Supporting Civil Rights for Atheists and the Separation of Church and State

May

2011

A word to the Camping Rapture Victims

Author: admin / admin's blog

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If you're reading this, and you donated money to Harold Camping's campaign, by now you're pretty depressed. You've been taken, and worse than that, you've been embarrassed. You may feel stupid, and that's because you've done a stupid thing - you trusted your preacher blindly. You believed without thinking.

But that doesn't mean you're stupid. Smart people sometimes do stupid things. A truly stupid person would NOT learn from this mistake. A truly stupid person would keep following Camping as he 'recalculates', or says "god has forgiven us because of the prayers we sent up" or some other lame excuse for his rapture not happening. Hopefully, you aren't one of these people, who are destined to be hurt again. Hopefully, you have learned a lot in the last few days.

I urge you not to hurt yourself. Your shame will pass, and your money will be re-earned. You can lead a normal life if you start leading with your intellect, and not your desperation to see the end of the world. God is fiction, and preachers lie (most of the time). But no matter where you stand right now, YOU have potential. Use it.

Comments

Anonymous (not verified) / Sat, 05/21/2011 - 06:10

I don't think so, they ARE stupid. And they indoctrinated their kids. And they vote their fake values. They will be storming the polls in 2012 to vote against antiChrist (Obama). They follow the 89 years old who reached the peak of his Alzheimer's like 2 decades ago. That people are fucking dumb. I don't feel sorry for them. They were given an opportunity being born in a nice, rich country, where education and books are still available ( not for a long if they prevail). But no, that takes too much work, it requires critical thinking and it does not work into that arrogant idea that YOU are so important to some invisible being who will take care of you. They do believe that they are better then others. They should be ridiculed and made fun of . I am not (generally) an evil man but this people with their self righteousness give me nausea.Tolerating the intolerant is a downfall of the Western democracy.We should keep the pressure up, to help other people realize that their faith is NOT any better and that they have no right to make fun of the Camping's loonies until they liberate themselves from the superstition.

Anonymous (not verified) / Mon, 05/23/2011 - 07:13

I have been wanting to express the same sentiments for a long time. Thank you!

Anonymous (not verified) / Fri, 06/03/2011 - 23:29

I really like what you have to say, especially the part about thinking critically. There is absolutely nothing evil about your opinion, and I agree...keep the pressure up!

Religion in general disgusts me as I find it to be rife with excuses for treating people poorly and loaded with non-sensical rants and ravings that are so ludicrous one must ask themself if those believing such garbage are living under powerlines and smoking crack.

So many Christians just love picking at people who are smart enough to disregard the religious bullshit of the Bible, but they are loathe to listen to any amount of reasoning or questioning directed toward a deluded faith that is heavily peppered with hate.

Religion has turned into a crutch with which self-righteous bean bag for brains people support themselves with the space cadet theory that Jesus will fix all the problems of the world. Christians are perpetually preparing themselves for a supposed event, in the meantime totally forsaking many issues that need addressing NOW. They have convinced themselves that humanity is so far gone that there is no hope' What a bunch of crap.

There is a lady named Ester Lighthorse and her website is https://sites.google.com/site/esterlighthorse/ She has some really interesting views on religion and the problems it has caused for countless centuries. This same lady also did two radio shows that are available to be replayed at http://blogtalkradio.com/smoothdrama Just click on either link listing Ester Lighthorse as a guest speaker.

Anonymous (not verified) / Sat, 05/21/2011 - 14:52

"YOU have potential. Use it." Best advice to anyone, anywhere, any time.

-Z

Anonymous (not verified) / Fri, 06/03/2011 - 23:36

Well, so many people are so very steeped in religion that they have allowed themselves to believe that they neither need to recognize their critical thinking potential nor utilize it. They hold on so tightly to the idea that God and Jesus will do everything for them...so all they really need to do is sit back and wait for Jesus to zip down out of heaven and wave his magic wand.

They try very hard to further convince themselves that doing NOTHING to help ANYTHING since Jesus will fix it all is the definition of faith.

Their arguments are not even remotely plausible.

