The jobs don't pay a lot, and you take most of your pay in self-esteem, but somebody is always trying out for village idiot or village atheist. Often they're one and the same…
– Wesley Pruden, Revival time with the village atheist, (Washington Times)
In a classic pot-and-kettle scenario, Wesley Pruden has done disservice to the readers of the Washington Times with an irrational screed mocking atheists for writing “irrational screeds mocking those who have the faith the authors clearly envy.” The saving grace for these unfortunate atheists is that the average Times reader is probably too smart to be taken in by such drivel.
Pruden has nothing constructive to offer in his screed. He merely calls atheists names and cites examples of atheists saying bad things about people who deserve to have bad things said about them. This is what his article boils down to:
- Did you know that there are atheists living among you?
- Atheists are idiots.
- Atheists hate people of faith because they don't have faith but desperately want it.
- Atheists say the darndest things.
- Atheists are getting more attention than I am and it pisses me off.
Mr. Pruden apparently doesn't concern himself with the facts regarding persons atheists have spoken ill of, or even facts about the atheists themselves. I mean really, who among us who has actually read The God Delusion would use the word “irrational” to describe it? I've been struggling with the book myself and have found it incredibly dense, repetitive, and belaboring of points, but irrational? Rationality is the coin of the atheist realm. The author has got it backwards… it is faith that is irrational.
The article is clearly calculated to incense the readership, as opposed to communicate any meaningful argument as to why atheists are idiots, or naughty, or whatever else he's trying to say. He notes Christopher Hitchens' reference to Mother Theresa as “the ghoul of Calcutta“, without bothering to say why. He notes Pulitzer prize winner Paul Greenberg's mention of Reverend Falwell's one “decent” moment on record, without bothering to say why. Apparently the “why” doesn't concern the unencumbered-by-a-Pulitzer-Prize-Pruden.
A rational person will find little of interest in this yawn-inspiring rant against atheism, except perhaps an appreciation of the irony by which the author reveals himself to be the shrill irrational caricature that he tries to paint atheists as. Beyond that, there's nothing to see here.
Athiesm is depressing, I used to be one. You basically put all happiness on secular activites, since these are the only things that can exist. After death, nothing exists. Therefore our lives are ultimately meaningless.
If our purpose in life is mearly to exist and multiply, then the abstract attributes that we possess are much to complicated for a simple view on life. It's a waste of time. We would be far more efficient existing as biological ameobas.
I find it particularly sad that an atheist would think atheism is depressing. Atheism and being an atheist brings me all manner of joy, and I say this as someone who has lost family members in recent years. My life is not meaningless simply because it has an end, I'm sorry you feel that way, and in fact that sentiment yo8u expressed seems like a rather peculiar and cynical thing for an atheist to say.
That said, most people don't come to religious belief for good reasons, so I suppose there are similarly a number of people who come to atheism for similarly bad reasons. Perhaps your atheistic reasoning was flawed. Either way, please don't condemn it because it didn't work for you, and good luck with your worldview of choice.
May it make you as happy and as at peace as my worldview makes me.
Atheism isn't something that was invented to please you, like a television show. It's a refutation of a silly explanation for how we got here — no, there probably wasn't a god. Saying atheism is depressing is like saying it's depressing we don't have wings. Get over it, it's just the way things are. Or invent an afterlife if it really bothers you — a real one, like people did with the flying thing. I'll bet people will some day, if we keep going the direction we're going. Then the really depressing thing will be that we never die.
If you have lived your life in a meaningless way, an afterlife is not going to help.
If you have lived your life in a meaningful way, and afterlife is unnecessary.
Oop – that would be “an” not “and.”
Hmmm. Whether I get a preview or a post when I click the post button seems somewhat arbitrary. What controls that?
Beats me. I've never really paid attention to that. I have a preview button right now. Hmph.
And now I clicked it and then clicked edit on the preview and I have it again. Dunno, James, dunno.
“Atheism is depressing. I used to be one.”
Christianity is depressing, I used to be one.
That doesn't even make sense.
What you expect from people will be general things, laughed and laughed it interpreted the mo do not know who or biblical writings.A personal piece of advice: Let those blind to believe in anything non-existent, and you decide which side you're on.