… or, Why Some Atheist are Wrong about what Matters Most.

Christianity makes broad claims about its power to change people and situations. The single largest disproof of our faith lives in its failure to do so, especially in the West. If our faith is proven by experience, then there in lies the realm of disproof. But please take into account the affects of nominalism in all truth-systems and the universal warnings against it in all wisdom traditions. At their heart, no faith endorses such living. There are even atheists that refuse to live by what they know to be true and good to the peril of us all. Nominalism, wherever it exists, is just a fancy name for cowardice, apathy, complacentcy, and laziness which are always contemptable and tradmarked by no system of thought. (Soulster, How to Talk to Believers)

Soulster’s ‘How to’ stands out as a fantastic piece on how to promote the development of atheist/believer relations.

Read it.

And Continue reading Erring on the Side of Truth: A Mistake

Frank Walton of Atheism Sucks! briefly stopped by to link to his views on The Rational Response Squad’s Gift of Life Day. After reading a few posts at Walton’s blog, I saw his reaction to the ‘debate’ between Richard Dawkins and Bill ‘falafel’ O’Reilly (you can read my more visceral reaction here). In this post I wish to firmly argue in favor of Dawkins’ position – even though I think he communicated his message very poorly to a demagogue. Much has been made (and Walton’s post and subsequent comments are a prime example) of Dawkins’ words ‘We’re working on it.’ What I think Dawkins failed to communicate was that science is always working on it; there is no finality to discovering the Truth.

Continue reading Dawkins & O’Reilly

We want to make a public statement about how nonreligious people can observe the so-called National Day of Prayer, which we have renamed Gift of Life Day… So on that day, we atheists will be engaging in action that we can prove scientifically has real-life impact on our fellow citizens. (Brian Sapient of The Rational Response Squad)

I’d love to see both atheists and Christians (Matthew 26:28“This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”) get behind this: Donate blood on May 3rd!

There are four options you can take on this day: (1) Participate in The National Day of Prayer, which is scientifically provenThe Templeton Foundation spent ten years and $2.4 million, only to grasp the obvious: “prayers offered by strangers had no effect on the recovery of people who were undergoing heart surgery.” (The New York Times 3/31/2006) to be ineffective“Even in the best studies, the evidence of an association between religion, spirituality, and health is weak and inconsistent. … [I]t is premature to promote faith and religion as adjunctive medical treatments.” (Lancet, 2/20/1999), something I personally think is a waste of time; (2) Give blood, which saves lives; (3) Spend the morning in prayer or quiet meditation, then go out and give some blood; (4) Do nothing, go to work, come home, watch TV, then go to sleep, all this time living in apathy.

I suggest taking option #2.

How, by being an atheist in support of the ACLU and Americans United, I am religion’s greatest friend. (This post is a few days old; I had a few things I had to catch up on, so I delayed publishing this piece. It was meant to be a part of the Blog Against Theocracy blogswarm.)

Continue reading The First Amendment

Ellen and Oprah, out of their shear magnanimity, have uncovered and shared with the humble masses “The Secret” (http://www.thesecret.tv) which has given untold wealth and success to all its bearers from ancient times untold. This 90-minute movie, made by down-and-out TV-producer Rhonda Byrne, reveals the amazing “Law of Attraction” upon which all the universe apparently rests, unbeknownst to most. This law alone, through the power of positive emotion, can attract to you love, health, bicycles, cars, houses, success, money, and more – all that you desire and the universe longs to give.

Continue reading Selling “The Secret”

(Que announcer) Producer James Cameron, creator of Titanic, is teaming up with provocative director Simcha Jacobovici to bring to light a startling new discovery that will shake the very foundations of Christianity. Deep in a hidden cave, 10 stone coffins tell a shocking tale about Jesus of Nazareth — founder of the Christian religion. Did Jesus really rise from the dead like the church says? (Tone of voice hints no.) Was there something going on between him and Mary Magdelene? (Tone hints yes.) And is it possible Jesus had a son? (Hinting yes again.) Cameron is willing to boldly dig up the truth in this daring documentary and peal back church cover-ups and a conspiracy that has ruled the world for two thousand years. Watch the Discovery Channel to find out about these amazing new discoveries….

Continue reading Jesus is dead?

Up to this point on this blog, I have been cautious to be honest but not say too much about my experience as a follower of Jesus. The order of first importance was establishing a base we might call “trust,” as far as that is possible in the cyber world. To those outside of any religion, the theology and practice of the faith seems foolish. Even a great deal of what a Buddhist thinks escapes me, and more about how their practice has any real benefit to them or the world. Therefore, to speak too soon in any mixed crowd is to come off foolish. Now that we have engaged in several “conversations”, I hope that, even though not all would agree with me, most would not think me stupid in what I have to say. With that said, I am going to begin introducing more of my thoughts and experiences of faith open to the general friendly critique and questions of all.

There is a key way that I think I experience God. It might be termed “emergence,” but really I have no good terminology for it save the theological term “revelation”. Over the course of a day or several days or a week or more time, a pattern of experiences and thoughts will emerge that are interrelated. They seem to be saying something to me. Usually it is something of immediate relevance to my life and development. Often it will be needed in the next conversation or in engagement with an issue in coming hours or days. It is seldom anything I am thinking about before hand - before the first occurrence warms me to it. And then, while I am still pondering the first, more will occur in astounding frequency and clarity.

Continue reading The IS/OUGHT Dichotomy

The history of the world does not begin until the Shoah. It is the culmination of two thousand years of hatred and violence towards Jews, but the beginning of how Jews choose to survive in a world that thinks of them as a cancer. Everything today is understood in this light. As the engraving at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, the first Holocaust memorial, reads, ‘Forgetfulness is the way to exile. Remembrance is the way to redemption.’ No one has ever given the Jews anything but sorrow.

I’ll be giving a brief overview on my thoughts on the subject, along with my impression of the general Jewish attitude the world at large. I could have talked about the religious implications for so many Jews and how some have rejected or refined their religion; I could have talked about the Shoah itself, but I will do neither of these things. This isn’t the time or the place. So sit tight for a bit and listen.

Continue reading We Don’t Turn the Other Cheek

While soulster detailed in Cooperative Problem Solving: Church Sex Scandals a Christian’s view of sex scandals within the church, I’d like to push the boundaries a bit and focus on something a bit more probing: homosexuality.

Continue reading Under Pressure

I stumbled upon a Nova program entitled “What About God?” on Google Video which details students from conservative Christian backgrounds encountering evolutionary theory at Wheaton College, a conservative Christian university in the Midwest: watch it here [PBS/Nova | 54 min]. If you watch this program with very human eyes, it will give some keen insight into the issues at stake for Christians concerning evolutionary theory.

Continue reading Faith Struggling with Evolution