Copyright:
9/23/04
ATHEISM IS NOT WHAT YOU THINK IT IS
When we talk about Atheism, we are talking about the “method”
used to arrive at truthful conclusions and, therefore, to arrive at the truth
itself.
(Read that sentence again because Atheism
is not the conclusion that there is no God. Atheism is the method
used to arrive at the conclusions. Atheism is the scientific method of thinking
applied to any philosophic, scientific or spiritual matter. The Atheist is a person
while Atheism is the method used to search for the truth. If you ask a million
Atheists to define the Atheist, you will get a million different answers. If
you ask a million Christians to define the Atheist, you will get only one
simple answer. What does this mean? It means a million Atheists are thinking
and it also means a million Christians are not thinking.)
When we speak of Atheists, we are talking about men
and women who love and search for truth in all things - civil and spiritual.
Long before these men who sought to find out the truth in all areas of
life, and long before they antagonized the leaders of the church, they were
called scientists, scholars, sages, wise men and philosophers. They were
extended great respect by both those who were educated and by the church. All
true science is philosophy and all true philosophy is science. The literal
Greek meaning of the word, “philosophy” is “The Love of Wisdom.”
Atheism is not just a philosophy! It is also a way of
thinking, a way of researching and arriving at an honest
conclusion. Atheism is the hunt for truth and the inquiry into the mysteries of
life. It is not only a way of thinking; it is also a way of living. Atheism is
not just “A” philosophy. Atheism “IS” philosophy. Atheism equals philosophy.
All true Atheists are philosophers. All true lovers of and seekers after
knowledge and truth have a bit of Atheism in them. If one tries to find truth
and at the same time maintains his biases, beliefs and prejudices then he will
never have the open mind necessary that characterizes the scientific method of
research and thinking called the philosophy of Atheism.
True philosophy was, and is, composed of seekers after
the truth about nature, the mysteries of life and the universal wisdoms.
Atheism was, and is, the science of honestly searching for the truth in all
things. These early men were reverent, spiritual and honest. Honesty coupled
with diligent research and honest clear thinking is the only way to arrive at
the truth of any matter. There is a little bit of Atheism in all
honest open minded people.
Atheism of today is still composed of these same high
types of men and women. They still use honest research, philosophy,
experimentation, and honest clear thinking in order to find and understand the
mysteries of life. Atheism is the method of scientific investigation and the
logical open minded thinking that leads to honest
conclusions. Atheism is a process. Atheism is the love of wisdom and
knowledge. Atheism is always looking for the truth in all things.
Before the church decided to call this philosophy
“Atheism,” this philosophy looked and searched for truth in all of nature. As
soon as this philosophy began looking at religion, it found many lies and
dishonesty there. It found great harm, deception and tyranny at religion’s very
roots. The ability to separate fact from fiction, and truth from tall tales was
the basis upon which these men differed from the average religious and gullible
minded mankind.
These honest men began to discover the truth about the
spiritual claims of religion. The light of that truth exposed many false
teaching and false claims of religion. The sincerity of these men demanded that
the false and untrue claims be exposed and separated from the truth. Honest
scrutiny and Clear Thinking contains both the desire and the ability to find
and then to point out lies and dishonesty. The honesty of these men, coupled
with their research and curiosity, enabled these seekers after truth to arrive
at conclusions, which personally protected them from the untruths and lies of
religion. These men pointed out that this same honesty and scrutiny could also
protect all mankind from these deceptions, falsehoods and destructive forces -
if they learned to logically think. They immediately launched a program
to teach men how to research, how to shed their biases, and how to think –
logically and honestly.
This same “philosophical ability” to find and apply
justice and truth to any matter is actually the cement that holds society and
civilization together. It is this very ability to separate fact from fiction
that society uses to rid itself from those ideas, movements, claims, and people
that are harmful and detrimental to the harmony and civilizing process of
mankind. If this ability is not used by the leaders and by the people, then
society soon goes to pot and is ready for a dictator and a national disaster.
To follow a dictator or “any authority” makes slaves of the people. Atheism
promotes freedom.
These philosophers soon found that harmful, greedy and
disruptive people had seized control of the people through religion and
government. So, honesty, common sense and the love of humanity demanded that
these men expose religion and their governments for the disunity and the
anti-civilizing process that it is. They found religion to be immoral, unjust,
dishonest, corrupt, tyrannical and uncompromising. They found religion to be
very detrimental to the socializing and civilizing process of mankind. They
found that religion actually stagnated personal mental and spiritual growth
as well as social growth.
This was a “dark age” time when truth telling was
against the law of both the religions and the governments that they controlled.
When truth is forbidden to be told and truth tellers
are put in prison because the truth is classified as secret or a security risk
then the dark age of tyranny from the past is upon us.
