Friday, July 29, 2011

How can I make such a definitive statement? It is because, unlike some deist god who doesn’t intervene in the universe and whose existence or non-existence would therefore be entirely untestable, the Christian god is pretty clearly defined. Since you write 'God’ with a capital G, I assume you are thinking of the Christian god? If so, I am absolutely certain it does not exist. How can I make such a definitive statement? It is because, unlike some deist god who doesn’t intervene in the universe and whose existence or non-existence would therefore be entirely untestable, the Christian god is pretty clearly defined. It is all-powerful It is all-loving It is all-knowing It is all-just It is the source of absolute morality It created our universe and everything in it, including everything that lives It is omni-present It longs to be known and for us to believe in it It answers prayers It occasionally performs miracles It heals It was incarnated by means of a virgin It died and was resurrected 3 days later In so doing, it absolved us of all guilt for our 'sins’, provided we believe it has It will judge us all, and those who pass muster (i.e. who believe that their sins have been forgiven through the death and resurrection of Jesus) will spend eternity in heaven and those who don’t (i.e. who don’t believe …) will spend eternity in hell. And probably more besides. This gives us a lot of claims that are testable, by empirical experiment and by logic. If such a god existed, it should be possible to demonstrate the fact, because there is plenty here to work with. But the fact is, such a god fails at every turn. Prayers demonstrably do not get answered more than we would expect through sheer chance. Faith healing demonstrably does not work more than we would expect through sheer chance and placebo effect. Alleged miracles are always totally lacking in reliable evidence. Even theologians have acknowledged that this god cannot be all-knowing AND all-powerful AND all-loving because otherwise there simply could not be so much suffering in the world. Evidence shows that living forms were not created but evolved; any suggestion that God drove the process of evolution would again immediately categorically contradict the characteristics of omnipotence and omnibenevolence, since evolution proceeds through the application of cruelty (remember: evolution is a statement of reality, not of desirability). It cannot both long to be known and be all powerful and all knowing and yet STILL remain hidden to us It cannot be just and yet consign any living being to eternal hell (no one – LITERALLY no one) has ever been so bad as to make that a just and commensurate punishment; and a punishment that isn’t proportionate to the crime is by definition unjust). For the same reason it cannot be all-loving. It cannot be all-just and believe in the idea that guilt can be transferred to someone else. This is not justice, it is obscenity. As Christopher Hitchens has pointed out so eloquently, I can, if I am very generous, take your punishment on your behalf, but I can never assume your responsibility for the crime. To do so would be to undermine the very basis of morality, which assumes that we are responsible for our own actions. Morality has been shown to be a) not absolute and b) not to be remotely dependent on any deity but to have evolved and been shaped through entirely natural processes. And so I could go on. The Christian God is logically impossible. I cannot say with absolute confidence that there is nothing out there that we might conceivably call a god (though there is not the slightest evidence for one and therefore I don’t believe in one); but even if there were, it could not POSSIBLY be the Christian one. The Christian one is impossible, by its own definition.

How can I make such a definitive statement? It is because, unlike some deist god who doesn’t intervene in the universe and whose existence or non-existence would therefore be entirely untestable, the Christian god is pretty clearly defined.
Since you write 'God’ with a capital G, I assume you are thinking of the Christian god? If so, I am absolutely certain it does not exist.

How can I make such a definitive statement? It is because, unlike some deist god who doesn’t intervene in the universe and whose existence or non-existence would therefore be entirely untestable, the Christian god is pretty clearly defined.

It is all-powerful
It is all-loving
It is all-knowing
It is all-just
It is the source of absolute morality
It created our universe and everything in it, including everything that lives
It is omni-present
It longs to be known and for us to believe in it
It answers prayers
It occasionally performs miracles
It heals
It was incarnated by means of a virgin
It died and was resurrected 3 days later
In so doing, it absolved us of all guilt for our 'sins’, provided we believe it has
It will judge us all, and those who pass muster (i.e. who believe that their sins have been forgiven through the death and resurrection of Jesus) will spend eternity in heaven and those who don’t (i.e. who don’t believe …) will spend eternity in hell.

And probably more besides. This gives us a lot of claims that are testable, by empirical experiment and by logic. If such a god existed, it should be possible to demonstrate the fact, because there is plenty here to work with. But the fact is, such a god fails at every turn.

Prayers demonstrably do not get answered more than we would expect through sheer chance.

Faith healing demonstrably does not work more than we would expect through sheer chance and placebo effect.

Alleged miracles are always totally lacking in reliable evidence.

Even theologians have acknowledged that this god cannot be all-knowing AND all-powerful AND all-loving because otherwise there simply could not be so much suffering in the world.

Evidence shows that living forms were not created but evolved; any suggestion that God drove the process of evolution would again immediately categorically contradict the characteristics of omnipotence and omnibenevolence, since evolution proceeds through the application of cruelty (remember: evolution is a statement of reality, not of desirability).

