Reverend Me

So, I became a Minister last night. lol.

I am a minister of the First Church of Atheism, which is a "church" which basically allows people to become "ministers" so they can officiate weddings and funerals and such. Legally, in order for a marriage license to be valid, a minister or a judge needs to witness it. Unless you're friends with a judge, it's hard to find someone meaningful to officiate a wedding in a non-religious context. So, the First Church of Atheism allows people to become ministers legally.

Obviously, it's not supposed to be an actual church or congregation or anything. It's a way around legal discrimination that says weddings must be done by a judge or a minister. If you wanted a friend to officiate, they can go online to any website/church and get a ministers license for free. However, they're mostly Christian or non-denominational organizations that do that. The FCA does the same thing but for non-religious people.

I don't know if I'll ever officiate a wedding or anything, but it's generally $300 per service, so if I do, it'll just be extra income, and I get to make a positive non-religious difference in peoples lives. If you need a minister for anything, let me know!

A Minor Pet Peeve

Something that really annoys me are religious people who believe that God intervenes all the time, and that prayers work. Prayers (at least according to my beliefs and you are encouraged to think and believe for yourself) are just well wishes. Wishes don't come true. People make them come true.

"I found my phone! Thanks for your prayers! God's will and love is so great!"

Um, you found your phone because you looked for it. If God did exist, why would God care about your damn phone? If you really think that God helped you find your phone, you damn well better start using your phone for more than sending texts to your friends.

Some things have a legitimate air of mystery that could be Gods presence, if God does exist, such as untreated cancer disappearing or... well, that's all I can think of.

If you narrowly avoided an accident, why were you almost in an accident in the first place if God wanted you to survive it? If it's a test, why would God intervene on your behalf during a test?

I don't get it. You narrowly avoided an accident because you swerved at the right moment, and/or coincidence.

Now, I'm not saying don't pray for people if they don't work. I certainly keep people in mind if I know they're going through a hard time, but I am not so disillusioned to think that my positive thoughts in any way affect their situations (unless I think about it so much that I do something to help them).

Anyway, this is something I've been wanting to say for years, but posting a snarky skeptic response to someone's Facebook status is not the place to say it, so I'm saying it on my soapbox.