Atheism is the method of using an honest analytical
examination of the known facts about a matter. It is the way of thinking that
eliminates preconceived ideas and beliefs and pursues only the facts of the
matter. It then forms conclusions based on those facts. Always, Atheism seeks
to harmonize its conclusions with both the true facts of the matter and with
good acceptable morality. Atheism is not disbelief in a God any more than it is
disbelief in Santa Claus, or the Easter Bunny. God, Santa Claus and religion
are nothing but subjects to be studied in order to ascertain the facts
about them. If new fact are brought forward proving a God exists, then Atheism
would conclude that Gods do exist. That there is no God (as described by the
religions) is a conclusion based on all known and proven facts. True
Atheism has no beliefs. It only has logical and honest conclusions.
This philosophy should not be labeled by one of
its conclusion: that there is no religious God, as described by religion.
Rather, Atheism is the scientific method used to reach those honest and
reliable conclusions about all of life. These people should be labeled as Clear
Thinkers, philosophers, sages and scholars – not Atheists. They do not hate the
concept of a God any more than the concept of Santa Claus. Except that the
concept of a God does infinitely more damage to the human population than does
the concept of Santa Claus. Has belief in Santa Claus ever cause war, murder,
torture, tyranny and such?
So, we find that Western Atheism was not born as a
revolt against God, the church, or its teachings. It was started because of the
tyranny and suppression of truth by the religions. In fact, “Atheism” is
a rather late nametag given this philosophy by the church. When religion found
itself unable to refute the findings and conclusions of these men of wisdom and
science, it began at once to demonize them (the truth tellers).
There was great fear and hostility in the church
leadership when these honest philosophical thinkers began to turn their
research and investigations toward those things called spiritual and religious.
When these Clear Thinking men began to find out that the teachings of the
church were untrue, unspiritual and retarded the very civilizing process of
man, and worst of all, retarded personal spiritual growth, they did what
all courageous men would do. They began to inform people that they were being
told and taught harmful lies by the religions.
At that time the church went on a rampage and sought
to kill or imprison these honest clear thinking men. The church sought to
remove from the face of the earth any writings or information disseminated by
these men of science, wisdom and philosophy. In addition, they sought to give
these men a derogatory label and nametag that would scare their church
followers into persecuting these men. This nametag would also place prejudice
and fear in the minds of all mankind. The church declared that these honest
clear thinkers were the enemy of their God, and as such, they must be
destroyed. They must, therefore, be labeled as “Atheists” (against
god or no god) The term “Atheist” that the church gave these honest men of
science and philosophy - is a lie. Likewise, the term “Atheism” that the
church gave this honest and scientific philosophy – is a lie.
Thus, even our dictionaries in the USA carry on this
lie of the church, which claims that Atheism is the disbelief in God. Why has
no Atheist ever been allowed to write the definitions of Atheism in the
dictionaries, or to write the articles in the references books that seek to
examine Atheism? I will tell you why. The religious element is so strong in the
USA that they control the publishers as well as the government and they censor
and demean any factual and truthful information about Atheism.
To someone who believes in some other God rather than
yours, you are an Atheist to him because you find no proof for the existence of
his God. In fact, if there were only one hundred religions, and therefore, only
one hundred God concepts, you reject ninety-nine of them and accept only one.
That means you are ninety-nine percent in agreement with the Atheists who
reject all one hundred percent of them. Why? Atheists have researched and found
that men made up the religions and the religious Gods. If proof is brought
forward showing that a God exists, then Atheists would conclude, Gods do exist.
Atheism bases its conclusions on the facts. Atheists are willing to face the truth
head on. Religion is not. If the facts do not agree with their Christian
beliefs the facts must be wrong and, therefore, destroyed. Never mind
investigating to find out if the facts are true or
not. To believe in any of these Gods is to eliminate even the possibility that
you could be wrong.
That is how these wonderful, intelligent and honest
men were labeled as Atheists. Though the church did its best to destroy these
men, there were enough good people who hid and protected them. As fast as they
wrote, the church hunted down and destroyed their writings. Some were burned at
the stake or beheaded if they were found in possession of some of these
writings. To be labeled as an Atheist was to become a criminal in the eyes of
the church, and in the eyes of the governments, which the churches also
controlled.
WHAT WERE SOME OF THE TRUTHS
THESE MEN WERE FINDING OUT?
What is, “IS.” What exist
does exist. Atheism hunts, respects and uses truth from all aspects of nature.
They declared that if something happens, it is a part of the natural laws of
the universe. If it happens, it “IS” and therefore, should be honestly
investigated. Atheism sought to explain unusual happenings by examining their
causes and effects. Thus, all the claimed happenings and miracles of religion
were brought into question.
