 |
 |
|
|
| |
| |
| |
|
|
| Articles about Atheism |
| Atheism: A Very Short Introduction | | 2008-07-02 19:47:41 | | Atheism: A Very Short Introduction by Julian Baggini
Atheism is often considered to be a negative, dark, and pessimistic belief which is characterized by a rejection of values and purpose and a fierce opposition to religion. “Atheism: A Very Short Introduction” sets out to dispel the myths that surround atheism, and shows how a life without [...] | | By: learn about lean & six-sigma | | |
| | A Jehovah's Witness Discovers His Atheism | | 2008-06-24 19:00:00 | | (Via Brian Stilson)My story begins in the dawn of the 1980’s. Vietnam was becoming a distant memory, Ronald Reagan was almost to his 2nd year in office, and Blade Runner was defining “fail” at the box office. I was my parents first child, though I had two half-brothers from their previous marriages. They were much older than I was, both 11 years old when I was born. My mother was pregnant with me at the same time as half a dozen of the other mothers in the local Jehovah’s Witness congregation. We were all born within a span of two months; a fresh “crop” of babies. Needless to say, I had a lot of peers my age.My first memories are as a three-year-old toddler playing in the park with a friend. We were at a campground with several other families, who had traveled with their campers in tow to attend the District Convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Pontiac, Michigan. I don’t remember much about the conventions those days. I liked to look up at the cloth roof and se | | By: Coming Out Godless | | |
| |
|
|
| atheism rocks !!! | | 2008-04-13 15:52:00 | | sa-mi spuna careva ca batranelu' asta e dracu' gol si in persoana...nu cred...acum chiar o sa bag un "poll" sa vad parerea voastra despre existenta unui dumnezeu.just wait and see.don't be a...
te uiti in stanga , te uiti in dreapta...vrei sa te besesti si nu ai unde....noi te asteptam cu drag sa umpli cu mireasma ta proprie sandramaua
| | By: Ofu' lu' tata | | |
| | Curbing Atheism | | 2008-03-15 23:21:00 | | Back in the 1960s, we were told with great confidence that religion’s death was foretold and to be replaced by a secular world most likely in our lifetimes. But today religion has never been stronger. More people believe in God today than ever before.Orthodox atheists preach that their worldview is the only right one and religiously adhere to an idea that science proves this to be true. Their unbending faith does not permit them to operate outside the "non-God" box.Of course, other atheists such as Harvard University’s Stephen Gould were absolutely clear that the natural sciences, including evolutionary theory, were consistent with both atheism and conventional religious belief. He noted that unless half his scientific colleagues were total fools, a presumption that Gould rightly dismissed as nonsense, there could be no other responsible way of making sense of the varied responses to reality on the part of the intelligent, informed people that he knew.Whereas Gould at least tried t | | By: The Paleo Conservatist | | |
| | Muslims suppressing atheism in Turkey | | 2008-01-13 23:17:50 | |
Yesterday I blogged about muslims attempting to take down pictures of their invisible friend on wikipedia via petition. Today we got a letter from the head of the number one turkish atheist site which has been stripped from the eyes of Turks twice. Once under the original domain and then again under another domain. Unfortunately, the owner is unable to fight this in court because to do so he would have to identify himself which if you're familiar will end up resulting in his head being chopped off by the peaceful and loving muslims who work for Allah. If you speak Turkish and you are an atheist please support this site...
