Buzz Hates Atheists

A guy name Buzz had his opinion about atheists published on CJonline, in a piece titled, "Letter: Rights for All Others". I wonder if he held anything back, or did he tell us how he really feels?

I'm not even atheist and I can see the bigotry in his words. I'm going to repeat some of his rant, but I'll switch the words "atheist" and "christian" so you can see how this sounds:

"What societal good have Christians ever done? Atheism is the only reason Christians even have the right to believe in God. It wasn't some native tribe's beads that gave Christians that right, because it was Atheists who established protections for minorities in this country."

In his letter, Buzz blames atheists for Hitler, Stalin, and several other nasty characters in history. It makes me wonder, does he also blame atheists for the Crusades, the Inquisition, Islam, Oil prices, the Titanic, and Mondays?

Buzz, is there anything bad that you DON'T blame on atheists?

For the record, I do see atheism as a type of religion (religiously anti-religious). And some atheists do go overboard sometimes when they are defending their beliefs against others. Some atheists are even as fanatical as some christian or muslim fanatics (like Pat Roberts, Louis Farrakhan, Phred Phelps, and Bin Laden).

However most atheists are good and simple people trying to survive and live their life as best as they can. Just like the vast majority of christians, jews, muslims, and even spiritual but non-religious people like me. They have their own beliefs and don't want to be harassed or treated unfairly because of their religion.

Hate-filled rants and religious bigotry have caused enough misery on our planet. And it started long before atheism was even thought of.

Sincerely,

Thomas Lessman
Website: http://www.thomaslessman.com/
Blog: http://www.talessman.blogspot.com/
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World History Maps
: http://www.worldhistorymaps.info/

World History Maps update

A few updates in my world history maps...

I've now got 39 world history maps online, from 1300 BC to 1500 AD. The website is http://www.worldhistorymaps.info/. The maps cover the "old world" (Eastern Hemisphere) during every 100 years and several key points in history.

How much of the world did Alexander the Great conquer compared to Ghengis Khan? What were the Germanic kingdoms that replaced the Western Roman Empire? How big was the Roman Empire during Jesus' lifetime? How much smaller was the Roman Empire during the Crusades?

There are many different kinds of history maps available online, but very few large scale maps (covering large parts of the world during specific dates.) There are many maps of the world in 1900 AD, but what about a map of the world in 900 AD? We have all read about the Egyptian Empire, but what other nations did the Egyptians trade or compete with? http://www.worldhistorymaps.info/.

The Eastern Hemisphere in 1300 BC,
during the height of the Egyptian Empire

It took me a lot of time and research to make these maps, especially because sources often conflict, and I make corrections when new information comes my way. The maps aren't perfect (show me ANY perfect history map!). But they are as accurate as possible and updated whenever new, verifiable information is available to me.

So check them out; they show a view of history that is valuable but rarely seen. It gives you a better understanding of history when you can see the BIGGER picture during any given year.

Thomas Lessman
. http://www.thomaslessman.com/
Blog: http://www.talessman.blogspot.com/

World History Maps:
http://www.worldhistorymaps.info/
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Islam vs. the West?

I'm about as close to an expert on world history as anyone can be without having a degree. My strongest point is Roman History, as well by Ancient and Medieval history of Europe and the Mid East.

The Moslem Turks conquered my favorite Empire, the 2206 year-old Roman Empire (in 1453 AD, 40 years before Columbus arrived in America!). So you can imagine how irked I am that the Moslems destroyed one of history's greatest civilizations.

And I agree that one of our biggest security issues today is terrorism from Moslem extremists. (Though I think Illegal Immigration is a far more dangerous threat).

The thing is, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are different sects of the same religion. All three worship the same God; the only difference is that Jews don't believe the Messiah has come yet, Christians believe Jesus was the Messiah, and Moslems belive that Jesus was a Prophet, and that Mohammed was the final Prophet.

In any context historical or modern, Moslems are no more violent than Christians, Jews, Hindus, even Atheists. Because when it comes down to it, we're all equally human, no matter what God(s) we do or don't believe in.

The man who wrote "The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam" was on a local radio show here just a few days ago. First he said that Islam is a dangerous religion because it teaches its believers that infidels (non-Moslems) are only worthy of death. That's not true - Islam teaches that non-believers should be converted at every opportunity, but those who don't convert should be taxed. Seriously.

Then he started talking about how Moslems are bad because they behead or stone criminals to death. The irony here is that Christians were still doing much the same thing only a few decades ago - and some Christians still do.

It's tragic that several thousand innocent people were murdered by Moslem extremists in the WTC bombings. (Though I do believe parts of our own government had their hand in planning that tragedy). It's also tragic that several thousand innocent people have been murdered - some intentionally, some not - during our wars to get Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein.

I agree that we MUST stop the Moslem extremists, because of the fact that they are determined to destroy every one of us. But remember, not every Moslem is an extremist, just like not every Christian is a David Koresh or a "Reverend" Phred Phelps.

My point is that we'll never win this war through the commercialized Propaganda that the authors who wrote "The Truth About Mohammed" and "The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam" are trying to get rich off of.

While I agree that it's way overboard to threaten this guy with death, what did he expect? How many Christians would be pissed off if an Buddhist wrote a book called, "The Truth About Jesus"? If an Atheist spit in your face and called you a moron who wastes his faith on an invisible cloud being, wouldn't your first reaction be to want to kill him? When you spew false propaganda about a man's religion, isn't that much like spitting in his face and insulting his beliefs?

The only way we can win this war against terrorists is to eliminate the terrorists, NOT by killing innocent people or preaching hateful propaganda against the survivors. All that does is create even more extremists, which creates more terrorists.

Respectfully,
Thomas Lessman
. http://www.thomaslessman.com/
Email: talessman@yis.us
Blog: http://www.talessman.blogspot.com/

Merry CHRISTmas and Happy Holidays

This Christmas/Holiday season has been frought with arguments over political correctness. It seems a growing minority of people don't like the religious implications of celebrating a holiday that revolves around the birth of the man who founded the world's most popular religion...

I'm well known for my non-religiousness. To most people, religion is little more than a "my god can beat up your god" complex. People speak of the greater morality their religion preaches, then they throw that morality out the window when dealing with people of other religions.

Even though I'm non-religious, I know that Jesus was a real person, just like Mohammed and Buddah were real people. Taking the CHRIST out of CHRISTmas is every bit as silly as taking Martin Luther King Jr out of Martin Luther King Jr day. CHRISTmas is a celebration of Jesus' birthday. So what if he founded a religion? He was a great man who did many great things. I'd say that is good enough reason to celebrate his birthday, whether you follow his religion or not!

Christmas also isn't the ONLY holiday this season; there's also Hannukah, Kwanzaa, and the Winter Solstice celebration. If Christians want people to respect their beliefs and their holidays, they need to give others that same respect.

So, Merry CHRISTmas, Happy Holidays, and have a great new year!

Respectfully,

Thomas Lessman
. www.ThomasLessman.com
Email: talessman@yis.us