AUSTRALIAN atheists have gone on the offensive following the latest attempt by Cardinal George Pell, Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, to demonise the growing number of Australians who live without religion.
Cardinal Pell looks on as Pope Ratzinger trips the light fantastic
Speaking at a Mass celebrating the appointment of General Peter Cosgrove as Chancellor of the Australian Catholic University, Pell preached that atheists “are frightened by the future.”
He went on to say that:
It’s almost as though they’ve … nothing but fear to distract themselves from the fact that without God the universe has no objective purpose or meaning. Nothing beyond the constructs they confect to cover the abyss.
In a statement issued by The Atheist Foundation of Australia Inc, David Nicholls said:
Once again, Pell’s comments fly in the face of all evidence. In truth, atheists live their lives with an integrity and intellectual rigour that Pell and his Church can only dream of.
Far from seeking to cover the abyss, the atheist looks a hostile universe full in its face without recourse to the emotional security blanket of religion and the supernatural. Unlike Pell’s Church (which has become a byword for superstition and resistance to scientific thinking) the atheist sees the world on its own terms, without the rose-tinted glasses of the promise of an afterlife.
He added:
Not content with mischaracterising atheism as weak and fearful, Pell went on to make the extraordinary proposition that ‘Australian society will become increasingly coarse and uncaring … if Christian principles are excluded from public discussion’.
Nicholls pointed out:
To state that without the supervision of the Church the Australian people would turn to delinquency is frankly insulting. Millions of atheists and agnostics around the world live their lives ethically and with integrity.
Perhaps what Pell finds so threatening is that they do so according to principles drawn from their own reason and experience, not from slavish obedience to the adulterated writings of ancient and ignorant tent-living goat herders.
Moreover, given the damage that ‘Christian principles’ have inflicted (Northern Ireland and the former Yugoslavia to name two recent examples), surely the days of Catholics claiming moral superiority should be over.
The Freethinker was founded in 1881 by GW Foote, an outspoken critic of religion. After the publication of 
November 29th, 2010 at 6:18 pm
Nice response from Mr Nicholls.
That’s a verbal smack round the chops if I ever saw one.
November 29th, 2010 at 6:29 pm
The more they howl, the more they fear. The fact that they increasingly mention atheism as a threat confirms its growing presence around the world. Hitchins hammers Blair in Canada; the USA churches, even the fundies, are losing congregations amongst the under 30′s at an accelerating speed (one reason being they tend to be college educated and know more than the pastor), atheist books are known, read and often best sellers.
What has Pell got: a Pope who can only travel the world without being arrested because of an immunity granted by a Hitler loving fascist who was strung up by his own people, a church with a horrific record of abusing children, and protecting its paedo priests, an insisting on its poor and ignorant continuing to breed, starve and contract Aids in an already overcrowded planet and a lack of recruits to its priesthood that demonstrates that RC young men are not so much voting with their feet as with their brains.
Howl way, Pell. You are a loser and there is no way back.
November 29th, 2010 at 6:49 pm
Why does this person think we “fear” the universe? I am in awe of it and find it wonderful, far better than any fairy tales these idiots peddle.
November 29th, 2010 at 6:54 pm
It is surprising how often I read a statement by a religious leader and think, ‘that isn’t just untrue, it’s the exact opposite of true’ and here is another example. A God believer accusing atheists of making stuff up because they are afraid to face the universe as it is seems bizarre, this is precisely what religious people do and what atheists don’t do. Is he projecting in some way? I really don’t get it.
November 29th, 2010 at 7:20 pm
… the fact that without God the universe has no objective purpose or meaning.
Pell shoots himself in the foot by indirectly suggesting that people should believe because of the utility and comfort it provides, that is, for the “objective purpose or meaning” that he believes it gives people, instead of suggesting that we believe because he believes it is true and that there is evidence for it. To believe for for utility rather than for evidence would be insincere, which we are not and contributes to why we are non-believers. Of course he must appeal to utility rather than evidence because there is no evidence to appeal to. He also indirectly admits through this that it is the believers that are the fearful ones since they believe not because there is evidence to support it, but because it comforts them to feel that there is some “objective purpose or meaning.” It is they who fear the LACK of an “objective purpose or meaning.” We demonstrate our integrity though our action of accepting that purpose and meaning are subjective.
November 29th, 2010 at 7:27 pm
It’s all about money and control….they lose parishioners they lose money….it’s the business of religion and the desires of humans to be worshipped and admired. Who in their right mind would think they have to go to a building and listen to another human to speak or be heard by a “God”. Controlling by fear is the only way they know how. It’s a very sick institution and many are waking up and walking away from it.
November 29th, 2010 at 8:11 pm
@Graham Martin-Royle
I feel the same as you about the universe – awe. As I live “in the wilds” I am able to look at the stars most nights as they are not obscured by the lights of urban areas. You don’t need to know a lot of astronomy to be in awe of what you see. The numbers of stars in the galaxy; the number of galaxies; the look in a close up photo of the actual rocks on mars; the puzzle as to how much life there is out there; dark matter; black holes and so much else. Perhaps most intriguing that we are made from the stuff of stars.
