Recently, known atheist Richard Stallman was in Peru during a tragic earthquake. Stallman, known in some circles as simply rms, is a software developer and activist in the Free Software movement (pretty much the same as Open Source software, such that they are commonly combined in the acronym FOSS -- Free and Open Source Software). In fact, rms is considered the father of the movement, and remains one of its most influential characters. Simply put, he's a pretty big name among computer geeks like me. When it was discovered he survived the earthquake, he was asked to write about his experience.
The last paragraph is what caught my eye (enough that I paused my ongoing insane work schedule to write this!).
I read that a church collapsed on worshipers during mass; later I heard that the
priest had been rescued. Believers surely attributed the rescue to the good will
of a benevolent deity. They probably did not attribute the collapse to the ill
will of an evil deity, but it would be equally logical. In the 18th century, an
earthquake destroyed a cathedral in Lisbon, killing thousands of believers. Many
in Europe began to doubt religion as a result.
What a well-aimed shot at religion! These tragedies are typically accompanied by even doses of "Thank God we survived!" and "How mysterious are the ways of God!" that it's good to see a rational point.
But even more importatly, it was from a survivor of the event itself. One that did not suffer the foxhole-conversion predicted by so many theists.
Thank reason for that!
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6 comments:
Glad to see you back, David.
That seems to be a recurring theme with theists - thanking "god" for the one "miraculous" rescue while ignoring the hundreds of dead bodies on the ground.
Maybe if we atheists point it out often and loudly enogh they'll start to see the idiocy of their thinking.
Same nonsense happened after the Minnesota bridge collapse. So amazingly ignorant!
Hi there,
I came across your site as I was searching for Atheist Blogs and thought it was a really great site! Loved snooping around a bit!
Keep it up and have a look at my site as well - also a lot of atheistic posts
Regards,
Christoff Gouws
ZAVibes.com
What the hell is "true" atheism.
Different atheists define it differently.
After all, aren't you a "free"thinker...or as free as your biochemical determined thoughts can be?
Who ya kiddin, sport?
There is no "true" atheism for the faithful atheist to adhere to.
Most atheists who "loathe" the statement, "there are no atheists in foxholes" have themselves, done absolutely nothing BENEFICIAL TO THE GREATER GOOD with their lives. When looking over a brief history of the world, it is interesting to note that the MOST influential ATHEISTS in the past 100 years have been; Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin, Mao Zedung, Kim Jong Il etc. Atheists bind themeselves to the arrogant stance that "reason" and "logic" and "rational thought" can find any answer. The problem is, all of these take place within the human mind. "Reason, Logic, and Rational Thought" will never prevail in the world. In a world of atheism, the physically dominant would prevail, regardless of the principles of strict atheism. You internet atheists would be left sitting on your ass contemplating rational thoughts while someone else was out dominating your country and freedom. So, "In the face of disaster," you would most likely be complaining and blogging as if you were the only person on the earth.
Hey anonymous retard of March 1st,
Hitler was a protestant, Stalin was an atheist, yes, but a revolutionary Marxist first. Regardless, these tyrants you stated would never have emerged if the United States did not enter The Great War. The past 100 years of bloodshed never could have been if USA just stayed out!
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