is like saying you don't believe in God because you don't like what people have done in His name
That is exactly what the Atheist community is like. Not all atheists, no, but by and large it's just anti-Christians and to a lesser extent anti-religion in general. Nothing to do with whether a creator god exists or not.
Hitchens was practically excommunicated (heh, totes not a religion for some of these fools) for being critical of Islam.
"True" atheists (like true Scotsmen, you know), the kind who basically apply Gamergate's mantra of "trust, but verify" to everything including the multiple religions and simply find it coming up short, are a very rare breed indeed. Most people harbor a great need for an ideological overmind, something to do a bulk of their thinking for them, and if they cast off their religion, no matter which it may be, they'll pick up something in its place, so terrified are they of the risk of having an open mind.
And unfortunately, they aren't picky or even careful about what they put in its place. Religion has had several hundred (or even thousand) years to refine that role, but they'll shove anything in there.
That's where I stand: I appreciate what Christians have done for the world, but I can't believe in the Christian God when there is nothing but circumstantial evidence to support His existence. I don't hold the same animosity towards it or Sikhism that I do Islam (built on a foundation that moral perfection looks like a genocidal child rapist, which unsurprisingly keeps producing evil men in Mohammad's image) or the extinct Mesoamerican murder cults.
"All the Aztecs ask is that you put a little heart in your offering."
Dark humor aside, the blood rites of the Mesoamericans are terrifying examples of what happens when protein becomes scarce. If you ever wondered why soy creatures seem so bloodthirsty and unhinged, protein deficiency could be one of the root physiological causes. Evolution makes us nasty and aggressive when malnourished because doing so has earned our ancestors meat and other nutrients.
I don't expect that hypothesis to get grant funding, though. It goes against the 'eat bugs, live in a pod' & 'own nothing, be happy' narratives. Can't fund anything that points out their future would be engineered would result in aggressive malnourished misery.
That is exactly what the Atheist community is like. Not all atheists, no, but by and large it's just anti-Christians and to a lesser extent anti-religion in general. Nothing to do with whether a creator god exists or not.
A VERY lesser extent, there.
Hitchens was practically excommunicated (heh, totes not a religion for some of these fools) for being critical of Islam.
"True" atheists (like true Scotsmen, you know), the kind who basically apply Gamergate's mantra of "trust, but verify" to everything including the multiple religions and simply find it coming up short, are a very rare breed indeed. Most people harbor a great need for an ideological overmind, something to do a bulk of their thinking for them, and if they cast off their religion, no matter which it may be, they'll pick up something in its place, so terrified are they of the risk of having an open mind.
And unfortunately, they aren't picky or even careful about what they put in its place. Religion has had several hundred (or even thousand) years to refine that role, but they'll shove anything in there.
That's where I stand: I appreciate what Christians have done for the world, but I can't believe in the Christian God when there is nothing but circumstantial evidence to support His existence. I don't hold the same animosity towards it or Sikhism that I do Islam (built on a foundation that moral perfection looks like a genocidal child rapist, which unsurprisingly keeps producing evil men in Mohammad's image) or the extinct Mesoamerican murder cults.
"All the Aztecs ask is that you put a little heart in your offering."
Dark humor aside, the blood rites of the Mesoamericans are terrifying examples of what happens when protein becomes scarce. If you ever wondered why soy creatures seem so bloodthirsty and unhinged, protein deficiency could be one of the root physiological causes. Evolution makes us nasty and aggressive when malnourished because doing so has earned our ancestors meat and other nutrients.
I don't expect that hypothesis to get grant funding, though. It goes against the 'eat bugs, live in a pod' & 'own nothing, be happy' narratives. Can't fund anything that points out their future would be engineered would result in aggressive malnourished misery.
They say they don’t believe in God, but they still hate Him.
Ironically, this hate lets them be possessed by a spirit of rebellion.
You know, like Lucifer.