrates had very similar attitudes in their approaches to how we should treat each other and move through life. And Socrates had the ideas first.
Also, he didn’t want anyone to believe in him; he wanted people to THINK. He propsed the betterment of self through discovery, rather than through attainment of material goods.
I agree that the philosophies themselves are valuable. It seems what we ALMOST agree on is that the deliverer of the message is unimportant. I think Socrates was a great man, but I don’t worship him. I think Jesus the philosopher was a great man, if he truly lived, but I don’t worship him either. Beyond his biddings to be good to one another, etc. which is really just good common sense, he offers nothing.
Agreed. Although I think religion supports it, and I would love the opportunity to see a world in which there was no religion, to see what kind of changes would ensue. If we removed the religion factor from all the wars and overpopulation and lack of health care, what would happen? If the money that goes to churches went to social improvements, what would happen?
Much like your point about LITERALLY taking care of your neighbor. But see, xians always have that “We’re not perfect, just forgiven” easy out that just sets my teeth rattling.
Is anyone else having trouble connecting today?
I keep getting the “Connection was refused when attempting to connect to wwwatheist.org” when I click the last comments button.
Guess that means I’m s’posed to quit procrastinating and go bake xmas cookies. S’cuse me HOLIDAY cookies.
“No…the point was, I was definitely NOT saved. Are you only reading half the words I’m typing?”
no i read them all. So you took a leap of faith, but you weren’t saved. Ok. So what do you then mean by taking a leap of faith?
And i missed you “story” so i guess i am not a sick bastard yet;)
r4d
“All things that directly effect us in the natural world are knowable”
how can you be sure of that?
Because if they effect us in any way, then it follows that they are detectable in some fashion (either directly through our senses or indirectly by observing the effect.) If they are undetectable, then it follows that they do not effect us and therefore do not matter to us. It is perhaps true that the infinitely vast (beyond the known universe) or the infinitely small (beyond the quantum level) are unknowable, but we can’t be sure of that for such gaps tend to fill in time – there may in fact be an effect that we can observe. We are indeed limited in our perspective due to our position in the natural world, but only our perspective, that which we can perceive, really matters. Anything else, anything deemed ’supernatural’ (i.e. beyond our perspective and therefore beyond observable effect) is insoluble – we can ask question but we will never get a verifiable answer.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, concludes our philosophy lesson for today.
goose
As a young child, I truly believed. I asked for deliverance from evil. I trusted in god. God was not there. My leap left me broken and dazed and smarter…not smarter at the time, but in the long run.
So I guess in a way you could say I was saved. I was saved from childish belief in the impossible.
Karen
I think I can safely say that NONE of us are ever burdened by your story!
The best way to get through the horrible things that have happened to you, is to talk about it as much as possible! Never shut up about it! We can never be silenced or it will continue to happen to others. 
Fox News has been beating this horse to friggin death. If I didn’t hate X-mas before I do now because of this so-called “War on X-mas”.
I’m suprised the jew hasn’t started his own “War on Passover” topic since he openly proclaims to celebrate this religious holiday.
Although American Atheists has condemned this backward and primitive holiday of a twisted religion, judaism, Dave Silverman uses American Atheists to preach Judaism and his jewish beliefs.
If you want to see how AA used to have some integrity, read the following press release:
http://www.atheists.org/ftpfiles/Press_Releases/passover.txt
Passover Nothing to Celebrate, Says American Atheists
For Release: 14 April 1995
Contacts: AMERICAN ATHEISTS, INC.
Jon Murray or Robin Murray-O’Hair
Telephone: (512) 458-1244 or (512) 458-1271
American Atheists today issued a position statement on the feast
of the Seder and the Passover:
THE PASSOVER: A HOLIDAY TO BE ABANDONED
The single most heinous story in the Bible is that of the Jewish
god, Jahweh, inflicting plagues, mass misery, torture, and death upon
the ancient Egyptian nation. This serial genocide included Jahweh’s
slaughter of the firstborn of every family. Not even infants were
spared.
The Biblical tale celebrated by Jews as the “Passover” is simply
a story of a religious holocaust slaughter of the inhabitants of
Egypt by a sadistic and nefarious god. As the benighted pharaoh of
the tale seeks to throw the Jews out of Egypt, Jahweh — playing mind
games — deliberately hardens the heart of the pharaoh in order to
lay — again and again — ruinous destructive acts on the land, its
vegetation, its grain and fruit crops, its cattle, its rivers, and
its people until the nation is completely destroyed. Even the skies
above Egypt are not spared (Exodus 4 through 12).
Jon Murray, president of American Atheists, points out that
there is not one shred of actual history in Egypt that the Jews were
ever enslaved in that nation. The barbaric actions of the Jewish god
depicted in the tales simply, and happily, are not true. But the
mythological story is itself so full of horror that it should be
eradicated from folklore, not alone of the Jews but of all decent
people.