December 21, 2009
The Decade in Pictures "What a Wonderful World"
Anyone care to count how many of these pictures are about suffering through wars, floods, and the like? Link. Only a Pollyanna can look at this carnage and sing this song. ;-) Play the song while looking at the pictures if you can! I know, I know, believers will say this is not God's fault. Nothing is, right? But if a business was in this much disarray the CEO should be fired (remember, like God, he too must deal with human beings)!
Today is the Winter Solistice!
Today is the winter solstice. The sun has halted its northerly trek and is headed back toward the equator for the spring equinox. Atheists, what are you doing in celebration today? ;-) And what do you do on the Summer Solstice (June 24th)? Why celebrate one rather than the other? And why even do it when we no longer worship the sun? I just celebrate having family and friends during this season.
On Mythras, Myth, the Virgin Birth and December 25th
There is an interesting post on this topic over at "God is for Suckers." This is the conclusion:
The Mind of the Believer and Unanswered Prayer
[Written by John Loftus] I want to continue a discussion I started right here and followed up on here, about a time when God blew it on national TV to answer a high profile prayer by three contestants (self described "prayer Warriors") in a reward challenge for food during an episode of CBS's Survivor.
Did Jesus Exist? Thinking About Earl Doherty's "The Jesus Puzzle."
Recently I wrote on this issue here. I've been reading through Doherty's book The Jesus Puzzle since then. It's a great read and very provocative. He does as good as I would expect in arguing there never was a historical Jesus. Nonetheless there is a problem as I see it.
THINK Christian! A Graphic Depiction of the Scale of the Universe
Are Christians kidding me that this universe is fine tuned for life when so much of it is lifeless? Vast areas of this universe cannot support life, probably 99.9999% of it. And are they also kidding me that the whole purpose of creation was to test human souls for entrance into heaven? Why couldn't an omnipotent God who created the laws of the universe and who could also do perpetual miracles need this vast universe? All he needed to do was create a flat earth with human beings on it!
Can We All Just Get Along? Clergy Unite On a Common Message: Thou Shalt Be Civil
It calls on people to display respect for those with whom they disagree; to debate issues, not demonize opponents; to stop misrepresenting opponents' views; and to stop circulating e-mail messages that "demonize or humiliate persons or groups."
December 20, 2009
A New Era for Atheism: Moral Realism
One of the main charges against atheists is that we have no basis for morality. Many early atheists like Nietzsche, Sartre, and Camus echoed the same thought. But we are now entering a new era. Sam Harris is a moral realist. So also is Richard Carrier, Link. Michael Shermer seems to be one as well who argues: "Moral principles are provisionally true—that is, they apply to most people in most cultures in most circumstances most of the time." These moral principles are based in the universality of human nature; who we are and what we want. We want to be happy, holistically happy. This is an end in and of itself that needs no further justification. As we figure out what makes us happy we should do it. It can be expressed like this: "Since humans want to be happy we should therefore do X." Here is a follow-up post on this same subject.
Was Jesus Left Handed?
If you hold to a pre-incarnate existence for Jesus, then there has been one human in the entire course of history that actually got to choose--before birth--whether he would be predominantly right-handed, left-handed or ambidextrous. In fact, by holding to a virgin birth, it was absolutely necessary for Jesus to pick out His specific DNA, prior to being born. Could not let the chips fall where they may, because Joseph was not providing any.
Atheism: An Intermediate Reading List by Atheist Revolution
Check them out and become better informed, seen here.
December 19, 2009
Free Will in Heaven?
Under Christian theology, humans have the free will choice to accept or reject God and to follow or reject the temptation of sin. Assuming this version of reality is true, what happens when you go to heaven? Do you stop wanting to sin? Is it impossible to sin? Or can you still choose to reject God and be sent to hell?
An Atheist Meets God
Come on now, think Christians. Use your noggins not to explain away but to explain.
Christian, Tell Us in Advance Which Prayers if Unanswered Would Count Against Your Faith
I recently pointed out how a high profile prayer on national TV was not answered by God. I claim this as yet another piece of evidence that God doesn't answer prayers even if he exists, which he does not. So along come the Christian wannabe apologists, and guess what, surprise...
Sex With the Virgin Mary
You might try to guess which group put this image up on a Billboard in New Zealand. D'ya think it's from an atheist group making fun? No, not at all. It's from St. Matthew-in-the-City Church. Since I've previously written on how to increase traffic to your Blog or site this is an example of it. It gets attention. So also does the title to this post of mine. Controversy gets people talking. So okay, let's talk about it.
Dispelling the Original Sin in Eden
Over the last 5 years National Geographic has conducted “The Genographic Project” to establish human origins. They have tested the DNA of approximately 35,000 people and what they have found will have a profound impact, especially on inerrant bible believing Xtians.
Why? The study has shown that ALL males share the same Y chromosome (Male Y chromosome is passed on unchanged from generation to generation), which traces back to a single male – Adam, in the Garden of Eden, 4,000 BC, right? – No, the East Coast of Africa, 50-60,000 BC (let’s call him Alpha Y).
December 18, 2009
Review of Paul Moser's The Elusive God: Re-Orienting Religious Epistemology
HT (Hat tip): Former team member here at DC exapologist links to it.
On CBS Survivor God Had a Chance to Show the World He Answers Prayer and Blew it!
Last night God blew it. Plain and simple. He had a chance to show the world he answers prayers. But he was a no-show, which is par for the course, again. The episode took place during the reward challenge and starts at 3:30 through 14:40 seen here in this link (sorry about the ads). Natalie and two others prayed to win the challenge, calling herself a "prayer warrior." Watch what happened. Oh, but nothing will change the mind of a believer, right? It just wasn't God's will, right? Failed prayer is always explained away like this. But then what could ever count as evidence against faith?
December 17, 2009
Who or What is a Christian?
When apologist type Christians hear our deconversion stories they probe to look at something we didn't say (a precise set of words) or do (like pray the sinners prayer, or baptism) in order to claim we were never Christians in the first place. There are other cases when believers or churches do something terribly wrong that self-proclaimed apologists for the faith will claim these other believers or churches were not true Christians either. Okay then. Below is an article defining once and for all what is a Christian. It's such a quagmire that even believers themselves cannot agree. I find it absolutely hilarious that any of these apologists has the gall to tell anyone else what is a Christian. ;-)
"Why Would Anyone Believe in God?" by Gregory W. Dawes
Dr. Dawes is the author of the book Theism and Explanation where he defends the methodological naturalism of the sciences.
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