Freedom from Atheists Foundation (FFAF)

The FFAF is a web page as well as a Facebook page.

This is the mission statement from the web page

MISSION STATEMENT:  The Freedom From Atheism Foundation (FFAF) has an international mission to provide awareness of and resistance to militant state atheism, support victims of intolerant and hostile atheists, defend and protect religious freedom, and educate people on the illogical nature of atheism using science, logic and reason. 

This is more than a bit amusing in modern times, being the 21st century. The militant state atheism they write so much about is the USSR and China. The League of Militant Atheists is what they point to the most. Here is the dirty little secret of religious persecution in the USSR. They wanted to get rid of religion because the State was the religion. They didn't want people believing in anything besides the State. It is a rather large oversimplification but it is true. So to say that the Soviets were atheists is true, but with a rather large caveat.

Who are these "victims" they defend? Are they the people trying to get the 10 commandments removed from courthouses? Or those making a fuss over Xmas display on state funded land? I do think things have gotten a little out of control, on both sides of this issue. But why do they need another defender? Can you guess how much the christian churches in the US alone are worth? The mormon church raises 7 billion dollars a year, and the catholic church… In the US it has a cumulative worth more than the top five corporation COMBINED! Besides financial, there is the political backing. I think they have all the defense it requires.

The FFAF is just a mouth piece outlet for some disgruntled hacks.

Atheists are what??

Bill Donohue of the Catholic League (more on this bunch later) is saying that "atheists are unhappy, die early and disproportionately insane."

This mouth piece is full of crap. There is no data what so ever to back this claim, none at all. He is talking like some sort of authority when he is just making noises.

In my personal experience, the non-believers I have known are not anything like what Donohue is talking about. That is not to say it is true for everyone. Religious or not what he describes I would bet fall evenly across both groups. But I have never known anyone who was unhappy, insane or kicked the bucket early because of non-belief! The other side of the coin is I have known a fair number of people who were devout who were miserable, waiting to be taken by the rapture and just not pleasant people to be around. This is a behavior that is fostered by religion, and that is a fact! These devoutly deluded poor people are going through the motions of living. But they go to church, give money and support the church, and that is all that matters to the church.

Another quote from Donohue, "[Atheists] believe that freedom is license to do whatever you want… They don’t want to be told anything, which is why they die prematurely, they’re unhappy. That’s why we have a disproportionate number of agnostics and atheists in the asylum. All of this is true."

What the F%$k is this? This is crap, as I wrote earlier there is zero statistics to back this up. But he doesn't need numbers or facts, his followers are apt to follow what people like Donohue say with very little to no question. They are called a flock for a very good reason, they are sheep. They follow and do as they are told, believe what they are told to believe and do not question. 

Bill Donohue is full of $&#@!

Here are some bits of information about him to put his words into perspective. 

in 2009 when the Ryan Report was released in Ireland on the sexual abuse by priests, here is what he had to say.

-He told Larry King that since most of the boys who were molested were over 12 years old it is not pedophilia but homosexual priests as the problem.

-Most of the accounts were from before 1970 when corporal punishment was common. So sexual abuse is corporal punishment by his standard?

-Since only a "small percentage" of priests were involved in sexual abuse of children making the claim that priests beat and raped children was wild and irresponsible, but he went on to say the accusations cheapened rape.

I would go on, but I think the point is made. He is schooled as a sociologist and he has a mission to deflect blame from the catholic church. You can go here and read more about this hack. 

But this is the month when christians ramp up the pouting, alleged persecution and how they are losing control. It is December, time of the Winter Solstice. It is NOT the month when Jesus was born! There is overwhelming proof that he was not born in December. But I digress.

Donohue is a shill, a hack, a rather large sphincter spouting the catholic propaganda. 

Even when there is overwhelming evidence pointing to truth, catholics are far to comfortable ignoring it. It is a sad state but the result of indoctrination and spiritual brainwashing. 

Why are atheists viewed negatively?

Before I continue I want to make a definition clear. Ignorant. It means not knowing something. For instance I am completely ignorant of how to write code for a computer. It doesn't make me stupid, it just means I don't know.

I think the main reason people have a negative idea about atheism is a basic human response to things they are not familiar with. Here is my best personal example of this. I was at a World War 2 event in Reading a few years ago and there was a rather sudden down pour of rain. Many people gathered under a pavilion. There was an older woman having trouble getting under a rope barrier, so I went out and helped her. I was wearing the shirt I got at the Reason Rally by the way. The front of the shirt is about the rally, but the back lists the groups that sponsored it, many atheist groups. So she is under the pavilion and thanking me and saying what a gentleman I am. But I turned around to make space for her to stand and she saw the back of the shirt. Her reaction was comical, you would have thought my shirt had a picture of hitler with "he had the right idea" written on it or something. She backed away from me like I was going to attack, bumping into people as she did. 

It is a sad state of affairs when people have this sort of reaction. I am not a big proponent of polls because there are too many ways to skew them, wording and how the data is collated being the two biggest. But polls regularly state that atheists are one of the least trusted groups. Why is that? How many atheists does the average person know, atheists who are open about it? Not many is my guess. There is a knee jerk reaction particularly among the religious people, and people from certain geographic locations in the country. Are they taught this? Is it discussed in churches or bible studies? 
I think it is simply a fear of the unknown and people perceived as being different. These very same people probably have other dislikes for other religions or cultures too. But it comes down to a belief that their religion makes them superior to others, even of others of different yet similar denominations. It is an argument of semantics really. But I believe it is a fair bit of ignorance. 

