Are We Angry Atheists?

Someone recently wrote this about us here at DC: “I find it amazing how much anger there is on this board.”

I find this to be an interesting charge. People have said this before. Is it true? If it is, does it imply anything important?

I don’t think it’s true, at least not with me. I am not an angry atheist toward anyone. If I have ever shown anger it’s because I was responding to what I considered to be willful ignorance, idiocy and/or attempts to belittle me.

But what if I am angry, and what if others here are angry? What then?

My Talk at the Texas Freethought Convention

It was on the Outsider Test for Faith. Enjoy. I followed Darrel Ray who wrote the book The God Virus. His talk can be found there as well. He talked for a bit about sex and the triggers that cause people to believe. In my talk I mentioned Robert Price's essay on sex. Here it 'tis. This was an amazing convention and I highly recommend it for all skeptics. Don't miss it next year. It's put together very well. The people are awesome!

Why Young Earth Creationists Must Deny Gravity

I've Changed the DISQUS Settings to Flat vs Threaded Comments

Is this better? It's more like Blogger.

The Best Optical Illusion in the World!

It's about prayer, and this video is awesome!:

Dr. Matt McCormick on the F - Word

Be sure to click on his Powerpoint slide presentation on Faith. This is awesome! See here.

A Dialog With A Good Christian Friend

I get contacted from Christian friends I've had over the years who want to discuss why I rejected Christianity. Here is a brief email exchange I had with a dear friend from the past:

Dr. Hector Avalos Interviewed by the Iowa State Daily News

While growing up, Avalos' zealous belief in God ignited an intense study of the Bible. "Most adults, up until recently, usually end up in the religion they were raised in," Avalos said. "It's not because they came to that religion through a long period of study or research, but they were just raised that way. To me that was not satisfactory. I wanted to know whether it was true or not." "I started by trying to defeat the arguments of the other side," Avalos said, "and in the process I realized that my own arguments were not very good." "One thing led to another, and I realized that I did not believe in Christianity or that the Bible was the word of God, or that the Bible had any kind of divine origin." Link

Atheist Controversy Solved: "What Evidence Could Make Us Believe?"

While PZ Myers and Greta Christina and others banter this question back and forth I have already decisively answered this a long time ago when it comes to Christianity, right here. Q.E.D. If only they would come listen to the master! Sit at my feet children. I teach you. Place some coins in my jar with gratitude for once again decisively solving yet another dispute with precision. Thank you. Thank you very much. ;-)

James Sennett: "It would not take much to turn me into a Buddhist -- Theravada, that is."

As many of you know Dr. Sennett and I have been friends since seminary days. He has recommend my book. He has written/edited some significant apologetic/philosophical books and articles. He teaches at Brenau University. In March of 2009 he wrote a blog post at DC where he maintained he was still a believer. Now on Facebook (if you can access it) this is what he said in a post about "25 Random Things About Me." It's number 17. Anyone see a trend here? It's somewhat the same trend I went through (although I went from being a liberal to an agnostic to an atheist). Where will he end his intellectual journey? Who knows? But he is no longer an evangelical, that's for sure. James, I wish you well my friend.

"You Might be a Fundamentalist if..."

Jeff Foxworthy's line is "You might be a redneck if.." Below are ten suggested answers to this other line that were emailed to me. Got some of your own?

Quote of the Day, by D. Newman

I and many others are in Christian eyes little lost sheep. I look forward to being found by the good shepherd!!! He has not found me yet though and does not seem all that interested in looking either! (I am sure he is busy, washing his hair or something).

John Shimkus, R-Ill is presently running for Chairman of the House Energy Committee. He should be stopped NOW!

Hat Tip: Jeffrey A. Myers

I Know More Than You Do! Na Na Na Na Na NA! Or, You Don't Know Jack Shit.

Christians have faulted the so-called New Atheists with ignorance. They do the same thing with me. If only I knew this or that I would see the error of my way and believe again. But think about this. How much philosophy should Richard Dawkins know to rationally reject religion? How much science should Christopher Hitchens know? How much Bible should Daniel Dennett know? How much theology should Sam Harris know? How much should we know to rationally reject religion? How much? What if we know very little? What if all we know is that God did not save our child and she died from Leukemia? What if a scientist rejects religion because s/he cannot adequately test supernatural hypotheses? What if a historian rejects the claims of a religion because as a historian s/he must assume a natural explanation for the events in the past? What then? Are they culpable for doing so when this is all they know to do? When can it be said that a person can rationally reject a religion? Surely the theist cannot possibly demand that nonbelievers must know all that can be known before their rejection of religion is warranted.

