“I am treated as evil by people who claim that they are being oppressed

because they are not allowed to force me to practice what they do.” ~D. Dale Gulledge

 

 

Ignorance is our natural state: we were born that way. We learn what we know as…

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At Virginia Tech, on Wednesday evening March 21, there was a debate on the question "Does God Probably Exist?" I wanted to post comments on two of the arguments given.

One argument given was the "fine-tuning argument". One of the debaters was studying high-level academic philosophy, and they stated it thus:

Given the fine-tuning evidence, a life-permitting Universe (LPM) is very, very epistemically unlikely under the non-existence of a fine-tuner, and is not unlikely if a…

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(Cross-posted from the Teapot Atheist)



Every Sunday, rather than offering commentary on a current event as I usually do, I present an argument from scratch, either against theism writ large or against some particular religion.



Among the many properties God is said to have (for reasons critically analyzed… Continue

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For many young Christians, the belief in the literal resurrection of Jesus has become their primary justification for belief in the entire Christian system. One argument they use in particular is that they don’t believe that the apostles would have died for a lie.



These particular Christians often tell me how many of the apostles and early Christians were tortured for spreading the Christian belief and who in their right mind would die for a lie? Who indeed? Let’s look at this for a… Continue

"Besides, you, Christians are the ones tormenting everyone else with hellfire if we don't believe your version of the story. The real difference between you and the muslims is, you threaten with hell, they make sure you get there…

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"So long as a belief in propositions

is regarded as indispensable to salvation,

the pursuit of truth as such is not possible."



Mary Ann Evans, a/k/a George Eliot

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Problem of evil debate - William Lane Craig vs Walter Sinnott-Armstrong



While preparing for the Problem of Evil course I'm now running, I found this debate between Craig and Sinnot-Armstrong above. And it seemed like two people arguing, one in English and the other in French.



Sinnot-Armstrong like any atheist argues from the primacy of the physical world. So suffering is extensive… Continue

As I was minding my own business this Friday afternoon on campus (U. Mississippi) waiting for calculus class, I was accosted by a street preacher. Before talking to me, I overheard the man talking with another student a few metres away. It seemed that he had the poor chap convinced. Anyway, when he was done with that student, he began talking with my friend I was waiting with, a Christian, about "salvation" and such. After being reassured that my friend would certainly go to Heaven upon death,… Continue

The other day, someone i'm very close to had just found out i'm an atheist. So she looked at me and said, "Katie, where does a rainbow come from?" I know it has something to do with the sun and a prism of colors, but i dont know everything about it and I don't know how it works exactly, so I took a moment before I answered. Seeing that I didn't answer right away though, and seeing me ponder it, she isaid , "see? Nobody knows. It's god." And I said, "No, its just a prism of reflecting light and… Continue

When theists (Christians mostly) use the old watch maker argument because "The world is too complex to happen by chance." The counter argument is "Then God is much to complex to happen by chance." They normally counter with a few things "God is outside space and time; therefore he needs no creator." I couldn't help but say "What?!" I find this answer to be nonsense. How could anything exist outside space and time? How do you know this (bible verses). And how does this stop God from needing a… Continue

"It may be that ministers really think that their prayers do good and it may be that frogs imagine that their croaking brings spring." Robert Green Ingersoll, "Which Way?" (1884)"

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Yesterday was the National Day of Prayer. Every year, true believers – mostly Evangelical Christians gather to encourage "every individual the need for personal…

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From time to time, I may post a short blog detailing problems with theistic world-views. These posts are meant to be rants that exist largely for my pleasure. They are also meant to be non-technical and easy to follow, so you won't find a lot of philosophical mumbo-jumbo here. I hope you enjoy them.



One of the recurring arguments you will hear from theists [especially Christians it seems] is that without an external law-giver we can have no "objective" morality. For the sake… Continue

Or is it just… Continue