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The one thing that would make me a believer again
The Friendly Atheist blog notes that the world of film is being treated to yet another take on the Christian rapture. (Didn’t the Left Behind media empire beat that horse to death?) Anyway, watching the horrible trailer for what will undoubtedly be a horrible movie made something occur to me for the first time. According to…
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Biblical morality
The Bible — aside from it’s literary value — is quite simply an incoherent basis for morality. The truth is that everyone — atheist, liberal theist, fundamentalist, whatever — uses their own moral compass to decide what they accept and what they reject. If any Bible-believing Christian tells you otherwise, just ask him or her if a rebellious teenager should be stoned to death.…
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Fear of God
It has been nearly five years since I considered myself a Christian and about two years since I decided I no longer believe in God, heaven, hell, or devils and demons. During that time, I have expressed those thoughts aloud a few times, but only to close friends. I never felt “weird” about saying them. People have asked me if ever had…
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David Attenborough on creationism
“When creationists talk about God, they always instance hummingbirds, or orchids, sunflowers and beautiful things. But I tend to think instead of a parasitic worm that is boring through the eye of a boy sitting on the bank of a river in West Africa, that’s going to make him blind. Are you telling me that the God you believe…
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The myth of American law being based on the Ten Commandments
It’s a common refrain from among religious and political fundamentalists. The so-called ten commandments of the Judeo-Christian religions are supposed to be the bedrock upon which all Western — or at least American — law is based. People who don’t think it through and who have been raised up among such nonsense generally nod in agreement. The argument is important…
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The perfect deity-designed world
This entry is inspired by a chapter in the book 50 Simple Questions for Every Christian, “Is the world fine tuned for life” which suggested an exercise in designing the perfect world for humanity, to show how far ours is from perfect. This really caught my fancy. I want to give it a shot. Part of what follows is shamelessly ripped from…
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Good without God
Atheists and Humanists are fond of saying we can be good without God. This is in response to the assertion of many religionists — especially fundamentalists — that without God there is neither standards of morality nor incentive to be good. I have always thought the problem lies strictly in what one accepts to be true. And of course, since I left Christianity, I have…
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Defining a political stance
For a while now I have been calling myself a liberal and/or progressive. But it just occurred to me that I don’t think that is the best way to describe my political stance. I’m not sure what the best way is, or of there is a best way. More than anything, I see myself as a rationalist. As much as anyone can be rational,…
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The Purpose of Life (a short story)
Yahweh sighed and slouched back in his leather desk chair, rubbing his snow-white bearded chin thoughtfully. “You still don’t understand, Lucifer,” he said. “Let me run through it again.” He rubbed his temples. His good friend Lucifer sat across the desk from him and toyed with the stapler. Lucifer was a bit brash and naïve at times,…
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My own ten commandments (more or less)
This started out as a list of ten general principles for me to live by. I wound up adding a few more. What’s so great about the number ten anyway?
quiet musings
“Take the risk of thinking for yourself; much more happiness, truth, beauty, and wisdom will come to you that way.” —Christopher Hitchens