2351 Responses to “Comment on the Open Letter”

1. 1981 - January 11th, 2008 at 5:50 am - Jon Says:
   
   

   I would like to say that I am very respectful of all people - religious or otherwise. As a confirmed (if you’ll forgive the expression) Humanist, I believe that it is my duty to be. Respecting religions, on the other hand, is another matter all together.

   In much the same way that god botherers of all hues feel that it is imperative to tell everyone that their beloved and merciful god/allah/zeus/wotan/cat/tree/sun (or sacrilege of sacrilege, FSM) is going to consign me and other “non-believers” in their particular flavour of (to me) intellectual weakness, to whatever their perverted version of eternal damnation happens to be this week, I feel that it is time for those of us with an equal strength of belief that there is no deity or afterlife to be given the same rights as those who do.

   Religious belief is not benign. If someone can tell me of any major conflict in history that did not have or, to this day, has not got, at least an element of religion vs. religion in it I’d love to hear about it.

   Religion - and most religions, remember, are supposed to love, be peaceful to, blah, blah, blah, others - has been the direct result of more human beings dying than anything else on this earth. Of course, when one speaks of “love thy neighbour”, they only mean neighbours in the same playground gang, sorry, religion.

   Sure, the human being is unique in its ability to kill others of its species for no natural need. We don’t really need to kill off other males in our territory so that we have exclusive rights to our harem. We don’t need to kill the offspring of females sired by other males to strengthen our own gene pool. We don’t need to kill off the weak and infirm in our social groups to maintain the strength of our pack.

   We do, apparently, need to kill each other to prove that our particular imaginary friend is stronger than their imaginary friend. It’s like the “my dad’s bigger than your dad” stuff from the playground. Unfortunately, there are those around us who, thanks to the indoctrination of others, feel that this is to be their ethos of life.

   Really, isn’t it time for those of us who don’t “believe” to stand up and preach our gospel?

   The gospel of knowing that we, as human beings, are all equal to each other - and not just equal to those in our particular playground gang?

   The gospel of knowing that the accumulation of personal wealth can only come from the diminution of wealth from others of our kind - human-kind.

   The gospel of the knowledge that the consumption of the planet’s resources by the “rich” human beings deprives the poor human beings of the basics of life.

   The gospel of giving, yes, giving, those on our planet - our fellow human beings - who are unable to fend for themselves, provide for their own heath needs, are unable to keep their children from dying the means so to do, instead of amassing fortunes to buy… “stuff”.

   You have me wrong. I am not anti religious people, even though I am sad for them. I am anti the religions and those who indoctrinate others with the religions that they follow for herding them into hate groups. Christians vs. Muslims, Muslims vs. Jews, Hutus vs. Tutsis and on and on and on into the mists of time.

   Why should I, and others who do not believe, not be allowed to “preach” our views with the same freedom allowed to those who want to indoctrinate others with the vengeful, apocalyptic, and sectarian hatred of religions?

   I am made of matter that has been recycled billions of times since the coming into existence of our universe as, indeed, are we all. There isn’t some undetectable “bit” of me that leaves the atomic structure of my body and goes somewhere else when I’m dead. I’m going to be cremated. I’ll go up in smoke. The matter of which those who are buried is made will gradually decompose and become part of the food cycle again. It’s as simple as that.

   We all have a microscopically small period of time of “life”. I believe that we should use that time not to do what we can to be better than others but to do what we can to do better for others. Some of us have the fortune to have been born into societies where we don’t have to get up hungry and thirsty every day and where we go to the shops to buy cheap, subsidised, food rather than having to grub for scraps in scorched or flooded lands.

   Rather than trying to “convert” these suffering fellow human beings that we share the earth with to a belief that they will be better off in the non-existent afterlife, wouldn’t we be better off saving their bodies now instead of their “souls” later?

   Religion is a killer. I live in Ireland and I see, in our constitution, references to a particular version of a god that I find repugnant. However, I don’t feel threatened being an atheist and I’m sure that, if I wished, my atheism would not be a bar to a political career.