What works, “WORKS.” There are many unusual happenings
and Atheists began to investigate these happenings. They often found many of
these happenings were either lies or had natural explanations. The real problem
was the wrong elements (God and prayer, or the Devil and evil) often got the
credit for these happenings while the real natural motivators or human
manipulators often went unnoticed. Atheism sought to point these errors out to
men. Atheism is also science at work.
Esoteric (spiritual) teachings, claims, and happenings
are a part of life to be honestly examined by this philosophy called Atheism by
religion. What transpires in the mind and emotions of man is as important as
what transpires in the physical body of man, or in the physical universe. Thus,
religion, gods, prayer, miracles, devils, sin, salvation, heavens, hells, and
such are all a part of the esoteric, and were therefore, to be examined
honestly by these honest clear thinking men.
I have not been initiated into any secret society. Any
truth I have discovered has been the result of research and much deep honest
thought. It has been a delight to find others who have found some of these same
truths, and I would suspect some of them have been members of societies that do
pass these things down from generation to generation - in secret. This secrecy
among these philosophers and scientists has been necessary due to the hostility
of religious superstitions that seeks to destroy those who expose them and shine
the light of truth and facts on their frauds and lies. These men say God is
love, yet they exhibit a devilish hatred, hostility and censorship toward these
honest men and women they call Atheists. They call this “Doing God’s Work.” I
guess they think God is on vacation or is not capable of doing his own work and
getting it right.
All
religions and all philosophies have much “original truth” in them.
Most often, these original truths are hidden from the
casual and un-tuned eye. These original truths are often twisted and elaborated
on by “religious leaders” for their own selfish advantage. They seek to twist
the original truths in order to introduce their own personal agendas. Sometimes
they do not even know what they are talking about. These “religious leaders”
expound on their own ideas to the masking and even exclusion of the original
truths and information. They have even rewritten the original writings and
texts to conform to their own beliefs, aims and ambitions.
The purpose of these ancient real truths of life,
and the utility of these truths were often hidden or disguised by these
pre-Christian ancient philosophers. “Do not cast your pearls before swine.” is
an esoteric philosophic statement and refers to the knowledge, wisdom and
practices of the wise. To inform the swine (ignorant and misguided believers)
would be to give them truths and powers that would be misused in behalf of
extending their ignorance and errors to others.
Integrity (honesty and justice) is the foundation for
all of the esoteric teachings of all the ancient sages and wise men. One could
not be informed or know the wisdom and truths of the ancient wise men until he
was found to be worthy of wisely using those truths. Initiation and training
into the mysteries was always necessary in order to prepare the student to
properly preserve and proliferate these teachings.
There is an Attitude of Wisdom one must
cultivate before he begins to see the edges of many wonderful and helpful
truths. Sometimes this Attitude was also called “The Spirit of Wisdom” and was
often personified in many writings. Godly names or spiritual names are often
used to identify this Attitude in pre-Christian history. Those who search using
this Attitude of Wisdom (Atheism) have often been called the “Children of Light.”
They have also been called “The Elect” and “The Children of God.” The church
looked back and called these same wise men and philosophers, “Atheists” and
“Heretics.” The esoteric truths these wise men hunt for and examine are often
called the “Pearl of great price,” the “Sanctuary,” or the “Church” (Assembly).
These truths have also been referred to as the “Divine Mysteries.”
To be a seeker after truth, one must develop awareness
and a discernment of these things and look for clues in nature, clues in his own inner being and in the writings of philosophers and
wise men. To do this one must eliminate his prejudices and biases. Only then
does he become free to learn. Like a newborn baby, he must start with
zero. “Born again” is also hidden esoteric wisdom indicating freedom from
biases and beliefs and the start of a new beginning in ones life.
“Born again” means one clears his mind and is ready to
begin a new life of wisdom and knowledge. He must become autonomous, never
trusting or leaning on authority. He must learn to “know thyself” as all
ancient sages pleaded. He must learn to think honestly, question everything,
and use honest doubt on every important claim of life. He must become a
scientist of life. He must discover and know the true history of mankind. If he
does all this, the church calls him/her an Atheist. Why? The lie is always
fearful of the truth, and seeks to demonize both the truth and the truth
teller.
Honest doubt is the greatest
tool Nature has given us to acquire and use wisdom.
As one develops and grows (like a “mustard seed”) in
this new Attitude and state of honesty and awareness, he will find it produces
a whole new sympathy and concern for mankind. He will “love his neighbor as
himself.” He will recognize no one as his enemy. He will become actively
engaged in fighting those ideas, institutions and pressures which dumb down
man’s mind, man’s will and man’s integrity. In other words, he will become like
those early wise men that were first called wise spiritual leaders but were later
called Atheists by the religions.
