Steven Crowder (whose comedic works I adore, by the way) thinks that Atheism is a "Mental Handicap" and wants atheists to tell him if he's correct in that evaluation.

As an atheist, I have to say, "it depends on WHY you're an atheist".

Me, I'm an atheist-by-reason. I just don't see enough evidence to believe in a being that both created the universe and also occasionally intercedes in day-to-day events on behalf of individuals. I'm more of a "the universe just is, and things just happen" kinda guy.

The atheists Steven spends most of his time talking about are atheists-by-morality. They're actually immoralists who claim to be atheists. They see the Christian code of morality, find it inconvenient or uncomfortable, then reject the existence of God as a means of rejecting Christian morality and often ANY hard & fast sort of moral code.

And I would agree that lacking a moral compass constitutes a mental handicap, because my observations indicate that embracing a moral code leads to a happier, healthier, longer life, all things being equal.

A functional moral code requires accepting responsibility for one's actions, and reflecting on those actions from time to time for the purposes of correcting past mistakes and avoiding future mistakes.

For Christians, this takes the form of prayers for forgiveness of sin, and prayers for God's guidance. For me, it's just "thinking things over".

The other part is how you treat others. For Christians, it's "do unto others as you would have them do unto you", and "turning the other cheek". For me, it's "be courteous" and "don't waste time pursuing revenge against idiots - get on with your life".

People who reject morality usually do so in order to avoid either self-accountability and/or self-correction and/or good manners. After they make the conscious decision to be thoughtless jerks, they cover their asses by saying, "it's ok to act like a reality show contestant all my life, because I refuse to believe in a God that tells me otherwise".

So, Steven, you don't HAVE to be a mentally-handicapped Hollywood jerk to be an atheist, it's just that a lot of people get there that way, and they give the rest of us a bad name.

Posted by: Harvey at 10:10 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Blogdaughter Tammi of Tammi's World worries that America may be verging on civil war between the haves & have-nots producers and produce-nots.

Will we EVER get back to the point of wanting to take care of ourselves? Will we EVER stand up and tell the government ENOUGH!?

Because 1 or 2 voices are not enough. And right now the majority of folks are enjoying having someone take care of them.

And I just hope it doesn't come to a "blowout" (on a grander scale) like the one Mama and I had all those years ago. That......would NOT be a good way to see this end.

Well, the bad news is - yes, there will be a revolution.

The good news is - it will happen at the ballot box.

Historically, entrenched government power always becomes corrupt and oppressive. And it never just goes away on its own. It has to be forcibly removed. Usually by bloody revolution every 20 years or so.

America is a little different, because its citizens have options besides killing the bastards. We can move to another city or state that's less oppressive, or we can forcibly remove political dirtbags merely by voting. In America, NO politician has ever ignored the results of the ballot box. The winner wins, the loser goes home, and everybody tries again later. The game is fair, and nobody screws with the rules. It's sorta like football. Everybody might cheat a little - a hold here, a late hit there - but no one tries to shoot the refs and declare the scoreboard results invalid.

And personally, I don't think it's actually the MAJORITY of the folks looking for a handout. I think it's just that the usual suspects are making more noise than normal.

Fortunately, they've stopped being polite about it. They no longer say "please" or "thank you". Now they're just grabbing & saying "GIMME!".

Big mistake. Americans don't like rude, greedy, grabby people. Our mommas raised us better.

Which means the time is right for the responsible adults to ACT like responsible adults and start punishing the spoiled children who are misbehaving. That means saying "No! Bad! Don't!" out loud, with feeling, and as often as it takes to correct the unacceptable behavior.

Hopefully a lecture and a time out will be sufficient.

But still, I admit that there's a part of me that wouldn't mind carving a hickory switch.

Wouldn't mind a bit.

Posted by: Harvey at 02:14 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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