Sunday, August 5, 2018

"Irreligion" by Christopher Havens

I am not a theist. I am an atheist. In the Webster's Dictionary, an atheist is one that denies the existence of god. .. I also deny the existence of unicorns, Spider man, and Bigfoot. My explanation for the creation of all things is in no way complete. In fact, I don't believe there necessarily has to be a beginning or an end to all things. Just look at the Real number line.. It continues infinitely from either side of the number zero. Between any two numbers, no matter how close, there is an infinite amount of numbers. This is similar to my viewpoint on the Universe. ..And there is more than one system of infinite numbers, just like there is more than one Universe. The more dimensions we add to a number system, the more complex it becomes, as it is with real numbers, and as it is with reality as we know it.

I don't know what happened during the big bang, other than there seems to be evidence that points to a cosmic inflation occurring precisely at the point of the singularity....This inflation is continuing today, and at a steadily increasing rate. But what happened before?? Gentlemen, this is part of my point.. I don't know. There are an infinite amount of possibilities that are all currently beyond our ken. You don't know, I don't know.. Nobody does. But because it's so awe inspiring and, as of yet, unobtainable to the far reaches of our imagination, we assign it to a god.

I've seen great men do great things. Men who have spent a lifetime in study and training to perfect their craft.. men who are ranked as geniuses and have bled to produce amazing things towards the advancement of our species, yet I hear that they couldn't have done it without god. This is an insecurity of our species that says that true progress and greatness is not a byproduct of the human condition. Let's give ourselves credit where it's due for once! 

I'd like to present our deists and theist brothers with some food for thought. I recall participating in a recent toastmasters meeting, and there was a speaker giving his take on the Purge. ..a day where killing had been made legal. As the speaker continued, I remember sitting in a group, and a long time friend made a comment that deeply offended me. He said that the purge, with it's twisted and evil ways of killing was atheistic. Atheistic? I seem to recall a purge on some of our greatest scientific minds several centuries back... the inquisition. It seems to me that evil can be done by religious or anti religious or both. Just recall the purge on the Jewish population in the second world war. Don't pin your evils on me. I've got my own skeletons. ..besides, isn't your god the guy who's supposed to do the judging?

I was once told by a man that a deed I did was very good. He then attempted to have a talk with me about religion and he asked how long had it been since I was saved. I told him that I was not Christian. Surprised, he then proceeded to tell me that my actions were Christian. I felt like I needed to let him know that right and wrong, good and bad, were not owned by anyone. Every religion has a set of morals. But to claim that some moral value is necessarily attributed to one religion or the other is not rational. Bear with me for one second... Could there be a possibility that a person could be good or bad without consideration of their religion?? GOD forbid!!

You can't take credit for all the good, and you can't blame all the bad on the rest of us. We're all on this ant pile together.. Which brings me to my fondest memory.. My daughter and I were sitting outside in a field near one of her favorite playgrounds. It was a perfect day and we had just had an amazing time together. As we sat together, with our arms around each other, we watched an anthill for what seemed like forever. ..and we noticed two small ants off to the side, just sitting together watching us, almost as if they were father and daughter sharing the same experience. Life went on as cars drove by on the distant road and ants traversed their paths around the two spectators. It was timeless. The day was next to perfect,... had it not been for the church bells off in the distance.

But who am I?? Indeed, who am I?

........ Christopher Havens....Not afraid to go to hell.

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