To put it in terms of the Outsider Test for Faith, how much should someone know in order to reject Mormonism, or Catholicism, or Islam, or Orthodox Judaism, to name a few. How much do YOU know of them?

Atheist Ministers Struggle With Leading the Faithful

"I am an atheist," says "Jack," a Southern Baptist with more than 20 years in ministry.

"I live out my life as if there is no God," says "Adam," who is part of the pastoral staff of a small evangelical church in the Bible Belt.

The two, who asked that their real identities be protected, are pastors who have lost their faith. And these two men, who have built their careers and lives around faith, say they now feel trapped, living a lie. Link

I've switched to DISQUS Commenting System Because Blogger Sucks

I'm following the lead of Mike D The A-Unicornist.

My Review of Karen Armstrong's Book "The Case for God"

My review was just published in Philosophy Now magazine (follow the link). If the link doesn't work an earlier version is on Amazon. You'll see I made the same arguments against her liberalism that I made against John F. Haught's book, God and the New Atheism, against Cheryl Exum and Dennis MacDonald at last years annual SBL meeting, and that I make against Thom Stark's book The Human Faces of God, Robert Wright's book, The Evolution of God, and Mark Roncace's book Raw Revelation. See what you think. Let's have done with the notion that I don't understand liberal versions of Christianity. I do. I just reject them.

Roger Nygard's "The Nature of Existence" is Wonderful!

I just finished previewing a copy of this documentary to be released Nov. 23rd. It is fascinating as we hear from people around the globe what they think about the meaning of existence. This link does a great job telling you what it's about. Nygard goes on a quest to know the answer(s) and he comes back with a few meager suggestions when all is said and done. It's well done, contains some great humor, and is very educational.

I'm Headed to Canada and Need a Passport.

Pam Walls, Executive Director for the Centre for Inquiry, Ontario, Canada, invited me to speak on January 21st about the extraordinary claims of Christ. I originally had to turn her down because the date was set for November 19th and I had no passport. So she graciously moved the date I'm supposed to speak. Now I have time to raise the money and get one. There is a ChipIn in the sidebar to contribute toward my passport and a new suit. Help if you can--immediately so I can get it. I do appreciate anything you can donate.

The Agora Movie is Wonderful Food for Thought

The 2009 movie titled Agora is one I recommend very highly. It takes place in Alexandria around 391 CE, and portrays Christians like we picture the Taliban today. The city's Christians gain political power and burn the great books of the Library of Alexandria. Then a few years later Christians enforce their so-called morality. First the Jews are their obstacle, then women. From the Boston Globe: "Fanaticism, no matter who’s doing the preaching, is this movie’s gravest sin, against which the enlightenment of science and learning has always struggled and always will." There is much food for thought here. As you watch the movie ask yourself how Christians actually conquered the minds of people. No, really. Ask yourself. Do you think whole cities of people change their minds that easily in a few decades without being forced to do so? That means people were killed for Jesus. Ask yourself how Christians argued in those days when it came to science. No, really, ask yourself. You'll see the same arguments used today in the face of science. The difference is that you'll recognize how bogus that type of reasoning is when Christians defend the Ptolemaic solar system by deferring to their God to solve the problem of planetary epicycles. Ask yourself how literate these people were too. You know the masses could not have copies of the Bible, nor read it. They had to depend on what church leaders told them it said. This is very interesting to me even though the movie takes poetic license with some of the facts. If you think about it though, this movie makes some pretty good conjectures. Fascinating stuff.

The Blag Hag on "Where Are All The Atheist Women? Right Here!"

The Blag Hag weighs in on Where Are All The Atheist Women? Right Here!

Cheryl Pulliam's Comments on Ken's Funeral

I've written about my friend Ken's death before, both here where I announced it, and here about his funeral. Cheryl, his widow, expressed her thanks to me on Facebook for our thoughts and kindness, below:

Did I Ask Boring Questions?