READ MORE »
Bookmark/Search this post with: | | | | | | | | | By: The Atheist Response | | |
|
|
|
| The Infallible Pope Benedict Releases Bigoted Encyclical Vilifying Atheism | | 2007-12-04 01:47:48 | | Kelly O’ConnorThe Catholic Church has officially ended their campaign to improve the public image of the Church with the latest papal encyclical, Spe Salvi, which means “saved by hope” for the Latin fans out there. The Catholic Church’s history is littered with crimes against humanity, and Pope Benedict XVI seems to desire the return to pre-Vatican II Catholicism. This was a concern voiced by many at the time that the former Joseph Ratzinger* was canonized to this position. The former pope, John Paul II, had made great strides in the modernization of the Church, and many were reluctant to elect somebody who would reverse that trend. Despite John Paul’s dogmatic adherence to the sexual proscriptions of Catholicism, he at least officially accepted evolution, admitted Protestants into heaven, and eliminated limbo. (Where was that place anyway? I may have been there once…) Pope Benedict is turning out exactly as predicted.The attempt to correlate atheism with violence, hatred, and genocide is the faithful fall-back argument for theists looking for a scapegoat. As in many other situations, their best defense for their beliefs and the resulting atrocities throughout history is something like, “Atheists did it, too! Just look at Hitler, Stalin, and Pol Pot. You’re just like us!” Well, I beg to differ. Those three well-worn examples did not commit those crimes because of their lack of god-belief. That is where the fundamental difference lies. The communist regimes wanted to eradicate religious belief so that the sole allegiance of the populace would be to the government. It was not driven by an atheistic agenda per se, but rather a power struggle with the religious ideologues who would seek to thwart their dominance over the people. Regardless of what those particular despots may have done, though, Ratzinger’s claim that atheism is the cause of the “greatest forms of cruelty and violations of justice” in history falls flat on its face when one thumbs | | By: The Atheist Response | | |
| | Two Confused People Discuss Atheism | | 2007-11-22 18:54:18 | | First of all, to those of you who have been reading this blog regularly, I apologize for repeatedly writing about Dinesh D’Souza. This is occurring for multiple reasons: he’s the only person who’s promoting his biased agenda with actual fervency (which includes frequent articles or blog posts), and I was specifically asked by Ken Bronstein from NYC Atheists to continue deconstructing his propaganda. It’s like being stuck between a rock and a hard-head…oh, I meant hard place.
I must confess that I haven’t yet watched this televised discussion, although I plan to, because I would like to get this written, at least preliminarily, before suffering the inevitable loss of neurons that will occur when I watch their mutually masturbatory misinformation session. Thankfully, it was only broadcast on The 700 Club, so they were preaching to an audience that has already been tainted by this type of nonsense.
READ MORE »
Bookmark/Search this post with: | | | | | | | | | By: The Atheist Response | | |
| | | Secular Fundamentalists: There is no such thing...and the AAI conference doesn’t make atheism a movement, either. | | 2007-11-15 00:03:12 | | Reddit this -- Digg this!
One of the methods used by the religious to marginalize atheists and our increasing visibility is to accuse us of becoming that which we originally opposed, or in other words, just like them. It’s even better if they have the convenience of one experience with these so-called “secular fundamentalists” from which they can draw unfounded conclusions as to the validity of this argument and, ultimately, the character of all those who have no belief in gods, goddesses, or other mythical creatures.
READ MORE »
Bookmark/Search this post with: | | | | | | | | | By: The Atheist Response | | |
| | Response to "You guys are bad representatives of atheism!!!" people | | 2007-11-01 00:40:46 | | I found this article on the USAToday website. It's written by Nica Lalli and is a thoughtful piece that makes the very valid counter-point to all of the people who carelessly lob the accusation at us (or others, such as Christopher Hitchens here) that "You guys are bad representatives of atheism!" Since this is so frequently used as an argument against us, I thought I would re-post it here.
Quote:
Atheists don't speak with just one voice
All religions have richly diverse histories and equally diverse believers. Yet why are non-believers treated as a monolith? Equal treatment might lead to greater understanding.
READ MORE »
Bookmark/Search this post with: | | | | | | | | | By: The Atheist Response | | |
| | Beyond Atheism | | 2007-10-09 04:15:29 | | I know that I can't prove a negative, and atheists in general feel caught by a "democratic" need to acknowledge that since you can't fully disprove the chance, however small, that there might be some god somewhere, you must acknowledge that the delusional claims about such entities may at least in principle have some merit.I do not acknowledge that merit, except as a mental exercise that one can do for fun if one feels so inclined, however, because in spite of my disbelief in metaphysical beings, I'm not an atheist.
