FrankChurch wrote:Ezra, can there be such a thing as an atheist Chaplin?
Yes as a matter of fact I think Charlie was an atheist.
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FrankChurch wrote:Ezra, can there be such a thing as an atheist Chaplin?
Ezra Lb. wrote:Yes as a matter of fact I think Charlie was an atheist.
For a while in my teens, I was sure I had it. It was about getting to heaven. If heaven existed and lasted forever, then a mere lifetime spent scrupulously following orders was a small investment for an infinite payoff. One day, though, I realized I was no longer a believer, and realizing that, I couldn’t go back. Not that I lost the urge to pray. Occasionally, even after I stopped believing, I might send off a quick memo to the Master of the Universe, usually on a matter needing urgent attention, like Oh, God, don’t let us crash. These were automatic expulsions of words, brief SOS messages from the base of my brain. They were similar to the short prayers that were admired by the church in my Catholic boyhood, which they called “ejaculations.” I always liked the idea that you could shorten your time in purgatory with each ejaculation; what boy wouldn’t find that a comforting idea? But my effort to keep the plane in the air by talking to God didn’t mean I suddenly was overcome with belief, only that I was scared. Whether I’d wake up in heaven someday or not, whatever meaning I found would have to occur first on this end of eternity.
I still don't like the word agnostic. It's too fancy. I'm simply not a believer. But, as simple as this notion is, it confuses some people. Someone wrote a Wikipedia entry about me, identifying me as an atheist because I'd said in a book I wrote that I wasn't a believer. I guess in a world uncomfortable with uncertainty, an unbeliever must be an atheist, and possibly an infidel. This gets us back to that most pressing of human questions: why do people worry so much about other people's holding beliefs other than their own?
FrankChurch wrote:Atheism is fake rebellion. Agnostics just seem not aggressive enough for them. This is a form of philosophical punk. Being an atheist makes you cool. Religious people are just stick in the muds.
Dorothy Day certainly was rebellious.
Ben W. wrote:Ezra Lb. wrote:Yes as a matter of fact I think Charlie was an atheist.
Wrong. From My Father, Charlie Chaplin:
"I’m not an atheist. I’m definitely an agnostic. Some scientists say that if the world were to stop revolving we’d all disintegrate. But the world keeps on going. Something must be holding us all in place–some Supreme Force. But what it is I couldn’t tell you."
FrankChurch wrote:What if God gave man the ability to be doctors?
He did provide all those convenient meds.
FrankChurch wrote:What if God gave man the ability to be doctors?
He did provide all those convenient meds.
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