Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
toward a clearer understanding of reality
the rev’s faves
The Age of Reason
Thomas Paine
Some Mistakes of Moses
Robert Ingersoll
The God Delusion
Richard Dawkins
The Demon Haunted World
Carl Sagan
Awareness
Thomas Paine
Some Mistakes of Moses
Robert Ingersoll
The God Delusion
Richard Dawkins
The Demon Haunted World
Carl Sagan
Awareness
Anthony deMello
Breaking the Spell
Daniel C. Dennett
Freethought Across the Centuries
Gerald A. Larue
The Sins of Scripture
John Spong
Jesus for the Non Religious
Daniel C. Dennett
Freethought Across the Centuries
Gerald A. Larue
The Sins of Scripture
John Spong
Jesus for the Non Religious
John Spong
Doubt
Jennifer Michael Hecht
The Atheist’s Way: Living Well Without Gods
Jennifer Michael Hecht
The Atheist’s Way: Living Well Without Gods
Eric Maisel
Atheist Universe
David Mills
Atheism: The Case Against God
George H. Smith
Natural Atheism
David Eller
David Mills
Atheism: The Case Against God
George H. Smith
Natural Atheism
David Eller
Atheist Manifesto
Michel Onfray
A History of God
Karen Armstrong
A History of God
Karen Armstrong
The Spiral Staircase
Karen Armstrong
The End of Faith
Sam Harris
Letter to a Christian Nation
Sam Harris
Ishmael
Daniel Quinn
A Short History of Nearly Everything
Bill Bryson
The Guru Papers: Masks of Authoritarian Power
Joel Kramer & Diana Alstad
God is Not Great
Christopher Hitchens
50 Reasons People Give for Believing in God
The End of Faith
Sam Harris
Letter to a Christian Nation
Sam Harris
Ishmael
Daniel Quinn
A Short History of Nearly Everything
Bill Bryson
The Guru Papers: Masks of Authoritarian Power
Joel Kramer & Diana Alstad
God is Not Great
Christopher Hitchens
50 Reasons People Give for Believing in God
Guy P. Harrison
Being Peace
Thich Nhat Hanh
The Miracle of Mindfulness
Thich Nhat Hanh
The Reason Driven Life
Robert Price
The Conquest of Happiness
Bertrand Russell
Ken’s Guide to the Bible
Ken Smith
Losing Faith in Faith
Dan Barker
Thich Nhat Hanh
The Miracle of Mindfulness
Thich Nhat Hanh
The Reason Driven Life
Robert Price
The Conquest of Happiness
Bertrand Russell
Ken’s Guide to the Bible
Ken Smith
Losing Faith in Faith
Dan Barker
Godless
Dan Barker
Pagan Christs
J.M. Robertson
Treatise on the Gods
H.L. Mencken
The Christ Conspiracy
Acharya S.
The Jesus Mysteries Was the original Jesus a Pagan God?
Timothy Freke & Peter Gandy
The Road Less Traveled
Scott Peck
Is Belief in God Good, Bad or Irrelevant
Edited by Preston Jones
Godless (age 12 and up)
Pete Hautman
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Robert M. Pirsig
How We Believe: The Search for God in an Age of Science
Michael Shermer
Religion Explained
Pascal Boyer
The Hero’s Journey
Joseph Campbell
The True Believer
Eric Hoffer
Holy Horrors
James Haught
Pagan Christs
J.M. Robertson
Treatise on the Gods
H.L. Mencken
The Christ Conspiracy
Acharya S.
The Jesus Mysteries Was the original Jesus a Pagan God?
Timothy Freke & Peter Gandy
The Road Less Traveled
Scott Peck
Is Belief in God Good, Bad or Irrelevant
Edited by Preston Jones
Godless (age 12 and up)
Pete Hautman
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Robert M. Pirsig
How We Believe: The Search for God in an Age of Science
Michael Shermer
Religion Explained
Pascal Boyer
The Hero’s Journey
Joseph Campbell
The True Believer
Eric Hoffer
Holy Horrors
James Haught
Crazy for God
Frank Schaeffer
Your Inner Fish
Neil Shubin
A Guide to the Good Life:
the ancient art of stoic joy
William B. Irvine
This is Water
David Foster Wallace
Nickel and Dimed
Barbara Ehrenreich
links to enlightenment
10 reasons christianity is toxic
10 reasons Christianity is toxic
1. Christianity is INHERENTLY DIVISIVE as believers are promised eternal bliss and nonbelievers eternal torture.
2. Christianity INDUCES UNWARRANTED GUILT AND FEAR by asserting that a Cosmic Judge watches one’s every move and knows one’s every thought.