To believe in the stuff of religion, the idea of a god similar to ourselves merely constrains and when you see his attitudes the entire thing is both petty and puny.
Of course there is mystery but it is magnificent mystery. Unlike the ignorant religious who know it all already.
November 29th, 2010 at 9:05 pm
Surely if anyone’s scared of the universe it’s the people who go running off to take comfort in thoughts of an afterlife where everything will be just like childhood: no worries, no fuss, just everlasting happiness, complete with a huge father figure to keep them safe.
November 29th, 2010 at 9:06 pm
Pope to Pell, “Can you tell what it is yet?”
November 29th, 2010 at 9:08 pm
Sorry, couldn’t resist…
November 29th, 2010 at 9:20 pm
Pope to Pell, “Damnit Smithers, I can’t fly without the Superman outfit!”
November 29th, 2010 at 9:32 pm
A perfect example of projection. Everything he accuses atheists of being, he and his church are guilty of.
November 29th, 2010 at 9:47 pm
Yes,Pell’s comments reveal much about his (and other believers’) attitudes,not those of atheists. Given the long barbarous history of religion and its followers their selective amnesia is amazing.
How, in the name of reason, can the Universe be ‘hostile’?
November 29th, 2010 at 11:04 pm
“Faithless are coarse, uncaring and without purpose, says Cardinal Pell” at http://www.smh.com.au/national.....18cg3.html
It is an astounding piece. Quite takes the breath away. For example: “A minority of people, usually people without religion, are frightened by the future.” Even if it were true – so what? Is being a minority significant? Is being without religion a key factor? Is being frightened by the future a sign of ignorance or knowledge?
“…without God the universe has no objective purpose or meaning” – I specially like this one. Given the ineffable nature of the Xian god, what exactly is the objective purpose or meaning of the universe? What, cat got your tongue, Pell?
November 29th, 2010 at 11:15 pm
Well, BDuke, your software SUCKS!!!! The last two times I’ve entered a comment, after entering the code, case sensitive, it was rejected and the back button opened a window that said page expired.
Last try.
I spent 45 minutes writing that comment, now it’s evaporated into the ether.
Short comment:
Freethinkers are NOT fearful. We are the most courageous thinkers on the planet. We have rejected the hollow promises of life after death, sold by fakers, vicars, priests, and witch doctors. We have embraced our mortality, and while like every other animal, we have a survival instinct, we have used our logic. Therefore, we have freed ourselves from political slavery to organized religion.
NeoWolfe
November 29th, 2010 at 11:16 pm
I’d say a majority of people are frightened by the future. People are constantly worrying about the future, it’s a pretty mainstream thing to do. And in the glorious 50s when men were men and black men were nothing and women were stuck in the kitchen barefoot and pregnant… everyone was scared shitless about the future because they thought they would get nuked at any moment. And this was the time when there was a much higher proportion of faithful people milling about. And atheists aren’t the ones stocking the basement full of dried food for the coming tribulation.
November 29th, 2010 at 11:30 pm
@Broga,
My favourite hobby is photography. Whilst I am not very good (I know the technical aspects, but do not have a natural ‘eye’ for composition) I can appreciate the increadible beauty in the most banal of subjects. When I go out to spend a day taking photographs I always get a sense of awe, whether it be a waterfall or sunset. This planet is, without a doubt, stunning.
November 30th, 2010 at 8:49 am
@sun. “It’s all about money and control….”
… plus immunity to criticism – the main reason nothing was done about the rapist-priests was centuries of ‘getting away with anything and everything’.
a rant:
There was a time they could break peoples legs so that they couldn’t run away while the priests burnt them alive, and nobody dared to say “but what did they actually do that was so wrong?”
An old lady “interfering in god’s punishment” by giving a women in childbirth some form of pain-relief could more or less depend on getting tortured and killed.
Now they are the one’s being criticised – if not tortured (now there is a thought) for having a little fun with an alter boy – it is not adultery and there are no females involved, so it cannot be a sin – what’s all the fuss about?
Surely it is understandable that they must hit back – as they see it at the perpetrators of their downfall – the atheists! Calling them liars no less (well we do!).
November 30th, 2010 at 9:20 am
@NeoWolfe I haven’t had any reason to write very long comments recently, however, when I did, I always drafted them on my word processor and, when satisfied, pasted the result into the comment box. This meant that if the line dropped or if I screwed up, I’d have a backup copy. I haven’t found the CAPTCHA code to be case sensitive. Old but worthy English saying, “No-one likes a smartarse”. Sorry. Will you still respect me in the morning?
November 30th, 2010 at 1:16 pm
“With increasing atheism australia will become a coarse place” Bawhahaha! This the country that gave the world Kevin “Bloody” Wilson! Laugh? I nearly shat at that one.
December 3rd, 2010 at 6:52 am
Archcardobishpriestly Pell rattles on like an old pianola. The man is an intellectual vacuum. I’ve got to laugh when he and his ilk are referred to as “Religious leaders”. That’s a bit like waving a red flag that states that the man is an idiot, a twit. A piece of unthinking, bigoted hateful flesh with absolutely nothing productive to add. May he keep opening his nasty little mouth oraface and continue to let people know that like his organisation, he’s a big steaming pile of horse sh*t.