They See Concepts As Transcendent
Over and over again I see believers talk about concepts as if they exist outside of the mind that conceptualizes them. Morals, meaning, purpose, values, emotions, and the like are most often understood by the secular as constructs created as part of the function of the brain. Without sufficiently intelligent creatures to come up with this stuff, they don’t exist.
I think, to the theist, the concepts are still conceptualized by a mind, but not our minds. They come from the same mind they believe created everything--God’s. For this reason they are understood to be eternal and unchanging because that’s how they see their deity. Concepts that are eternal and unchanging exist whether or not humans or any temporary mind exists and can rightly be seen as being more real than even the universe itself.
I thought believers talk about concepts as if they exist outside of the mind that conceptualizes them, but now I think I was mistaken. I wasn’t considering the mind I don’t believe in. I'm not saying that it's rational or justified, it's just where they are coming from.
They Like Telling Others How They Feel And What They Believe
Christians continue to equate disbelief in God with hate for God. Why do they only confuse these terms in regards to God? They never tell someone who hates ISIS that they don't believe in ISIS. They never tell me I hate Superman because I consider him fictional.
They Like Pretending To Have It Both Ways
Most apologists say God has free will yet does no wrong then say if God made a world without evil he would have to have made us without free will. Using their own reasoning about God, their claim about his inability to make a free, all-good humanity is untrue.
A Christian apologist told me that physical constants and the uniformity of natural laws are evidence for God. A Christian apologist told me that the "constants" varying and natural laws losing their uniformity, what they call miracles, are evidence for God. Imagine if an atheist presented them a similarly structured argument: if x, then God doesn't exist; if not x, then God doesn't exist. How many do you think would accept such an argument?
Showing posts with label blog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blog. Show all posts
Monday, June 1, 2015
Saturday, August 10, 2013
Doubting Solo
This week’s meme got my thinking about Han Solo one-liners.
His quotes apply wonderfully to our world but I can’t quite embrace him as a skeptical role model because, in the Star Wars universe, his is dead wrong. The “hokey religion” in question, the Force, is true. Han had the right idea to doubt the Force because Jedi were inactive during his formative years making the extraordinary claims of the Force a matter of faith. He, rightly, came around when he witnessed his new friends levitating shit.
Theists seem to think atheists are close minded and in denial. We aren’t, we just need that demonstration. It is within God’s power (supposedly) to levitate objects and bend natural law, theists should pray to get him to do it. If I saw someone using the Force I’d immediately drop my career in favor of Jedi training. Likewise, you better believe I’d become a Christian.
Want to convert me? Use the Jesus, theists. If he can’t do it, you might want to rethink his power, influence and existence.
Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid.
Kid, I've flown from one side of this galaxy to the other, and I've seen a lot of strange stuff, but I've never seen *anything* to make me believe that there's one all-powerful Force controlling everything. 'Cause no mystical energy field controls *my* destiny. It's all a lot of simple tricks and nonsense.
I've got a bad feeling about this.
Theists seem to think atheists are close minded and in denial. We aren’t, we just need that demonstration. It is within God’s power (supposedly) to levitate objects and bend natural law, theists should pray to get him to do it. If I saw someone using the Force I’d immediately drop my career in favor of Jedi training. Likewise, you better believe I’d become a Christian.
Want to convert me? Use the Jesus, theists. If he can’t do it, you might want to rethink his power, influence and existence.
Monday, July 22, 2013
Blogs to Check Out
I've become a regular reader of a few blogs that I don't think I've mentioned before. I thought I'd share.
Young Blogs
Big Bang God
I found this guy on Google+. His blog is only a month old at the time of this post, but I think he'll keep it up for a while. He obviously likes writing and notes that his posts shouldn't be taken too seriously, which I generally like about anyone--atheist or not.
Married An Atheist
Weighing in at only seven posts so far, this is another newbie. It's also the only non-atheist blog on the list. The author is a Christian who is chronicling her relationship and outlining her philosophy as the wife of an atheist. She might not think like us, but she is obviously friendly towards us (as long as you are friendly towards her.)
Godless In Dixie
This blog wins the most professional newb award. The posts are longer-form, well spoken and in some cases even researched. I'm hardly the first to mention this rising atheist voice, I found it via Atheist Revolution.
Secular Sunshine
We need more women voices in the atheist community, which is one of the reasons I have high hopes that this blog grows strong. Generally new blogs cover ground that has already been covered by everyone else, but this author has already found outside-the-box topics.
