Dear Anonymous

I am posting one of my replies in the forum where people reacted to my atheism.

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Hi Anonymous,


I appreciate your frankness. Please don't take this post negatively. And this is a long one, hehe.

you said:
>> I can respect you being an atheist but what I don’t like about your
>> declaration is justifying it with insult to us that there is no amazing
>> things about religion nor GOD.

If you mean in this forum, please quote me. Where did I say there is NO amazing thing abut religion nor god? Let me make it clear. I believe that we are confusing two things here. First there is the belief in god and in religion and second there is this belief that having religion will make one morally superior than those who don't. I admire the cathedrals and the art that religion has helped foster. I admire people who try to be good and do good because they believe that that is what's right to do though I believe that to do good, you need not subscribe to religion. In fact, if subscribing to religion makes one good, then I insist that he continue subscribing to it. Some say by not believing means being free to do evil things. Well, it goes on to show that atheism is not for everybody. I don't like religionists telling non-religious people that they are going to hell because they evil/not religious. It's simply wrong.

Also, please check some posts here insinuating that I am a maamong tupa na nasa loob ay leon. Duh? I am just like anybody here. If I didn't tell you I don't believe in your god you wont be able to tell the difference. Every man is capable of doing good or bad. That includes all believers with no exception as shown by the kind of response they throw at me. The difference lies not in religion but in how each one of us choose to be in the many opportunities that we face every minute of the day. I am not a murderer, I am not a corrupter.


you said:
>> That believing in neither GOD nor religion is a cultural artifacts
>> and other harsh thing about GOD existence.

But religion is cultural. Please check an encyclopedia and see for yourself that religions are divided along cultural or ethnic lines and across all history. Yes, a religion may be the One True Religion or the god of a certain religion The One True God but how are you to know and how to navigate the great cultural landscape when each one is claiming that they hold the Absolute Truth with some even dismissing Reason and Knowledge as "bad" because it leads us to atheism? It is not free if freethought can lead us to question god and find its proof insufficient but we are going to be punished by eternal fire and burning for it.

Contrary to somebody here who said that all religion believe in the same thing, the truth is far from it: The Indian culture is predominantly Hindu, Western European culture is predominantly Catholic plus Protestant, Eastern Europe is predominantly Orthodox, the Arabic, Turkish, South East Asian, and Iranian cultures are predominantly Islamic, the Chinese and Vietnamese cultures are predominantly atheistic, Thai culture is predominant Buddhist, Japanese culture is predominantly mystic/secular, Latin culture is predominantly Catholic; small tribes like those found in the Cordillera - like the Igorot culture - are animists. In earlier times, it was still different. Classical Greek culture believed in the now-obsoleted Greek gods of Mount Olympus while Christianity and Islam was non-existent at all while Zoroastrianism was widespread in the middle east and Sun-god worship was the religion in ancient Egypt. Each of the modern and ancient religions and sects under the same religions are further divided along doctrinal lines. Some cultures are monotheists (Islamic, Judaism, some sects of Christianity) some are polytheists (Hindu, Igorots, some Christian sects), and some are atheistic (some form of Buddhism). I can go on and on and still you will not accept this glaring anomaly. If you choose not to accept these, they are not going to disappear magically.


you said:
>> Now some may have responded to you very negatively and with bad attitude I
>> felt sorry for those who can not handle your declarations but I just wish
>> that you don’t go down to their level by insulting us.

I have been called the devil or worse than the devil. I have been called bad example and a disgrace to mankind. I have been called many names that are only meaningful to them. If I will be hitting back, you should grant me the right to do that but I restrained myself because my intention in this forum is not to malign people. My family belong to many different kinds of religion and never did we talk about religion in the house as it foments ill feelings, specially with those who have beliefs they cherish and protect from scrutiny. But mention once how evil I am because I don't believe your religion and don't expect that I will turn my other cheek. I don't engage in this if I think it's not the right forum. I leave forums when it becomes too hot for me to handle because I still respect the majority view. I retreat to my own forum where believers can visit but with a caveat. That that forum is hollowed ground for atheism. There I can say whatever I want but even there I still have some restraint.


you said:
>> You maybe smart in some line but you can’t deny that humility as preached
>> by greats people are still the best philosophy you can follow.

I prefer honesty over humility. I wont humble myself to people who accuse me of evil or immorality simply on the account that I don't believe their personal gods. Sometimes there is the truth in the saying "respect begets respect" or in this case, humility. I didn't come here to solicit respect nor to malign everyone's religion. Somebody greeted me "god bless" in USAP and I took that as honestly good intention. I replied back. (Please read my post and see if my intention was malicious.) I know him and his sisters and family and they knew me since I was small because our parents are both retired public school teachers and his siblings are my siblings' friends and classmates. He is a nice person. I looked beyond his faith to see his good intention but I have to say what I said because that's what I am. I have as much right as him to declare what I am and what I believe or not believe. That is because I had decided to come out of the open and join and maybe contribute in the exchange of ideas. Somebody copied that post out of context and posted it here starting this silly thread (which provides me humor some times) and now people seem to be enjoying it that it has grown this long. I have been called many names and even accused by a kid of founding a cult (LOL) by organizing my class reunion. People here are putting malice in every action I make in public just because I declared my name. I am not ashamed because all of these are lies. I wonder what happened to not bearing false witness? Yes, there are many great people out there who teach us great lessons in life and I look up to some of them by reading books (other than the bible). I do choose to ignore some posts by following Dilbert's advice which actually mirrors your own advice, thank you.