It cannot both long to be known and be all powerful and all knowing and yet STILL remain hidden to us
It cannot be just and yet consign any living being to eternal hell (no one – LITERALLY no one) has ever been so bad as to make that a just and commensurate punishment; and a punishment that isn’t proportionate to the crime is by definition unjust).

For the same reason it cannot be all-loving.

It cannot be all-just and believe in the idea that guilt can be transferred to someone else. This is not justice, it is obscenity. As Christopher Hitchens has pointed out so eloquently, I can, if I am very generous, take your punishment on your behalf, but I can never assume your responsibility for the crime. To do so would be to undermine the very basis of morality, which assumes that we are responsible for our own actions.

Morality has been shown to be a) not absolute and b) not to be remotely dependent on any deity but to have evolved and been shaped through entirely natural processes.

And so I could go on. The Christian God is logically impossible. I cannot say with absolute confidence that there is nothing out there that we might conceivably call a god (though there is not the slightest evidence for one and therefore I don’t believe in one); but even if there were, it could not POSSIBLY be the Christian one. The Christian one is impossible, by its own definition.

sin is a concept invented by christians for christians!! as a way to guilt each other in to staying slaves

sin is a concept invented by christians for christians!! as a way to guilt each other in to staying slaves

Thursday, July 28, 2011

twitter accounts to key republican congressman on the debt ceiling vote

@RepKevinYoder @Rep_Joe_Wilson @USRepJoeWilson @RepWestmoreland @RepMikeTurner @RepStutzman @RepTimScott @RepDavid @TomRooney @DennyRehberg @benquayle @DevinNunes @CongJeffMiller @RepTomMarino @RepMcClintock @LandryForLA @TomLatham @Raul_Labrador @JackKingston @RepWalterJones @RepHuizenga @RepHultgren @RepMGriffith @RepTrentFranks @RepChuck @RepDanBurton @CongressmanDan @michaelcburgess @RepKevinBrady @Quico_Canseco @DesJarlaisTN04 @RepFincherTN08 @RepJoeBarton @RepJeanSchmidt

Monday, July 25, 2011

Without proof, your god is no different from an imaginary friend, wishful thinking, delusion or no god whatsoever.

Without proof, your god is no different from an imaginary friend, wishful thinking, delusion or no god whatsoever.

christians don't have morality christians don't have morality. Instead, they have obedience to authority and that's what they use as a substitute for genuine morality. It's been demonstrated repeatedly that it is a poor substitute.

christians don't have morality
christians don't have morality. Instead, they have obedience to authority and that's what they use as a substitute for genuine morality. It's been demonstrated repeatedly that it is a poor substitute.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

It cannot be all-just and believe in the idea that guilt can be transferred to someone else. This is not justice, it is obscenity. As Christopher Hitchens has pointed out so eloquently, I can, if I am very generous, take your punishment on your behalf, but I can never assume your responsibility for the crime. To do so would be to undermine the very basis of morality, which assumes that we are responsible for our own actions.

It cannot be all-just and believe in the idea that guilt can be transferred to someone else. This is not justice, it is obscenity. As Christopher Hitchens has pointed out so eloquently, I can, if I am very generous, take your punishment on your behalf, but I can never assume your responsibility for the crime. To do so would be to undermine the very basis of morality, which assumes that we are responsible for our own actions.

How can I make such a definitive statement? It is because, unlike some deist god who doesn’t intervene in the universe and whose existence or non-existence would therefore be entirely untestable, the Christian god is pretty clearly defined.

Since you write 'God’ with a capital G, I assume you are thinking of the Christian god? If so, I am absolutely certain it does not exist.

How can I make such a definitive statement? It is because, unlike some deist god who doesn’t intervene in the universe and whose existence or non-existence would therefore be entirely untestable, the Christian god is pretty clearly defined.

It is all-powerful
It is all-loving
It is all-knowing
It is all-just
It is the source of absolute morality
It created our universe and everything in it, including everything that lives
It is omni-present
It longs to be known and for us to believe in it
It answers prayers
It occasionally performs miracles
It heals
It was incarnated by means of a virgin
It died and was resurrected 3 days later
In so doing, it absolved us of all guilt for our 'sins’, provided we believe it has
It will judge us all, and those who pass muster (i.e. who believe that their sins have been forgiven through the death and resurrection of Jesus) will spend eternity in heaven and those who don’t (i.e. who don’t believe …) will spend eternity in hell.

And probably more besides. This gives us a lot of claims that are testable, by empirical experiment and by logic. If such a god existed, it should be possible to demonstrate the fact, because there is plenty here to work with. But the fact is, such a god fails at every turn.

Prayers demonstrably do not get answered more than we would expect through sheer chance.

