Advocatus Atheist

New Testament critic TG Baker  has written a logical proof which explains the exact problem I have with the ontological argument for God's existence and why it is inadequate as an argument for the existence of God.  The problem with the ontological argument, I feel, is exactly like Baker describes when he states, "such statement as the ontological argument can only demonstrate the validity of its rationality and not the actuality of its claim." Even if the argument is logically sound--it still lacks empirical knowledge to validate the logic. This is why I have always been suspicious of the ontological argument. Baker's claim, as follows, focuses on "capability" rather than omnipotence: 1) There is a possible world of only well-being (p). 2) A capable limitless good being (x) knowing of this world (p) would actualize (necessarily) it over possible worlds with evil and suffering (q). 3 )x necessarily would not allow q 4) p-->; not q 5) It...

A friend of mine who I know from my Evangelical Christian days, and who I worked with at a leading Christian Bible camp no less, has been struggling with her recent change of heart and subsequent switch over to atheism. She has started a new blog Undercover Atheist in the Bible Belt to vent her frustrations anonymously. You see, she's not free to express her true beliefs, because religion has encased her in a community of highly volatile irrationality. She cannot openly be atheist. If she comes out of the closet, she will likely lose her job, her friends, and possibly even her husband. She lives in the Bible Belt --a literal hell for those who don't share the Christian faith--because as she reminds us on her blog--you are expected to go to Church. She tells us the harsh truth of the matter and the relentless Churchianity she endures, stating, "if you're not invested in the community... you're a bad person." In other words, if you don't make a show of y...

Contents:  Introduction Part 1: Inculcation Part 2: Indoctrination Part 3: Spiritual Warfare Part 4: Crisis of Faith Learning to respect other people's beliefs is often the catalyst which forces you to re-examine your own. It's only after you have stepped outside of your inherited worldview, and experienced a differing worldview, can you truly begin to see it for what it is. This can be a daunting task, because you may come to discover that everything you thought you knew was merely an illusion.  A Lesson Learned in Japan I arrived in Japan on September of 2003. It was my first time to Japan--and it would be my adopted home for one full year--while I studied Japanese language at Kumamoto Gakuen University. Before I explain my crisis of faith however, I have to explain something equally as important. I have to explain how culture shock affected my worldview. You see, you can't change your mind about your beliefs until those beliefs are challenged. ...

Nearly all religion is potentially dangerous. By dangerous I mean harmful to our well-being and often times with adverse side effects which don't help to improve the quality of life any. Well, maybe with the exception of a small few amiable religious faiths like Jainism --which is not harmful, but religions such as this are the exception and not the rule. Most world religions, it seems, are more or less dangerous. When I say *all religion is dangerous, I don't mean all religion is evil.  I feel I should clarify exactly what I mean by making an obscure  Star Wars  analogy. ;p What I mean is... it's like the Jedi vs. the Sith . The Jedi and Sith both prescribe to the same religious belief in The Force ™   , only the Sith follow their own emotions and desires, thus distorting the faith and corrupting it. But in the real world religion doesn't have a Jedi sixth sense . Religious acolytes can't tell when they are going over to the dark-side. Thus all religion is ...

Contents:  Introduction Part 1: Inculcation Part 2: Indoctrination Part 3: Spiritual Warfare Darkness came--it hung over me like and impenetrable shroud--and then, in the hollows of nothingness, an uncontrollable feeling of despair topped with horror came over me. Trembling--I feared for my life.  Revelation With a hiss like that of a panther's, the demonic voice quickly turned into a growl as it spoke to me. I remember trembling--looking around for a trace of light--but nothing. I felt motion in the air, but the blackness was thick, and I couldn't see a thing--I could only hear the demon's terrible voice. It was no nightmare. I had barely begun to fall asleep, I even recall that the television was still on, but suddenly I was transported to a spiritual dimension--an astral plane. Then silence. Blackness. The hideous voice shot fear laden chills down my spine--or what felt like my spine. My ears were ringing with the shrill so...

Contents:  Introduction Part 1: Inculcation Part 2: Indoctrination According to the dictates of my evangelical creed, the one thing I wasn't permitted to think about was sex, but sex was all I could think about. Christianity teaches a very simple, black and white, doctrine. We are all fallen from grace and therefore destined to be born as sinners. Sin, as I understood it during my days as a devout follower of Christ, was something such as a morally reprehensible action or thought which (unfortunately) had dire spiritual consequences.  Basically, according to the underlying tenets of Christian faith--if you sin once--your soul is forfeit. Christianity has a place for sinners--it is called Hell. Hell is not to be desired--for in its nightmarish depths it holds unfathomable suffering, anguish, and despair. All of which are specifically reserved to be inflicted on the faithless infidels, nonbelievers, and Godless gentiles by the unforgiving...

"Evolution shows that the design argument puts the cart before the horse. Natural Selection, as Dr. Schmidt appositely remarks, accounts for adaptation as a result without requiring the supposition of design as a cause . And if you cannot deduce God from the animate world, you are not likely to deduce him from the inanimate." --G.W. Foote ( Dean Stanley's Latest , August 1881)

Contents:  Introduction Part 1: Inculcation Little did I realize, I began attending Church service before I was ever born.   I was born into a Christian family and raised in a Christian home. Shortly thereafter I was baptized--probably to seal the deal. Little did I realize, but I had begun attending Church service when I was still in my mother's womb. That spring I was born, baptized, and inculcated into the faith of my mother. That's how I came to be a Christian. In fact, that's how most people acquire their religion(s). My parents divorced when I was only five years old. It didn't traumatize me. Although, perhaps it should have. My little brother was too young to really know what was going on. It never really dawned on me that my parents were splitting up. I was more upset that we had to leave the family dog behind. Her name was Pogo. She was a beautiful German shepherd and my best friend. I would sleep with her in her dog house on rainy days.   ...