WHY I SPEAK OUT AGAINST RELIGION

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As I have always maintained, I do not care if believers worship a blue-eyed blonde semi-naked Jew nailed to a cross, a bearded dessert dwelling prophet, a fat cow, a golden snake or a thunder God. As long as they do not force their beliefs down my throat, teach it to children as FACTS in public schools, preach it to me in public space or seek to make their religion my state law, I do not care. However, when they do any of these, of course they are going to have their religion put under intellectual scrutiny and if found wanting, it shall be exposed and If funny, it shall be ridiculed. When people preach to me about a talking snake, talking donkey and a Noah’s ark, I reserve every right to ridicule such funny tales and be indignant that anyone should be allowed to teach such absurdities as facts in public schools.

Anyone is free to believe in a cow, snake, a blue-eyed blonde who turned into a Zombie, a long bearded paedophile prophet or a golden snake; it is none of my business so far they keep their beliefs to themselves.

However, it immediately becomes my business when I am forced to adhere to and pay for some ridiculous beliefs of others. I pay my tax as a dutiful citizen, yet those religious establishments are exempted from paying tax, they are sponsored on some ridiculous pilgrimages with taxpayers’ money! This is not even enough for them, as they are always trying to influence state policies and Laws based on their ludicrous beliefs, they even attempt to stop scientific progress especially in the area of Stem cell research all because of their religious belief in the existence of a soul!
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I am often bombarded with protest messages on my Facebook wall and social media inbox about my anti-religion posts, I am using this post to answer 10 questions that keep popping up, and clarify why I speak out against religion. Now, I have a handy link for the next aggrieved person. Problem solved! [Read more…]

The cancer called Religion!

547752_422632627783136_13988685_nThere is a cancer in town; it is not a new disease, in fact, it has been around ever since humans started creating Gods. It has always been dangerous; however, with inducements and profits to be made, it gets more dangerous! Its most potent strategy of invasion is through indoctrination.

Infected persons indoctrinate children; they are also commanded to infect others. People who are not infected or already cured can still be affected by this cancer as the actions of infected persons have consequences on the lives of the uninfected. [Read more…]

Why “Thank God I survived” or “God knows best” is a terrible thing to say in the aftermath of a fatal disaster.

The aftermath of a tragedy always see many people praising ‘God’ for how they managed to escape and survive the tragedy. From natural disasters like the fatal earthquake in Haiti, Tsunami in Japan, Tornadoes in Oklahoma to the very avoidable road accidents and man-made plane crashes in Nigeria, many always come up with the “Thank God I survived” and “God knows best” supplication.307120_290237154324821_100000156154826_1443765_1849047904_n

Truly—Thank God? Really… God knows best?

Do people ever pause to really comprehend how selfish and distasteful this statement is? There you are, staring at the burnt remains of humans from a fire accident, grossly twisted bodies of innocent children from a car accident, pieces of charred human flesh scattered at a bomb blast scene or your neighbor’s body, half buried under a pile of debris caused by a natural disaster and all you could say is, thank God it wasn’t you. Really?

Yes, you might be glad that you are not one of the burnt persons, that your child is not the grossly twisted child who groaned and screamed in agony but should you not save your ‘Thank God’ supplications for the privacy of your room when only you and your ‘God’ is present?

How do you think it seems to the family of those bereaved when for example:- [Read more…]

Is the Atheist+ label really confusing?

Would people object to an atheist group showing up at Pride with a banner “Atheist for LGBSDC14859T rights”? Would this confuse onlookers and make them assume that all atheists are for LGBT rights? I was at the 2012 World Pride in London and right behind my group, Nigerian LGBTIs in diaspora, was another group with the banner “Lawyers for Equal Marriage”. I am a lawyer and I also happen to know many lawyers who are against equality rights for same-sex couples. Should the anti-LGBT equality lawyers protest the use of the name ‘Lawyers’ in such context?  Well, that would be silly!

 Just like Lawyers, Socialists and Humanists, I can also use my Atheist self-identity to complement other causes I identify with. No other atheists get to tell me, “Hey do not add ‘plus’ to Atheism, you are redefining it”. I am not redefining it; I am only using what I already am to promote other causes I believe in. [Read more…]

What are Anti-Atheists+ afraid of?

I do not know what the hullabaloo is about Atheism+, why all the hate and tantrums? I understand that people fear change, people with power fear anything that would or could threaten their power base, and because atheists are people, they are not exempted from this fear of change.

 People who enjoy power hardly want their privileged positions questioned. They fight the change makers, they cast aspersion on the oppositions’ characters, they fight tooth and nail to discredit the change and this is mostly what the fight against Atheism+ is all about. The sad thing is, many of those fighting the Atheism+ concept would hardly agree that they fight because they are afraid of change, nope; they would hide under so many notions to justify their stance against atheism+.

 People love to have power over others; the ‘insignificant’ minorities are always the victims. Many so called progressives still use their residual patriarchal power, sometimes unconsciously, to lord it over others but they loathe it when they are confronted with this fact.

 Why am I in support of Atheism+? I am a black African woman who also identify as atheist, bisexual,391462_507881772571218_1254845999_n feminist, socialist and humanist.  Sometimes I join groups that promote all my identities or at least acknowledge some of the things I identify as and with. For example, I identify with Black feminists groups, African labour groups, Labor women organizations, LGBT Atheists, African bisexuals, Black Atheists groups, Working class Atheists, Secular humanists and female workers groups. When attached to my birth identity, these self-identity tags afford me the opportunity to understand at a glance, the demography of the groups.

 I am conscious that not every organization that I identify with, shares my values or all my identities, however when joining or identifying with a group, I consider it important that I network with groups and persons who do not only share a birth or self-identity with me but who also share core values.    [Read more…]

Why Am I An Atheist?

The million dollar question! I really get peeved when asked this question especially when it comes with that disbelieving look and exclamation. “You mean you really don’t believe there is a God?” This is sometimes followed by the incredulous “You insane or something? And not forgetting that very annoying question “What happened to make you lose faith in God?”

Why do believers assume something terrible must have happened for one to lose “faith” or not have faith at all? 

 Well, the terrible thing that happened was I actually read the bible, and the good news is, reading the bible and other ‘holy’ books turned me into an Atheist! [Read more…]