The non-belief of atheism is easy, and you can get a long way with that. I know that all things
in this vast universe are ultimately connected, but as little as I
consider how it affects the red spot on Jupiter that I mow my lawn, consistently with the aforementioned atheists I don't consider the remote chance of
something even less observable influencing my thoughts either.It is easy to not believe, yet atheists seem stuck at searching for the turning point, where God has diminished enough in life's equation, to feel comfortable stating why they move on without him. I have never had anything to discuss with superstitious people, and have never wanted to debate with them.I am beyond that point. I am beyond atheism: not only do I not believe there is a God, I believe there is no God.Taking this step beyond atheism has important ramifications. Believing there is no Heaven or Hell, I have no doubt, not even at the level of academic agnosticism, that I cannot be forgiven or damned. This belief requires me to be thoughtful of my actions instead. It requires me to understand that how I treat people will reflect back on me within this lifetime. Believing there is no God means believing there is no supernatural purpose of my life, and that this is the only life I have; it is up to me to make the most of it, and now is the only chance I have.Believing that there is no God means that I cannot assume that others will view the world the way I do. I have no god | | By: What's This? | | |
| | | Story #35: "My Path to Atheism" | | 2007-08-21 12:00:00 | | (Via Imago)Mine's a straightforward story. I was brought up by reasonable but traditional, older parents - both parish christians of what I now realise was the 'best type'. They both took their beliefs for granted, and were diligent in their participation in the life of the church. They were really good, and caring. But apart from one memory of praying at bedtime with my father, I know I was completely bored by the religious view of the world, and the rules we were supposed to live by.Although my elder brother was more taken by the whole thing, I remember only pretending to be asleep when it was time to go to church, disliking Sunday school, feeling offended when I was supposed to say 'we are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy table'. I only liked singing the hymns.I declined to be confirmed when I was about 14. The sticking point was transubstantiation. Drinking blood seemed an odd thing to do, and also impossible for that blood to actually be wine, or vice v | | By: Coming Out Godless | | |
| | Story #18: "My Road to Atheism" | | 2007-08-13 18:15:00 | | (Via Secular Skeptic, Part I: What Took Me So Long?)My road to atheism was long and difficult. I’ve only actively identified myself as an unbeliever for less than a year, but the questioning started long before that. I’d like to explore, for my own benefit, and hopefully the benefit of anyone under similar circumstances, what took me so long. I come from a family of 7th-generation Mormons. On my mother’s side, the first convert was a man named James Lake, Jr., who was taught and baptized by Brigham Young himself in the late 1830s, shortly after the foundation of the church. On my father’s side it wasn’t much later, as one of my ancestors was taught and baptized over in Europe by one of the early missionaries. People on both sides of my family came across the plains in the wagon train with the pioneers, and much of my family tree around that time is gnarled with polygamy. Today, the vast majority of my extended family is Mormon, and the vast majority of my friends, t | | By: Coming Out Godless | | |
| | Story #24: "My Journey to Atheism" | | 2007-08-13 16:50:00 | | (Via Kausik Datta)I am a working scientist, though I am quite low in the pecking order, so to speak. I am a lowly post-doctoral researcher, with not much academic activity (or rather, activity, period!) outside of the lab for lack of time. But I do have a passion for science and scientific thought, and value science education tremendously.I don't know if my story would sound familiar. Not too long ago, I was a believer. Perhaps you may have guessed from my name - I am an Indian, born to and raised by parents who practise the Hindu religion. But to them, the Hindu religion (I avoid the term 'Hinduism') was not at all about the kind of teeth-gnashing, attention-clamoring, mosque-destroying, intemperate, uncivil, hooliganism that has become the face of Hindu-ism in modern India. To them, it was a philosophy; a unifying theme of 'One God - many manifestations' - that easily included the God-heads of other religions of the world; a kind, understanding, all-embracing way of | | By: Coming Out Godless | | |
| | I Came to Atheism by Accident, and I Decided to Stay | | 2007-08-05 15:05:38 | | I CAME TO ATHEISM BY ACCIDENT, AND I DECIDED TO STAY
By Rook Hawkins
Looking back from where I am at now, my life has always been one of luck. I am one of only three brothers to survive past one year of age, I have the most caring and understanding—if not down right supportive—family a guy could ever hope for, and I’ve really never been denied anything I’ve sought after save perhaps a full career serving my country which is something I think I’ll never get over. My parents did divorce when I was four years old, and even among the normal bickering that parents do when they think they know what is best for their child, I never really felt like I was in a bad place, even if my childhood was something other then what would be considered ‘normal.’read more
| | By: Rook Hawkins - Critical Historian | | |
| | | |
|
| |
 |
|
| |
| |
|
 |