3. Christianity OBSCURES TRUTH AND PROMOTES FALSEHOODS by diverting focus from the natural (real) to the supernatural (unreal).
4. Christianity DEBASES HUMANITY by condemning us as sinners worthy of eternal damnation.
5. Christianity BREEDS A FALSE SENSE OF IMPORTANCE by asserting that The King of the Universe knew each of us intimately before we were born, knows the numbers of hairs on our head, has a special plan for us, loves us, watches us, listens to our every word, desperately wants a personal relationship with us and even promises to give us anything we ask for (Mt 21.22).
6. Christianity’s assertion that the Devil is real ALLOWS FOR THE LITERAL DEMONIZING of others.
7. Christianity PROVIDES THE ULTIMATE JUSTIFICATION FOR EVILS of all kinds (such as the vilifying of homosexuals and the subjection of women).
8. Christianity’s THREAT OF HELL HARDENS HEARTS and causes others mental anguish.
9. Christianity PROVIDES COVER FOR ABUSES OF ALL KINDS as evidenced by thousands of sexual abuse cases in the last few years alone.
10. Christianity LEGITIMIZES FRAUD as evidenced by countless insincere televangelists and church leaders.
1. Christianity is INHERENTLY DIVISIVE as believers are promised eternal bliss and nonbelievers eternal torture.
2. Christianity INDUCES UNWARRANTED GUILT AND FEAR by asserting that a Cosmic Judge watches one’s every move and knows one’s every thought.
3. Christianity OBSCURES TRUTH AND PROMOTES FALSEHOODS by diverting focus from the natural (real) to the supernatural (unreal).
4. Christianity DEBASES HUMANITY by condemning us as sinners worthy of eternal damnation.
5. Christianity BREEDS A FALSE SENSE OF IMPORTANCE by asserting that The King of the Universe knew each of us intimately before we were born, knows the numbers of hairs on our head, has a special plan for us, loves us, watches us, listens to our every word, desperately wants a personal relationship with us and even promises to give us anything we ask for (Mt 21.22).
6. Christianity’s assertion that the Devil is real ALLOWS FOR THE LITERAL DEMONIZING of others.
7. Christianity PROVIDES THE ULTIMATE JUSTIFICATION FOR EVILS of all kinds (such as the vilifying of homosexuals and the subjection of women).
8. Christianity’s THREAT OF HELL HARDENS HEARTS and causes others mental anguish.
9. Christianity PROVIDES COVER FOR ABUSES OF ALL KINDS as evidenced by thousands of sexual abuse cases in the last few years alone.
10. Christianity LEGITIMIZES FRAUD as evidenced by countless insincere televangelists and church leaders.
Blog Archive
-
▼
2010
(96)
-
▼
February
(18)
- thought of the day.405
- thought of the day.404
- Thought of the day.403
- thought of the day.402
- thought of the day.401
- thought of the day.400
- thought of the day.399
- thought of the day.398
- thought of the day.397
- thought of the day.396
- thought of the day.395
- thought of the day.394
- thought of the day.393
- thought of the day.392
- thought of the day.391
- thought of the day.390
- thought of the day.389
- thought of the day.388
-
▼
February
(18)
About Me
- john evans
- See evidence that strongly suggests that the Jesus of the bible was a character fabricated from Old Testament stories! jesusisamyth.blogspot.com
Many men without morals have attacked religion because it was contrary to their inclinations. Many wise men have despised it because it seemed to them ridiculous. Many persons have regarded it with indifference, because they have never felt its true disadvantages. But it is as a citizen that I attack it, because it seems to me harmful to the happiness of the state, hostile to the march of the mind of man, and contrary to sound morality, from which the interests of state policy can never be separated.
~ Baron d'Holbach
~ Baron d'Holbach
16 comments:
Are you certain?
Confident about many things but never certain.
So you'd say you are certain of being confident about many things but never certain?
You certainly sound certain as opposed to being merely confident.
Hey John . . .
Thought I would quickly chime in. I haven't been able to read your blog as often as I'd like. My life has gotten exponentially busier since our last encounter.
I have a project I'm working on that you could be of assistance if you're willing. Perhaps we could meet sometime later in the spring to discuss.
Hope all is well.
Sooner,
Great to hear from you. Things are good. I am really enjoying the cycling. Feel "confident" I have figured out where the stories about Jesus originated and winter is going to be behind us soon--woohoo! Now if I can just talk my 19 year old daughter out of getting a tramp stamp! Sounds like you have lots on your plate...
