My Atheist Manifesto

I live a godless life, the life of a heathen. I am looked down upon, for I do no worship the divine. The religious view me as an immoral lunatic, someone not to be trusted. "How can you trust someone who does not believe in divine providence?" they say, "For he surely does not have any sense of morality, nor can he appreciate the gift of life". I say, "Fuck your 'god', your 'beautiful' religion and most of all, fuck you, you judgmental fuck". This is my atheist manifesto.

I am an atheist. I am human, no different than you, your father, or that little boy, who had your "holy spirit" repeatedly forced up his ass. I am not some lunatic, who, due to rejecting your beliefs, lives an immoral life. I live my life as I see fit, not by how some omniscient, bloodthirsty, asshole of a god tells me to. A book written more than 2,000 years ago, by groups of nomadic, uneducated tribesman will not dictate my life.

I am bound to the morals set down by the society that I live in. These morals are almost universal, no matter what religion (or lack thereof) you practice. You say your ten commandments are the finest example of a set of morals ever to be written down? I say bullshit. Here is my atheist ten commandments, something everyone can agree on.

1: Treat others how you want to be treated.
2: Do no murder.
3: Do not steal.
4: Do not be greedy.
5: Respect your parents, elders, family etc.
6: Help the poor, sick and misplaced.
7: Do not lie.
8: Be a productive member of society.
9: Live your life trying to make this world a better place.
10: Live your life knowing you could die any second. 

I live my "immoral" life according to these simple rules. These are rules that do not need a god, do not need a religion, do not need some religious intermediary or god-king, and do not need to be written down in some holy book. Rules, which, no matter who you are or where you come form, ring true.

I am a man of acceptance. I accept everyone; for I do not believe in race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or religious preference. We are human. You are not a black, Ethiopian, gay animist. You are a human being. I will judge you based on you character; not the color of your skin, what 'hood your from, how many gods you worship, or how you like to get fucked.

I am spiritual. No, that does not equate to being religious. We are all spiritual, for life is a spiritual journey. We evolve over time as a human being; from a carefree child, to a rebellious teen, to an inquisitive young adult, to a caring parent, to a wise old man; that is our journey. Spirituality does not require religion. Viewing the majestic night sky, awestruck with its beauty; grieving over a dead loved one; bringing a child into this world; saving a persons life; those are spiritual experiences. Going to church every Sunday, sitting, standing, kneeling, doing group chants, "feeling the holy spirit", those are not spiritual experiences. That is wasting your time.

I do not hate you because you are religious. That is a common misconception about atheists. Some of my closest friends are Christians and my whole family is Mormon. I will not patronize you because you are a believer, even though that feeling is often never reciprocated. I won't actively engage you in religious conversations in hopes of destroying your faith. If you want to argue the merits of Christianity with me, let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

I am not a hateful person. I am angry because I am treated like an outcast for not believing in your Jewish zombie. You preach of tolerance and acceptance, yet, you are the first to retract your welcoming arms from those who are different from you. If someone is gay, you do not accept them. If someone had an abortion, you do not accept them. If someone was a pagan, you would not accept them. You judge us, just like how you think your god will judge you. Judge not, lest ye be judged. Ring a bell?

I live my life with reason. I do not need your mangod to bless my life. You may think Christ gives you strength. In reality, it is you. Your human resolve gives you strength. You act like a pathetic bitch begging for your god to change your life. Get off your ass for fuck's sake. Do you hear that? Of course you don't. God doesn't answer prayers.

I am a man of science. Though science is not infallible, the burden of proof is on you, the believer. I do not have to prove to you that the theory of gravitation works; conversely, you have to prove to me that Jesus defied that theory and ascended to Heaven after he was dead for three days. Science is fact, religion is fiction.

Being godless does not make me an immoral person. If a person lives in a high crime area, are they a criminal? Of course not. I am no more, nor am I any less, moral than you. If religion made one more moral, why have a vast majority of the bloodiest conflicts in human history been started by religious fanatics? Your logic is flawed.

I fear for the future of humanity. When countries, ruled by religious fanatics, have nuclear arsenals at their disposal, I have a hard time sleeping at night. The fact that a vast majority of people in the world view death as a glorious thing, being that thy will either live eternally, be greeted by virgins, reincarnated or whatever ridiculous thing you can think of, I have a very pessimistic view of our future. The only way for our species to survive is to colonize space, yet, we are willing to nuke each other over whether Kashmir is Hindu or Muslim. Insanity.

I stand for all that religion doesn't. Thought, science, reason, compassion, acceptance, desire, living life to the fullest, the list goes on. As an atheist, we are the living antithesis of religion. Don't be afraid of who you are, for they are the ones who should be ashamed. The mere fact that you are afraid telling others that you are an atheist/agnostic/humanist/naturalist speaks volumes about those who are unwilling to accept you.

I am an atheist and I am proud of it. Judge me. Cast the first stone. I dare you. I will not go quietly into the night. I will not sit down and watch you try to snuff out reason with fiction. I will not cool off, for you are unreasonable. I will never believe, for it is a lie. I will not stop, for the truth needs to be heard. You can damn me to hell. You can pray for my soul. You can pray for my death. I don't need your prayers, your gods, or your holy books. I am an atheist.