Due to constant misunderstanding with my name I feel the need to change my intro. I am hateful, hateful of religion. I hate what religion does to people and that people use it as an excuse to not think. I have spent many years of my life as an Atheist and have learned to handle my emotions, but no other word quite describes how I feel towards religion short of hate. I am outspoken, open minded, and will share my opinion. If you're looking for someone who will always agree with you, that won't be me.
The Out Campaign: Scarlet Letter of Atheism
(Ricky Gervais is my icon photo, I seem to be asked a lot.) Follow HatefulAtheist on Twitter

23rd March 2012

Question with 9 notes

rgrav-deactivated20120508 asked: Just came across your blog. Very interesting. I don't think advocating "hate" is really the way to go about spreading your message - hate is the very reason you have a bitter taste in your mouth about religion. But I am fumbling with the thought of faith myself. I've never been religious but I can't help but wonder, you know? Which is what I want to ask: how can you be so sure that you are right? Not that defending faith tooth and nail would be any different, but how can you really be so sure?

(I apologize if this is a bit of a rant but my inbox has been a bit empty lately. I also feel as if I have somewhat updated my views in a way and have been looking for a chance to address it.)

Thank you for the message. Just to quickly address the first part of your question, I have already discussed the choice of my name many times. I think if I was simply “The Atheist That Really Really Dislikes (Religion)” no one would care a bit. I understand why people are opposed to the word “hate” itself but it is mostly based on an intangible and unreachable dream of erasing hate from the world. Everyone hates something, it is simply an emotion.

In some ways lately I feel as if my Atheism is progressing to what may be the next natural step for someone studying Atheism and religion. I’m becoming a gnostic-Atheist. People that have followed my page for a while likely know that I have actually argued in favor of doing away with the gnostic/agnostic qualifiers completely in the past. What has changed for me is that I feel I can say for certain there is no such thing as the Judeo-Christian/Islamic “God”. This does of course present me with a burden of proof in showing that this god can not and does not exist. I feel that I have a lot I can bring to the discussion as it is now but I take this topic very seriously and to make such a huge step in commitment is a bit intimidating even for me.

The idea of a deistic god though is something I can’t completely dismiss because there is really no way to disprove such a thing. Who really is going to argue strongly for a deistic god though as it is? A deistic god is a god of no consequence and entirely impersonal. The idea of a deistic god and no god at all are almost entirely the same. I am still open to hearing arguments from this point of view though. If someone was ever to present me with any worth while evidence for a deistic god my first instinct would be to take it to the next step and ask the logical question, how did that entity come about? It wouldn’t be a stopping point simply another step in our understanding of the universe.

So really, how can I be so sure I am right? Well providing the arguments as to why a particular form of a personal god is impossible could be quite drawn out and it is a concept I am working on perfecting and analyzing in my mind. For me personally it has come to point where it is so glaringly obvious that this self contradictory entity is entirely of human origin. There is no more reason to believe in a personal god than there is to believe in faeries at the bottom of a garden. It is a line I’ve used before myself even, but I’ve come to the point where I will say it with more conviction. I am no longer saying it as a matter of why I simply don’t believe but as a reason why it is preposterous and erroneous to believe.

Many books have been written on the topic, hundreds and thousands of hours spent in discussion and all of it without the slightest real indication of the affirmative. I have gotten to that point where I don’t just believe that I am right for accepting Atheism but now I truly understand and appreciate why all of the other non-believers I have studied and looked up to where right. It was something I’ve always seen but I’ve found a new appreciation for, because outside of angst and teenage rebellion no one would purposely chose to be an Atheist. Being an Atheist automatically sets you off from such a large part of society, you have to be more dedicated to truth than to conformity in order to be an Atheist.

Anyways at this point I am mostly just rambling and musing over my own ideas. I hope that my ideas are something I can continue to develop and better elaborate on. In the end to sum it up, I can’t say I am entirely certain that no deistic god exists. I’ve only recently become comfortable in saying that I know no personal god exists but really I think anyone who spends enough time and effort on the issue is bound to come to the same conclusion. It is reality, it is truth, and realizing it makes the world even more magnificent. Thank you for indulging me in my rant.

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  1. iamjustcara said: even if you say flat out that no deistic god exists you still don’t carry the burden of proof. It’s folks that AFFIRM a deist god exists that have to prove it. It’s impossible to prove the lack of something.
  2. hatefulatheist posted this