This Just In! Religious Right Leaders Admit Atheism!

We have recently discovered that many religious right leaders are actually atheists. This information comes from their lack of concern with the teachings of Jesus Christ. If they actually believed that Jesus Christ existed and was the Savior, those religious right leaders would be preaching something completely different than the messages of hatred and discord they so loudly espouse.

Clearly, anyone familiar with the teaching of Jesus, as recorded in the first four books of the New Testament, often called the Gospels, would recognize that preaching hatred of gays, non-Christians, and others is anathema to those teachings. Similarly, preaching against established governments goes directly against the teachings of Jesus.

They would understand that Jesus taught that taking care of the ill, the old, and the imprisoned was not just a good idea, but one of his direct commands. It's in His own words, in Matthew.

But, they go on with their preaching of intolerance, hatred, and yes, even murder of those they dislike. There can be only one conclusion: These religious right fundamentalist leaders are not afraid of spending an eternity in Hell. They are not afraid that Jesus will say to them, "I do not know you," after their death. It follows, then, that they do not believe in Jesus at all, or any other benevolent deities.

They are, therefore, atheists. They do not fear the consequences of their words for the simple reason that they do not believe there is a reckoning after death. They know, as do all atheists, that life is brief and begins and ends with the birth and death of an individual.

Oh, there are true Christians and true believers in the teachings of Jesus. But those who preach hatred, death, and disorder against the government are not among them. They are simply atheists who believe in nothing and are feathering their earthly nests.

I'm an atheist and I wouldn't hurt anyone except in self-defense.

Atheism is simply non-belief. It doesn't describe any aspect of behavior.

I've been thinking along those lines for years.

with behavioral matters. There is no atheist code of morality or ethics. Atheism is nothing more than disbelief in deities. I know many wonderful people who are atheists. I also know some genuine rounders. I can say the same for Christians, too.

All squares are, indeed, rectangles. The converse is not true.

and the more liberal Christians are actually atheists and don't know it yet.

But I stand by my analysis.

But I also stand by my analysis!

Of course, there wasn't a single person living at that time with the name Jesus, so what the heck?

taught. By continually creating and adding to class differences, they undermine peace, promote war, refuse to accept the nature of mankind and they fill our prisons with what they call evil people. When in reality they're not one bit better than those they lock up.

anyhow. They can find plenty of fodder for their hatreds in the rest of the Bible and not have to involve Jesus at all. So that's what they do. They know it's all bullshit, but it's useful to their money-raising and for attracting sycophants.

They're going to get theirs while they're here. Screw the rest! They know it all ends for them when they draw their last breath. Maybe that's why Cheney and Pat Robertson have been so quiet lately. It's about up for both of them. Sucks to be them.

earth. I'm in agreement with the OP that most religious leaders are just greedy plus I do not believe that many of these so called religious people get it. It's as if they have a functionality problem in their brains. Like there's a vast area of conceptual thinking that they can not get to.

IMO what Jesus taught was the only part of the Bible worth knowing, but even there they label it Christianity in honor of a wish was guy that was supposed to restore Jerusalem to being a powerful nation.

Atheism has nothing whatever to do with ethics or morals. It is simply non-belief. Ethics and morality come from other places, and always have.

The bulk of atheists are good-hearted people, just as are the bulk of most other groups of people. There are, however, atheists who are not. Atheism does not imply any particular ethical model. Inferring that it does is a logical error.

Human beings are individuals. They behave as they behave on an individual basis. Religous belief or disbelief is not one of the indicators of how an individual human being will behave. One can only determine that from actual behavior, not professed belief or unbelief in deities.

I am very careful with what I write. Unless I make a connection between a belief system and behavior, I do not intend that one be drawn.

And I believe that there are consequences for my actions.

That's how good people of all beliefs behave. Even the Religious Right Leaders. They believe that the consequences of their evil actions will be money, fame, and power. That is why they behave the way they do. I'm just saying that they don't believe in the deity they claim to believe in. If they did, they'd behave differently.

I would argue that they are in fact, Idol worshipers. Their idol, instead of some golden Baal or Moloch, is themselves. They are God, and therefore they decide what is right and wrong, who lives and who dies, etc... etc... But saying that out loud, or even admitting that to themselves would be ruinous, just like the most RW'ers would never dare actually confront the inherent, underlying Social Darwinism in their policies. For either of them to do so would be to render themselves as anathema.

