your-god-is-too-small May. 2016 | страница 39

religious to swallow, because it means their gods aren't the omnipotent beings they believe them to be. This is the only real "burden" of atheism. It calls for one to take full responsibility for their actions. There is no guiding hand to lay the blame upon and no "divine" plan that relieves us of our obligation to act humanely and justly to all people. But it's a "burden" and a "blessing" as well, because it also means that we get to own all the pride in our own achievements as well. There is no guilt associated with that pride for us because we know there is no “sin” to trouble our mind. Religious people do not get to enjoy taking pride in their own accomplishments because according to their various doctrines all “glory” belongs to their god. They fail to see that this idea that God gets all the glory is like a father whose son does all the hard work on a science fair project and wins first prize, but then his dad comes over and says “Since I put my penis in your mother’s vagina a few years ago and that made you, now everything that you do that is noteworthy and a wonderful accomplishment belongs to me. So hand over the trophy, you little snot-nosed brat.” The worst part of that idea is the fact that God is an absentee parent, like a father who walked out on his family years ago … BUT HE STILL EXPECTS TO BE INVITED TO THANKSGIVING DINER! Ask anyone who’s had a parent walk out on them how they feel about that idea and I’m sure you’ll get an earful. God is Present in all Things all the Time, it just SEEMS like he isn’t there at all. … This is the religious argument for a case that God exists: First, ASSUME that God does exist because someone wrote a book once. ● Second, ASSUME that although God exists, he isn’t big on making flamboyant gestures. ● Third, when confronted with the idea that your holy book says that God used to be very active in the lives of humanity but seems suspiciously absent now, state that God does what he wants so they should just shut up. ● P a g e | 39