Why I am an atheist
There are many reasons why I am an atheist. Mainly these are not philosophical reasons, because I feel that I don’t know enough to make decent arguments. This might lead you to think that perhaps I should be agnostic and not straight-out atheist. However, I do have my reasons. Firstly, I should explain the word atheist. An atheist is simply someone who does not believe in God. This is pretty obvious. My dad once told me that it is impossible to be an atheist because not believing in God is a belief in itself, but he usually doesn’t make much sense anyway. If you look up the word ‘theism’ it says “The morbid condition resulting from the excessive use of tea.” I don’t think this is entirely correct because many atheists also drink tea.
Belief is greatly affected by the way you are brought up. This stands for all religions, including atheism. This is probably a big barrier to proper philosophical debates since many people tend to stick to their guns no matter what anyone else says to them. As a child, my mother often told me that my father’s theist beliefs were wrong and that I shouldn’t believe anything he told me. As a result, I was probably quite rude towards him and his friends. However, children brought up as theists are often the same. They are taught that God exists and that’s all there is to it, and it is probably not very fair on the child.
Not only is it very difficult for me to accept a religion that is accepted purely on the basis of being told it’s just so by your parents, (don’t worry, I’ll get philosophical soon) but there is so much trouble caused by being part of a religion. Look at everything that religion has done. The Ku Klux Klan are christian. Modern-day terrorists are muslim. The fights between protestants and catholics. And in Sikhism, if the first born child is a girl, the mother is blamed and the child can be killed, completely ignoring the fact that a child’s gender is all down to the father’s sperm. Must be a really reliable religion. You’ve probably heard of the Westboro baptist church. They’re the ones who protest publicly that the world is doomed because we’re all gay. They go to people’s funerals and protest saying that they deserved to die. I found a blog called shelleytherepublican.com that says that pokemon and wifi are evil and has a long list of the things and people on ‘God’s hitlist’. These lists include Barack Obama (which they spell ‘Osama’), animal rights people, Germans, Linux users, college professors, poets, starbucks, and vegetarians.
Many christians, muslims and so on will tell you that the people who commit hate crimes and do all these terrible things are not true followers of their religion. That’s all very well, until they try and convince you that their book, be it the bible or the Qu’ran is perfect. Well in that case, how is it possible to twist the ideas in that supposedly perfect book? Does that not show that it cannot have been written by God? The omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent God should be able to make a work that cannot be twisted to suit someone’s terrible ideals. I’m sorry, bible bashing is so very fun.
Let’s get away from actual religion and focus more on the actual belief of God. It’s all very well to make arguments about the existence of God, but then a lot of people will jump to the christian God. No. That doesn’t work. You can say that there was a first cause, but why does that have to be God, and not only that, but the ridiculous God of the bible and Qu’ran. Did you know, in Genesis, God creates light before he creates stars. I’m sorry, I’m not very good at science, but I’m pretty sure the sun is a star. Or am I missing something? Oh yeah, sorry, God can do what he likes.
Anyway, I’ve completely rambled in this essay and I think I should stop now. I’m sorry that it’s not what I’ll need to write for the exam and it’s probably a bit irrelevant.
In conclusion, I am an atheist because there is too much wrong with religion for me to accept it.
Amour
Now this is an interesting subject, isn’t it? A lot of the time, it seems to cause more trouble than good. But that can easily change, just by the way you look at it. Of course, there are always going to be people that you simply can’t get along with, maybe they are so problematic that you can’t fix anything. But most of the time, there are things you can consider to make your relationships work better.
I think that love is one of the most important parts of life. It’s close to impossible trying to live alone. I wouldn’t say I’m a very social person at all, but my life would truly suck without people to love.
If you’ve been reading any of my previous posts, you might have tried to learn to love yourself. This is important before even considering loving anyone else. If you don’t know what you want; don’t understand yourself, your needs and bad points, you won’t be able to handle a meaningful relationship.
A lot of people are not going to agree with me on this, but I think that it is possible to love just about anyone. That’s right. Just about anyone. It does make sense. You love your family even though you had no choice in the matter. It doesn’t matter what sort of personality they have, you love them all the same. That’s because you care about them. It’s a human thing. Therefore, this can extend into your relationships with anyone.
It’s true that if you get to know someone too well, you can get bored of them, but that can easily be combated by changing yourself every so often. Of course, your partner has to do this too. People change their personality a bit roughly every seven years, but if you get too comfortable with someone, you might not undertake this change. This is why it is important to retain yourself when you get into a relationship. Too many stop caring about themselves once they think they have the person for them.