Established Blogs
A Particular Blog By A Particular Atheist
This is a great blog if you are interested in religion-related current events from an atheist perspective. Judging from the news cycle, I doubt he'll run out of stuff to say anytime soon. Good editorial work as well.
God Is A Myth
An ex-Pentecostal evangelist still has a lot to say 3+ years into blogging. I get the impression he's trying to make "ex"s of other religious types.
I Am An Atheist And This Is Why
If you like my blog, you'll probably like this one. We are bothered by and therefore cover a lot of the same topics and in no particular order. The author's name is Christian, which makes it worth reading just for the irony.
Atheism And The City
This is a great read if you are tired of apologetics...or if you want to become tired of it. The author covers all kinds of atheist topics, but often comes back to philosophy, logic and refuting theistic arguments.
My Secret Atheist Blog
This is one of the best atheist news and opinion blogs out there, but you might need a Canadian connection to get the most out of it.
Check these sites out and if you like what you see, let them know. Comment on their posts, write them an email, click through an ad, share to your social network, something. Especially for the younger blogs, it's hard to find motivation to keep writing if they don't know any one's out there. Same goes for all the great bloggers I've interviewed in the past. Hell, same goes for me. :-)
Young Blogs
Big Bang God
I found this guy on Google+. His blog is only a month old at the time of this post, but I think he'll keep it up for a while. He obviously likes writing and notes that his posts shouldn't be taken too seriously, which I generally like about anyone--atheist or not.
Married An Atheist
Weighing in at only seven posts so far, this is another newbie. It's also the only non-atheist blog on the list. The author is a Christian who is chronicling her relationship and outlining her philosophy as the wife of an atheist. She might not think like us, but she is obviously friendly towards us (as long as you are friendly towards her.)
Godless In Dixie
This blog wins the most professional newb award. The posts are longer-form, well spoken and in some cases even researched. I'm hardly the first to mention this rising atheist voice, I found it via Atheist Revolution.
Secular Sunshine
We need more women voices in the atheist community, which is one of the reasons I have high hopes that this blog grows strong. Generally new blogs cover ground that has already been covered by everyone else, but this author has already found outside-the-box topics.
Established Blogs
A Particular Blog By A Particular Atheist
This is a great blog if you are interested in religion-related current events from an atheist perspective. Judging from the news cycle, I doubt he'll run out of stuff to say anytime soon. Good editorial work as well.
God Is A Myth
An ex-Pentecostal evangelist still has a lot to say 3+ years into blogging. I get the impression he's trying to make "ex"s of other religious types.
I Am An Atheist And This Is Why
If you like my blog, you'll probably like this one. We are bothered by and therefore cover a lot of the same topics and in no particular order. The author's name is Christian, which makes it worth reading just for the irony.
Atheism And The City
This is a great read if you are tired of apologetics...or if you want to become tired of it. The author covers all kinds of atheist topics, but often comes back to philosophy, logic and refuting theistic arguments.
My Secret Atheist Blog
This is one of the best atheist news and opinion blogs out there, but you might need a Canadian connection to get the most out of it.
Check these sites out and if you like what you see, let them know. Comment on their posts, write them an email, click through an ad, share to your social network, something. Especially for the younger blogs, it's hard to find motivation to keep writing if they don't know any one's out there. Same goes for all the great bloggers I've interviewed in the past. Hell, same goes for me. :-)
Monday, June 24, 2013
Putting the "c" Back in Schmeity
Link to related content they tell me. Research SEO they tell me. Post daily and engage readers they tell me. Bah! I have ideas of my own, successful blog people! Here’s one: I’ll scale back on content creation while simultaneously starting a new blog!
And this is why they don’t invite me to Blogging Conferences.
Let me back-up. I started Deity Shmeity with the intention of posting my thoughts on various religious topics for reference when arguing with apologists. It was to be a debating database, if you will, but over time that changed. Interview projects, cross-post throwdowns and my personal struggle with Attention Deficient Disorder all contributed to the evolution of this site’s purpose. That is, if you believe in evolution.
Turns out I had a lot to say on Deity Shmeity. I posted everyday for some time. Then I posted every weekday. Then thrice weekly. Now twice. I still have stuff to say, don’t get me wrong, but clearly not as much. There are only so many ways to say that God isn't real. In an effort to avoid filling these digital pages with unoriginal ideas and C-material, I’m scaling back to a commitment of one post a week with a likelihood of two. I’m thinking a Monday and/or Wednesday schedule. I figure this is better than burning myself out grasping for every atheist thought in my head until I finally stop writing altogether. (Looking at you, Johnny Reason.) Actually, a bunch of atheist blogs suffer creative heat death on the web. Who am I kidding? Most blogs in general suffer the same fate. What’s cool about the atheist blogosphere is that for every blog that goes under, two more take it’s place. I do routine searches for atheist blogs and find new ones launching every week. That’s the momentum of god-skeptics in our culture and why I feel, as my tagline clearly states, that one day we’ll all be atheists.
