Atheism is a 'Form of Idolatry
Offline Atheists are believers who hate God, says Anglican Archbishop Peter Jensen
RELIGIOUS leaders have used their Easter sermons and messages to condemn the rise of atheism, with Sydney Anglican Archbishop Peter Jensen describing the philosophy as an "assault on God".
A day after Sydney Catholic Archbishop Cardinal George Pell criticised non-believers, Dr Jensen said in his Good Friday sermon at Sydney's St Andrew's Cathedral that atheism was a form idolatry.
"As we can see by the sheer passion and virulence of the atheist - they seem to hate the Christian God - we are not dealing here with cool philosophy up against faith without a brain," Dr Jensen told worshippers.
"Atheism is every bit of a religious commitment as Christianity itself.
"It represents the latest version of the human assault on God, born out of resentment that we do not in fact rule the world and that God calls on us to submit our lives to him.
"It is a form of idolatry in which we worship ourselves."
Cardinal Pell of St Mary's Cathedral delivered a similar attack on atheism in his Easter message yesterday. He praised government organisations "paid for by the Christian majority" for helping make the Australian way of life the envy of the world, but noted that atheists sponsored no community services.The new Catholic Bishop of Parramatta, in Sydney's west, Anthony Fisher, continued the attack in his Easter message.
"Last century we tried godlessness on a grand scale and the effects were devastating: Nazism, Stalinism, Pol Pot-ery, mass murder, abortion and broken relationships - all promoted by state-imposed atheism," he said.
However, the Atheist Foundation of Australia said Dr Jensen's claims were "preposterous" and condemned Christianity for a spate of child sex abuse scandals.
"He seeks out a scapegoat and attacks atheism without any understanding of what he is saying," foundation president David Nicholls said.
"To state we hate his god or are attacking his god is nonsense.
"How does one hate or attack that which does not exist?"
A spokesman for Dr Jensen denied it was a co-ordinated attack by the churchmen. But he said the comments were likely to have been spurred by the recent Rise of Atheism conference held in Melbourne, which attracted 2500 non-believers and featured renowned figurehead Richard Dawkins.
http://www.news.com.au/national/atheists-are-believers-who-hate-god-says-anglican-archbishop-peter-jensen/story-e6frfkvr-122584892...
"Experiments are the only means of knowledge at our disposal. The rest is poetry, imagination." Max Planck
- Login to post comments
Too bad there is no god to hate, it is the religious dogma and the way they indoctinate children with it that I dislike. I also dislike having to hear people talk about fairy tales like they are real. I have a dislike for being a near second class citizen as well because I don't believe in a myth...
There is something wrong when the people in power are the ones who believe in the tooth fairy in the sky.
Faith is the word but next to that snugged up closely "lie's" the want.
"By simple common sense I don't believe in god, in none."-Charlie Chaplin
Actully, I think theists are really non-believers that are narcissists. They project onto their imaginary friend everything they think they are or think they deserve.
Taxation is the price we pay for failing to build a civilized society. The higher the tax level, the greater the failure. A centrally planned totalitarian state represents a complete defeat for the civilized world, while a totally voluntary society represents its ultimate success. --Mark Skousen
If atheism is a religion, that would mean that every person on this planet is religious.(a very disturbing thought)
How many times do we have to say this? WE DON'T believe in or worship any gods!!!!(and worshiping yourself doesn't meat you're part of a religion)
"I don't believe in afterlife, although I am bringing a change of underwear."
On another forum I visit there's an emoticon for rolling eyes.
It's a really appropriate response to news like this.
The more removed I am from theism, the more bizzare this stuff seems. It is like they are witch doctors in Africa yelling, 'Booga-booga!' and everyone just smiles and nods....
"They are angry because they are upset that God rules the world, not man!" God should get off his ass and do some work fixing the problems we have then. What a slacker!
Everything makes more sense now that I've stopped believing.
In my case, he got the latter half correct.
edit;
More specifically, I have a nemesis: (Divine) Grace.
“A meritocratic society is one in which inequalities of wealth and social position solely reflect the unequal distribution of merit or skills amongst human beings, or are based upon factors beyond human control, for example luck or chance. Such a society is socially just because individuals are judged not by their gender, the colour of their skin or their religion, but according to their talents and willingness to work, or on what Martin Luther King called 'the content of their character'. By extension, social equality is unjust because it treats unequal individuals equally.” "Political Ideologies" by Andrew Heywood (2003)
If "God rules the world", he has fucked up in a big way, and we would be fully justified in being angry with him.
Favorite oxymorons: Gospel Truth, Rational Supernaturalist, Business Ethics, Christian Morality
"Theology is now little more than a branch of human ignorance. Indeed, it is ignorance with wings." - Sam Harris
The path to Truth lies via careful study of reality, not the dreams of our fallible minds - me
From the sublime to the ridiculous: Science -> Philosophy -> Theology
Maybe these theology phds should have to use the title 'W. Dr."
"Experiments are the only means of knowledge at our disposal. The rest is poetry, imagination." Max Planck
How irrational can theists get? Atheism is simply the absence of any belief in a God.
In their minds we must be included in their beliefs or it will disprove them. They must say that we participate in idolatry because it is the only "sin" we commit. By having us commit a sin we then become part of their religion and now have a lable and place to go. If we simply don't believe and live a good moral life then we have no place in their system and it makes all of their efforts for naught.