Leah thinks so and offered her own questions.

Realism and Religion: A Physicist Examines the Basis for Belief

Physicist Milton Rothman examines the relationship between science and religion and the extent to which a scientist should apply his belief in realism to all aspects of our knowledge of the universe. Link.

Update on a Proposed Co-Written Book with a Christian Scholar

It's not always easy coming to terms about a book proposal. Here's the new proposal he made to me:

I propose that each debate consist of 750 words arguing the affirmation, 750 words arguing the denial. At that point we exchange our brief opening arguments and then write 100 word rebuttals. Then we exchange those brief rebuttals and write 50 word closing statements so that a single debate is about 1800 words total. With an introduction and 20 debates that would put us at about 38-40,000 words which is a nice little 160 page book.

So we're going to begin by writing on three questions each. Here they are:

Contact Info If You're Interested in Having Me Speak or Debate

If you're interested in obtaining me for a speaking engagement, please send me an email at johnwloftus dot frontier dot com for arrangements and details.

Funeral Services for Kenny Regan Pulliam

Funeral services for my friend Kenny Regan Pulliam, 50, of Loganville, GA, who died Friday evening, October 29, 2010, will be Wednesday at 2 PM at the Ginn Funeral Home chapel, with the Rev. Todd West presiding. Internment will be in the Franklin Memorial Gardens. The body is at the Ginn Funeral Home, Carnesville, GA. Visitation will be at 1 PM before the service.

I have been shaken by Ken's death at the young age of fifty. It's causing me to rethink why I spend so much time on a computer when there is a life to be lived at my age of 56.

Time Magazine Interviews Michael Coogan About Sex

Biblical scholar Michael Coogan's new book God and Sex is one I heartily recommend (see my review at Amazon). Time magazine interviewed him recently about it.

DC Ranked in 5th Place on the SBL's List of BiblioBlogs

Only the top 50 blogs are ranked even though there are 400+ of them between us. The late Ken Pulliam's blog made it into the top 50! Boy I'm going to miss him. Apparently he's scheduled some blog posts ahead of time so keep going back to his blog to see what his final posts will be.

Dr. Ken Pulliam is Dead

My good friend and fellow ex-Christian former minster is dead. His wife Cheryl announced this today on Facebook:

This is Ken's wife. My husband passed away suddenly and unexpectedly yesterday from a massive heart attack. I thought you would like to know. He was 50. Cheryl

This was Ken's Facebook page. This was his Blog page.

This is a Facebook page dedicated to his memory.

He will be personally missed by me as the first skeptic I met online and one of my greatest encouragers. Be assured that people will know of him and remember him. Just days ago he submitted his chapter to me for the anthology The End of Christianity. He was writing a book about the atonement. That work would have been a tour de force unmatched by anything produced so far. His keen intellect and grasp of the issues were evident in everything he wrote. I will miss him, and I wish his family the very best during this time of grief.

25 Hot Topics for a New Book

I'm coming up with 25 hot topics for a Christian scholar and I to discuss in a book. I think I'll separate my questions into different categories: science, epistemology, ethics, history, psychology, Bible, theology (soteriology, Jesus, eschatology, hermeneutics), and so forth. This particular scholar is a new breed of evangelical who won't be caught off-guard with your typical fundamentalist stumpers. Thanks for all your suggestions so far. Don't assume if I use what you suggest that I didn't already think of it.

25 Hot Topics for a New Book

I had previously mentioned that a Christian scholar and myself are co-writing a book. We've just made it out of the planning stage. We had to have a book proposal with a promise of appealing to readers. Well, we've settled on one tentatively titled "God or Godless? Fifty Five Minute Debates." It will be designed for people who want some short answers (500 words each) to hot topics surrounding the theist/atheist debates. I am to come up with 25 hot topics and he will come up with 25 more. While I don't think short answers get the job done right, they can be interesting and informative just the same. Which ones would you suggest for me?

Sin: Something Critics of Christianity Should Talk About More

So argues Chris Hallquist. Yes, let's preach a bit more about sin, brothers and sisters. Do I hear an Amen!?

