What is Your Argument Against God?

How many times have you been asked by a religious believer about your argument against the existence some sort of god? Yeah, me too. What many religious believers seem unable to grasp is that no arguments are necessary on the part of the atheist. The atheist position is simply that those who believe in gods have not provided sufficient evidence to support the belief claim they are making (i.e., some sort of god or gods exist). For most of us, atheism is the rational consequence of the theist not meeting his or her burden of proof. It really isn't any more complicated than that.

When someone tells you about something that sounds so implausible that it is unlikely to be true, you ask for evidence. If the person provides you with sufficient evidence, you may begin to suspect that their claim is valid. You may begin to believe what they believe on the basis of this evidence. In essence, you scale your belief in a manner proportional to the evidence provided. On the other hand, if they do not provide sufficient evidence, you remain skeptical of the claim(s).

Idiot of the Week: Pat Robertson (Yet Again)

After deciding that this week's idiot could not be another Republican presidential candidate (it is getting too easy), I settled on Pat Robertson. By my count, this is the third time he's been "honored" here. Last time, he suggested that his god was causing the suffering in Haiti because the people their had made a pact with his devil. This time, Robertson said that the cracks in the Washington Monument following this week's earthquake were a sign from his god.

Ladies and gentlemen I don’t want to get weird on this so please take it for what it’s worth. But it seems to me the Washington Monument is a symbol of America’s power, it has been the symbol of our great nation, we look at that monument and say this is one nation under God. Now there’s a crack in it, there’s a crack in it and it’s closed up. Is that a sign from the Lord? Is that something that has significance or is it just result of an earthquake? You judge, but I just want to bring that to your attention. It seems to me symbolic. When Jesus was crucified and when he died the curtain in the Temple was rent from top to bottom and there was a tear and it was extremely symbolic, is this symbolic? You judge.

Okay Pat, I'll judge. You are an idiot, and it is way too late to worry about getting weird now.

Religious Stupidity vs. Other Forms of Stupidity

One experience that is probably universal, shared by nearly everyone regardless of their thoughts on religion, is that of hearing someone else say something incredibly stupid. Haven't we all had this experience many times? We do not always react the same way when we hear someone say something stupid. Our reaction is influenced by things like the nature of our relationship with the person and the context in which the statement occurs. For example, I will react differently when my best friend says something stupid than when my boss does. Still, I think it would be fair to characterize our reactions as typically involving some mixture of surprise, laughter, and disdain or pity.

Christians Mailing Bible Verses to Grieving Strangers

I received an email from a reader with a sad but fascinating tale about the lengths to which some Christians will go to spread their "good news." I am sharing it with his permission because I am very interested in learning whether you have encountered anything like this.

Shortly after the recent death of his father, this reader received a letter in the mail from a complete stranger. The letter contained a newspaper clipping of his father's obituary and several verses from a Christian bible. Evidently, the sender thought that the bible verses would be comforting.

Letting Go of Religious Privilege

There is nothing quite like reading atheist blogs to provoke thought. While reading a recent post by Mark (No Godz) about some of the things atheists are not required to do, one in particular caught my attention:

Godless people are not required to respect superstition, prophets or religious acts performed or directed at them. If you say “I’ll pray for you” to me, I may laugh in your face... Don’t expect me to bow my head during a prayer, public or private. It’s your fallacy, not mine.

Of course, a big part of the reason that some of us get grief or even feel guilty for failing to show respect for these sort of socially sanctioned superstitions is religious privilege. We have had the need to respect this stuff instilled in us for most of our lives.

A Commitment to Reason

Atheists are more rational than religious believers, right? Wrong! Have you seen how irrational some atheists are? Atheism is no guarantee of rationality. Even if we restrict ourselves to claiming that atheists are more rational than religious believers on the question of gods, we have to be careful. While many atheists do indeed arrive at atheism through the application of reason, this is certainly not true for all atheists. And even those of us who place great value on reason behave irrationally far more than we'd care to admit or than we might realize.

An Atheist Manifesto

For those who claim that there is something even remotely new about "new atheism," the argument is almost always about the level of vitriol directed at religious belief. The so-called new atheists are supposed to be much harsher and more direct in their criticism of religion than the authors of prior generations. It does not seem to matter that this claim is utter bullshit; many continue to assert it.

I've just finished reading a book that may finally reveal the falsehood of this claim. An Atheist Manifesto was first published by Joseph Lewis in 1954 and blows anything I've read from Dawkins, Harris, Hitchens, or Dennett out out the water in terms of the antagonism leveled against god belief.

We Can Make Being Identified as an Atheist a More Positive Experience

Many of us, including some fairly open atheists, are less than thrilled with the prospect of being publicly identified as atheists in some contexts. Suppose you are quoted in a newspaper article about the importance of separation of church and state and the reporter writes something like, "John, who claims to be an atheist, thinks that..." You know that this will almost guarantee that those you were hoping might be reached by the article are going to tune you out and dismiss whatever point you might have been making. This needs to change, and I have some thoughts on at least some options for how we might change it.

Nature of the Problem

"Atheist" has extremely negative connotations, and there are many reasons for this that are going to be difficult to change because of their long historical basis. One of the most common and important sources of the negative associations with atheism - which should also be the easiest to modify - is due to the widespread misunderstanding of what atheism means.

Atheists as the Ultimate Outsiders: A Link Between Atheism and Nonconformity?

What is it that enables some people to discard the religious traditions in which they were raised and be comfortable with atheism in a culture that demonizes it? I don't have the answer to that intriguing question, but it seems to me that a part of it must involve having a certain level of comfort with nonconformity and a willingness to adopt the role of the outsider. I have seen a connection between the two in my own life, and I wonder if this has been important to others. Are atheists living in predominately religious countries more likely to be nonconformists in other ways?