I Am An Atheist
[i]"If you're a religious person, you might wanna pop out for about five minutes" -Tim Minchin[/i]
Warning: If you aren't familiar with Star Trek The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, the second paragraph of this may be lost on you. Also, Fix that. Now. Seriously. Go away, watch both of those shows in their entirety, then come back. Seriously. Go. Now. You didn't? OK. Fine. Be like that.
Religion is having faith without scientific proof or sufficient evidence. And that's OK. That's actually an important part of science itself. I like to use the example of Alfred Wegener. And before I say any more, I am fully aware I am giving a significant amount of people traumatic flashbacks to their physics class. Bear with me. So Alfred Wegener was the scientist who theorised that the continents on our planet move. The theory of continental drift. At the time, the scientific community didn't believe that Wegener was correct because he didn't have sufficient evidence to prove his theory. Now, many years later, with the use of more accurate instruments as well as the discovery of a mechanism that explains continental drift, we accept Wegener's theory as correct. This means that there was a substantial amount of time when what Wegener said was correct, but not accepted as true by the scientific community. Just because the scientific community doesn't accept something as true now, doesn't mean that it isn't true, or that it will never be accepted. So, all of you religious people out there: Do not fear. When humans have evolved over billions of years into Gods, you will be able to prove to me scientifically that God exists!
Speaking of evolving into Gods, that was one of my favourite things about Star Trek. The omnipotent character Q was very clear that humans would in the future evolve into being even more powerful than him. Essentially, Gods. In fact, those shows' treatment of religion I really liked. Especially in Deep Space Nine. It's made clear throughout the shows that the Federation, for the most part, isn't religious. So when the Starfleet crew of Deep Space Nine encounter the "Gods" of Bajor, their immediate reaction is to call them hyper advanced aliens. I love that! They never for one second assume they're real Gods. At the same time however, they have no ill will towards the people of Bajor and their religious nature, and they accept it. Yet again, Star Trek shows us how we should live and let live, like we, for the most part, don't in real life.
[i]"And if perchance I have offended, think but this and all is mended: We'd as well be 10 minutes back in time, for all the chance you'll change your mind." -Tim Minchin[/i]
Warning: If you aren't familiar with Star Trek The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, the second paragraph of this may be lost on you. Also, Fix that. Now. Seriously. Go away, watch both of those shows in their entirety, then come back. Seriously. Go. Now. You didn't? OK. Fine. Be like that.
Religion is having faith without scientific proof or sufficient evidence. And that's OK. That's actually an important part of science itself. I like to use the example of Alfred Wegener. And before I say any more, I am fully aware I am giving a significant amount of people traumatic flashbacks to their physics class. Bear with me. So Alfred Wegener was the scientist who theorised that the continents on our planet move. The theory of continental drift. At the time, the scientific community didn't believe that Wegener was correct because he didn't have sufficient evidence to prove his theory. Now, many years later, with the use of more accurate instruments as well as the discovery of a mechanism that explains continental drift, we accept Wegener's theory as correct. This means that there was a substantial amount of time when what Wegener said was correct, but not accepted as true by the scientific community. Just because the scientific community doesn't accept something as true now, doesn't mean that it isn't true, or that it will never be accepted. So, all of you religious people out there: Do not fear. When humans have evolved over billions of years into Gods, you will be able to prove to me scientifically that God exists!
Speaking of evolving into Gods, that was one of my favourite things about Star Trek. The omnipotent character Q was very clear that humans would in the future evolve into being even more powerful than him. Essentially, Gods. In fact, those shows' treatment of religion I really liked. Especially in Deep Space Nine. It's made clear throughout the shows that the Federation, for the most part, isn't religious. So when the Starfleet crew of Deep Space Nine encounter the "Gods" of Bajor, their immediate reaction is to call them hyper advanced aliens. I love that! They never for one second assume they're real Gods. At the same time however, they have no ill will towards the people of Bajor and their religious nature, and they accept it. Yet again, Star Trek shows us how we should live and let live, like we, for the most part, don't in real life.
[i]"And if perchance I have offended, think but this and all is mended: We'd as well be 10 minutes back in time, for all the chance you'll change your mind." -Tim Minchin[/i]
