Category: Religion
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The nightmare
Spoiler alert: I’m writing about a nightmare I had, but it’s incomplete because I forgot part of it. This probably won’t be of much interest to anyone; I mostly posted it here for myself. But if you’re curious, read on to get some insight into a godless mind. In seven or so years of being godless, I have never once been…
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Humans as pattern seeking devices
So much of the human experience can be explained by one simple fact: the human mind is basically a pattern-seeking device — and a very good one. We like to think of our minds as computers, but we operate on a completely different paradigm. The utility of a conscious mind — which is very costly in terms of the energy consumed by the wetware…
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A creator worthy of creation
Christians sometimes ask how anyone can gaze into the heavens, at the incredible vastness of space and the innumerable stars and galaxies, and not see a Creator. To me, it’s just the opposite. My question is, “how can anyone look upon all that and see behind it a god who throws tantrums over whether or not humans eat…
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Why I mock religion
I’m not normally one who mocks anyone or anything. But much of what I write here can (rightfully) be called mocking of religion, and more specifically of Christianity. Most of the time, I’m poking fun at a particular branch of Christianity — that of fundamentalism, or as I am prone to call its adherents, “fundies.” Why do I do this? I suppose…
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On dualism
I had a brief exchange with a good friend on Facebook recently. My friend is basically a freethinker like me and, I believe, an agnostic. But one area where we disagree centers on the issue of dualism, or the notion that the mind is somehow separate from the physical brain. I don’t want to do my friend the disservice of…
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Where are the miracles?
Does God exist? As many people on all sides of the “does God exist” debates have agreed, I personally believe that this is something which will never be definitively proved or disproved. To use some legal terminology, that leaves a lower standard of provenance: rather than showing proof beyond a reasonable doubt, we are more concerned with the preponderance…
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“Sometimes God doesn’t answer prayers” (you think?)
Long time no post. I hope to pick up the pace a bit in the coming weeks and months. Maybe. Anyway, the point of this post is to respond to something I saw a while back on Facebook. A friend of a friend posted a long, rambling, circular-reasoned piece of drivel about why God doesn’t always answer prayer. Here’s an excerpt to…
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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 the…
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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. The…
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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…