Stats indicate there has been  a steady rise in the number of people  who have chosen  atheism in place of religion in most western countries This has made sense to me and to all those atheists, humanists, skeptics, who felt that reason, diplomatically presented, could prevail against the myths of the church.

But now I am beginning to wonder about this. The recent attempt in Texas to pass a law that will punish anyone caught masturbating—whether passed or not—suggests to me that we are losing the battle in the trenches. Here  we see  a blatant attempt to induce guilt and shame in young men that would enhance the church’s power to  demand  the tithe to save them from roasting in  hell.

Secondly, the stated purpose of this law is to ensure that the population level remains stable, and this, despite recent reports informing us  that 20 million people in 4 countries are now facing starvation as famine sweeps the land..

This proposed law  is so absurd  that it makes it clear  to me  that reason has failed so completely in its battle with  religion that we need to find a more effective approach  if we want to bring sanity to our world.

This and similar events  have finally convinced me that  reason is no match for implanted beliefs.

So from now on I will always reject biblical claims but let me be clear about this:  I do not intend to state that there is no such a thing as  a god.  I will not argue about this, there is nothing to argue about .If anyone askes me if I believe in this god myth I will simply say i am not interested in that  sort of stuff and I am suggesting we atheists will be  better off by just shrugging religion to one side, making it clear to them that we are really not interested..

I mean many centuries have passed without any measurable evidence to support this deity fantasy so what is there to talk about? . This may have been a legitimate topic in the seventeen century when evolution was still being questioned but not now.

All we are doing by arguing with believers is keeping their hopes alive by debating them as if they have a legitimate point that needs further examination. It’s time to tell them that, sorry, your claim makes no sense at all—come back with measurable, empirical evidence and we will talk .. In the meantime, “ which(say)  political party do you prefer?”

So, I suggest we all treat this question of whether such a thing as a god exists or not  as one of no real interest to us. I think this would be a much more productive approach than arguing endlessly about whether such a thing as a god exists or not.—

Goodbye Michael Shermer, Hello Richard Dawkins

It was Nietzche who told us God was dead, but he

would be laughing in his grave if he knew

how many are still heaving over the corpse,

frantically trying to revive it.”

Andy Mulcahy

(don’t be silly asses, take off the holy glasses)