The woman I helped was so happy with me at first, so gracious when I was just another "good" person. In her mind people are probably just like her. But when she found out otherwise everything flipped. This is a bad thing. Nothing good comes from this sort of xenophobic reactions. Are there bad atheists, sure. Are there bad deeply religious people, sure. There are good and bad people everywhere. Those sorts of behaviors are spread across the whole spectrum of human society. Many people fear or distrust those who are different than themselves. They are raised thinking their religion, race or whatever is who they can trust, who they can rely on, that they are righteous. And the "others" that don't share their beliefs and have their own agendas are wrong and not to be trusted. I don't know the proper terms for this, but it is a very common human response. And it is a problem.

People think the past is so much better than today, people were better, life was better, whatever. That is a load of crap. 
Was society less violent 50 or 100 years ago? 
Was there a better standard of living? Were people healthier? 
No on all counts. 
What has changed is information. Back then news was more or less regional. Big stories might make it out of a region but most news did not. If you lived in Kansas, it is unlikely you would know about a triple murder in Florida unless it was picked up in your region or you knew someone in that region. Also news was on tv for 1-2 hours per day and newspapers were usually once a day sometimes two. But today news from all over the country is flooding in because it is 24/7. And they need news to fill those minutes. So it isn't that society has become more violent really, statistics say otherwise, it is that we hear about much more from around the country. We are certainly healthier and standard of living, that is relative. So the fondness for the past is a ruse. Every generation says it was better when they were younger. It is certainly different, and changing faster all the time. But it is a matter of perception. 

And perception is where I want to end this. Atheists are perceived by some as being evil, immoral or just bad people because they don't have god in their lives. Or my all time favorite, satanic. A rational thought shows this to be false, misleading and an attempt by the believer to shore up their own beliefs. If having non believers in the world is enough to shake their faith, it isn't the atheist that has the problem. There are more non judeo-chrisitans in the world, like Hindus. They live in a society much older than the west, and what about the eastern faiths like shinto and buddhism? By sheer numbers judeo-chrisitians are out numbered. Doesnt that say anything? And those populations are growing, and by all accounts christianity is shrinking.  
So I guess if everything is taken into account, privileged belief, ignorance of other and non belief, and xenophobia are a real problem. When people can stop dividing themselves along arbitrary lines like religion, race, sexual orientation or political affiliation the world will be a much better place. 

Was Jesus wrong?

Mega Churches

The mega church is capitalism and religion at their pinnacle!

The biggest is Lakewood church lead by Joel Osteen. There are 90 mega churches with over 10,000 attendees every week! These are making a very few people very wealthy! Osteen has never disclosed his charitable donations. He claims he doesn't draw a salary yet he lives in a $10.5 million dollar mansion. While it is "free" to go to Lakewood church, Osteen charges $15 to reserve a seat when he takes his show on the road. For better seating you are looking at 3 to 4 times that. Doesn't christianity preach specifically against the rich? Didn't Jesus have nothing but disdain for the wealthy, something about a camel and the eye of a needle?

It is hypocrisy, it is about self serving, self aggrandizing, greedy people. They, particularly Osteen, preach do as I do and you will be wealthy like me! This is christianity in the US today it seems like. With unemployment, real unemployment not the bullshit numbers reported on, well over 10% nationally, these mega churches are preying on the most vulnerable. They preach you can be wealthy too if you listen and follow what they preach. That is a load of crap! The only people getting rich are those associated with the churches!

Of the 90 largest mega churches, the average attendance is somewhere around 12,000 per week, which is over 1 million people (1,080,000). Now if each one of those people put just $2 into the collection plate or donate otherwise per week, that is $2.160 million dollars PER WEEK! Or over $112 million dollars per year. This is a very conservative calculation, if it is $5 per person that ups the donations to over $5 million per week!

Like the catholic church, these mega churches do not pay taxes as ordinary businesses do. But aside from that, they do not operate as a charitable organization. The operating expenses of these mega churches cannot be any more than a third of the money brought in. While these "churches" do have to report their expenditures to charity, I would bet it is far less than a quarter, probably closer to a tenth of income. So where does the money go?

The Lakewood Church reports income of $70 million per year.
Osteen says he does not draw a salary from the church.
Osteen lives in a 10 million dollar mansion.  The $260,000 tax bill is paid by Covenant Trust.
He claims he lives off profits of his books and is reported to have made $55 million, including advances on his books of up to $13 million.

Joel Osteen has said that a person should never feel guilty for being rich, as God views that as an insult. Instead, he should praise God for blessing him with the money.

Proverbs 11:28 Those who trust in their riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf.

James 2:6 But you have dishonoured the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you by might? and do not they draw you before the judgment seats? 

Luke 6:20-21 Then he looked up at his disciples and said "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God."

There are MANY quotes from the old testament regarding the wealthy. But some how Osteen and all the other mega church preachers seem to be above the word of their god. But that is the point isn't it, they are. They flourish, none of them have ever been struck down by their god. They can rewrite the words how ever they chose, like all christians they take the easy road and ignore the inconvenient. They are elites, they are better than those who they feed off of like parasites, they are the betters of the commoners. Right??

Fucking hypocrites!