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Atheist Anonymous . Org
A site for the safe inquiry into replacing faith...
I'm creating this site for those of you curious how someone can possibly live without (or without pretending to have) faith in a higher power.
This site is not about criticizing any particular religion.
Though much of it's content and the resources it points to may be viewed as having a negative perspective of religion, the overall intent of this site is to provide a safe and non-threatening way to learn and deal with what many thousands of people go through every day: the realization that the faith they have been taught to rely on does not fit with their overall view of life.
There are many people that feel very much like you do right now, who would be happy to defend and argue your point of view (perhaps some of these arguments are part of the reason you are looking at this site right now.)
There are many others that feel that your position is threatening and offensive, and will argue just as vehemently that you are making a mistake.
Hopefully this site will help you connect with the first group, and provide some relief from the second.
Plans for this site include a set of forums, email addresses and a list of resources to help fill in as a support group of sorts. At best, I hope to show that living without faith in a higher power does not mean living without faith in others, morals, hope or respect. Quite the opposite, in fact.
If this site does nothing else, I hope it will at least provide some of the options out there and a safe place to explore and question your faith. Now, on to the content...
Some examples of atheist 'morals'
Many people looking to move away from faith are subject to the arguement that they are rejecting 'morals' and are somehow going to go crazy giving into their basest desires, perhaps slowly at first...but almost certainly eventually raping and killing anyone they can get away with.
Later, I will provide some statistics that suggest that this is either quite the opposite of what actually happens, or that somehow atheists are very good at getting away with these types of atrocities, but here I would like to give at least an overview of the types of morals you might be able to find many atheist adhering to without relying on a belief in eternal punishment.
- 1. The Golden Rule: Do unto others as you'd have done to you. (pretty self explanatory, though I will include a link here to explain a bit further)
- 2. You, and everyone else on the planet, have only this life. Yours, and everyone else's, should be guarded and enjoyed to it's fullest.
- 3. There is no such thing as a 'sin', or 'victimless crime'. If it does not infringe on the safety or happiness of others, it should not be a concern to anyone but yourself.
Some F.A.Q. self-defense
One of the first things you'll likely run into should you decide to 'announce' your lack of belief might be arguments that atheism is, among other things, destructive and amoral.
While we don't encourage jumping right into full blown 'pro-atheist' arguments, or suggest engaging others to question their own beliefs, while you are still exploring your own, here are some guidelines to help you fend off some of the more common verbal challenges, in order of interactivity required on your end.
- Q. Why don't you believe in God? Why are you an atheist?
A. I'm sorry, I just don't feel comfortable discussing matters of faith.
A. I understand you believe in a personal God, and I respect that, but I'm just not comfortable discussing how I feel about that in my own life.
A. I don't believe in any particular god, because i just don't understand beleiving without some type of evidence.
A. I think I don't believe in your particular god in the same way you don't believe in the gods of other faiths. I don't know how to explain it, but I don't see how believing in the Christian God is different from believing in Allah, or the Jewish God or, for that matter, Zeus, Mercury, etc.
- Q. Atheists have committed worse crimes than any religion, just look at Hitler, Stalin, etc.
A. I understand that crimes are committed by people who don't believe in god, but I don't feel that their actions in any way reflect my personal beliefs.
A. I don't believe I've seen evidence that any of these crimes were committed specifically because of their lack of belief in a personal god.
A. Even if these crimes were committted by people lacking faith, many of them were condoned or assisted by help of the catholic church.
A. Hitler was not an atheist, he was a catholic who was supported by the pope at the time, assisted in identifying people of jewish decent by the church, and neither Hitler nor any other member of the Nazi party were ever excommunicated by the catholic church for sins committed during the holocaust. (Until further updates, you're on your own dealing with Stalin, Napolean, etc.)
A. It can be shown that many atrocities were committed by atheists, but there is no argument that on a scale of massive crimes against humanity, those backed by faith far exceed those backed by lack of faith.
"Atheism is a non-prophet organization" -George Carlin
Links:
Atheist Alliance International
RichardDawkins.Net wiki
Christopher Hitchens wiki
Daniel Dennet wiki
Sam Harris wiki
http://www.atheistexperience.com
http://www.happyatheistforum.com
http://www.ethicalatheist.com forums
http://www.atheistforums.com
Atheist Anonyomous @ Geo-Cities
Four Horsement of the Apocolyse Hour 1 Hour 2