Advocatus Atheist

"Blasphemy is only our old friend Heresy in disguise, and that, we know, is a priestly manufacture."  "[I]f the law were really impartial, and punished blasphemy only because it offends the feelings of believers, it ought also to punish such preaching as offends the feelings of unbelievers. All the more earnest and enthusiastic forms of religion are extremely offensive to those who do not believe them. Why should not people who are not Christians be protected against the rough, coarse, ignorant ferocity with which they are often told that they and theirs are on their way to hell-fire for ever and ever? "Why charge us with hypocrisy when we dare your hate?" --G.W. Foote (Prisoner for Blasphemy) A couples things caught my attention while reading Foote's account of his imprisonment for crimes of blasphemy. The first is evident in the first quote, where Foote makes the keen observation that blasphemy is only a type of heresy--i.e., a form of thinkin...

It is often preached from the pulpit that America was founded as a "Christian Nation." Perhaps worse than the blatant fallacy behind this is that so many people buy into it. However, to anyone who has spent a little time investigating the matter, the claim that America was founded as a Christian nation is unequivocally false. It is not really a claim which needs to be refuted since, the simple fact of the matter is, America was the first country founded on the principle that all religions deserved equal respect and none deserved unrequited favor. The Christian doctrine of exclusivity was, to the minds of the founding fathers, incompatible with their loftier principles of a united republic, a United States. The vision they had was one of an autonomous nation where your religion was just one part of what defined you--but at the end of the day--each and every citizen, man or woman, could proudly call themselves free--they could call themselves--Ame...

As it turns out, I know about the same number of female atheists as I do male atheists. Actually, if I stopped to tally up the exact ratio I probably know more female atheists in person than I do their male counterparts.  Here's the thing though; if the numbers among nonbelievers is relatively equal, or at least it appears to me they may be, then why aren't there more books out there published by female atheists? Why aren't their more mainstream atheist female voices? Almost all the books with regard to atheism, skepticism, and religious criticism are dominated by the male voice. As far as religious criticism goes, I know of Ayaan Hirsi Ali--and she has to have a fleet of body guards to protect her 24/7 for all the religious zealots out there waiting to lash out in hate and attack her (most of which are no doubt simple minded men). I know of Susan Jacoby and Valerie Tarico, but those are the only recognizable names that come to mind. [ Blag Hag provides a massive ...

Here is a list of books (or works) which I feel every freethinker, skeptic, and person of reason should aspire to read. In no particular order, the books I would most recommend to my fellow skeptics and critical thinkers are: 1. Demon Haunted World (Carl Sagan) 2. Works of Thomas Paine (Thomas Paine) 3. Arrows/Flowers of Freethought (G.W. Foote) 4. Lectures of R.G. Ingersoll (Robert G. Ingersoll) 5. Thoughts (Meditations) of Marcus Aurelius (Marcus Aurelius) 6. The Writings of Thomas Jefferson (Thomas Jefferson) 7. An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (David Hume) 8. Works of William James (William James) 9. The Critique of Practical Reason (Immanuel Kant) 10. Ideas That Matter (A.C. Grayling) 11. Darwin's Dangerous Idea (Daniel C. Dennett) 12. Self Comes to Mind (Antonio Damasio) 13. Religion Explained (Pascal Boyer) 14. The Power of Myth (Joseph Campbell) 15. The Great Code (Northrop Frye) 16. The Ancestor's Tale (Richard D...

My last blog entry was an impassioned rant about how religious people view atheists as conceited, and maybe we atheists are, but I showed that we are for good reasons. I should hope. Now, as this blog is devoted to criticisms of Religion, you all probably are wondering why I even bother? Why attack something which is never going to go away and which, by all estimations, is probably only going to continue to be twisted and corrupted to suit the needs of selfish individuals? As I pointed out in the last post, I am interested in religion for primarily three reasons. 1. Religion is fascinating. Not only is it psychologically appealing to me, but I love the history which is involved, and I like to think about deep philosophical questions--many of which are asked by religion. 2. I like to know what mistakes people are making--then learn from their mistakes--and avoid making the same ones. 3. I like to know what I am up against. Religion has always bred the worst kinds of tyran...

You know the saying, "Hate the sin, but love the sinner," right? I've never understood the logic behind this. Even when I was a believer I thought it was an illogical statement. What if the "sinner" is a sinner because they are absolutely depraved, evil, SOBs? It's like saying, "Hate the murder, but love the murderer." Um... no thank-you. Here's the thing--it's the act of sin itself that defines the sinner. If they never sinned in the first place then they wouldn't be "sinners." That's why the logic is faulty. But I get what it is trying to say, "Hate the crime, but have compassion for the person." Even though this is a fine sentiment, I have had it up to my eyeballs with religion and the idiots who practice it. Now don't mistake me, I am not saying that all people who practice religion are idiots. What I am saying is there are countless idiots within the folds of religion.

