It is often the claim of the religious that atheists are no...
It is often the claim of the religious that atheists are no different than those of faith… that we just believe in something different. This does not stand up to examination. The more fundamental adherents to religion become, the greater spread of violence, hatred, and oppression that is sought. There is no equivalence to be seen in the scaling of the atheistic view. The defamation of atheism by religions is no more true than the contents of their holy books.
Christians, in assertion of their powerful presence in the U.S.,...
Christians, in assertion of their powerful presence in the U.S., love to throw the statistic of being 75% of the population… but, are they? Let's look:
The U.S. population is 315,984,721 at the time of this post. The highest number of Christian churches currently is 350,000. The current and very well established average congregation size is 75 members per church.
75% of 315,984,721 is 236,988,541
236,988,541 ÷ 350,000 = 677 (not 75)
75 X 350,000 = 26,250,000
26,250,000 is 8.3% of the U.S.
I get it- you don't have to go to church to be a believer, but 8.3%?!? That isn't even the people actually attending regularly, it's the number of members- which is only 11% of the reported U.S. Christian population. I fail to believe that all of the other 89% truly believe in the religion that is claiming them.
America is not the Christian nation it is reported to be. Dollar bills are the only reason the religious right's agenda can make it look that way. But when those dollars start to fall short from a lack of people willing to believe in the religion that asks for them, the facade of Christianity will crumble.
It's free… just don't expect us to stop hounding you to put...
It's free… just don't expect us to stop hounding you to put money in the collection plate.
theatheistdebater.tumblr.com (↑Fixed link error from first post-...
theatheistdebater.tumblr.com
(↑Fixed link error from first post- Thank you Olivia)
From Rationalatheism comes a new forum and resource for atheist debate. Find debate topics, get assistance debating theists, or debate me directly.
Whether you want to engage in the blog or learn what others are saying, start following to be part of it.
*This is a new blog, so don't be afraid to start following if there's not a lot on it yet… I anticipate this is going to be a great place for minds to come together.
"All religion, my friend, is simply evolved out of fraud, fear,...
"All religion, my friend, is simply evolved out of fraud, fear, greed, imagination, and poetry." -Edgar Allen Poe
theatheistdebater.tumblr.com From Rationalatheism comes a new...
theatheistdebater.tumblr.com
From Rationalatheism comes a new forum and resource for atheist debate. Find debate topics, get assistance debating theists, or debate me directly.
Whether you want to engage in the blog or learn what others are saying, start following to be part of it.
*This is a new blog, so don't be afraid to start following if there's not a lot on it yet… I anticipate this is going to be a great place for minds to come together.
… and you can't pull any of that "But that was in the Old...
… and you can't pull any of that "But that was in the Old Testament" crap- this is in the New.
Atheists Caused U.S. Civil War? That's funny… I distinctly...
Atheists Caused U.S. Civil War?
That's funny… I distinctly remember the U.S. Civil War was, by all measures, spawned by the Southern states declaring the right to keep slaves, frequently citing the Bible as god's will for it. The debate, often fueled by the church, led to the formation of the Southern Baptist Convention as it broke from the main convention in support of slavery. I'm pretty sure neither the Northern or Southern churches were "Anti-God."
If you'll take note- none of this is about atheists (or their lawyers)… it's about slavery that was supported by many Christians.
From the details of his life being commingled with those of...
From the details of his life being commingled with those of Joseph to tales of miraculous deeds, so many of the accounts in the Bible about Jesus are not original to him. When the stories are known to be derived from hundreds of years of story telling by generally illiterate tribes of people with varied theological backgrounds, it is easy to understand how details from the multiple orations became entangled with one another.
The argument of whether evolution is valid is not occurring...
The argument of whether evolution is valid is not occurring between scientists… it is between the pulpits of American churches and advocates for reasonable thought.
Only when faithful eyes focus solely upon the positive and...
Only when faithful eyes focus solely upon the positive and pleasant as the work of god can church marquees as this be believed to be making a good statement. It is the same line of thought that claims the great things to be god doing glorious work and the tragic to be the unknown in his divine plan. Think closely… this is claiming to know god's plan for the good, but not the bad. You cannot claim knowledge of one and not the other. This, of course, falls along most religious assertions of knowledge about god… making claims rooted in belief instead of evidence.
Still one of my favorites from Christopher Hitchens as he...
Still one of my favorites from Christopher Hitchens as he describes how atheism interfaces with the the phenomena of our world… "Our belief is not a belief. Our principles are not a faith. We do not rely solely upon science and reason, because these are necessary rather than sufficient factors, but we distrust anything that contradicts science or outrages reason."
Where religions fail to meet their own assertions of humility is...
Where religions fail to meet their own assertions of humility is in claims of absolute knowledge without the evidence to support it. I could have far more tolerance if they were simply to say, "This is what we believe and sincerely hope we're right."
Hmmm, I'm having a hard time seeing him… is he behind all those...
Hmmm, I'm having a hard time seeing him… is he behind all those stratocumulus clouds?
"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit...
"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." -Voltaire
As I've said before, when supporters of Creationism say, "It's...