You stop looking after yourself when you have no one to impress.
You cannot neglect people like this. Keep your life different and exciting and trust me, life will be great, your partner and yourself will not become predictable. Love is something that anyone can feel for anyone else, given the right circumstances. That’s the most important thing.
Well, that’s my opinion anyway!
Part of the flock?
Yaaay, I finally finished my exams! I don’t really care how well I’ve done, I am just pleased I don’t have to feel guilty about not studying anymore.
But what I’m going to talk about today hasn’t got much to do with that. I am going to talk about Sheep People. Everyone knows the type of person I’m talking about, because the sad thing is, it’s what most people are. It’s normal. No one really notices the significance of it. But the fact is, it is damaging to us.
We all know the trend setters of the world. The ones who can do something completely ridiculous and everyone else will follow on.
Ponder this. These people have so much power, so much respect that they could make us do anything. Isn’t that just a little bit frightening? It may seem unlikely, but seriously, what can we really expect?
It all starts from just wanting to fit in. It makes me really irritated that there are so many young people who will copy each other to fit in. I really don’t understand the mentality behind it. Maybe I’m weird, but it seems really stupid to me that it makes people feel like less of a person just because they have a different opinion to their peers.
I’ve met people who apologise to you for saying something they think you won’t agree on. ‘Oh I’m sorry, I don’t want to offend you!’
I don’t care what your opinion is. It’s not going to make me angry because you don’t think the same thing as me, I do realise there are other people in the world apart from me. And if I didn’t want to hear a different opinion, would I ask?
I had a friend once who pretended not to like a certain singer purely because I didn’t like them. Then one day she told me about it and apologised to me, expecting me to think less of her because she liked the singer. The only thing I thought less of her for was the fact she had pretended for so long. Another person told me she liked a certain type of music and when I told her I didn’t like that genre much, she said ‘I don’t actually like it, I thought you did and I wanted to like the same thing.’
Then there are those who follow trends. The majority of teenagers do this and it’s hard to understand, for me. It’s so superficial and they don’t give themselves a chance to know themselves properly. They cannot develop as normal happy people without understanding their own likes and dislikes. I mean, can you really be happy if you’re not doing what you like, but are doing it because others are?
As far as I am concerned, if you’re shallow enough to be so fake, I don’t want to know you. If you sit and watch programmes like ‘Made’ and think that the changes the people make are good because they became more popular, then I think you should be shot in the foot.
If I cared about popularity, I would want to be liked for being me, and only me. I’m not going to advertise another person’s style on the only thing I have for myself- my body. I feel lucky for having a mind and a chance to make my own opinions. I’m not going to stuff it full of things that others think before thinking it through for myself, using my own brain.
Most of the girls in my school look the same and it saddens and angers me. I want to tell them to question everything they’ve been conditioned to think from television and magazines. Males for some reason usually manage to escape becoming sheep to the same extent. It still exists for both genders though.
Of course, I don’t want you to agree with everything I’m saying- I’m giving you the opportunity to consider the things you believe from parents, television, the internet, everywhere. Look at all the information you have available to you and think for yourself . It’s up to you what you believe! Isn’t that exciting? You can make so much out of your life if you go in a different direction. You can take risks and do so much! Who cares if you don’t always make the right choice- you’ve just learned something else all by yourself. Shouldn’t you be proud?
Think about it. And in the end, do what you want. It’s your own fault if you waste your life the way most people do.
Motivation
A lot of people find it really hard to stay motivated for a long period of time. They can make themselves feel motivated for a few minutes simply by imagining all the things they could achieve and the suchlike. But if they want to feel motivated for a whole day, or even for doing a project over the weeks, it seems impossible.
Motivation is important for all aspects of life. Without it, we’d just not exist. We wouldn’t be bothered about anything. So having good motivation is vital. So why is it so difficult to keep it?
A lot of it has to do with what you have achieved already. Okay so you’re doing alright, you’ve got a job or a family or something. But so does everyone else! So what’s the point in trying too hard to keep it all together? You feel mediocre, like you’re only existing because you have managed so far, and you’re a bit curious about the future. Maybe you live through your children, your partner or your friends.
Well that’s no fun. There’s no point in living when you’re not enjoying it, at least most of the time. I’m not saying you have to enjoy everything, because then it wouldn’t feel so good, which is why overindulging will not make you happy, but that’s for another discussion. I’ve learned that the first step to living a motivated and successful life is enjoying it. It might seem obvious, but it’s surprising how many people don’t realise it. A lot of people think that you need to be serious to be successful, but that’s not right at all.
