All credit for this goes to the great Cuttlefish.
It’s time to raise our voice in prayer,
And pray to–well, there’s no one there.
No god to urge to do our bidding;
Go on and pray–just know you’re kidding.
It’s time to all sit on our asses,
And pray forgiveness for trespasses
(Or is that to forgive our debtor?
Who cares, as long as we feel better.)
It’s time we all embrace god fully,
Feel all righteous, good, and holy–
Or be some atheistic jerk,
Roll up your god-damned sleeves, and work!
It’s time to say “I do not care
To join you in this day of prayer.”
Sure, a day off looks like fun,
But there is work that must be done.
Our problems will not fix themselves
There is no god to send in elves
To do the work of human ranks
So… join, today, in prayer? No thanks.
Also be sure to check out the National Day of Reason.
Starbix
“Don’t Panic.” -Douglas Adams
Tags: Atheism, Cuttlefish, National Day of Prayer, National Day of Reason, Poetry, Prayer, Reason
May 1, 2008 at 3:10 pm |
I almost became an athiest at one point in my life, but I just don’t have that much faith.
May 1, 2008 at 3:28 pm |
Tell me why you think an atheist needs faith.
May 1, 2008 at 8:14 pm |
My career has been in applied science, my degree is in science and my love is biology with chemistry and physics being slightly less loved. All that stuff comes from something. It must be from God. It takes more faith to believe all that came from random mutations rather than a Divine Creator.
Just as an example: the human body needs tens of thousands of proteins to function fully. These proteins have a three dimensional shape that is dependant on a string of amino acids in a very specific order which are able to fold up to effect change in the human body. These proteins don’t fold up on their own after DNA pumps out RNA which strings the amino acids together. After the amino acid chains are assembled they go into another protein that gives it its conformation.
If you have enough faith that all that could happen by accident in a series of random mutations, then brother, you a blessed with more faith than I think I will ever be capable of.
May 1, 2008 at 8:33 pm |
“All that stuff comes from something. It must be from _____”
Let us suppose that it cannot be “by accident in a series of random mutations”, and ignore your ignorance of natural selection. Let’s just give that one to you. How does it take less faith to go all the way to “God” than to “I don’t know”?
You are quite wrong; I suspect you know that. Your excuse here is just that–an excuse. You believe in God, but have no logical reason for that. Rather than accepting that it is an act of faith, you are attempting to shift the “faith” to those who don’t share your belief. You have seen the power science has to explain; unless you shift this burden, there will be less and less mystery for god to explain. But your argument, at base, is nothing more than an argument from ignorance, and a bad one at that. What happens when the protein folding is explained, as so many previous impossibilities have been? Where does god go then?
No, it takes more faith to believe in a god than not to. It particularly takes more faith to believe in a steadily shrinking god, and to study applied science and think that this god is responsible for all the parts you don’t understand. Must be difficult, knowing that every new thing you learn makes your god a little smaller. Must take a particularly strained kind of faith.
Certainly more than I have.
May 1, 2008 at 8:57 pm |
Cuttlefish,
You seem to think science and God are at odds with each other, but thtey are not. Actually, I am not at all ignorant. Actually I have a stronger intellect than most educated Americans (and the test scores to prove it). I am quite aware of the theory of natural selection, but it is not feasable.
God in no way shrinks with further discoveries in science, He grows. How do you reconcile Newton’s Laws with entropy without the intervening hand of God?
May 3, 2008 at 7:07 pm |
Joel–
Why, then, do you say it takes faith to be an atheist?
God only shrinks with further discoveries in science if one uses an argument from ignorance to shore up one’s faith… as you have. Your ignorance of natural selection and your ignorance of entropy (I do understand–please explain why you think a god is required to “reconcile Newton’s Laws”, and I would be happy to correct you) are not evidence of a god, I agree. Why, then, do you use them as one? Your “if you have enough faith…” sentence makes that argument; do you wish to retract that silly statement? Or do you wish to admit that you are the one making the claim that science and a given view of a god are at odds with one another.
And yes, Joel, you are ignorant. We all are, of some things; there is no shame in ignorance. You may well have a strong intellect… but you are not demonstrating it here.
DC
Oh… just for fun… how is it that you can jump from Newton to God, when as an alleged scientist you know it would be more parsimonious to jump to a non-omnipotent prankster? Assuming a judeochristian mythology, pray tell how it is that satan would not be capable of clouding your mind about Newton… Why on earth would you think that it would require a god? (see how difficult it is to apply science to nonsense?)
dc
August 13, 2009 at 5:15 am |
your poems is the best..