Faith healing demonstrably does not work more than we would expect through sheer chance and placebo effect.

Alleged miracles are always totally lacking in reliable evidence.

Even theologians have acknowledged that this god cannot be all-knowing AND all-powerful AND all-loving because otherwise there simply could not be so much suffering in the world.

Evidence shows that living forms were not created but evolved; any suggestion that God drove the process of evolution would again immediately categorically contradict the characteristics of omnipotence and omnibenevolence, since evolution proceeds through the application of cruelty (remember: evolution is a statement of reality, not of desirability).

It cannot both long to be known and be all powerful and all knowing and yet STILL remain hidden to us
It cannot be just and yet consign any living being to eternal hell (no one – LITERALLY no one) has ever been so bad as to make that a just and commensurate punishment; and a punishment that isn’t proportionate to the crime is by definition unjust).

For the same reason it cannot be all-loving.

It cannot be all-just and believe in the idea that guilt can be transferred to someone else. This is not justice, it is obscenity. As Christopher Hitchens has pointed out so eloquently, I can, if I am very generous, take your punishment on your behalf, but I can never assume your responsibility for the crime. To do so would be to undermine the very basis of morality, which assumes that we are responsible for our own actions.

Morality has been shown to be a) not absolute and b) not to be remotely dependent on any deity but to have evolved and been shaped through entirely natural processes.

And so I could go on. The Christian God is logically impossible. I cannot say with absolute confidence that there is nothing out there that we might conceivably call a god (though there is not the slightest evidence for one and therefore I don’t believe in one); but even if there were, it could not POSSIBLY be the Christian one. The Christian one is impossible, by its own definition.
THE ULTIMATE BOEING 747
The argument from improbability is the big one. In the traditional
guise of the argument from design, it is easily today's most popular
argument offered in favour of the existence of God and it is seen,
by an amazingly large number of theists, as completely and utterly
convincing. It is indeed a very strong and, I suspect, unanswerable
argument - but in precisely the opposite direction from the theist's
intention. The argument from improbability, properly deployed,
comes close to proving that God does not exist. My name for the
statistical demonstration that God almost certainly does not exist is
the Ultimate Boeing 747 gambit.
The name comes from Fred Hoyle's amusing image of the Boeing
747 and the scrapyard. I am not sure whether Hoyle ever wrote it
down himself, but it was attributed to him by his close colleague
Chandra Wickramasinghe and is presumably authentic.58 Hoyle
said that the probability of life originating on Earth is no greater
than the chance that a hurricane, sweeping through a scrapyard,
would have the luck to assemble a Boeing 747. Others have
borrowed the metaphor to refer to the later evolution of complex
living bodies, where it has a spurious plausibility. The odds against
assembling a fully functioning horse, beetle or ostrich by randomly
shuffling its parts are up there in 747 territory. This, in a nutshell,
is the creationist's favourite argument - an argument that could be
made only by somebody who doesn't understand the first thing
about natural selection: somebody who thinks natural selection is a
theory of chance whereas - in the relevant sense of chance - it is the
opposite.
The creationist misappropriation of the argument from improbability
always takes the same general form, and it doesn't make
any difference if the creationist chooses to masquerade in the
politically expedient fancy dress of 'intelligent design' (ID).* Some
observed phenomenon - often a living creature or one of its more
complex organs, but it could be anything from a molecule up to the
universe itself - is correctly extolled as statistically improbable.
Sometimes the language of information theory is used: the
Darwinian is challenged to explain the source of all the information
Intelligent design has been unkindly described as creationism in a cheap tuxedo.
114 THE G O D D E L U S I O N
in living matter, in the technical sense of information content as a
measure of improbability or 'surprise value'. Or the argument may
invoke the economist's hackneyed motto: there's no such thing as a
free lunch - and Darwinism is accused of trying to get something
for nothing. In fact, as I shall show in this chapter, Darwinian
natural selection is the only known solution to the otherwise unanswerable
riddle of where the information comes from. It turns
out to be the God Hypothesis that tries to get something for
nothing. God tries to have his free lunch and be it too. However
statistically improbable the entity you seek to explain by invoking
a designer, the designer himself has got to be at least as improbable.
God is the Ultimate Boeing 747.
The argument from improbability states that complex things
could not have come about by chance. But many people define
'come about by chance' as a synonym for 'come about in the
absence of deliberate design'. Not surprisingly, therefore, they think
improbability is evidence of design. Darwinian natural selection
shows how wrong this is with respect to biological improbability.
And although Darwinism may not be directly relevant to the
inanimate world - cosmology, for example - it raises our
consciousness in areas outside its original territory of biology.
A deep understanding of Darwinism teaches us to be wary of the
easy assumption that design is the only alternative to chance, and
teaches us to seek out graded ramps of slowly increasing
complexity. Before Darwin, philosophers such as Hume understood
that the improbability of life did not mean it had to be designed,
but they couldn't imagine the alternative. After Darwin, we all
should feel, deep in our bones, suspicious of the very idea of design.
The illusion of design is a trap that has caught us before, and
Darwin should have immunized us by raising our consciousness.
Would that he had succeeded with all of us.