One nation under Allah....start practicing it now the day is upon us.
"How does one hate or attack that which does not exist?" Pretty much sums it up for me. I think that theists minds are so warped that they cant fathom the fact that we don't believe in any invisible man. I also don't think man rules the world, far from it, as we must follow the laws of, and are at the mercy of nature.
I am an equal opportunity religious hater. They're all lumped into the same pile for me. So they can take this "oh they hate our god, poor us" attitude and blow it out their rectum.
My favorite quote regarding the job "god" is doing running the universe is by the great George Carlin: "This is not good work. If this is the best God can do, I am not impressed. Results like these do not belong on the resume of a Supreme Being. This is the kind of shit you'd expect from an office temp with a bad attitude. And just between you and me, in any decently-run universe, this guy would've been out on his all-powerful ass a long time ago. And by the way, I say "this guy", because I firmly believe, looking at these results, that if there is a God, it has to be a man."
"Question with boldness even the existence of God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear." -Thomas Jefferson
You have a unique talent for wording things...
“A meritocratic society is one in which inequalities of wealth and social position solely reflect the unequal distribution of merit or skills amongst human beings, or are based upon factors beyond human control, for example luck or chance. Such a society is socially just because individuals are judged not by their gender, the colour of their skin or their religion, but according to their talents and willingness to work, or on what Martin Luther King called 'the content of their character'. By extension, social equality is unjust because it treats unequal individuals equally.” "Political Ideologies" by Andrew Heywood (2003)
(Bold mine)
As sick as I am of hearing this particular B.S....
BWAA HA HA HA HA HA HA hahaha!
Can I have a big "Pot-ery" coffee cup?
At my local craft show, there's often a lot of "Pot-ery".
Wonder if atheist "Pot-ery" is worth more?
Is this anything like "Harry 'Pot-ery'"?
Also, I tend to think the opposite way in this "denial" arguement. I believe all theists don't actually believe in a god, but are afraid to face the alternative.
Robb
"The general opinion is not always the perfect truth..."
- Giordano Bruno
It occurs to me that we could point out that Western Europe, and particularly Scandinavia, has actually been trying out what is close to 'godlessness' in an even bigger way for the last 50 years or so, and it is working extremely well for them, in terms of health and happiness, by any index.
Whereas the USA, especially the 'Bible Belt', has been stuck at the other end of the spectrum, and have significantly poorer scores in many areas.
So what Theists are doing when they pull the Nazi/Stalin card to attack Atheism is desperately clutching at the few examples where some nut-job dictator happened not to use Religious dogma as part of his idealogy of power to show how 'godlessness' automatically leads to evil, while ignoring the massive counter-evidence that nations which put god-belief way down the scale of priorities, or even off the list altogether, have been living generally happier and healthier lives, for quite a long time now, than those that get all twisted-up about the evil consequences of 'godlessness'.
Favorite oxymorons: Gospel Truth, Rational Supernaturalist, Business Ethics, Christian Morality
"Theology is now little more than a branch of human ignorance. Indeed, it is ignorance with wings." - Sam Harris
The path to Truth lies via careful study of reality, not the dreams of our fallible minds - me
From the sublime to the ridiculous: Science -> Philosophy -> Theology
If the more obnoxious theists want to keep using the Stalin/Hitler/Pol Pot herring, I'll just keep pointing toward all the problems the catholic church is having right now. Fair's fair, right?
Robb
"The general opinion is not always the perfect truth..."
- Giordano Bruno
“A meritocratic society is one in which inequalities of wealth and social position solely reflect the unequal distribution of merit or skills amongst human beings, or are based upon factors beyond human control, for example luck or chance. Such a society is socially just because individuals are judged not by their gender, the colour of their skin or their religion, but according to their talents and willingness to work, or on what Martin Luther King called 'the content of their character'. By extension, social equality is unjust because it treats unequal individuals equally.” "Political Ideologies" by Andrew Heywood (2003)
The common drive behind the 'evil godless dictators' was a dogmatic ideology, which is also the main problem with the abrahamic religions. They all believed, with the possible exception of Stalin, that what they were doing was for the ultimate benefit of their society/nation.
Marx certainly believed his vision was for the ultimate good. I think Stalin was strongly driven by the urge for personal power and control, although many of his subjects all but worshipped him. Not sure where Lenin fits in there.
Favorite oxymorons: Gospel Truth, Rational Supernaturalist, Business Ethics, Christian Morality
"Theology is now little more than a branch of human ignorance. Indeed, it is ignorance with wings." - Sam Harris
The path to Truth lies via careful study of reality, not the dreams of our fallible minds - me
From the sublime to the ridiculous: Science -> Philosophy -> Theology
A guy came in today with a shirt that said "The ultimate bailout" or some such, and had a pic of jesus on the cross. It said he gave his life for our sins and all. I wanted to ask him if that wasn't just a bit gruesome and morbidly depressing to have something like that on a shirt. Real shame they can run around with carp like that and I can't really say anything for fear of um, say, losing my job or something lol. Such a shame, but I took his money anyway ><.
Faith is the word but next to that snugged up closely "lie's" the want.
"By simple common sense I don't believe in god, in none."-Charlie Chaplin
Thought he was doing god's work. I think Hitler grew up Catholic and he had intrinsic theistic beliefs. He invokes god in his speeches and writing.
"Experiments are the only means of knowledge at our disposal. The rest is poetry, imagination." Max Planck