   Whilst the United States constitution makes absolutely no reference to a god, it seems to me that it would be impossible for anyone to be elected to anything without saying “god bless you and god bless the United States” at the end of everything they say. Very worrying.

   Can it be that such a situation can have evolved from the founding fathers - most of whom it would appear were atheist, agnostic or, at least, not too bothered? Or has that situation evolved from the apathetic atheists, agnostics and others - like the founding fathers - who just lay back and allowed religious fundamentalists to inveigle themselves into United States politics to the extent that we see today?

   It’s time for all of us, around the world, to reclaim our planet from religion and take it to Humanity. Now.

   Jon

2. 1982 - January 11th, 2008 at 7:45 am - Anna Says:
   
   

   Wow…woooowwww…people need to stop overeacting about this thing. Hah hah, w00t, great, wonderfully funny. rigghhtt. people should stop praising this lovely joke and others should stop acting like it’s actually real and people are going to hell. Maybe people should start taking jokes better?…

3. 1983 - January 11th, 2008 at 8:38 am - Wench Nikkiee Says:
   
   

   FSM FOREVER!!!! Jan 11th, 2008 at 2:14 am

   “As long as on the day of your accension you must eat his noodly appendage’s Favorite meal, a plate of spaghetti! and your favorite keg of rum! (rum is optional but recommended)”
   .
   Oh dear….I always thought that was the other way around with the Pasta being optional…

4. 1984 - January 11th, 2008 at 3:29 pm - Jennyanydots Says:
   
   

   RAmen Jon. Hear hear.

5. 1985 - January 11th, 2008 at 6:00 pm - Perna de Pau Says:
   
   

   @Seeker - read a little more about Pastafarianism (in particular our 8 rather you didn’t) and you will find replies to your questions.
   .
   Jon - I could not agree more with your points: a big RAmen to that

6. 1986 - January 11th, 2008 at 6:50 pm - Pluto Says:
   
   

   @ Jon- you’re not alone in your opinion. Unfortunately being human brings a certain responsibility of its own, it’s why religion is so relevant in the US. In order to be liberal and fair you have to treat everyone equally, even if they don’t feel the need to do the same. By tolerating religion they tolerate the intolerant. To be in tolerant of religion is to be a fascists, so you lose ether way. In England religion became incredibly unimportant due mainly to a superior education system, which meant there was not excuse to wallow in ignorance and you would only get ridicule for believing in it. However the pass few governments have seen a deliration in education. Worst is that Blair allowed the ‘City Academes to be built. By part funding the school you can have your own beliefs taught. So, naturally, many evangelical groups and individuals (really representing those groups) can part fund a school and have their particular brand of idiotic lies taught to impressionable children.
   The way out of religion lies in understanding the world. One of the reasons that the most religious countries are the ones with the lowest standards of education (i.e. the US)

7. 1987 - January 11th, 2008 at 8:55 pm - Captain Noodle Says:
   
   

   wow….longwinded.

8. 1988 - January 12th, 2008 at 12:15 am - Dr. D Says:
   
   

   Word!

9. 1989 - January 12th, 2008 at 5:34 am - Donnie Gray Says:
   
   

   Bobby, you sir are a wonderful man. A gentlemen and a scholar. I hope that maybe one day I will create such a genius piece of literacy. May his noodly appendage shine grace upon your life.
   .
   RAmen

10. 1990 - January 13th, 2008 at 1:08 am - Alex Says:
    
    

    This entire site is genius. And the people here are so logical, it gives me faith in humanity.

    That said, only after realising how ludicrus the religion concept is (I was previously agnostic, am now aetheist), did I realise how comforting the idea of an afterlife was. The idea that there is no end, and that this mess of a planet wasn’t all there is. But I suppose that I feel more inspired to contribute to society, and make what short life there is, (if only slightly) better.

