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Acoffeeism: Why God Matters to Atheists

Posted by on Apr 21, 2009 in Essays, Images, Original Artwork, Rants | 8 comments

As you can see below, I haven’t been posting much. I should also mention there has been a lot of web work as well that’s adding to that pile o’ stress. However, we got slightly more hopeful news in the case of my dad, but we’re still just waiting…

Teabaggin

Anyway, I love tea. I used to drink coffee for much of my life. I gave it up the first time when I was a production assistant (or PA) for Warner Bros (working on Nip/Tuck). After working in the 60 hour plus workweek standard (that mostly all television and movie productions seem to do), I began drinking more and more coffee until my already poor sleeping habits worsened. I felt addicted (physically) and I didn’t like it. So I stopped for about two weeks just to prove to myself I could do it. Eventually, I started drinking coffee again for a while, even though I abhorred the taste. Some people actually like it, but I had to add so much sugar & creamer that it became a very fattening drink as well. I also don’t like dairy products much (except for a few cheeses) so that made it increasingly difficult the less and less milk I used (I only used almond or soy milk now).

Eventually,  I moved to an overhead position that didn’t run me down consistently. In the interest of keeping that silly hot beverage habit in the morning, I switched to tea. I always liked tea but I never thought of it as a replacement for coffee. That is, until I tried it.

Why am I telling you all this? It brings up a point. Living in the US, I feel like a freak sometimes. As if not believing in god isn’t enough, right? ;)

What if I didn’t believe in coffee? That would be highly irrational; I see it all the freakin time! However, for the sake of this argument, let’s say I don’t like coffee or care to know much about it. Let’s say I’d prefer to go through my life without hearing about coffee this and coffee that. In a perfect universe (what ever that is exactly), I could drink tea without having to be inundated with coffee and its addicts.

Much like how atheists have to deal with the notion of god, I have to deal with coffee. When I was a PA, I got coffee a lot for producers and writers, but I drank it then so it didn’t occur to me like it would today. I’m sure I would have still have fetched it; hey,”It’s a living!”

My point is this. I see, hear about, and smell (ick) coffee frequently. Luckily my hubby doesn’t like it either (he never drank it, but he’s a Coca Cola guy). My parents and in-laws drink it, much like most everyone else I know. I cannot escape coffee if I wanted to. Not that I would want to anyway. It’s part of reality, which is important to face.

Which brings me back to the absence of god-belief. I’ve heard such thoughtless remarks as

If Atheists don’t believe in God then why are they always talking about him?

And

Even you Atheists cannot stop thinking about God, so he must be real.

This illogical leap is almost laughable. That because atheists discuss a non-existence or non-belief in a higher power, that surely must mean we believe in it deep down. Huh? Atheists talk about god because theists in our personal lives are actively trying to convert us. Or, at the very least, theists in politics are dictating policies based on their beliefs, while not being honest or clear on their agendas.

We don’t live in a perfect or an ideal world. We must accept reality. Atheists must accept that we do have to claim a negative, no matter how ridiculous we think it is. In a sense, we are playing by theist’s rules. But we are the underdogs here and sometimes you just gotta suck it up and take it, while still fighting for your rights.

No one can escape coffee and no one can escape god.

So we blog.

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  • http://ericbroze.com Eric

    Excellent post. This really forces the reader to look at god in a different light. :)

  • click

    BTW, you should try yerba mate, it’s more stimulating than tea.
    Cheers from a fellow coffe-hater :)

  • http://www.rationalitynow.com Dan Gilbert

    I stopped drinking coffee about a year ago, but as you said, it never goes away. Perfect analogy! :-)

  • http://www.thecoffeebump.com/ Coffee Bump

    I have to say that I have both disagree with you about coffee and the atheism argument, sorry to say. I do like tea from time to time though!

  • http://www.coffee-percolators.com/manufactures.html Coffee Freak

    That's what I used to think about Atheists, why do they keep talking or bothering about God, if they don't believe in God in the first place. They are in doubt, and will remain in doubt all their life. Poor beings. May God give them the courage to believe in the unseen and to stop doubting the Creator. It would be only when their heartbeats stop thumping and their souls depart their bodies they were so proud of all their life, will they realize everything about the only truth. Keep blogging mate, love to read your posts.:)

  • https://konaluna.com/index.php Hawaiian Coffee

    I still don't see the connection between coffee drinking and God, but I do believe that Americans aren't necessarily the pre-eminent coffee drinkers in the world. I mean Europeans LIVE on coffee. In fact, North America was a little slow in jumping on the coffee bandwagon.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/interhuss Rose

    Perhaps I misspoke in my metaphor. I never meant to imply Americans drink more coffee than anyone else. Please point that out so I can review and revise; I can't seem to find it.

    I also did not mean to give the impression that coffee has anything to do with god itself. That's why its a metaphor. The two are similar in that there is a parallel type of relationship I experience in America (I can't speak for any other country). Obviously, there is no connection between coffee and America otherwise.

  • Lola

    Lose the emoticons and you’ve got an excellent post. Or rather, as excellent as can be expected of a coffee-abhorring Philistine .