That said, only a maniac would start a new blog while admitting his post tank is running dry, right? Color me maniacal. I’ve recently set up a Wordpress site to serve as a more polished outlet for my stuff. I even spelled it how most people think this site should be spelled--Deity Schmeity. Where Deity Shmeity will continue to have new, amaturely written, short-form posts; Deity Schmeity will have old, professionally edited, long-form articles. Confusing, yes? Perfect!
And this is why they don’t invite me to Blogging Conferences.
Let me back-up. I started Deity Shmeity with the intention of posting my thoughts on various religious topics for reference when arguing with apologists. It was to be a debating database, if you will, but over time that changed. Interview projects, cross-post throwdowns and my personal struggle with Attention Deficient Disorder all contributed to the evolution of this site’s purpose. That is, if you believe in evolution.
Turns out I had a lot to say on Deity Shmeity. I posted everyday for some time. Then I posted every weekday. Then thrice weekly. Now twice. I still have stuff to say, don’t get me wrong, but clearly not as much. There are only so many ways to say that God isn't real. In an effort to avoid filling these digital pages with unoriginal ideas and C-material, I’m scaling back to a commitment of one post a week with a likelihood of two. I’m thinking a Monday and/or Wednesday schedule. I figure this is better than burning myself out grasping for every atheist thought in my head until I finally stop writing altogether. (Looking at you, Johnny Reason.) Actually, a bunch of atheist blogs suffer creative heat death on the web. Who am I kidding? Most blogs in general suffer the same fate. What’s cool about the atheist blogosphere is that for every blog that goes under, two more take it’s place. I do routine searches for atheist blogs and find new ones launching every week. That’s the momentum of god-skeptics in our culture and why I feel, as my tagline clearly states, that one day we’ll all be atheists.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends
Thanksgiving is a couple days away and I wanted to make this post live before I get gravy all over my keyboard. Thank you for reading. I sincerely mean it. I’ve written other blogs in the past covering different subject matter, but it wasn’t until Deity Shmeity that I’ve been completely engaged in my own material. Miraculously, other people seem engaged as well, and I don’t even believe in miracles.
I’ve read a number of other sites promoting my stuff unsolicited. The unsolicited bit is what really warms my heart. All too often in the blogging world favors quid pro quo. The friends I’ve made in the atheist community care about spreading an honest assessment of reality above all personal notoriety. I’d like to thank a few blog regulars personally.
My number one commenter in both quality and quality is Hausdorff. In addition to providing his own content for Deity Shmeity, he is one of my Muses for the content I provide. Every time I think I’m running out of blogging steam, I find that Haus’ Bible Blog is ratcheting it up! In the past couple months he has started a companion podcast and added the perspective of rival commentaries to his own. I can’t quit now, I’d be a chump.
Speaking of chumps, I also like Reason-Being. (j/k, RB) Some call him Johnny Reason, others Logical Being, but whatever you call the author of Reason-Being.com, he is another clear favorite. He is the first atheist blogger I digitally met, but not the last. He’s introduced me to so many interesting infidels that it inspired my atheist interview series. His blog is an inspiration in it’s own right, and by inspiration I mean that I’ve stolen a bunch of ideas from it.
The Wise Fool is too smart to be contained by one blog and it shows. Thankfully he spreads the intellectual wealth to my comments regularly.
Vjack lends credibility to Deity Shmeity by simply offering a loose association to Atheist Revolution. (I’m on his blogroll.) It’s a site with so much cred, even theists don’t hate it...usually.
Bitchspot is a more recent favorite of mine. His posts challenge me in ways some of the others don’t and have inspired a more biting criticism in my own writing.
Now I must decide to continue listing names thereby cheapening the few I’ve already mentioned, or sign off with a non-committal blanket statement. I choose the latter. To all those who have taken the time to do interviews for Deity Shmeity, I thank you. Your time has provided value to my little corner of the web. The interviews are on hiatus for a while, but I will be posting a “turn-the-tables” interview in which each of my friends listed have submitted questions. I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday season, no matter which weird belief your holiday was originally based. :-)
I’ve read a number of other sites promoting my stuff unsolicited. The unsolicited bit is what really warms my heart. All too often in the blogging world favors quid pro quo. The friends I’ve made in the atheist community care about spreading an honest assessment of reality above all personal notoriety. I’d like to thank a few blog regulars personally.
