“A littlle advice to young Atheists—”
Hopefully not spelling advice.
“A young man who wishes to remain a sound Atheist cannot be too careful of his reading. There are traps everywhere. Bibles laid open, millions of surprises, fine nets and stratagems.”
I read the Bible. It’s a large part of WHY i’m atheist.
“God is, in a way, very unscrupulous.”
Murdering 42 kids for taunting a prophet, yeah, he’s a dick.
“You may argue against God, but answer me this: if the universe seems so cruel and unjust, how did you get this idea of just and unjust?”
You know, in our worldview, all the moral guidance in the bible was invented by men, right? So, humans can make moral systems, no biggie.
“A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line.”
Yes. Geometry is a human invention.
“What are you comparing this universe with when you call it unjust?”
Human concepts of justice.
“You will never know how much you believe something until it is a matter of life and death.”
This is true. There are atheists in foxholes.
I’ve been convinced the ship was going to sink and we were all going to die, and did not pray to any gods.
“If you think of this world as a place intended”
I don’t think of life on this planet, or the planet, as ‘intended.’
“simply for our happiness, and intellectual freedom you find it quite intolerable:”
Speak for yourself, wimp.
I’m not going to believe in a superstition just because it’s prettier than reality.
“think of it as a place of training and correction and it’s not so bad.”
Meh. Then i have to believe that someone intentionally uses suffering to achieve his goodest goals.