So what’s the point of what I’m saying?
1. Enjoy what you’re doing. It’s always possible. If you don’t enjoy your work or whatever now, what is it going to give you in the future? Money? So what? All you’re going to spend it on is more things to prolong your boring depressing life.
2. Make physical changes to affect yourself mentally. Changing the way you look can be a powerful motivator. You feel like you can start anew, you can do anything, because you’re a new person. Perfect your outward appearance. I am most definitely not shallow and do not endorse caring only about your appearance and feeling bad if you think you’re ugly. I mean keeping yourself clean and neat, no shabby clothes, etc. This will make you feel better about yourself instantly.
3. Tidy up your surroundings and your mind. A clear space for working and living in will in turn clear your mind and keep you focused. You can relax easily and feel comfortable and clean. Your mind is the most important part of you. Keep it tidy and exercised. Meditate, read or write down your feelings to help with this.
Finally, here are some thought provoking quotes from one of my favourite novels, Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami.
“Everyone of us is losing something precious to us. Lost opportunities, lost possibilities, feelings we can never get back again. That’s part of what it means to be alive. But inside our heads—at least that’s where I imagine it—there’s a little room where we store those memories. A room like the stacks in this library. And to understand the workings of our own heart we have to keep on making new reference cards. We have to dust things off every once in a while, let in fresh air, change the water in the flower vases. In other words, you’ll live forever in your own little private library.”
“Anyone who falls in love is searching for the missing pieces of themselves. So anyone who’s in love gets sad when they think of their lover. It’s like stepping back inside a room you have fond memories of, one you haven’t seen in a long time. It’s just a natural feeling…”
“Sometimes fate is like a sandstorm that keeps changing directions. You change direction but the sandstorm chases you. You turn again, but the storm adjusts. Over and over you play this out, like some ominous dance with death just before dawn. Why? Because this storm isn’t something that blew in from far away, something that has nothing to do with you. This storm is you. Something inside of you. So all you can do is give in to it, step right inside the storm, closing your eyes and plugging up your ears so the sand doesn’t get in, walk through it, step by step. There’s no sun there, no moon, no direction, no sense of time. Just fine white sand swirling up into the sky like pulverized bones. That’s the kind of sandstorm you should imagine.”
“Beyond the edge of the world there’s a space where emptiness and substance neatly overlap, where past and future form a continuous, endless loop. And, hovering about, there are signs no one has ever read, chords no one has ever heard.”
“According to Aristophanes in Plato’s “Symposium” in ancient times people weren’t just male or female, but one of three types: male/male, male/female, or female/female. In other words, each person was made out of the components of two people. Everyone was happy with this arrangement and never really gave it much thought. But then God took a knife and cut everybody in half, right down the middle. So after that the world was divided just into male and female, the upshot being that people spend their time running around trying to locate their missing other half.”
“People are mostly a product of where they were born and raised. How you think and feel’s always linked to the lay of the land, the temperature. The prevailing winds, even.”
Too much. Must ramble.
When I have a lot to do, I always end up missing out half of it. It annoys me so much. Right now I should be writing a German essay to send off in two days to get a scholarship in Germany. Not that I’ll get in or anything, but it’s worth a try and I guess shows some commitment. That is, if I get around to it. I also have to fix my internet connection. Stupid ISP. Or router, or whatever is causing the problem. It works for about 20 minutes, then gives up.
Right now I’m having difficulties seeing the keyboard because my cat is leaning against the fan on the laptop, which I’m sure is not healthy but she loves the heat she gets from it and practically makes out with it.
Today I had a French exam. I’m doing maybe three years of work in a year so my teachers were pretty keen to know how I did. There are only five of us doing my level of French, and I feel part of a group when I’m with them. I can’t stand large groups of people. Unless I’m watching people in a street. Watching people is a really fun thing to do. You see so many different types of people, all doing different things, all with different stories to tell. It fascinates me just thinking what their minds might hold. There might be someone with an amazing and colourful mind and nobody knows who they are. I wish I could read minds. That might help me become more social. I am terrible at communicating. I make so many social mistakes and then realise later, but then it’s far too late and they are kinda scared of me.
I’m still deciding whether this post will have a point to it or if it’s just a filler. I doubt anyone even cares about it, but I feel safer knowing my thoughts are recorded somewhere other than my head.
I think my life might be dipping a bit towards the bad side. I’m not sure yet, I don’t really care anymore. I’m just existing at the moment, but I have a few hopes. There are people keeping me busy, if I live through them, it’s enough for me. Even though that’s what I have always done.