My number one commenter in both quality and quality is Hausdorff. In addition to providing his own content for Deity Shmeity, he is one of my Muses for the content I provide. Every time I think I’m running out of blogging steam, I find that Haus’ Bible Blog is ratcheting it up! In the past couple months he has started a companion podcast and added the perspective of rival commentaries to his own. I can’t quit now, I’d be a chump.
Speaking of chumps, I also like Reason-Being. (j/k, RB) Some call him Johnny Reason, others Logical Being, but whatever you call the author of Reason-Being.com, he is another clear favorite. He is the first atheist blogger I digitally met, but not the last. He’s introduced me to so many interesting infidels that it inspired my atheist interview series. His blog is an inspiration in it’s own right, and by inspiration I mean that I’ve stolen a bunch of ideas from it.
The Wise Fool is too smart to be contained by one blog and it shows. Thankfully he spreads the intellectual wealth to my comments regularly.
Vjack lends credibility to Deity Shmeity by simply offering a loose association to Atheist Revolution. (I’m on his blogroll.) It’s a site with so much cred, even theists don’t hate it...usually.
Bitchspot is a more recent favorite of mine. His posts challenge me in ways some of the others don’t and have inspired a more biting criticism in my own writing.
Now I must decide to continue listing names thereby cheapening the few I’ve already mentioned, or sign off with a non-committal blanket statement. I choose the latter. To all those who have taken the time to do interviews for Deity Shmeity, I thank you. Your time has provided value to my little corner of the web. The interviews are on hiatus for a while, but I will be posting a “turn-the-tables” interview in which each of my friends listed have submitted questions. I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday season, no matter which weird belief your holiday was originally based. :-)
Monday, October 1, 2012
Mortality Week: Afterdeath
Welcome to Mortality Week! (not to be confused with my past theme of Morality Week) Everyday this week I'll be posting articles relating to what it means to be mortal. Mostly it means we're gonna die. Death is certain. The afterlife? Less so.
Grundy on the Christian Afterlife
I was a Christian for twenty years and I still don’t have a clear picture of heaven. The bible is somewhat contradictory and somewhat vague on the topic. The church has done it’s best to fill in the blanks, but “the” church is really just “a” church and every denomination is a bit different. If I had to cobble together a consensus, all I can say about heaven is that “it’s nice.”
A believer would probably say that it’s perfect, but my perfect might not be your perfect--but we are probably going by God’s perfect which likely isn’t either of ours perfect. Last time the Almighty made paradise it had an evil, talking snake in it, so I’m not making any assumptions.
Then we have the problem of eternity. I call it omni-bordeom, because you can, and will, have too much of a good thing. The are only two ways around this. One is a divine-lobotomy that takes away your ability to become bored, but once we get into God fundamentally changing who you are, can we say that it is really you that lives past this mortal coil. The other option is continuing the human tradition of shitty memories. I might live forever, but I’ll only remember the past fifty years or so. This undermines the idea of both eternity and perfection, but it’s better than getting sick of your favorite movie.
Grundy on the Muslim Afterlife
72 virgins, right? Better comedians than I have written every joke that can be written about the Muslim afterlife. Honestly, I have a feeling there is more to it than non-Muslims think. I’m not saying that it isn’t a stupid and misogynistic view of the hereafter, but it could very well be not stupid and misogynistic in quite the way I imagine. Until I’m more educated, no comment, but I’m pretty sure they suffer from the same downsides of eternal life.
Grundy on the Hindu Afterlife
Like Islam, my understanding of Hinduism is that of an American outsider. At first glance, I kinda wish it was true. The idea of Karma is the fairest motivator to be moral in all the religious traditions. Instead of our acts for the span of 0 to 100 years being the subject of judgment to determine our next infinity of years, we have a system of judging one life to determine the starting point of our next life. We trade the two extreme options of heaven and hell, to a sliding scale. If an afterlife exists, I’d like it to be this one...but I’m not holding my breath.
Grundy on the Atheist Afterlife Death
When I tell people that I believe that nothing happens to us when we die, it is usually met with some variation of “that’s depressing.” (This is often coming from people who think everlasting punishment is an option.) Depressing or not, we have no reason to believe that we have a soul or spirit or anything more than what our living brain provides. Wishful thinking does not dictate reality. Even if you find some argument for God convincing, which you shouldn’t, that doesn’t mean an afterlife is a given. Just because something is eternal, doesn’t mean that we are. The only reason almost every religion connects an appealing afterlife with their God, is because we wouldn’t worship the God or obey the religious leaders otherwise.