An idol is necessarily something external. The love of power, with its ancillary benefits of fame and wealth, is more than enough to drive these people. I savor the thought of their coming to an understanding of the futility of that in their last days and hours.

Every person must face himself or herself in those last days, unless he or she is killed in an accident or something like that. The Cheneys and Robertsons and Haggards of this world do have a punishment coming...one they denied for the bulk of their lives.

Even if they thought of themselves as some sort of demigod, they'll think again as they wheeze their way to their deaths, surrounded by only those who wish them to hurry so they might have what is left behind. As I said, I savor the thought of it.

Good, kind people, however, have none of this. Despite the sad fading of the light, they may reflect on their lives with some satisfaction, and will likely be surrounded by people who love them for their goodness and kindness. That's despite any beliefs or non-beliefs they may have, for it is not those that are the measure of a life, but the living of that life.

And indeed the measure of one's life is not one's professed beliefs, but how one lived one's life. Actions reveal both one's true character, and the degree to which one's professed beliefs were actually integral with one's being.

I submit, that those who believe that they deserve to resurrect some how and will then go on for ever, have more self worship than Atheists who see death as final.

man has ever invented for himself. It's just that everybody thinks THEIR chosen god is the only "real" god in the lot.

:evilgrin:

Some of us simply reject them all as nonsense and superstition.

Christians play chicken with God's disfavor all the time. Just watch your officemates and friends. Willfully straying and being forcefully righted is one of the oldest tropes in Christian testimony.

And if you're a narcissist and a good bureaucrat, you can rationalize all sorts of dispensations for yourself as God's pious instrument and tweeze out scripture to back it up. Being a bastard in the service of the Lord is pretty common, it doesn't mean you don't believe.

Also, you're asserting certainty in your interpretation of scripture, which as you know, won't match the interpretation of squintillions of Christ-professing believers who are just as certain.

From your analysis, you could just as readily deduce they're all Satanists, BTW.

:spank:

:kick:

(stealing from the "Moral Mojority are neither" bumper stickers...)

"intolerance, hatred . . . murder . . ." Therefore Atheist?

Uh, no.

I am an atheist. I don't do or say any of the above, and neither do any atheists I know. Try again.

They are not atheists because they are intolerant, hate, and murder. They are atheists because they do not follow the man they profess to follow.

As for atheists, I know atheists who are good people and atheists who are very evil people. Atheism is not a description of behavior...just of disbelief.

Religion has never been more than a tool to control the masses by promising a reward "in the afterlife" in exchange for being sheep in this life, rather than rising up and demanding their rights.

I'm not sure what kind of atheist you are if you believe that only "believers" are good people and behave in a manner consistent with the teachings of Jesus. He's purported to have had a lot of good ideas... love thy neighbor, blessed are the peacemakers, help the poor, do unto others, etc. Basically, decent human behavior... just because I don't believe he was the son of some cloud being (if he in fact existed at all) doesn't mean I disagree with these ideas.

I'd rethink this one...

we know this, religious fundi nuts however think they are exempt from any wrong doing.

What those few religious elites, at the pinnacle of their respective churches, what goes on through their heads? Do they really believe in the shit they are presiding over? With all the politics and secular organizational stuff they have to administer over? Or do they just put on the facade and get drunk off the power of being in charge of it all? What does the Pope really think about God, when he is a god to so many of his followers?

Food for thought...

The Pope? Who knows? I suspect he does believe in some way or another, but...in what I couldn't say.

First off, you are perpetuating--you come right out and say it--"atheists believe in nothing" the slur that atheists are not quite as good as people who believe in god.

Atheists do not "believe in nothing"; we don't believe in gods and other supernatural stuff. An atheist has no void just waiting to be occupied my the right kind of "spirituality" as the phrase implies.


The people you describe are Christian. By anyone's measure they are Christan; they believe in one god, that jesus rose from the dead and if you ask any one of them they will tell you "I'm a Christian."

Of course their behavior is not very Christlike, and they may not measure up to that squishy standard of a "real" christian' but please do not associate their nihilistic behavior with atheism.