New We Are Atheism Blogger Dan Hettmannsperger III click here for full bio.
Among Atheists, Agnostics, Free Thinkers & Secular Humanists I hear a great deal of cynicism regarding the “out” movement. “Monotheism will never go away, Dan, it’s just too deeply engrained for us to ever hope for it to be illuminated.” I myself cannot abide by such a view. Let us consider for a moment just how far we have come to see how far we have to go.
Christianity established it’s hegemony when it became the official religion of the Roman Empire in the 4th Century. From that time on it stretched its tendrils as far East as Russia and as far West as the whole of the Americas, crushing all opposition and forcing millions to convert. In the 16th Century Christianity was a fact of life so entrenched that almost no one even bothered to question it, for to do so was to court disaster in the form of legal sanctions so harsh that they often included the death penalty. It has been estimated that between 1400 and 1700 alone in Europe some 100,000+ innocent women were burned as witches. It can be argued that the absolute height of Christian power was in 1633 when the Inquisition forced Galileo to recant his view that the Earth orbits the Sun and not the other way around, a “crime” which earned Galileo no less than two years of house arrest.
Well, things have certainly changed since then haven’t they?
What passes for leadership in the Christian world often seems to be at best a pack of hateful charlatans with worse ethics that the Russian Mafia. Since 2001 the Catholic Church has become a public relations nightmare consisting of the largest organ of the Christian faith being reduced to a Witness Protection Program for child-rapists. In 2006 Pastor Ted Haggard, former head of the National Association of Evangelicals(NAE), an organization representing more than one million people, was forced to resign in disgrace after being exposed as a whore-mongering closeted homosexual with a penchant for street drugs. Just this last week for the first time in more than 600 years a Pope resigned. Of course he and the Vatican claim this do to health-issues, and absolutely nothing to do with the ongoing sexual scandals that have become the norm for the largest Christian denomination on earth.
As we look at the current state of Christianity and Monotheism as a whole we cannot help begin to see it now as a paper tiger. A piñata whose vulnerability is now all too apparent. When I was a teenager back in that dark period of American history known as “The Reagan Years” the only person who seemed to have the guts to attack the churches openly was the late comedian George Carlin (1937-2008). Now in the 21st century the religious and their views are mocked openly and often by the likes of South Park, The Daily Show, The Onion, 30 Rock, Modern Family and countless other shows and comedians. The Catholic Church, once capable of having heretics burned en masse, now cannot even silence a single one of its critics. As their power continues to fade I cannot feel anything but hope for the future our children will inherit. The disease may not be cured, but it is certainly in remission.
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“The Catholic Church, once capable of having heretics burned en masse, now cannot even silence a single one of its critics”
And we must keep pushing this cart, lest it slow down and start to roll back on us. It really is ‘Last King strangled, entrails of last priest’ Religion have had their chance and they lost it. Our turn now.
The Soviet Union tried to crush religion. Yet when it ended,religion came back with a vengeance. Unfortunately, there seems to be a need in a lot of people for religion. My own father,a non believer, often said he wished that he could believe. Sometimes I think the same way, but in the end none of it makes sense for me.
Larraine,
The Soviets replaced religion with the cult of personality that acted very much like a religion. Today, we are replacing religion with science, skepticism, and rationality. It is an entirely different paradigm.
Monotheism is not a movement that should be oppressed. It is fever that is finally starting to break to the benefit of the whole of the human race.
If you want to give people like Larraine’s father an alternative, it needs to be more than just an alternative to faith. It needs to have the community of the congregation. The singing, soaring celebration, because that’s what really makes people stay in a church when they want to leave. The loss of an identity, of membership, of communion, and nothing to replace it but a rather dry reality. It takes a while to realize how free one is to appreciate the real world when one has lost the sacred music and the fellowship.
Let’s not mistake the music from Christianity as “sacred” its just music. Just like Guns and Roses, Madonna, Brittany Spears, Garth Brooks, etc. Music is music nothing is more “sacred” than another. But that is besides the point. Atheists or “nones” have been realizing that this lack of fellowship is part of the problem when it comes to leaving religion. Where are you supposed to go? What are you supposed to do? Now that you don’t have church on Sunday where you see the same people over and over again can you build a community outside of the church?
The answer to that question is YES! If you go to meetup.com and look for atheist groups in your area there most likely is one within driving distant. Family groups are popping up all over the place along with many singles groups and moms clubs. Secular home schooling groups and so much more can be found by just doing a small internet search. If I can find them in Kansas then there must be others in other places. Don’t be afraid to start your own. Let people know that there is an alternative to going to church on Sunday. Instead you can gather all of your friends together and watch the football game, discuss an interesting book (instead of the bible), swap YouTube videos, donate your time to charity, etc. there are lots of different things you can do. The “church” does not hold a monopoly on fellowship. Those who are close-minded think they do.
Maybe get a hobby? I have a hobby that meets up every Sunday and we race all day and it’s a great time. I wonder if they consider going to church on Sundays as a hobby? They should really get another hobby. Preferably one that doesn’t have the potential to end the world by bringing on some armageddon prophecy. That would suck for the rest of us.
A good explanation of why religion is dying in this age of reason…. http://t.co/OSMWuMRNoC
If only I had an accelerant to speed up the process of religion going up in flames!! POOF!!
I share your view, Bria.
The foundation of Christian theology is expressed in the early ecumenical creeds which contain claims predominantly accepted by followers of the Christian faith. These professions state that Jesus suffered, died, was buried, and was subsequently resurrected from the dead in order to grant eternal life to those who believe in him and trust him for the remission of their sins…
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