Am I glad that there probably is no afterlife? Not particularly. I’d rather have reincarnation or some reunion with lost friends, but not at the expense of knowing that others could be unjustly suffering. Hell is universally unjust.
Hitler doesn’t deserve eternal torment. There, I said it. I’m not sure what he deserves. Maybe an ass full of red hot coals. Maybe a painful death and rebirth for every Jew who died in the Holocaust and every soldier who died in World War II. That would be an “eye for an eye” revenge that only a supernatural deity could exact. This would be overkill, pardon the pun, but it would still be infinitely more just and humane then eternal torture. I don’t think believers ever quite wrap their brains around “forever,” if they did I’d expect a lot more objections.
No afterlife is at once more depressing and more comforting than most religious alternatives, but not by design. Atheists hold certain beliefs because there is no evidence to believe otherwise. The afterlife will forever be beyond our knowledge. It is up to you to either believe your preference, or to go with the most educated guess.
Grundy on the Christian Afterlife
I was a Christian for twenty years and I still don’t have a clear picture of heaven. The bible is somewhat contradictory and somewhat vague on the topic. The church has done it’s best to fill in the blanks, but “the” church is really just “a” church and every denomination is a bit different. If I had to cobble together a consensus, all I can say about heaven is that “it’s nice.”
A believer would probably say that it’s perfect, but my perfect might not be your perfect--but we are probably going by God’s perfect which likely isn’t either of ours perfect. Last time the Almighty made paradise it had an evil, talking snake in it, so I’m not making any assumptions.
Then we have the problem of eternity. I call it omni-bordeom, because you can, and will, have too much of a good thing. The are only two ways around this. One is a divine-lobotomy that takes away your ability to become bored, but once we get into God fundamentally changing who you are, can we say that it is really you that lives past this mortal coil. The other option is continuing the human tradition of shitty memories. I might live forever, but I’ll only remember the past fifty years or so. This undermines the idea of both eternity and perfection, but it’s better than getting sick of your favorite movie.
Grundy on the Muslim Afterlife
72 virgins, right? Better comedians than I have written every joke that can be written about the Muslim afterlife. Honestly, I have a feeling there is more to it than non-Muslims think. I’m not saying that it isn’t a stupid and misogynistic view of the hereafter, but it could very well be not stupid and misogynistic in quite the way I imagine. Until I’m more educated, no comment, but I’m pretty sure they suffer from the same downsides of eternal life.
Grundy on the Hindu Afterlife
Like Islam, my understanding of Hinduism is that of an American outsider. At first glance, I kinda wish it was true. The idea of Karma is the fairest motivator to be moral in all the religious traditions. Instead of our acts for the span of 0 to 100 years being the subject of judgment to determine our next infinity of years, we have a system of judging one life to determine the starting point of our next life. We trade the two extreme options of heaven and hell, to a sliding scale. If an afterlife exists, I’d like it to be this one...but I’m not holding my breath.
 |
| Via Flea Snobbery |
When I tell people that I believe that nothing happens to us when we die, it is usually met with some variation of “that’s depressing.” (This is often coming from people who think everlasting punishment is an option.) Depressing or not, we have no reason to believe that we have a soul or spirit or anything more than what our living brain provides. Wishful thinking does not dictate reality. Even if you find some argument for God convincing, which you shouldn’t, that doesn’t mean an afterlife is a given. Just because something is eternal, doesn’t mean that we are. The only reason almost every religion connects an appealing afterlife with their God, is because we wouldn’t worship the God or obey the religious leaders otherwise.
Am I glad that there probably is no afterlife? Not particularly. I’d rather have reincarnation or some reunion with lost friends, but not at the expense of knowing that others could be unjustly suffering. Hell is universally unjust.
Hitler doesn’t deserve eternal torment. There, I said it. I’m not sure what he deserves. Maybe an ass full of red hot coals. Maybe a painful death and rebirth for every Jew who died in the Holocaust and every soldier who died in World War II. That would be an “eye for an eye” revenge that only a supernatural deity could exact. This would be overkill, pardon the pun, but it would still be infinitely more just and humane then eternal torture. I don’t think believers ever quite wrap their brains around “forever,” if they did I’d expect a lot more objections.
No afterlife is at once more depressing and more comforting than most religious alternatives, but not by design. Atheists hold certain beliefs because there is no evidence to believe otherwise. The afterlife will forever be beyond our knowledge. It is up to you to either believe your preference, or to go with the most educated guess.
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