I support @SecularStudents’ #SSAWeek because I was once a lost, collegiate heathen

When I was in college, the Secular Student Alliance didn’t exist. If it did, I sure as hell didn’t know about it. I’d recently graduated from the Catlin Gabel School in Portland, Oregon, a private, non-sectarian K-12 school whose demographics were predominantly Jewish, then Christian, then Other. Because I was a deist in high school, I never felt left out, at least not in any religious/irreligious way. No one proselytized. No one made his religion an issue. In fact, religion barely, if ever, came up.

Things changed when I went to the politically liberal, liberal-arts Pitzer College in Claremont, California. I was losing my faith from the beginning of my time there, realizing I was an atheist the summer of my freshman year. Unfortunately, beyond the initial relief that such an experience brings, I found neither comfort nor solidarity on campus.

The fact is probably most people I knew at that time were also atheists, or in the very least didn’t care. But you wouldn’t have known it from the presence of groups like the Campus Crusade for Christ. I still clearly remember trotting off to the Gold Student Center for a veggie burger and hearing the circle-snging from upstairs. Sure, they had the right to gather and make merry, but I was irritated anyway. Why should the Crusaders have a place to go and not I?

I also clearly remember a less fortunate occasion in the dining hall. I was obnoxiously dressed in a sarape because I was still amid my Mexican-culture-co-opting phase. This girl dropped by my table, set a table tent in the middle, and went on her way. I’d been having a very bad day for reasons I don’t remember. With this bad day, I took a quick look at the table tent. It said some shit about Jesus and saving and who knows what else. In a burst of righteous indignation, I seized the table tent and tore it to pieces. I sighed with relief.

Then the girl returned.

Weeping, she quietly apologized, gathered the destroyed table-tent pieces, and ran away. Good one, Anton. Way to be a total fucking asshole.

But here’s the thing. Had there been a SSA on campus, an active SSA, I most likely would’ve let bygones be bygones, at least as far as table tent placement goes. Sure, I would’ve felt annoyed by the girl and her table tent, but I would’ve had a place to have taken my gripes. Or I would’ve had my own table tents to place!

I know. I could’ve found a secular group on-line. I could’ve formed my own. It never crossed my mind to do either. And for that, some poor table tent had to die.

Don’t let future Campus Crusade for Christ table tents suffer the same fate! Support the Secular Student Alliance!

Happy post-facto co-opted #Pagan fertility/spring festival day!

I had a tradition here at Atheist Asshole of writing some kind of snarky, mocking post on Easter Sunday about Easter Sunday. Sometimes it was about the history of beloved Easter traditions and how they’re all Pagan-based. Sometimes it was just a log (blog?) of what I’d done to celebrate. But at least it was something.

As is evident from the date of this post, I completely fucked it up this year. And I don’t even remember what I did on Easter, let alone whether it was specifically Easter-related. I do remember that I started Chuck Heston’s The Ten Commandments, but only got about a half hour in before the rest of the audience had already given up. Sorry, Chuck.

Yes, I know, watching even part of The Ten Commandments is Easter-related, but remember that in previous years, I’d usually gone out and done something. One year, it was a butt-load of mini-golf. Another year it was an actual Easter brunch.

The thing is, and this was brought up by A-News co-founder Lee Moore on his Facebook page, that even though we atheists lack a belief in gods, that doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy a good time, even one that was at one time based partially or entirely on made-up religious bullshit.

Here’s the thing about holidays. As you may well know, yes, the origin of the word is much more literally religious-based. Holy day. But as any speaker of modern English will tell you, the “holi-” of “holiday” doesn’t in any casual, vernacular reality have anything to do with “holy” as in “god.” It’s basically just a “let’s have a good time” thing.

I don’t know about other atheists, but for myself, any excuse to have a good time is generally all one needs to justify doing so. Thus, even though the holiday in question is both Christian- and Pagan-based, in most ways inextricably tied (in some people’s minds) with Christ, just as it was co-opted by the Christians to suit their needs, so, too, it can be co-opted to suit mine.

With that, happy post-Easter no matter how you celebrated or what significance it holds for you. And if you don’t like that people like me stole your holiday for rounds of mini-gold thereby completely ignoring and trivializing what you consider to be the “true” meaning of it, well, tough shit.

My Conversation with Summer M. and Tammy B.

This conversation started as either Summer or someone else posted something on Facebook about some church corruption involving political contributions or the like. I don’t recall why I felt compelled to speak up as the germ of the conversation almost completely escapes me, so it must not have made any real impact. No matter as the
conversation quickly turned. My text is in italics. Summer’s and Tammy’s are in bold. Comments are in plain.

Summer M. See it all the time here in America In different ways. Wrong priorities. God’s church is not a building it is His people.

Though I never brought this up with Summer, I find this idea interesting and perplexing. If God’s capital-C Church is His people, then why do so many of those people build so many churches? Why not just meet in parking lots or each other’s houses? I know that happens with things like Bible-study groups. I imagine one reason is space and a sound system for the pastors to preach, but couldn’t that be done in parks? Isn’t that what was done during the great 19th century revivals? It just seems a bit of a false sentiment the whole “people” part.

Summer M. The whole world is corrupt not just churches, take politicians for example… If politicians really cared about our country they would use all those funds they are good at raising to build the economy up instead of building themselves up with advertising. Imagine if Mitt Romney and Barack Obama chose to use the money they raise to help people. But that will never happen.

It really bothers me when people say shit like “politicians are corrupt.” To me, it’s the negative equivalent of saying “babies are cute.” Yes, your statement usually is true, so what’s your point?

Anton Hill This is no surprise. Churches, like governments and corporations, exist to perpetuate themselves. Not too different from organic life.

I wish I’d gone into more detail on this as I think it was actually a pretty good point, but I just let it sit there in its underdeveloped, no-examples-cited glory.

Anton Hill @Summer Political campaigns cost money. How are politicians supposed to get elected?

Summer M. Believe me if they gave their money to help people it would make the news everywhere, if they truly gave with their heart people would notice. I know I’d vote for them. Think about how drastic of a thing it would be. Instead of talking abou…

She didn’t say anything further that would knock your socks off.

Summer M. Yes I do live in a fairy tale of dreams haha lol

#Mithras, it’s your birthday! Happy birthday, #Mithras!

Mithras and Sol Invictus

Yes, it’s time for my sometimes-annual mockery of Christmas. The funny thing, though, is that I actually really like Christmas. No, I don’t do any of the Christ-based crap, but I do almost all of the Pagan-based crap. And in our family, it’s been tradition since I was 10 to read Chanukah-ish stories from an Isaac Bashevis Singer book, including the traditional reading of Chelm stories (pronounced with a hard “H”, not with a “cherry” “ch”). And no, we’re not Jewish. Why we read these stories is itself a long story.

The shitty part about the reading this year was that, unlike most previous years, we picked a previously unread story and it turned out to be a retelling of Lot. Holy shit, that’s some fucked up shit! I mean, seriously, I get that the people of Sodom aren’t the best, but for God to burn it to the ground?? And why today? Why not yesterday?? It’s not like an omniscient God didn’t know Sodom existed. Man, some of those Old Testament stories are such horseshit!

To you and yours, however you celebrate the winter season, deity-based or not, have a cheery one!

Mithras nekid

@MattGubser makes a funny on the #rapture!

I bumped into one of Matt’s quotes on Tumblr.

So I checked out the video it was taken from:

My fave quote:

“Technically, on the rapture, I made more people disappear than Jesus.”

–Matt Gubser

Keep up the great work, Matt!