    (And the only reason life seems short to me now is that 80 years is relatively short compared to eternity…)

11. 1991 - January 13th, 2008 at 2:27 am - Meena Says:
    
    

    Brilliant, I have changed my religion on facebook to Pastafarianism and will put this on the census when it next comes round. Hopefully it will become one of the major religions on the census. Last time Jedi didn’t work though. Still truly brilliant. I bow down to His noodly appendages.

12. 1992 - January 13th, 2008 at 6:15 am - Spongy Says:
    
    

    I’d call it a satire, not a joke. If it were a joke, no one would take it seriously.

    “One third time for Intelligent Design, one third time for Flying Spaghetti Monsterism, and one third time for logical conjecture based on overwhelming observable evidence.”

    I love that sentence.

13. 1993 - January 14th, 2008 at 2:52 am - Brandon Evans Says:
    
    

    RAmen.

14. 1994 - January 14th, 2008 at 3:01 am - Anna Parker Says:
    
    

    LONG LIVE THE FLYING SPAGHETTI MONSTER!

    I live for you!

15. 1995 - January 14th, 2008 at 4:42 am - Jon Says:
    
    

    Thank you for your criticism, Pluto, which I take in the constructive way I’m sure that it was meant.

    I’m afraid that I thought that I would be seen to be conceited if I posited the inverse relationship between education/indoctrination and adherence to a religion. It does seem to me, however, that the more one is stuck in some backwater with little exposure to the outside world and where one’s parents and school “educate”/indoctrinate one with their inherited mumbo jumbo religion, the less chance one has of realising the insurmountable absurdities and internal contradictions in every religion. Such is the power of unquestioning belief.

    I do wholeheartedly agree with the premise that one must be equal in one’s treatment of others but isn’t the corollary of that that others must be equal in their treatment of me? If so, then I do not want to be treated by Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Born Again Evangelists (must have really hurt mummy the second time around), or any other proselytising pain in the backside in an equal way to which they treat others to painfully naïve preaching of their version of “the truth”. And there’s only one truth – but they all have a different one! On that basis, the FSM is just about up there with the others. But I haven’t got a proselytising Pastafarian annoying me and taking away time that I’ll never get back either on the street or, worse, at my front door.

    That is why I infer that devout atheists should start taking the word, the real truth of non-belief out on to the streets. But I wonder how long such a group would last in, say, the United States bible belt? I saw a Southern “good ol’ boy” interviewed on the BBC about Barack Obama. His objection to Obama was that; “we don’t want one of them mooslims in the White House an’ anyhow, “Obama” sure sounds like “Osama” to me y’all hear”.

    With that level of intelligent debate, what chance an atheist “conversion” team being given the same freedom and respect that it is demanded be given to the bible bashers?

    I should have expressed myself better. You are correct in your condemnation of me as a fascist if what I wrote is taken as I wrote it. I should have put it more clearly that I want the atheistic perspective to be trumpeted and “preached” in the same way as the religions trumpet and preach and with the same freedom so to do.

    Let’s face it, it’s a given that we have a head start in the brains department and that, along with the facts at our disposal that the existence of a creator is a myth, means that we should stand a very high chance of turning the tide away from hate-filled conflict between different religions and towards a world of humanity towards, well towards humanity.

    Living in Ireland as an ex-pat Brit, I do know about the City Academies and I also knew that Blair was a closet Catholic. I think that the UK religious have really lost the battle, though and it’s starting to happen in Ireland too. It’s amazing what a bit of child abuse by those teaching “the truth” can do to people’s views and, of course, the economic boom means better education and wider travel so that a better perspective can be drawn. How many US citizens even have a passport? Or ordinary Middle Eastern citizens, for that matter. And how many of the poor of the world – mainly made and kept poor by the white westerners (like me) – will ever have the opportunity to see past their own village, let alone the borders of their own country unless, of course, they are driven out as refugees of yet another religious war?

