I just sent out a communion card for my 8 year old sister and I'm not sure how to feel about it. I'm a pretty outspoken atheist so I wanted to write "So how did Jesus' flesh taste?" but instead I just wrote "Congratulations."
I'm a softy for 8 year olds getting dressed up and what not, but that's how they gettcha - no one wants to break the illusion.

On the other hand, trying to get those same kids to pay attention in science class, when there really is SO much wonder in the universe, and so much to discover is another thing. They all just came to the communion for the crackers.

My 4 year old son has been brought up without the lens of religion. It is wonderful to see him grow and experience the world around him without the taint of superstition. He experiments, he learns, he asks questions. When I don't have an answer to something, I simply say... I don't know, or no one knows (when that is the truth).

I will not tell my child some magic entity in the sky made something happen.. all because 'it' decided to work in mysterious ways in order to keep us from ever 'knowing' or understanding the truth. Effectively quelling any incentive for investigation/experimentation. Such behavior feeds ignorance by stunting an individuals natural desire to learn and experience. Filling in gaps in one's knowledge with fairy tales, does not give one knowledge.

*promote

Promoting this video back to the front page; last published Sunday, June 7th, 2009 2:02am PDT - promote requested by gwiz665.

I grew up in a family that did not believe in any religions. In a very liberal city and family. Even my grandmother that lived in the apartment beside me growing up was a feminist and activist until her 90s. What we did was define the holidays for ourselves. Created our own traditions. There is no reason why an atheist can't celebrate christmas, thanks giving, easter, festivus etc. etc.
I guess the key is to not let anyone monopolize a specific definition of how something should be.

That was a nice set of clips to refute the "atheists' lives have no meaning" nonsense. But Neil Degrasse Tyson expresses it best. I just love that man. JiggaJonson, send your niece a nice set of Tyson DVD's.

The facts of our creation create a far more majestic, beautiful, astonishing, magnificent, and moving story than any creation myth ever fathomed in our history. I often fall asleep imagining the depths of the universe and the matter out there cascading around me as I zip from one end to the other like the Mind Scrambler ride. What lulls me and carries me off to sleep is the deeply felt knowledge that while we must be negligible in terms of size, impact and longevity compared with the cosmos, I--personally--am indeed one of the rarest and most peculiar things to ever grace the realm of existence. I don't need a fucking book or a man in a costume to tell me that I'm special.

Ugh, the music...

the music is annoying

How can atheists celebrate Christmas? They don't even believe in Santa Claus!

Wait, you can't believe in Santa Claus if you're an atheist?

I guess I'm agnostic again.

You could ask, how can a Christian celebrate, Christmas or Easter which both originated as pagan festivals of Solstice and Equinox, which are still dated by the moon.

You could ask, how can a Christian can allow the worship of a false idol, born by cloven animals, who dresses in red and visits at night. Who children pray to with letters and leave offerings of milk and cookies, who encourages greed for material possessions and punishes them with coal fire and brimstone.
On the very night of the birth of their messiah they allow this!?

You could ask, how can a Christian worship a Rabbit that bestows food and fertility at the equinox and pagan rebirth. How is a bunny any different than a golden cow?

You could ask what a Christian has to celebrate - when their own faith has been so totally undermined with blasphemy and forbidden idolatry!

Maybe an atheist - believing that death IS death - celebrates life as more precious and unique.

Seriously,

How many atheist videos are gonna get upvoted like this? I'm fine with everyone believing in what they want to believe in as long as they don't hate on other peoples views. But this is starting to become like an atheist evangelism site.

I feel like these videos are going over the same things over and over and over. Religions are never going to stop coming after atheists, but atheists need to stop making videos!

>> ^Darkhand:
Seriously,
How many atheist videos are gonna get upvoted like this? I'm fine with everyone believing in what they want to believe in as long as they don't hate on other peoples views. But this is starting to become like an atheist evangelism site.
I feel like these videos are going over the same things over and over and over. Religions are never going to stop coming after atheists, but atheists need to stop making videos!


are you saying this video has hate of other views? what part of this video has hate?

or have I read your comment wrong?

>> ^mauz15:
are you saying this video has hate of other views? what part of this video has hate?
or have I read your comment wrong?


Nah this video doesn't hate on anyone else's views. I was just stating my own personal philosophy. I'm fine with everyone believing what they want to believe as long as they don't impose their views on others.

>> ^Darkhand:
Seriously,
How many atheist videos are gonna get upvoted like this? I'm fine with everyone believing in what they want to believe in as long as they don't hate on other peoples views.


In my personal life I often run into intolerance for my belief in the Easter Bunny, but I have yet to meet anyone who can prove He doesn't exist. I support people's right to believe anything they want, but why do they feel the need to jump all over my faith?

Downvote for the music and for propagating the notion that atheists are a collective.

Part of me groans every time I see a video like this. Mainly because I find the use of the term "atheist" ignorant and offensive. It implies that the non-belief is somehow unnatural, and that the baseline for awareness is religion.

On the other hand, since religion is so pervasive in our culture that "atheism" seems like an anomaly, rather than a starting point, it's probably good that more of this is getting out there.

To me, religious worship as a means to experience spirituality is a bit like driving with the parking brake on. How are you ever going to feel wonder if you think you have all the answers?

"But this is starting to become like an atheist evangelism site."

Starting? How long you been around here mate? Videosift has been a pulpit for uppity atheists for some time now-

>> ^budzos:
Downvote for the music and for propagating the notion that atheists are a collective.