Gay Man Tricks Christian with Strap-On

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

The easy confidence w/ which the #christian knows other religions are false shld condition them 2 question their own..but it doesnt #atheist

The easy confidence w/ which the #christian knows other religions are false shld condition them 2 question their own..but it doesnt #atheist

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Belief, Disbelief, and Denial: Disbelief is Not the Same as Denial Atheist Disbelief in Gods Isn't Always Denial of Gods

Belief, Disbelief, and Denial: Disbelief is Not the Same as Denial
Atheist Disbelief in Gods Isn't Always Denial of Gods

By Austin Cline, About.com Guide

Atheists who try to explain what atheism is and is not encounter significant hurdles created by the failure of so many people to understand basic terms like belief, disbelief, knowledge, and faith. Atheists can't expect people to truly comprehend how atheism is the absence of belief in gods if they don't understand how belief differs from knowledge or how disbelief differs from denial. Atheists who can explain these basic concepts may find it easier to have productive discussions with theists.


The Terms of Debate

What is Belief?1 A belief is the mental attitude that some proposition is true. For every given proposition, every person either has or lacks the mental attitude that it is true. Beliefs may be stronger or weaker, based on evidence or not, reasonable or irrational. Beliefs are a mental representation of the world around you — a belief about the world is the mental attitude that world is structured in some way rather than another. Beliefs are the foundation for action: if you believe something is true, you must be willing to act as if it were true; if you are unwilling to act as thought it were true, you can't really claim to believe it. This is why actions can matter much more than words.

What is Faith?2 Faith can be defined in religious contexts as a type of belief or as trust. Faith as belief is belief without evidence or knowledge. Christians using the term to describe their own beliefs are supposed to be using in the same was a Paul: "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." [Hebrews 11:1] Faith as trust can be trusting that one is taught the truth or trusting that God will fulfill the promises made in the Bible.

What is Knowledge?3 Knowledge is a justified, true belief. To know something, the following three conditions must be true: you must believe it, it must be true, and your belief must be justified. A true belief that is not justified is not knowledge. A false belief that is very justified is not knowledge. Everything you know you necessarily also believe, but not knowing doesn't mean not believing — your belief simply doesn't rise to the state of knowledge.

What is Disbelief?4 Disbelief can be defined broadly as simply not believing or the absence of belief and narrowly as the rejection of belief. The broader sense of disbelief applies when someone lacks the mental attitude that some proposition is true for any reason — including ignorance of the proposition. The narrower sense applies when someone is aware of the proposition but is unable to form the mental attitude that it is true, for example not understanding it or not having enough evidence to accept it. By implication, a person who disbelieves in the narrower sense also disbelieves in the broader sense.

What is Denial? Denial is the positive assertion that some proposition is false and the contradictory is true. A person who denies a proposition does not believe it is true but does believe that the contradictory is true. They may or may not know that the original proposition is false; they may or may not know that the contradictory is true. By implication, a person who denies a proposition disbelieves the proposition in both the broader and narrower senses.


Applying the Concepts

Not Believing vs. Believing Not5: Many have trouble comprehending that "not believing X" doesn't mean the same as "believing not X." The placement of the negative is key: the first means not having the mental attitude that proposition X is true, the second means having the mental attitude that proposition X is false (or put another way, that the contradictory proposition is true). The difference here is between disbelief and denial: the first is disbelief in the broad or narrow sense whereas the second is denial.

What is Theism?6 Theism is the assertion that at least one god of some sort exists; it is the mental attitude that the proposition "at least one god exists" is true. It's not necessarily knowledge. It's not necessarily unwavering. It might be one god or many gods; it might be a personal or an impersonal god. Because there is no middle ground between the presence of a belief and the absence of a belief, everyone is either a theist or not.

What is Atheism?7 A-theism is the disbelief that at least one god exists; it is the absence of the mental attitude that the proposition "at least one god exists" is true. An atheist may claim to know that it is not true but they don't have to. An atheist may claim to know that some types of gods exist but not claim such knowledge about other gods. An atheist may disbelieve because of evidence and logic or because they were indoctrinated.

What is Agnosticism?8 Agnosticism is the absence of knowledge of whether any gods exist or not; an agnostic does not claim to know if the proposition "at least one god exists" is true or false. Because knowledge and belief are separate issues, a lack of knowledge is compatible with both belief and disbelief. An agnostic can believe without claiming to know or not believe without claiming to know. Because there is no middle ground between the presence or absence of knowledge, everyone is either an agnostic or not.