As I've said before, when supporters of Creationism say, "It's just a theory, I hear, "I don't have a basic understanding of science." To address the rebuttal asking why evolution is not a law… Laws cannot be set upon a mechanism, must be repeatable, and often can be expressed as a formula. This is why germs and cells are "only theories." But no one is asking why those aren't laws. Science… it's usually a good idea to learn some of it before trying to argue with it.
lm-mage: curiosity-discoverer-of-worlds: scientiststhesis: ske...
curiosity-discoverer-of-worlds:
Atheism is not just a lack of belief in god. It is a way of fully and critically viewing the world. It is the choice to value fact over faith.
I'm going to start calling out these statements that make atheism to be more than it really is. Definitionally, atheism IS just a lack of belief in a god. Many, perhaps most, atheists would agree with the second half of the statement, but I've found that atheists differ wildly on how they critically view the rest of the world.
I wish that were true, but sadly, it's not. I know a lot of atheists who believe in astrology, homeopathy, spirits, an afterlife, ghosts, the supernatural, amongst other things. Atheism is just that, the lack of belief in a deity. It doesn't imply scepticism, intelligence or rationality.
Indeed, atheism doesn't imply scepticism, intelligence or rationality.
It does help those traits a whole lot.
I believe in astrology, spirits, possibly an after life, herbal medicine, prayer, and even to a certain degree magic, and I am (at this phase in my life) an agnostic (which is similar in a lot of ways to atheism)
HOWEVER this does mean I am unintelligent, irrational or un-objective. IT just means I have different beliefs. It's kind of an insulting implication that to be intelligent or rational you must disbelieve in a deity, or a in a higher belief.
First, I want to express my enjoyment of the input to this post. It is through differing beliefs, perspectives, and ideas that shared knowledge meets its potential in the minds of people. With that said, I feel that the following can adequately address all the preceding contributions:
Any assertions that define atheism must be approximated to the majority; much like the statement that men are taller than women is generally true, it is not always the case. Because of this, defining atheism follows suit and aberrancy is individually specific. Agnosticism, when quantified from 0-10 (0= absolute disbelief, 10= absolute certainty) finds itself somewhere just under 5; it's the pronouncement "I cannot know, but find that god probably does not exist." Atheism falls somewhere just above 0, stating, "I cannot absolutely know, but my process of evaluation brings me to conclude that god cannot exist." The difference in numbers comes from the personal assignment of confidence levels to evidence that leads to disbelief. In either case, some degree of analytical capability combined with a rational view of evidential findings must be present to doubt any number of supernatural claims.
What I find most interesting in the reblog comments is the perception that other conclusions about atheism beyond the denial of god and religion have been made. In neither Fields's nor my assertions is anything other than a general frame of mind identified. We have simply told the process of atheistic thought; not the results of personal analytics or intelligence levels. Just because atheists or agnostics use approximately similar evaluational processes does not mean they all started at an identical conceptual place or arrived at the same result of belief. To extrapolate assertions regarding the denial of any supernatural claim or IQ of atheists based on the original post says far more about those who have commented than Fields or myself. To extend our words beyond denial of god and general mindframes tells me that those who commented possess an existing belief that atheists may have conventionally greater intelligence and/or doubt exists regarding the supernatural.
Thanks for reading and commenting.
Atheism is not just a lack of belief in god. It is a way of...
Atheism is not just a lack of belief in god. It is a way of fully and critically viewing the world. It is the choice to value fact over faith.
-Rationalatheism
Prayer and Cancer: A Case for Atheism ***I know this is a long...
Prayer and Cancer: A Case for Atheism
***I know this is a long post, but it contains, I feel, very compelling information.
We have all heard the boastings of the religious; how they know someone that had terminal cancer and, after praying, it disappeared… the doctors just couldn't explain it. First, let's set the record straight about most every one of these claims. They are nearly always a retelling of a person they do not know personally. It's almost never terminal cancer- sometimes incurable by currently known medicine, but not terminal. And the doctors DO know why, but their explanations do not fit within the theists' prayer paradigm.
The field of cancer study known as Spontaneous Remission and Regression looks at both solid and blood cancers, identifying the very well documented cases of their unexpected disappearances from the human body. One focus of study has been the relationship between remission/regression and religion. Every such study has revealed absolutely no increase in incidence with prayer, type of religion, or entire lack of religious belief.
Barring the fact that every legitimate study has debunked the assertion that prayer works in any capacity, the look at religious effects on spontaneous remission/regression opens quite an issue. For someone to continue to contend support for power in prayer, it requires they admit to more than that. If god is responsible for the "miraculous" disappearance of cancers, he is doing so in response to the prayers of every religion; he is even doing so for the atheists who are not praying, and at the same rate for them all. This combination of information can ONLY lead to 2 conclusions: either god exists, but does not answer prayers (or chooses to ignore prayers about cancer) or god does not exist. The fact is that spontaneous remission and regression is a statistically predictable and well-known phenomenon. It is another example of how the most mysterious way god works is in his ability to do things without existing.
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