Philosophy
No Soul? I Can Live with That. No Free Will? AHHHHH!!!
Imagine a world where no one believed in free will. Life would no longer have meaning, right? We’d be robots, puppets on a string, living a mockery of a real human existence. And why be moral? After all, if we do something bad, we didn’t freely choose to do it, and so we cannot be […]
3Apr2008 | Admin | 0 comments | Continued
Naturalistic Religion?
[snip] As I examine the nature of our environment, I discover sovereign forces able to create floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, and tsunamis, as well as roses, rainbows, pine trees, and snowflakes, and with this realization I am stirred with a sense of awe, wonder, and reverence. Humans are at the mercy of these natural forces, which […]
26Mar2008 | Admin | 0 comments | Continued
Naturalism, Values and Community
Many atheists have an almost phobic reaction to any discussion of morality. I sympathize with this reaction. Let’s face it, morality is a messy subject. It contains the seeds of condemnation, punishment, alienation and guilt. But we shouldn’t shy away from this discussion just because religion often uses a moral code […]
21Mar2008 | will | 0 comments | Continued
God Indicted for Crimes Against Humanity
Introduction
Does God stand above morality, defining for us what is moral and what is immoral in accordance with His will? Or is morality a characteristic that exists independent of what God wills to be moral or immoral? For at least 25 centuries, these two related questions, or variations thereon, have troubled those of us who […]
Christopher Hitchens - Belief in Belief
A question that interests me very much (and always has) is this: I know that I do not believe in either any god or any religion, and I can give my reasons in a manner that the other side can at least understand, but can the same be said for those who claim that they […]
9Mar2008 | Admin | 0 comments | Continued
Which pew are you in? - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
I must, however, confess that I evolved from being a “reverent agnostic” even as I became aware of these various standard gradations of belief. So where is agnosticism? Again Dawkins comes to our rescue by describing that position as “fence-sitting.” Any doubts about the fact that no God exists, he says, have been reconfirmed by […]
5Mar2008 | Admin | 0 comments | Continued
The Great Books
From the ancient classics to the masterpieces of the 20th century, the Great Books are all the introduction you’ll ever need to the ideas, stories, and discoveries that have shaped modern civilization.
Access the Great books
The God Who Wasn’t There
Bowling for Columbine did it to the gun culture.
Super Size Me did it to fast food.
Now The God Who Wasn’t There does it to religion.
Holding modern Christianity up to a bright spotlight, this bold and often hilarious new film asks the questions few dare to ask.
Your guide through the world of Christendom is former fundamentalist […]
How to Raise an Ideological Warrior
When I was a kid, the theory of evolution was an accepted fact. Given my role as a parenting pundit and grumpy crank, I knew I’d eventually begin delivering statements that start with “when I was a kid…” Still, I never thought I’d be wistful about a time when we all agreed that humans came […]
23Feb2008 | Admin | 0 comments | Continued
Why Do Fundamentalist Christians Hate God So Much?
Fundie Christians are an interesting bunch. On the one hand, they profess to love God “with all their heart,” and yet, on the other, they regularly send around unhinged e-mails about how God causes natural disasters or other tragedies as a way to punish the U.S. for abortion, or “taking prayer out of schools,” or […]
23Feb2008 | Admin | 0 comments | Continued
God’s Problem by Bart Ehrman
Excerpt: ‘God’s Problem’
by Bart Ehrman
Suffering and a Crisis of Faith
If there is an all-powerful and loving God in this world, why is there so much excruciating pain and unspeakable suffering? The problem of suffering has haunted me for a very long time. It was what made me begin to think about religion when I was […]
Christianity Today Critiques Atheism
The Twilight of Atheism
The celebration of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in June 1897 marked the high point of British imperial history. It was a supreme moment of national self-confidence and congratulation. The British had created an empire on which the sun never set, and much of its colorful diversity was on display in the streets […]
Arguing for Atheism - Michael Schermer
There is no position on which people are so immovable as their religious beliefs. There is no more powerful ally one can claim in a debate than Jesus Christ, or God, or Allah, or whatever one calls this supreme being. The religious factions that are growing throughout our land are not using their religious clout […]
14Feb2008 | Admin | 0 comments | Continued
Excerpt from ‘The Portable Atheist’
By Christopher Hitchens
One is continually told, as an unbeliever, that it is old-fashioned to rail against the primitive stupidities and cruelties of religion because after all, in these enlightened times, the old superstitions have died away. Nine times out of ten, in debate with a cleric, one will be told not of some dogma of […]
No Agnostics in Foxholes (or Anywhere Else)
If you understand that there is no evidence, absolutely no evidence, no evidence of any kind, not even a scintilla of a suggestion that there might be some evidence if we only knew where to look, for the existence of anything you might call god (or indeed anything of any supernatural kind) then you are […]
13Feb2008 | Admin | 0 comments | Continued
Frequently asked questions on Naturalism
There is a single, natural world or universe, in which we are completely included.
Q. What is naturalism, anyway? And keep it straightforward!
A. Ok, naturalism is simply the understanding that there exists a single, natural, physical world or universe in which we are completely included. There are not two different worlds, the supernatural and natural. Since […]
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