J.D. Brucker - Reason Over Faith: Antitheism & the Case Against Religion

ANTITHEISM & THE CASE AGAINST RELIGION

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FOREWORD BY JOEY LEE KIRKMAN

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Smashwords Edition

Copyright J. D. Brucker 2015

First Edition; Published by Atheist Republic

All rights reserved. No part of this publication maybe re-produced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, ortransmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical,photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior writtenpermission of the publisher.

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This book is dedicated to those who stand against allthat is wicked in this world.

Many people do simply awful things out of sincerereligious beliefthey believe that this is what God wants them todo, going all the way back to Abraham being willing to sacrificeIsaac because God told him to do that. Putting God ahead ofhumanity is a terrible thing.

Steven Weinberg

Firstly, Id like to thank Joey Lee Kirkman foragreeing to write the forward. Hes a tremendously talented man whoIm proud to consider a dear friend. He tirelessly fights for therights of others, who may not have the voice to speak out againstthe horrors of religious faith. Following his motto, we mustbully the bullies if we want to make any progress. They mustbe well aware of our presence, to the point that we cannot beignored. Joey is one of those people who the religious will fear,the freed will respect, and the fence-riders will listen to. Thankyou again, my dear friend.

Id like to thank my wife, who has supported methroughout my writing career. She has been terrifically supportiveand I couldnt ask for a better life-partner. Shes endured myendless tirades and late nights of writing, allowing me to finishthis work in entirety. Thank you so much, my love.

Id like to thank Dan Arel, Matthew ONeil, andJoshua Kelly for the continued support throughout my journey. Youthree are wonderfully talented individuals and I look forward toseeing what the future holds for each of you. Thanks, myfriends.

Id like to thank Casper Rigsby, Armin Navabi,Michael Leamy, and the rest of the Atheist Republic team for theundying support. You all epitomize what this movement needs:passion, focus, and love. Keep up the wonderful work, ladies andgentlemen.

Lastly, Id like to thank the skeptic and atheistcommunity, for without all of your efforts, I wouldnt be writingthis today. We all draw inspiration from one another, essentiallyplanting the seeds of acceptance throughout societies worldwide. Wemust continue to work diligently if we wish to see those seedssprout. I love you all, and keep fighting the good fight.

By Joey Lee Kirkman

There couldn't be a more relevant time than rightnow for Reason over Faith: Antitheism and the Case againstReligion. As more and more of the world's population connectvia the internet, more specifically social media, it is importantthat the people with an ability to reason have access to credibleinformation. Imagine what our society would resemble if the averageperson solved problems reasoning from empirical evidence as opposedto emotion or hand-me-down beliefs. Even worse, reasoning from socalled 'holy books' that are left open to interpretation byscholars, laymen, and sociopaths alike. Our political landscape issupposed to reflect who we are as a society. If we reason throughissues before final decision-making, so follows our legislators andculture.

Why is reasoning necessary? In the context ofthis book, reasoning is to think. It is also an attempt tounderstand and ultimately form judgments by a process of usinglogic and accepting empirical evidence as a starting point.However, reasoning alone isn't enough. A person must make aconscious effort to be intellectually honest while contemplatingissues in order to understand and learn. If something one thoughtwere true, turns out to be false based on enough new evidence, areasonable person would and should yield.

Why does reason trump faith? When there arethousands of denominations just within the Christian religion, eachone claiming an ear to God, does it then stand to 'reason' that thediffering sects are just making it up as they go along? Are thefollowers of the denomination really thinking things through?Alternatively, are they just that - followers? Is this really agood way to operate your own life? It certainly is not the best wayto govern.

One denomination sees nothing in thescriptures that says we should shut the LGBTQI community out of thebenefits of marriage. While another denomination reads scripture tosay, it's righteous and/or a duty to stone them! Moreover, thereare gradations along the continuum. There are Christiandenominations that believe the LGBTQI community should settle forCivil Unions. Sorry, that is not equality. Furthermore, how didthese religious groups obtain the power to vote on the rights of aminority in the first place?

If America legislated using reason overfaith, the marriage equality debate would not even be an issue. Infact, it likely would not exist at all. These nasty ideas do notcome about because a group of atheists decided one day it would bea great idea if we excluded people from their constitutionalrights. These evil ideas came from one place, the Christian 'holybook'.

In summary, thousands of denominations existwithin the Christian religion because so many people cannot agreeon interpretations of the same manual. Therefore, it stands toreason that these differences wreak havoc on our political system.They are attempting to reason from emotion, and contradictory textand their personal ideology often won't allow compromise. Inpolitics, this creates an extreme atmosphere of gridlock that canlast decades. Imagine the work we could accomplish withoutreligious dogma in politics! This brings us to the subtitle of J.D.Brucker's book, Antitheism and the Case against Religion.

I am often asked, "Isn't antitheism just theextreme counterculture to religion?" Not so fast. The definition ofthe word is not that black and white. One can hate the color greenand find different shades of green pleasant. So first let's definethe term because antitheists approach antitheism in a variety ofways.

Many Christians and Christian politicians allover the world assert a direct opposition to Islam. If you are oneof them reading this, congratulations, you are an antitheist.Conversely, the same can be said about many Muslims and Muslimpoliticians worldwide that assert a direct opposition toChristianity or any other religion for that matter. With this inmind, on some level, it is safe to say that most adults areunknowingly antitheists.

Authors like J. D. Brucker and myself thatchoose to take the risk of labeling themselves an antitheist, oftentake a very nuanced approach. This impulse is almost alwaysmisunderstood. While we may view our Christian grandmother as avictim of religious indoctrination, we have no desire to picket herchurch or show up on her doorstep to persuade her towardsnonbelief.

Close to 100% of out-of-the-closetantitheists come from religious backgrounds. Is this a statisticone can fact check? I don't think so. Personally, I do accept thelabel 'antitheist' and every antitheist I've ever met came from areligious upbringing. We know how to differentiate between a sweetgrandmother using her religion as a comfort blanket, and a crazyfundamentalist uncle who uses his religion as a weapon. For examplethe vote to constitutionally ban gay marriage as mentionedearlier.