For Angelique

Angelique,

Atheists are some of the most loving, humanistic folk on the face of the planet. Many of us, including me, came from religious backgrounds.

We share a common skepticism about religious claims. We simply don’t see the proof of god. There just isn’t any.

From there we see the tremendous damage done to humanity in the name of religion. This can be attributed to almost every religion, be it Judaism, Islam, Christianity or scores of others.

You say you are aware only of the one true god, as Muslims refer to allah. But, as pointed out in an earlier tweet, your lack of awareness of the literally thousands of other claimed gods does not mean the claims never occurred.

All of them are constructs of humans. They reflect the prejudices and fears of mankind. They frequently clash, not just with each other, but within the “holy” book of any given religion. 

And someone still needs to explain to me why I should follow a religion for which there is not only no proof of the supposed all-powerful, all-seeing, all-knowing being, but one that is so incredibly predisposed to inflict pain on mankind.

If god were to suddenly reveal itself I would have no problem looking it in the eye and calling it a mean-spirited, hateful thing.

The bible and koran both have god authorizing rape of young girls. They both advocate murder, genocide and slavery. Where’s the goodness in that?

All I can hope for, Angelique, and for all religious persons, is that you step outside and look inward at what you are vested in so heavily. Look at the number of religions and their various claims and don’t be afraid to find a new answer to what’s real.

Thanks for listening.