To your comment...No, I would say I am confident. It is a deliberate philosophical position. I recognize that I cannot be certain about anything...yes, even that statement. However, I can be close to certain about many things. How can we be possibly be certain of anything when we can't be certain we are not the characters in some dream? Of course I don't think that is the case but hopefully you get my point.
Would be happy to get together and am intrigued by your project. Best of luck with juggling all your responsibilities!
Just curious . . . have you parted ways with atheism?
The reason I ask is that atheism is no assertion of confidence but rather one of certainty.
Still very much an atheist as i THINK THAT IS THE ONLY HONEST POSITION TO TAKE WHETHER OR NOT A GOD OR GODS EXIST—ooops, sorry to yell, based on the available evidence.
However, I am not certain I am correct, merely confident. I feel it is unreasonable to claim with certainty that no God exists. I do think it reasonable to state with near certainty that all gods we know of have been made by man. For instance, I am quite confident (99.9% certain) that the God of the bible is basically a cartoon character). However, I do believe that all kinds of things exist which I have no way of comprehending and it is possible that things we would call a god do in fact exist.
Are you certain that you "THINK THAT IS THE ONLY HONEST POSITION TO TAKE WHETHER OR NOT A GOD OR GODS EXIST" or just confident?
I just can't help it John.
Surely you see how self refuting this is?
Life without certainty is a logical impossibility.
When I read your posts, I see so much certainty is unbelievable.
Another question about the comment. I am certain about many things. Are you saying that I have a small mind?
I am not sure why this is such a difficult concept to grasp. I seem to remember going around and around with you about this before.
I use a scale of probability upon which I place all propositions. The scale only goes to 99.9% probable at one end and 99.9% improbable at the other. So you tell me, how can I possibly be 100% certain about anything?
As to your question about your mind in particular. No, I would not say it is small. It seems you are quite intelligent. I think most all people would say they are certain about many things. But I think few people have really thought about such a statement on a deeper level. When one realizes it is difficult to even grasp what exactly “we” are, it becomes clear that any statements of 100% certainty are rather arrogant and the product of a mind if not small at least not thinking very large.
I'm certain I'm female, I'm certain I have parents, I'm certain I live in Texas. I'm not sure how you can't be certain about things. Sure, I suppose you could say how do you know I even exist, but then for someone wanting to deal strictly with fact, that would be moving into the realm of the hypothetical.
Kelsie, It is completely reasonable for you to say you are certain of those things. When dealing with our day to day activities, saying we are “certain of such and such” is a much clearer way to communicate than the more ambiguous “I am confident”.
I am talking about a broader way of looking at reality—a more philosophical way. For me, “certainty” is like “absolute” and I just think animals of such limited perception as we are fooling ourselves when we talk of such things.
For instance, your comment about being female. Yes, no doubt you are. But on a deeper level, you are actually somewhere on the spectrum of male and female. There is no 100% male or female. In some people, the line is very blurry.
"But on a deeper level, you are actually somewhere on the spectrum of male and female. There is no 100% male or female. In some people, the line is very blurry."
That's moving from iffy to ridiculous. I think it's iffy that you can't be certain about things, but your own gender? That's biology. Only in humans do we find men trying to be women and women wanting to be men; the rest of nature follows natural laws, as it should.
Well, there is lots of same sex behavior in the animal kingdom so I disagree with you about nature following natural laws (unless of course you consider same sex behavior natural). It is simply unusual—not the norm—but undoubtedly “natural”.
Do you recall the olympic sprinter that caused such a fuss this past summer olympics? “She” was competing with the women but people suspected she was a man. I heard a great program on that and they were explaining how sex is quite complex and nuanced. It is not just the visible parts that determine sex but chemicals. So many have suffered because of unclear or mixed sexual identities. Luckily we are beginning to be able to help these people with surgery, drugs, therapy, etc.
You imagine if your child was born with both male and female organs as some are? What would you do? It seems the only ethical thing is to let them grow up that way and let them decide what surgery (if any) they want to have after they are old enough to know if they are more male or female.
So people's sexual preference is genetic, but their gender is their choice? Inconsistent, don't you think?
Not sure how you got that out of my comment. It seems in most cases sexual preference is mostly, if not completely, genetic. It seems obvious in certain cases such as abuse of one kind or another, environment can have an influence as well.
With modern medicine, gender is obviously something that can be changed--at least to a degree. How great is that? If your whole life you had the chemical makeup of one sex but felt trapped in the wrong body you can now have surgery to make you feel more whole.
I didn't get it from that one comment, I just got it from the overall worldview I've heard from atheism.
I don't want to discuss this any further.
Post a Comment