Great Quote From a Friend

My friend Dave said this to me a few minutes ago, and I felt it was great, worth posting for sure.


"God has no moral basis, allowing the corrupt to prosper. While those with dignity and morality are left to defend themselves against odds far beyond what should be faced. Those who do not see this are either blind or too naive to acknowledge reality for how it truly functions. May he be held responsible for the lives that he has failed to save and those he's embellished, who are not worthy.  If I am doomed to hell through his flawed judgement, so be it. I will no longer shake upon the thought."

Are Religious Visitors Questioning Their Belief?

I read a fascinating post at Greta Christina's blog. In it, the case is made that many religious visitors to atheist blogs are looking for someone to challenge their belief so that it can be tested, to see if it is really rational to believe what they do. I can say I was that way. It wasn't blogs for me, but books. I read The God Delusion because I felt it was foolish to only hear the church's side of things. I felt that if I was in an isolated bubble from other arguments, my faith was falsely propped up. It was looking into a lack of belief that was a stepping stone to atheism.

I agree that we need to be patient with the religious believers, because they may be honestly looking for other ideas. If they spout stupid fallacies, such as that atheists have no moral basis, or that since we can't prove with certainty, we can go ahead and just assume god, then we have to be patient with them. This is all they get at church. If they are serious about expanding their knowledge and looking at other viewpoints, then patiently explaining the flaws in their argument may help them. Now, if they start ignoring or insulting you repeatedly, they are probably a troll, so feel free to ignore them, or, if it is your blog, block them.

What do you think? Are many of the religious people on the blogs sincere, or just trolls?

5 Tribal Stages of Atheism

I read the following at Andrea_TheNerd and had to post it here:

1. Atheist finds herself in a world dominated by religion (often Christianity or Islam). Shefeels alone and misunderstood and often angry at her circumstances, and seeks out similar people for protection and companionship.

2. Atheist forms a protectionist bubble around himself (into which only similar-minded people are allowed), from which he can sit and pass judgment on everyone outside it. He doesn't want to step outside his bubble to enact change, he simply wants the Powers That Be to leave him alone. [Edit: or as one commenter put it: I know what I think, and f- you all.]

3. Atheist sets out to struggle with what she sees as the force of opposition. She prefers to work on her own in this, seeing "winning" each encounter with a theist as a personal goal for herself to achieve. She is easily disappointed by the perceived lack of competence in other atheists at similar encounters with theists.

4. Atheist is motivated to join up with other atheists to act as a social force against the religious majority. He'll often donate his time and money to political organizations focused on separation of church and state, and attempt to motivate less passionate atheists to join his cause.

5. Atheist sees her atheism as part of the greater good of humanity. She is less concerned about personal survival or winning against an opponent, but instead focuses on personal fulfillment and communal harmony in a world without any gods.

Im not sure where I am on this scale. Thoughts?

Violence and Video Games

Just thought I'd post this. It speaks a great amount of truth.  Just because I have been playing violent games since I was 4 doesn't make me a maniac.

Looks like I Won't be Going to Skepticon

My stepdad is not allowing me to drive there. So unless one of my readers knows someone In the Kansas City MO area, or someone who will be passing through here on their way, I won't be able to go.

Belief Without Evidence

Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." - John 20:29

This verse has always troubled me. It is saying that it is a virtue to believe in the absence of evidence. This makes me fear that there is nothing we can do to combat the religious nutballs. Regardless of the evidence we bring, they will just go "Nope! I have faith!" I will never understand how someone can go 'There is zero evidence for my claim (there is even evidence against it) but I will believe it anyway!'

Is there anything we can do to reach people like this?

PS - Sorry for the lack of a 'Churching an Atheist' post yesterday. My mom did't wake me for church. I suspect that was deliberate, because of my actions last week.

God is into Porn!