I love the
Slacktivist. The biggest moment of my blogging life (and one of the biggest of my real life) was when Fred put me on his blog roll. I have
arrived! Every time I visit his blog, I scroll down just to see Forever in Hell on the blog roll. Every time. I am so proud that someone like Fred thinks my blog is worth reading.
I'm not entirely certain I want to be there anymore. And my chest hurts just typing that.
It's not Fred. Fred is still Fred and he's still amazing and his blog is still amazing. It's where his blog is now,
patheos.com. Fred recently moved his blog from typepad, a neutral blog hosting service, to patheos, a blog service with a definite slant- and it ain't neutral towards atheists, homosexuals, pagans or many others.
Paganism represents a wide variety of traditions that emphasize reverence for nature and a revival of ancient polytheistic religious practices. Some modern forms of Paganism have their roots in 19th century CE European nationalism (including the British Order of Druids), but most contemporary Pagan groups trace their roots to the 1960s, and have an emphasis on archetypal psychology and a spiritual interest in nature. Paganism is not a traditional religion per se because it does not have any official doctrine, but it does have some common characteristics joining the great variety of traditions.
Paganism is not a traditional religion? Um, paganism is the traditional religion. Paganism, in one form or another predates Christianity by eons, but it's lacking in a speshul book, so it's not "traditional". mm-hmm. I also find it amazingly hilarious that contemporary pagan groups trace their roots to 50 years ago. I'd say the Zeus-worshipping Romans would find that confusing, but Christians should as well. Pagans are mentioned many times in the New Testament, which was written prior to 1960. (I checked.)
Atheism generally refers to a critical ideology that rejects metaphysical beliefs in any deity.
Actually, atheism is a lack of belief in god(s). It's not an ideology, critical or otherwise, although some atheists, such as myself, can be quite critical of belief. I'm also a little confused by the modifier "metaphysical" in that statement. Do atheists accept other sorts of beliefs in deities? I . . . don't know. What . . . why is that word there?
Atheism is the antithesis of theism, which both believes in and attempts to affirm the existence of a god or gods.
No, atheism is not the antithesis of theism. Look, theists are just like atheists, except that atheists take it one god further. If you believe in the god of Christianity, then by definition you reject Krishnu, Zeus, Odin and the thousands of other gods that have been/are worshipped. Hindus worship a panoply of gods, but reject Yhwh, Zeus, Odin, etc. Atheism and theism are not opposites by any stretch of the imagination. (Never mind that a good number of atheists don't give a shit about these arguments. They don't believe and they couldn't care less.)
Atheism assumes and often attempts to prove the impossibility of the existence of gods.
Sigh. I might spend a good portion of my time discussing the inherent ridiculousness of many beliefs (god sacrificed god to god to change a rule god made? really?), but proving the impossibility of the existence of gods? Proving a negative is a fool's game. It's up to the theists to prove the existence of the gods they assert, not the other way around.
Atheism has often been associated with agnosticism, but these two ideologies are not interchangeable. Atheism is distinguished from agnosticism in that the latter allows for the possibility of the existence of the divine whereas the former claims an absolute rejection of the concept.
I'll let that pass.
In the 19th century, Karl Marx
Oh, come the fuck on. Marx? Seriously? We're bringing out Marx in the one paragraph segment on atheism?
championed another form of atheism labeled "materialism," which stands in opposition to the metaphysical claim of "spiritualism." Marx claimed that "religion" and concepts of God were political and social constructs. Materialism claims that knowledge and truth are only available through nature and the material world. Materialism rejects the existence of a spiritual world and any knowledge that claims to come from it.
*headdesk*
Sigmund Freud championed atheism in claiming that concepts of God are just psychological deformities. Another strand of atheism is the existentialism signified by Friedrich Nietzsche and others who have claimed that belief in God restricts humanity's freedom and agency.
*headdesk**headdesk**headdesk**headdesk**headdesk**headdesk**headdesk**headdesk**headdesk**headdesk*
*headdesk**headdesk**headdesk**headdesk**headdesk**headdesk**headdesk**headdesk**headdesk**headdesk*
And that's it. That's the entire entry on atheism. BlahblahblahMARXFREUDNIETZSCHE!!!1!!!eleventy!!
Fred, man, I wish you the best with this patheos thing, but, really? Fucking really?
Oh, and Fred? You might want to check out what happens when you search "homosexual" on patheos. It's . . . revealing.
Yeah, so, I don't know what I think at this point. I didn't get much sleep last night, the weather is horrendous and I'm cranky, achey and tired. Maybe I'll feel differently after some sunshine and a good night's sleep. Maybe not. I would like to hear anyone else's opinion on this. I try to be ethical on this blog. (Well, it's not like I can make money with it, so why not be ethical?) I don't mock people I think might actually be mentally ill. I don't mock blogging teenagers. I link to atheists with political views that give me headaches because I believe in an atheist community that accepts all atheists, regardless of other viewpoints they hold.
What I'm trying to say is, I'm upset and I feel I might not be thinking clearly about this. I do have a sense of ethics and I try to hold to it. I could use some outside opinions. Thank you.