    What still concerns me is that it is an absolute requirement for any US politician to espouse a belief in a creator, thus denying public office to those who are not extremist zealots but who truly believe in the fundamental equality of every human being on the planet and their right to freedom, liberty and security.

16. 1996 - January 15th, 2008 at 2:40 am - Rachel Says:
    
    

    @Pluto: Correlation does not prove causation. Don’t blame all the problems of the US on the fact that many people there are believers. If there is a correlation between religion and low standards of education, there is definitely a correlation between poor education and poverty. So one could assume that religion and poverty. From a Christian point of view (mine), this is because those who live in poverty are more likely to seek God, because of His promise to provide for them in this life and the afterlife. People in well-developed countries (which have better education) do not always realize how blessed they are and do not feel the need to find God, because all their material needs are met already. This is just my observation, obviously, but the point is, we can’t assume that good education leads to lack of religion, when there are many more reasons that can explain the poor standard of education in the US. Maaaaaany more. =)

17. 1997 - January 15th, 2008 at 4:15 am - Jae Says:
    
    

    yo.

    this is HILARIOUS!
    i’m Christian, and you guys make me laugh =D
    even though you border on absolute blasphemy…you make me laugh very, very much
    and for that, i love y’all =D

    peace.

18. 1998 - January 15th, 2008 at 1:32 pm - Pluto Says:
    
    

    Don’t get me wrong Jon. I wasn’t calling you a fascist, I just don’t think we should stoop to there levels.
    Every religion enacts a form of fascism, which is very sad. It’s a way of writing off potential threats as wrong just because they are different.
    Personally I think that education is the best way forward. Unfortunately, the religious right knows this and is attempting to pervert the science curriculum in many country’s is order to counter this. It’s a very malicious thing to do.
    I know for a fact that killing them all would be more effective, but unlike them, I (as I’m sure you yourself do) see genocide as a last resort rather than a Final Solution.
    .
    To use an example: When I was a teenager I thought all Nazis, KKK members and Neo-Fascist should be put in to camps.
    Then I saw that would make me like them. See the problem.
    .
    If we took there kids away to try and undo the mental abuse their parents have done, some would no doubt be resentful.
    .
    As far as an Atheist political movement goes… I think even if we could prove that we could end all the worlds’ problems they would still be against us.
    In the US the idea that we are in the “end days” is very popular. They wait for the rapture and label the UN as evil, and the likely seat of power for their “anti-Christ”.
    So there is no real way to win in the short term. Just hope that they die off from there own ignorance one day.

19. 1999 - January 15th, 2008 at 7:18 pm - tudmgWiki Says:
    
    

    I am deeply conserned. First of all, I want to express my respect toward your idea and your religion. I even havve friends who belive in th FSM. I’m being honist about that, so let’s all be honist about one other thing, and it is the sole fact that you suck. It’s as simple as that. What you did is immoral and outrageous. Threatening people in oder to get your point is against anythig good (and I still belive that your religion accepts good stuff, just as most other religions, and does’t accept bad stuff). You, Sir, are nothing more than a terrorist (not in the common sence of hijacking an airplane and crushing it in to a random american symbol of capitalism (while burning their flag, not eating pork, and believing you’ll be met in heaven by 72 virgins (not confirmed that they’ll all be female virgins))). You are a terrorist of another kind, the kind that threatens you with waitnig your time, wich I personally belive is the most important thing, the thing that matters, because without time, well you should know better than anyone else (after all your religion has the answers to that atleast, right?). So I have nothing against your religion, but against your ways of inforcing it on innocent children, who should learn what they want, not what they are forced to. Fredom of choice (isn’t taht what we’re all fighing for?). So I leave you with that.
    ps. Excuse my english, as I’m a foreigner.

20. 2000 - January 16th, 2008 at 3:26 am - Angry Spaghetti Preist Says:
    
    

    I just dont get why christians (or any other belivers of any other religion, for that matter) would think that we would care what they have to say about our religion! We dont say n e thing about their god, or go and write angry letter on their websites! why do they just back the **** off!
    RAmen

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