I'm An Atheist...

I'm an Atheist, which means I have nothing to die for.


It's true, regardless of how you view it. Unlike the majority of the world (almost 40% claim to be a member of an Abrahamic religion with another almost 20% being Hindu), I have no reason to want to die. There is no heavenly host waiting for me, there are no 40 vestal virgins, no past and future loved ones after I shed the mortal coil. I have nothing to die for. Conversely, that means I have everything to live for.

Yes, that's right. Contrary to what religion teaches, atheists have everything to live for. We accept that there is only one life--for us or for anyone else. Somehow, religion has twisted this idea into the suggestion that atheists should therefore be violent and untrustworthy. The very opposite of what would be expected of most atheists. After all, if you only have one life, you don't want to screw it up.

Of course, everyone needs a scapegoat and, besides members of other religions, theists commonly choose the rationalists or non-joiners. After all, we're 'different' and most people consider 'different' as strange at best, bad at worst.

The funny thing to me...and that's funny 'on no!', not funny 'ha, ha', is that it is really the theists who are to be feared in life. At least, the true believers. After all, there are no reasons that I can see for any good Christian or Muslim not to rush immediately to the afterlife. What do they have to gain by staying on Earth? Furthermore, I can see no reason for any true believer to justify their staying on Earth. After all, who in their right mind wouldn't want to go to heaven, and both those major religions provide easy ways to get there.

The west is currently facing an onslaught of devout Muslims eager to ascend in service of their Lord. They are the true believers, the ones who are certain there is something waiting for them. Fortunately for the world, there are many less devout Christians these days (their days were spent in service of fighting the Roman Empire and during the Crusades, etc). I leave it to your imagination to visualize the horror of 1 billion soldiers on either side of a modern war eager to reach their just rewards in the sky.

I suppose I should back up a moment because I hear the outraged cry of countless Christians screaming in my ears 'we are good Christians! just because we don't want to go to heaven yet...'. Well, my point is actually that, in my opinion, most Christians don't really believe in a heaven and thus aren't really 'good' Christians. I mean, the evidence is all around you...ever been to a Christian funeral? What's all that about? When a good friend goes on vacation to a great place for a few months I, and I'm sure most people, don't start bawling their eyes out and crying 'I'll miss you so much!' Instead, they congratulate the person 'you lucky dog! I wish I was going with you.' For a good Christian, death is only a stepping stone to the next life. Regardless of what you've done in this one, as long as you accept Jesus as your savior, you're set. So what's the problem? Why aren't you happy when a good Christian friend dies? Funerals should be grand events with lots of celebration, music, dancing and generally good times. After all, in the big scope of eternity, a few years wait to see them again is nothing. Hell, if I really thought there was something that great up there, I'd be game to get there as quick as possible. If only the anti-abortionist activists really believed! Then they could spend as much time killing themselves as they do other people.

So, I'm forced to understand that most Christians don't really believe. Which also, fortunately, explains why they're not throwing themselves at the terrorist horde. Oh, and there's no use claiming that suicide is a sin in Christianity. You, conveniently, have a 'get out of hell free' card in Jesus's crucifixion. There's no point in claiming otherwise, the logic doesn't stand. Either his death forgives all sins if you believe, or it doesn't. Anyway, I'm sure you've committed other sins in a premeditated fashion--ever steal stationary from the office? download mp3s or movies you didn't own...you get the idea. A different scale, you say? I don't recall the 10 commandments specifying which theft or which murder. And Jesus didn't put limits on the sins he was dying for. Which all brings us back to the fact that most Christians don't really believe.

Now, if only they were willing to admit it to themselves we could get on with the business of fixing the world without everyone holding their collective breath for their magic flying pasta monster to save them.