Newspaper in Canada: "Take the Outsider Test for Faith"

Hey, I think this is way cool. Just think, even though the OTF has been "refuted" so many times by so many people it still survives! Perhaps this reporter hasn't seen the refutations, eh? ;-)

Why Catholicism is Child's Play

Our modern perception of the Roman Catholic Church as the janitor of old buildings and the provider of a different geriatric every few years to amuse us with his favourite tricks whilst hiding behind bullet proof glass, is in itself a testament of the degree to which we have separated ourselves from the theocratic oversight of this institution. None of the twenty thousand who were slaughtered at the Massacre of Béziers by Papal instruction could have dreamed of a time when the Holy See’s authority would be reduced to a symbolic figment of an ignorant past. Yet the indoctrination and violent imposition that shaped dark age Europe and resisted the development of our secular modern societies so violently still retains much of its grotesque authority.

The Atheists are Coming...

Indicative of a larger pattern, atheist and agnostic students will return to campus this fall with a better chance than ever of finding groups of like-minded young people. The Secular Student Alliance (SSA), a national organization devoted to supporting nonreligious student groups, reported having a record 219 campus affiliate groups, up from 159 in 2009 and 100 in 2008.

"And a little child will lead them..." Isaiah 11:6

Watch this if you want to see something spooky:

Skeptics and Another Natural Explanation for the Resurrection Narratives

Christians claim that until skeptics can agree on an alternative natural explanation to the resurrection accounts told in the Gospels that the Gospels should be accepted as the truth. They further claim that by offering other natural explanations to these accounts it shows that skeptics are merely grasping at straws to reject the claims of the gospel. But these accusations are Balderdash! They're not even close...not even in the ballpark...not even on the radar.

A Rare Picture of Me Without My Cowboy Hat, and an Interview

In the picture I was pretty much sauced at the recent Texas Freethought Convention, which was absolutely wonderful! I sobered up for the interview a week or more later with the Oklahoma Atheists podcast. *hiccup* Enjoy.

Christopher Rollston on the Rise of Monotheism in Ancient Israel

Monotheism in ancient Israel was a late(r) development, certainly not part of early Israelite religion. Within this article, the basic biblical and epigraphic evidence is employed, with frequent reference to seminal secondary studies. Link to a pdf.

There are Honest Christians Who Want Real Answers to Real Questions

Like Roscoe.

What the Bible Really Says About God and Sex

Michael Coogan's book God and Sex was a page turner for me. Not only is it about two of my favorite subjects *ahem* but it is a one stop shop to learn about a complete range of sexual issues in the Bible by a biblical scholar. We learn about sexual terminology in the Hebrew culture like "hands" "feet" "flesh" "nakedness" and "to know." When Ruth uncovered Boaz's feet (Ruth 3:7-8) guess what she was probably doing folks, yep, probably giving him some head--Yeahhhh baby!!!!

Was Jesus Wrong? by Franky Schaeffer

This is a review of The Human Faces of God by Thom Stark. It's also a request to Christians: admit that the Bible is a mess and stop passing on its toxicity to us.

Thom Stark begins his book like this: "In the beginning was the Argument, and the Argument was with God, and the Argument was: God. God was the subject of the Argument, and the Argument was a good one. Who is God? What is God like? What does God require of us?"

Stark shows that the Bible isn't just self-contradictory on a few historical details but that within the pages of the Bible is an argument and not just an argument with the outside world: The Bible is an argument with itself.

If you want to be informed about what the Bible really says and how Christianity came into existence -- if you want to know how to respond to Evangelicals trying to convert you to their brand of fundamentalism, read this book. If you're a former Evangelical, or a former Christian, who gave up on faith because you just couldn't reconcile your moral and intellectual integrity with the mythology and immorality-touted-as-righteousness that is pervasive throughout the Bible, then read this book. Link

Christians, Where Are the Real Answers to Real Questions?

Having heard it all--quite literally--Christians have no answers to the questions that need to be answered. When someone wants to know some real answers to real questions of theirs, all they get is circular logic, Socratic definitions pursued down the rabbit hole, splitting hairs, logical gerrymandering, re-framing the questions differently to suit one's faith, The Omniscience Escape Clause, The Faith Trump Card, and so many logical fallacies it can make one nauseous. The interesting thing about this is that only when someone decides they want real answers to real questions do they see this for what it is. And at that point it's easy to see through the platitudes and non-answers offered by Christians in response. Here's another example of someone looking for real answers to real questions, and you can see the end result.

