Militant Atheist? You Bet.

Over at De Gustibus, my friend David is called a Militant Atheist, rightly denies it and directs M. Henley accurately in my direction. So, yes, Virginia, I am militantly atheistic, and am proud of it, too.

To begin, I find the word atheist troubling, not because it's an inaccurate description, I am A-theist (in the sense that I am not a theist), however, it seems to denote that there is some significant differences between me and the Christians. There's not. I don't believe in Zeus; neither do they. Ditto for Vishnu, Buddha, Zoroaster or any other so-called "pagan" deities. However, they merely believe in one more god than I do: the god of the Israelites and his son, the one they call Jesus. However, most of my Christian friends revel in calling me an atheist in derogatory terms, despite their disrespect of other gods, or at least being very Un-Christian and talking about it behind my back. No matter.

What have Christians done in their attempts to convert me, and why do they try so hard? Well, I used to be one of them, and probably the best one of them, at that. Some have offered me Pascal's Wager as a reason for believing. To that I say that if you are deviously believing in God for greater gains, then I think that He will delight in sending you to hell. In Christianity, it's not what you do, it's whether you did it for the right reasons. Others have told me that they are sad that I am going to Hell because I am overly concerned for this life. Well, let's consider:

• I don't believe in Hell, so I won't worry about!
• In all seriousness, I am sad for the devout Christian because (s)he wastes his life and mind believing in what I know to be an arbitrary lie.
  

One more thing on this religious rant: you can have morality without Christianity. In fact, a morality without God is more praiseworthy than one with Him. First of all, you have come to your morality without having to be directed or coerced with threats of the Fiery Abyss. Furthermore, your morality, dear atheist, isn't depedent on the ever-changing interpretations of god's will; it's usually dependent on something from this earth, this lifetime, this now, and for giving us something we can use to live, rather than something we need death to vindicate, you should be applauded.

Want to hear the last controversial statement? I'd take up arms against God if Armageddon actually did happen, which it won't.

I expect that my comments will be all over "The 700 Club" in a matter of hours. (no, you burn in Hell, Pat Robertson.)