How Atheists Deal With God

Anne Rice was a fake-theist.

A lot of people who call themselves atheists are not really atheists. They're people who had something horrible happen in their life. They think of God as a parental figure. And now they're mad at that parent for letting the bad thing happen. So, like a 4-year-old, they throw a tantrum and say, "Well, FINE, I won't believe in you anymore, so THERE!". Then they walk around and annoy the fuck out of REAL atheists because they tend to have giant fucking chips on their shoulders. Then they come crawling back to Jeebus's gentle arms, and talk a lot about how sad and stupid and pathetic atheism is.

Man, I hate those fucking people.

Edited at 2008-03-22 09:02 pm (UTC)

You crack me up. Yeah, I hear you. It feels weird to say it, but she probably wasn't a true non-believer. Or a true believer in non-belief?

I haven't delved too deeply into the ex-atheist conversion experience. My understanding of C.S. Lewis is that before and after his conversion, he had a pretty Anglo-centric paganism influencing his outlook, much to the chagrin of Tolkein, who tried to bring him to Catholicism. Which has its own paganisms, but hey, whatever! :-P

Edited at 2008-03-22 09:29 pm (UTC)

My understanding is that Anne Rice called herself a big ol' "atheist" after her kid died.

Damn it, I don't mean to be cranky, but I'm so sick of religious people who just CAN'T live and let live. Yes, you have a religion. Good for you! I'm glad it makes you happy! But my life is NOT "smaller" and "sadder" and "dimmer" than YOURS because I don't have any religion! ARGH!

Shit, popped a brain-vein. Oops! >_o

LOL. It does crack me up - most of the people I know who were raised Catholic are now:

Atheists/agnostics
Pagans
Shamans

Maybe Anne Rice's re-conversion caused Katrina.

But I kid, I kid.

My dad went through the same process you did, only through the progressive incapacitation of my mother through multiple sclerosis.

She was the faithful one; often fanatic in her going to weird Charismatic Catholic services while my dad and I watched football on Monday nights - and she was the one who was stricken and tortured by "God".

As a result, my dad is anti-theist; he thinks the Vatican could feed every poor person in the world if they just sold their artwork and riches.

I have had *no* desire to go to Christianity. Christianity is just another wasteful expression of spirituality - if gods are so powerful, why is it important to "worship" them? They know full well you're kissing their ass, and won't listen to you - and what makes you such a special snowflake in their eyes anyway?

I'm more attracted to cultural and Conservative to Reform Judaism - it's a religion where people actively question and think through moral dilemmas.

Is it just me, or have there been an awful lot of people that, like Rice, made a bundle off porn only to embrace the mighty Jeebus when that pursuit turned stale and/or unprofitable.

Sometimes I meet some happy hedonist (and by that I mean somebody wayyyyy more skilled and focussed on hedonism than I've ever been or ever could be). The more Olympic-level they are at hedonism, the more likely it is that they came from some very, very religious and repressive background. I always find myself thinking of God as the ultimate repo man. Given time he'll eventually come back to claim them again.

Or am I the only one who's ever noticed this ?