I'd say scientists are a collective. But atheists being a collective, that kinda defeats the purpose of separating ourselves from the horrors of organized religions, doesn't it?

Oh and I like the music

>> ^sallyjune:
Starting? How long you been around here mate? Videosift has been a pulpit for uppity atheists for some time now-


Haha, you used the word "uppity". Awesome. Is there a sift tag for "uppity"?

>> ^Darkhand:
I'm fine with everyone believing what they want to believe as long as they don't impose their views on others.


You must have some serious disdain for Christians then.

Until there ceases to be religious folk who insist on browbeating the world with their faith, I'll continue to upvote videos contradicting mistaken beliefs of the faithful.

>> ^HollywoodBob:

You must have some serious disdain for Christians then.
Until there ceases to be religious folk who insist on browbeating the world with their faith, I'll continue to upvote videos contradicting mistaken beliefs of the faithful.


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I won't knock anyone for doing that (upvoting these videos), just like I don't knock anyone for their beliefs. I'm just saying what I guess SallyJune has apparently known for quite some time. I just think that after a while it's information overload.

If I wanted to see the same stuff, all the time, over and over, I wouldn't come to video sift. I'd stay on break.com and youtube and whatever. I come here to Video Sift because I expect to see free and new content. The "Sift"ing part to be done and I want to contribute to that community.

These atheist videos ,to me, are starting to become a meme that won't die.


P.S.: Yes I do have a lot of disdain for most Christians and bible thumpers or whatever religion people constantly pound their drums to until my ears bleed holy purity.

^Exactly, and all this video is really doing is answering a 'question' which the religious use to mock or talk down atheists. They say 'if you don't believe in our god, then you don't believe in anything'.

It's an incredibly narrow minded and infuriating comment. It's coming from this world view of they know everything and if you don't subscribe to their world view then you are an ignorant fool who doesn't believe anything.

Argh... so very annoying.

If you believe that it was all created by your God... yahoo for you. But don't you DARE make laws that belittle those that don't (US state laws discriminating against non believer for parliament), don't you DARE try to force your 'belief' into a science class (there's religious education classes for that), don't you DARE try to suggest that those of us who have no belief in a higher power, or more to the point, no belief that the ridiculous book written by a hodge podge of authors and altered and changed and rewritten countless times is supposed to be some divine text have not suffered countless years of persecution for being rational.

So, thank you very much. It's all well and good, apparently, for Christians to say 'you believe in nothing', but not ok for us to retort with 'actually, this is what we believe in'.

And, of course, Christmas has nothing to DO with christianity, but is rather an appropriated celebration of bygone cultures in tune with nature. So stuff off, we can celebrate the coming of a make believe fat guy in a red suit as much as anyone... because it's fun and we know it not to be true, but also know that we can all hang our OWN meaning to the time of the year.

>> ^spoco2:
^Exactly, and all this video is really doing is answering a 'question' which the religious use to mock or talk down atheists. They say 'if you don't believe in our god, then you don't believe in anything'.
It's an incredibly narrow minded and infuriating comment. It's coming from this world view of they know everything and if you don't subscribe to their world view then you are an ignorant fool who doesn't believe anything.
Argh... so very annoying.


-------------

http://www.videosift.com/video/Sam-Harris-Believing-the-Unbelievable

http://www.videosift.com/video/Response-to-Atheists-have-faith-just-like-theists

http://www.videosift.com/video/Slavoj-iek-Why-Only-an-Atheist-Can-Believe

http://www.videosift.com/video/Richard-Dawkins-Atheism-and-Faith

I'm sure there are more but these are the videos that discuss different types of atheism and what they believe in.

----------

The point I am making is that these videos are not gonna change anyone's mind, the people who these videos are marketed too NEVER WATCH them and if they do it's just to find ammo against you. If they don't find any ammo they just move on.

This video is just self serving, it gives atheists re-affirmation that their beliefs are sound and let them feel there is nothing to worry about with some nice piano music. Do you really need to watch this to feel better? I hope not because my understand of atheists, and one of the best parts about them, is they stand their own ground when confronted with the nonsense of religion.

If I'm not understanding the target audience please let me know. Because as far as I can see the Bible Movement has their talking points that I constantly get harassed with, and these videos are the atheist counter talking points for you to really stick it to them! Nothing more fun than proving a religious nut has poor logic! Or worse, this is just atheist ammo to harass me with.

Ah Christians... so full of love for everyone...

Ooh ohh! I thought of a good one:

I'll stop going to holiday parties when Christians stop using anything that has been produced by the scientific method! No cars, phones, medical attention, etc.!

Even trade I say!

I agree with Darkhand. Completely self-serving. Though this video doesn't have the kind of self-defeating ironic tone that many anti-religious videos do (as well as pro-religious ones), it still comes off as supremely holier than thou-ish. Its like what Simon Critchley said about liberalism and irony... dont remember the quote off-hand, but the point is that ironic negation of the other is an argumentative stance that refuses to acknowledge the complexity of any stance other than its own. As an atheist and a liberal, I always try to steer away from this kind of attitude in dealing with people who have different opinions. I try not to have that knowing laugh that aurorinthedesert has when she talks about Jesus' love, as if she is aware of something that we aren't.

Upvote for conversation!

To griefer-queafer's point, I'll once again say how much I miss Carl Sagan. He was such a voice of reason and yet so gentle and likable about it...

I figure the difference between Tyson and a Baptist preacher is one of them is lot closer to knowing the Truth.

NDT is so dreamy...