Even as Japan is mainly a secular society which prides itself on its "freethinking," a term most Japanese throw around loosely, over the years I have found that Japan is infested with age old superstitions and ritualized customs which have seeped into mainstream life. Partly this is due to the fact that the contemporary culture of Japan is fused with a 3,000 year old history. When you have had certain customs or traditions ingraned into society for so long, they aren't thought of as "superstitions" so much as they are traditional Japanese practices which reflect their ancient heritage. One such tradition is called Yakudoshi .

I have never been that much of a sports aficionado.  That doesn't mean I don't enjoy sports. I love watching the Olympic games, I will attend an occasional basketball or baseball game live, and I was a fairly competitive athlete in track and field growing up. Sports has always been a part of my life--but it has never developed into an obsession. The closest athletic activity that is borderline obsessive for me is weight training--but I do that mainly to stay fit--not because I want to become Mr. Universe or anything. Yet the majority of my friends seem to be completely obsessed with certain sports, like American Football. Now normally I wouldn't think anything of it. While I prefer to crack open a good book and read for hours on end, they flick on the sports channel to watch a game of their favorite team, after all, we all have our hobbies.  But then I noticed something peculiar.  Almost all of my extremely religious friends...

"As an atheist, I don’t have a “Get Out Of Jail Free” card. When I do bad (I don’t believe in the Christian concept of sin) things there is no God to excuse me so I must own my actions and, if possible, make things right. Granted, my sin list is much smaller now. Once I was set free from the shackles of God’s law, Biblical Law... I was finally able to begin living my life freely. No blood atonement needed. No catchy songs about the blood covering all my transgressions. "Every day I make decisions in my life that affect how I live my life. Every day I have the choice to live a decent, honorable life. Every day I come up short and it is in those moments that I must say, I am sorry and, if needed, make restitution." -- Bruce Gerencser

“ Can Historians Prove That Jesus Was Raised from the Dead ?” (I always argue that, no, no one can prove it .) “Are the Gospel Accounts of Jesus Reliable?” (No, not completely.) “ Does the Bible Provide an Adequate Answer to Why There Is Suffering? ” ( No, not really.) --Bart D. Ehrman Well, that's what the blog would look like if S.O.P.A. ever gets passed. Here's what the blog should look like. “Can Historians Prove That Jesus Was Raised from the Dead?” (I always argue that, no, no one can prove it.) “Are the Gospel Accounts of Jesus Reliable?” (No, not completely.) “Does the Bible Provide an Adequate Answer to Why There Is Suffering?” (No, not really.) --Bart D. Ehrman Which do you prefer? Oppose S.O.P.A.--and keep the Internet free!

Proponents of Intelligent Design (Creationism) often argue that fine tuning, which is a rather inaccurate term for the physical constants of the universe, must have been finely tuned by a "designer" and therefore denote a higher intelligence, or in their minds, [G]od. But to jump from physical constants to an intelligent creator being (of some sort) is a logic leap which betrays a failure in their line of reasoning. Let me explain by way of a thought experiment. Let me give three sets of random numbers. Now, for the sake of argument, let's assume that each of these numbers represent the physical constants of three separate universes. Fair enough? Good. Universe A   568723410048009 Universe B   334223112556778 Universe C   111111111111111 My question is this, which universe is the so called "finely tuned" universe? You see, fine-tuning isn't something which happens to the universe. The physical constants just are--as such d...

Jefferson Bethke created a nicely executed video on YouTube about how Religion is a man-made perversion which will enslave you, but Jesus will set you free. The video is appropriately titled  "Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus." I have a question for Mr. Bethke. In your video you say something along the lines that you respect religion, and you believe in the Bible, but that none of this can match the awesomeness of Jesus. Fair enough. But I have a question for you. My question is this: Are you a Christian? You see, as I understand it, a Christian is someone who follows the teachings of Christ. The only place we have any information about the first century Palestinian known as Yeshua of Nazareth and his teachings is in the Synoptic gospels of the New Testament. These ancient writings are the only place people can learn about the person named Jesus, what he might have believed, and what he purportedly taught. These texts are what contain the knowledge, informatio...

A Christian reader asked a good question. "Who did Paul address his letters to the Galatians , Corinthians and Thessalonians to, except the Churches in those areas? Also Romans 16:16 all the churches of Christ greet you, Paul's journeys recorder in the book of acts were for the very purpose of Setting up individual autonomous churches in each area he traveled to." My response is as follows: Paul refers to the 'church ' as the "body of Christ." The clusters of early Christians that Paul is writing to are not organized institutions as we commonly think of when thinking about modern churches. Paul, as he himself states numerous times in his letters, is working diligently to unify the "body of Christ," that is the early Christian communities he is in contact with, and get them spiritually ready for the Second Coming. It seems to me a historiographical  mistake to confuse our modern concept of the church with what Paul actually meant. My Christ...