Alright, kids! I’ve been seeing a few things on the old
Facebook news-feed that have been pissing me off, lately. As much as I’d like to
delete my profile and flip everyone the bird, I’m stuck. Unfortunately, being
an actor does require one to maintain a certain element of two-facedness. I’m
not even remotely famous enough yet to where I can get away with expressing too
much bile and hatred without being black-balled from the artistic community
altogether. That’s why I keep this blog. It’s separate from my FB profile
entirely, and so far it seems no one reads it. This obviously serves as a kind
of double-edged sword. I've no one to stroke my extremely needy ego, but I’m also
safe to spew off as much hate as may tickle my fancy without fear of
repercussion from any casting directors that might have their prying eyes on my
Facebook status and latest tweets. So, here’s goes.
As the title of this article suggests, I am indeed an
atheist. I've been one for some time. I won’t bore you with the tiny details.
Just suffice to say it works for me, and I’m happy with my discovery. As most
of you know an atheist essentially does not believe in the existence of a
supreme being, and more often than not it follows that said person does not
practice any kind of religion whatsoever. That’s not to say that I am not
indeed spiritual. I have a passion for my art, and all the ritualistic practices
that go with it.
Having said that, I’m not just ANY atheist. I’m my own Atheist. By that I mean I still
hold onto my principals. I’m polite, respectful, courteous, and I can coexist
with my religious neighbors. To me that is what a true atheist is. That is,
someone who truly realizes in the strictest sense that no religious stimuli
from any source can possibly affect them. Why? Because it’s just fantasy,
that’s why.
In other words, just because you are atheist doesn't mean
you have to get in the faces of god fearing people and tell them they need to
get a fucking life or blow it out their ass. Atheists don’t need to bellyache
and whine about the Ten Commandments being displayed in a courthouse. Atheists
don’t need to constantly shoot their damn mouths off about war memorials that
feature Stars of David, and Crucifixes. It doesn’t affect us. No atheist with
any common sense is going to waste their time starting a campaign to have large
crosses removed from freeway hillsides because it “infringes upon their own civil
liberties,” and makes them feel “uncomfortable.” Again, crosses don’t affect
us. It's just an object.
Constantly second-guessing other people who have developed a
long standing belief-system based on upbringing, or years of personal
experience is not being an atheist. That’s just being an ASSHOLE! Plain and
simple. You have atheism, and then you have ASSHOLISM. Unfortunately, most
celebrity atheists fall into this latter lunatic fringe of the atheist
community.
Listen, if you are a school teacher that also happens to be
an atheist, then you are at an advantage. Good for you. Your job should be
easier. You are not allowed to talk about god at work, and that’s fine, because
you would never want to anyway.
However, you do not have the right to walk up to students
who are giving a prayer of thanks over their lunch in the cafeteria and say to
them “Hey, quit that. This is a public school.” You can’t do that. If a student
pulls out a tiny bible during reading period and begins to leaf through it you
cannot say to that student, “Put that away, I don’t wanna see it.” You are not
allowed to do that, either. It’s against the law, and it’s downright rude. That
student is protected by the first amendment. That is freedom of religion. You
may think, “Well, isn't that a double standard?” Nah, it’s not. I’ll explain
why. You are being paid to be there. They are not. The law requires that they
be there. No truant officers are going to come knocking on your door if you
someday decide to quit being a teacher. That’s your prerogative. Students don’t
have that option. They are there because the state says they have to be there.
Let them have their little alone time with their little comic book that’s got a
cross on the cover, and get on with your work. Once again, this does not affect
you.
If you hand out a writing assignment to your students asking
them to write about a “hero” in their lives, and an eight year old girl picks
Jesus Christ, more power to her. It’s not your place to grade her based on her
opinions and her religious beliefs. Separation of Church and State, remember?
That means you can’t discuss religion with the kids AT ALL, regardless of
whether it’s favorable, or NEGATIVE. If the kid writes about Jesus, then the
kid writes about Jesus. That is that. Here’s what you look for as a teacher.
You look for spelling errors. You check for good grammar, punctuation,
capitalization, and sentence structure. See if the narrative flows smoothly. Then
if there’s time you see if she put her name and the date in the top right hand
corner of the page. If that is said and done then you are good to go. You give
a decent grade and you move along to the next student. You don’t write in BIG
FUCKING RED LETTERS at the top of page “Don’t talk about Jesus.” You don’t
demean, humiliate, undervalue, and objectify a child like that. You just don’t
do it. If any teacher reading this does not share this view then that teacher
has no business being in a classroom. They have no business around children at
all for that matter. That is a cold, calculating, condescending, and
narrow-minded individual that would probably be much better suited to making
pretzels for a living. Pretzels don’t have feelings, unless of course you feel
like you are playing God when you make them. That might be different.
Anyway the point is that a true atheist should be just that.
An atheist and that’s it. It should only apply to you and you alone. Leave
everybody else the fuck out of it. Unless they ask you for an opinion, then by
all means open your trap and fire away. That’s my system. Assholism is an entirely
different thing. It’s when not only do you not believe a God exists, but you
hate the concept of worshiping a God SO much that you hate everybody who does
worship God. Not only are you an atheist, but you spend your every waking
moment trying to turn everyone else into an atheist also. You are combative,
arrogant, and egotistical. You are insulting. You are vicious to people. You
make veiled threats. In behaving that way you have become your own worst enemy.
You are demonstrating all of the worst qualities of the very kinds of people
you are fighting against. It’s like saying “keep that religion shit out of my
face. Now, you better not believe in ANY of that mumbo jumbo on MY watch or
I’ll burn you at the stake. Here’s a copy of National Geographic. There’s an
article in there about evolution. READ THAT INSTEAD, OR I’LL BOX YOUR EARS.” You
are now the shining and glowing example of everything that is wrong with
organized religion. Congratulations! Want a statue? Here’s an Academy Award.
That should suffice.
Alls I’m saying is try to honor the very essence of why
atheists exist. We beg, and we plead the nut-balls that pound on our doors and
shove copies of Watch Tower in our hands at the bus stops each day to please keep
it to themselves. Why should we sink to their standards?
What makes us any better? Just be courteous. If you’re like
me, and you don’t believe there is a God, good for you, but unless you’re
provoked, keep it to yourself.