If you have time go to https://sites.google.com/site/esterlighthorse/

Anonymous (not verified) / Sun, 05/22/2011 - 13:27

Borborygmus says:
I was driving along Route 66 yesterday in my 1914 Stutz Bearcat at 6 P.M. when I was propelled upwards toward Heaven. I thought that I was being "Rapturized". Turns out, that I was abducted by aliens and not by Jesus! They were funny looking insect-like people who took me to their laboratory on their UFO and began to examine me. Now, I am 85 years old, and my internist told me that at my age it is no longer necessay for me to undergo colonoscopies. Well, these "bugs" performed a colonoscopy on me, examined my "crap factory" and took a specimen of feces to analyze. It seems that they wanted to know why an ostensibly normal human being could believe such crap. Now, honest-to-God, this happened. When they were finished with me, they returned me to my car. I couldn't believe it. I still have an itchy butt and do not have hemorhoids! Please believe me. My wife thinks that I'm crazy!

Anonymous (not verified) / Mon, 05/23/2011 - 09:36

Okay Okay Okay. Just saying i love how people are still going with the rapture bs and saying people actually got saved. There would probably be a ton of missing people reports for the 21st. Personally i saw nothing float into the sky. Religion=A SCAM FOR MONEY GIVING FALSE HOPE. remember that.

Anonymous (not verified) / Fri, 06/03/2011 - 23:40

Religion is just another way for the charlatans of humanity to turn a buck in a church pew instead of a used car lot.

And loads of people fall for the useless crap because they are all too damn lazy to take responsibility for their lives. So, they make Jesus and God responsible for everything.

How nice. A spiritual form of passing the buck.

Anonymous (not verified) / Mon, 05/23/2011 - 16:48

We can laugh and make fun of most of these tards, as I do, but I feel helpless rage about all of the grandmas who just wanted someone to talk to or hope to see loved ones again. These are always the most harmed. The helpless, the hopeless, who are preyed upon by these vampires [Pat Robertson, Franklin Graham, Harold Camping, Jim Jones, Pope Benedict the sexteenth [I spelled it that way on purpose], etc. My point is, if one of your grandmas or aunts are being victimized, PLEASE spend some time with them and convince them that the bloodsuckers named above do not need her pension checks or her life savings. Don't try to trivialize her beliefs [misguided as they may be]. Just save her from these predators.

Anonymous (not verified) / Fri, 06/03/2011 - 23:45

Religion preys on the spiritual fears of people. I am still amazed that people persist to believe any evangelist/televangelist. What happened to their intellect or their desire to question something in order to test its validity?

Anonymous (not verified) / Tue, 05/24/2011 - 22:36

I recommend you check out doubtersclub.org

Anonymous (not verified) / Wed, 05/25/2011 - 04:37

Telling people that they did something stupid and expecting improvement is self-defeating. It doesn't matter that you clarified that smart people do stupid things. Your first paragraph has already generated significant cognitive dissonance. To the dissonant mind, the rest of your message is blah, blah, blah.

The word stupid directly conflicts with our inherent self-identity and society pressures to be smart. Attacking a person's self-worth is counter-productive. In fact, there is a good chance that you're strengthening their "stupid" beliefs, i.e., you're doing more harm than good.

Making real change requires an understanding of the human mind - especially the power of cognitive dissonance over our thoughts and actions. The book, "Mistakes Were Made, But Not By Me" by Carol Tarvis is excellent. If you want to be "smart," then read it!

Anonymous (not verified) / Wed, 05/25/2011 - 14:04

Agree 100% Methodissed. For all our talk about the scientific method and empirical thought, most of us atheists are completely unaware of four decades of extensively validated scientific research in the areas of social psychology regarding attitudes and persuasion, social cognition, group identity and as you pointed out cognitive dissonance. There are entire journals devoted to the psychology of religion.
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What I call "the mockery method" has become popular in the last dozen or so years as a result of writers with little or no education in social psych and as a result of frustrated atheists who can't change minds even with the facts on their side.
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What has it yielded, aside from self-congratulation? Social psych theory would predict increased ingroup cohesion on both sides and a reduced likelihood of persuasion.

Anonymous (not verified) / Sat, 05/28/2011 - 08:35

We are a self-congratulatory bunch most of the time. I appreciate the widely dispersed useful information, this time in the form of the book recommendation, that makes it into these comments. Thank you. I'm heading to the library now to borrow it.

Anonymous (not verified) / Wed, 06/01/2011 - 05:40

Is ridiculing the religious institutions, or dumb books like the bible and koran and not ridiculing the individuals that follow them okay? Can these institutions be ridiculed without ridiculing the individuals?

Regarding cognitive dissonance, these people that are still waiting to be raptured do not have any conflicting ideas rolling in their head yet....they're still waiting.....