An Atheist is one who has wrestled authority away from
those religious and political professional “Authorities” who would make him a
slave to their own programs, beliefs and purposes. An Atheist is one that
examines both sides of the issues. An Atheist is one who has accepted both the
authority of his own research, and the conclusions of his own mind. He never
stops learning and will change his conclusions in light of new facts. He has
accepted full responsibility for his own actions. He will never let someone
else pay for his mistakes (sins.) All of his mistakes and failures become
teachers that enrich his life, his actions and his thinking.
An Atheist is one who has dedicated himself/herself to
search for the truth in all matters that interest and affect him/her. An
Atheist is one who is constantly in turmoil and grieves at the injustices and
dishonesty of the community, the government, the religions, and the world in
which he/she lives. An Atheist is one who thinks that justice does not belong
to some organization or group (some religion or government). Atheists know
justice is not someone’s private property. They conclude that justice should be
extended to all men and women – friend and foe alike. An Atheist is one who has
the courage to confront the lies and frauds of religion, politics and business.
An Atheist is one who seeks to inform you of these harmful hazards of today. An
Atheist is one who, after the day’s work is done, can sleep well at night.
You can be thankful for the Atheists among us because
they are “the voice crying in the wilderness” to make straight the paths of
spirituality and civilization. They are the ones who are putting their
popularity, property and person on the line in order to point out the wrongs
and injustices of society, religion, government and business. Atheists are
hated and feared by the teachers and believers in false hopes and false
promises. Atheists were the Deist founders of this country, and they are the
sustainers of it today.
The Atheists of today are losing their voice because
of the hatred, censorship and prejudice directed against them by religion and
government. But do not forget. They are the heroes. They are the ones who
conduct their lives on the basis of not doing to others what they would not
want others to do to them. They are the Free Clear Thinkers. Were it not for
the Atheists, this country would already be a religious, political or military
dictatorship. Atheists are warning us. They know what governments and religions
want. They see slavery coming.
Many Atheists do not call themselves Atheists, and
indeed, would be horrified to be considered as such. However, these wonderful
men and women are found at the forefront of our alternate media (the Internet).
They are exposing and fighting those governmental and religious false claims,
false promises and inhumane attitudes. They are rebelling against the dumbing down of our educational system. They are pointing
out the destruction of our freedoms and the use of our judicial system to deny
justice. They are warning us of the takeover of our government by big business
and religion that wishes to establish a totalitarian state. They are warning
now of the present tyranny and the tyranny to come. They are warning us of the damage
being done to the American citizens - RIGHT NOW.
Some of these wonderful people even call themselves
Christians. Some just call themselves Free Thinkers. Some call themselves
Patriots and some just call themselves Citizens. The church and government
calls these wonderful people troublemakers, traitors, terrorists, Atheists,
conspirers, and sometimes they are called Liberal Democrats. These wonderful
people would be horrified to be called Atheists and that is all right with me
so long as they continue to use honest doubt, honest thinking, honest research and continue to fight for justice in their
lives and society. Bless them all!
Fundamental religion and politics works, schemes and
plans so things can be run their way, using their immoral religious code of
ethics. They lack the knowledge of true history. They neither remember, nor
have they studied what happened in the past when the church had the power of
government in its hands. They do not know how true believers and non-believers
were killed or imprisoned so powerful religious and governmental organizations
could steal their incomes, their home, their freedoms and their land. They
neither know nor remember the great fear, hunger and poverty imposed upon the
people by the religions and their governments. They have forgotten that the
church made slaves of their own believers as well as the non-believers. They
have not studied how the church dishonestly accumulated the political power and
the wealth of society. They have forgotten that there was no middle class, only
the very poor and the very rich.
Yes, my friends, you need the Atheists and you need
them more today than you did yesterday. Atheists are not the God haters you
have been warned against by the religions. Atheists are haters of deception, haters
of injustice, haters of dishonesty and haters of the disregard that these
religions and governments have for the humanity of all people. The Atheists see
fundamental religion and our corporate government as the true enemies of
mankind. The enemies of mankind are also the enemies of your God concept. Our
government and the fundamental religions should rightly be classified as the
real ungodly Atheists in the USA. They are the ones that bring disrespect upon
the Office of God. Thus, the corporate government and the fundamental religions
of this country are the true enemies of your God. They are the ones who have
rightly qualified for the title of “Atheists.”
Help the true, Free, Clear Thinking Atheists (no
matter what they call themselves). Help them warn America about the police
state our fundamental religions and our corporate government are fostering upon
us. When the church had the political power fully in its hands, we call that
time “The Dark Ages.” Let us not have a second dark age here in America - and
in the world.
Support your local True, Free, Clear
Thinking Atheists no matter what they call themselves!
Copyright: 09/23/04
Updated: 06/2010
See: After Christianity
What After Atheism What
By Thomas E. Blaylock Jr. author of
The Night They Waked Uncle Bob, a novel of
an Atheist life,
and author of Honest Man’s Philosophy,
now published. His website is: http://www.jovialatheist.com