What's It Like Dealing With Mormons Every Day?

Well that's what I've been doing for two months shy of five years here on a daily basis. On day one these Mormons tell me I don't know what I'm talking about, that I was never a Mormon, that I'm not criticizing their kind of Mormonism, that I have not shown their faith to be impossible, which is an impossible standard, and so forth, coming from the scholarly types as well as the kids in Junior High who think they can argue against me. They use non-sequiturs, red herrings, special pleading, begging the question, and either/or fallacies then beat their chests and crow about how they have refuted me and all atheists. Then comes day two, which is more of the same ignorance. Then comes day three. For nearly five years. I'm tired of playing nice. I'm turning over to the dark side. They are buffoons, utterly devoid of the ability to recognize they are brainwashed who repeat platitudes as if they are something new and profound which I have never heard or thought of before.

How to Avoid the Question: Lessons from Professor Rauser

Don't get me wrong. I like Professor Randal Rauser. I think he's creative, intelligent, and a nice guy to boot. But he doesn't seem to care at all that Anne Askew was tortured and burned at the stake even though God had a multiple number of ways to keep that from happening. I wrote about Anne here.

So far he does not want to deal with her case. He wants me to chase him down the rabbit hole of definitions about what kind of a revelation God should have produced, sort of like following a Socratic method, which would end up being more interesting to him than the particular case before us. He'd rather play Pharisee by discussing what it means to work on the Sabbath day rather than help someone in need. I'd rather discuss concrete examples, people, good people who suffered because his God was inept. He doesn't get it. He's far too gone as the brainwashed person he is. He cannot be helped, not by me. So I write for other people who are reading this exchange. I do this quite a bit, really. Here then is the problem he fails to see with regard to the Anne Askew's of this world.

Thom Stark Interviewed About His New Book

Q. Who is the Yahweh of the Israelites?

A. Well as scholars like Frank Cross, Chris Rollston, Mark Smith and others have demonstrated and have known for some time, the earliest texts in the Hebrew Bible give a strong indication that the early conception of Yahweh was that he was an ancient Near Eastern tribal deity. As I argue in my book, following Rollston, the Song of Moses in Deut 32 indicates that Yahweh was believed to have been one of the children of the Canaanite deity El Elyon (God Most High). The song describes how the nations were originally formed, and what it says is that the peoples of the earth were divided up according to the number of El Elyon’s children (the junior members of the divine pantheon). Yahweh, Israel’s patron deity, was one of Elyon’s children.

The best evidence suggests that Yahweh did not begin as the “only true God” of later Jewish monotheism; he did not begin as the creator of the world. Yahweh began as a young, up-and-coming tribal deity whose prowess among other gods mirrored Israel’s aspirations vis-a-vis surrounding tribes and nations.

Quote of the Day, by Silver Bullet Concerning Randal Rauser (and it applies to many Christian Scholars)

Randal believes that the Christian god would have his bible written by people so that it is indistinguishable from any other book that people have written - full of contradictions, depicting the flawed human knowledge of the time, unclear, employing the same technics that people use when they write, like irony, etc.

In fact, Randal believes that the Christian god didn't even interfere in any way with the actual writing and compilation of the Christian bible - that was all done by people and people alone. Randal has written that he believes that the Christian god, when he created the universe, did so with the full foreknowledge that people would evolve billions of years later to independently write exactly the book that the Christian god would want them to write, full of human flaws and appearing as an all too human creation, as his bible.

Where's Waldo? I'm Right Here...

...arguing with professor Randal Rauser. See what you think.

I'm Back On the Marriage Market

I've married plenty of women in my days. No I'm not a polygamist. I've performed many weddings. I never thought I'd do so again even though I've been asked more than a dozen times, and turned them all down. Until tonight. For as a newly ordained minister with the First Church of Atheism I'm conducting my first wedding in years. If anyone would like me to perform your wedding just contact me and I'll get the job done without the religious mumbo jumbo. For a secular humanism church I'm also a minister with the Universal Life Church whose only creed is an "adherence to the universal doctrine of religious freedom: 'Do only that which is right.'"

I'll also do atheist funerals with dignity and respect for those who have lost loved ones without the religious mumbo jumbo.