Anonymous (not verified) / Fri, 06/03/2011 - 23:47

Speaking of ridiculing religious institutions and their particular scriptures, check out this website: https://sites.google.com/site/esterlighthorse/

Anonymous (not verified) / Wed, 05/25/2011 - 06:01

I am new to this board, but I would like to share some observations.

I have seen some of the fallout from the misguided belief of the May 21st messianic return, and I am a bit saddened by the tone and timbre of non-believers towards Camping's followers (and Christians in general).

I do not deny that "religion poisons everything" as Hitch so pointedly argued and sub-entitled his book. Some may feel that those of a religious bent should be held accountable for all ills brought upon mankind by various religions both presently and throughout history. However, this view is little different from the view we despise in their scripture that a just entity could "[visit] the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me". It smacks of complete caprice and injustice especially when viewed from the stand point of a supposed SUPREME, MORAL entity.

I like to view the propensity towards religious belief as part of human social evolution and growth. We, as they who have shed the superstitions and psychological pacifications of requiring a nurturing deity, are the more evolved of the species -- the more matured, if you will. We must patiently and compassionately view those who still require a belief in deity as less evolved, less matured "children". No one of a sound mind would hold accountable (or even go beyond into the realm of childish teasing and tormenting) a young child just learning to walk who continues to fail and to fall in its many attempts. We would find no malice in the child and if properly motivated, would seek to patiently lend support and guidance to his efforts.

Perhaps we atheists should attempt to apply our ration and reason to their beliefs on a one-to-one basis. If we point out from whence the need for deistic beliefs stem, we may be able to educate the less fortunate and slowly liberate mankind from such folly.

Anonymous (not verified) / Wed, 05/25/2011 - 14:09

Calling people "less evolved" is less about genuinely trying to persuade them and more about self-congratulation. It also sounds like 21st century eugenics.
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If you want to understand religion, use science, the way we understand everything else. It's a social psychological phenomenon, and the stupidity explanation is inconsistent with observation (theist doctors, business leaders, scholars, etc.).

Anonymous (not verified) / Wed, 05/25/2011 - 15:35

I believe you have misunderstood my comments, which are not necessarily directed towards the author or any specific persons, but is rather an observation of individuals in various news reports. Jeering and berating a believer isn't what I would consider the appropriate response to the ignorance or under-developed or mis-understood (I am trying to find a word to which you will not misappropriate condescension or hubris), when their beliefs are shattered.
What I was trying to ascribe to deistic belief was that it IS a psycho/social evolutionary process. Religions exist for a number of reasons, but chief among them (IMHO) are the psychological connection between the needs and helpless of an infant and the future tendency towards needing a "Saviour" (a la Freud) and the need for communal groups of humans in the past to have a bonding agent for fair societal practices. If I offended some by the use of the terms "less evolved" or "more matured", I must apologize. They were meant only in the realm of said psycho/social evolution principles.
I am truly taken aback that you would ascribe my argument to 21st century eugenics. I would have thought the tone of my post would have led to anything but such a conclusion. I am arguing for compassion. I appear to have lacked the sufficient linguistic ability to correctly convey my point.
I apologize.

Anonymous (not verified) / Wed, 06/01/2011 - 16:01

Am I acting like a child when I give the finger to every church I pass daily on my way to work....sometimes yelling...." F U Stupid Religion"...

I think I understand your point JennRob....but....its tough to be passive when these evangelical bastards are demanding respect for their exaggerated and unverifiable claims.....

Anonymous (not verified) / Wed, 05/25/2011 - 14:14

http://www.slate.com/id/2295099/
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I don't think the author adequately understood what Leon Festinger was saying in his theory of cognitive dissonance, but the article still offers an interesting review of several recent apocalypse cults.

Anonymous (not verified) / Wed, 05/25/2011 - 20:35

This won't be the last time this will happen. I can't wait for December Fools Day (12/23/2012) just to see this happen all over again.

Anonymous (not verified) / Fri, 06/17/2011 - 10:44

For the next predicted rapture date I propose holding a series of rapture parties at local cemeteries so we can sit around on lawn chairs and cheer as the decomposing corpses erupt from their graves and fly off to heaven.

Anonymous (not verified) / Fri, 06/03/2011 - 23:50

If you go to http://blogtalkradio.com/smoothdrama there are two radio interviews of a lady named Ester Llighthorse who speaks on religion and world events, but mostly religion and its negative effect on humanity. Her website is hilarious: https://sites.google.com/site/esterlighthorse