Christians are forever declaring this or that to be the god that the atheist worships. Or declaring that the atheist's life is like the half-empty glass. One Christian (here) went so far as to suggest that Halloween is the atheist's Christmas.

The idea of an atheist having a god is ludicrous. The word a-theist means god-less: without god. An atheist has no god.

Maybe Christians cannot get their heads around the idea that some people truly do not worship anything but it's true.

If the best they can do is declare that Halloween is the atheist's Christmas, all they are doing is substituting one god for another. That is not what the atheist does. The atheist accepts the half-empty glass and says, "Hey! this is life, let's live it!"

The Christian looks a the glass that is half full and turns up his nose. "I want all life has to offer," he whines. "I need the Ruler and Creator of the Universe on my side if I am supposed to find meaning in life. Otherwise life is nothing but a meaningless existence that ends at death. I won't matter. Nothing I do will matter. How utterly unacceptable!"

The exChristian grimaces to him or herself and thinks, "Am I ever glad I got out of that hell-hole religion! If only I could share with them how much better life is when one can enjoy it for its own sake. All these worries about having to matter! One life at a time seems to be all we humans can deal with competently. But nobody listens to the voice of experience. Wishful thinking is so much more enticing. So be it."

ENTRY: Rayburne says on Jun 1, 2009 @ 11:13 AM:



Their god. What is wrong with Christians??? They KNOW that atheists have no god--neither "naturalistic evolution" nor anything else!



What nonsense! Panspermia does NOT EQUAL aliens!!! Panspermia is the idea that earth may have been seeded with life from natural sources in space. See the video series Origins of Life, or the wikipedia article.

Apparently, popular opinion twists that into anthropomorphic nonsense such as this quote and Robert Roy Britt's article on Space.com, "Are We All Aliens? The New Case for Panspermia." The first life on earth is not believed (by scientists) to have resembled humans at all. Nor was it intelligent, Rayburne.

Rayburne's real gripe with Dawkins, apparently, is that he does not sympathize with the Christian plight:



By "mainstream Darwinian evolution" Rayburne means evolution as it is understood by mainstream scientists; never mind that Darwin said nothing about cosmology. Rayburne posted on Reasonable Faith.org, which is closely associated with Discovery Institute, a strong proponent of Intelligent Design. Discovery Institute ID proposes that God created the Big Bang that started evolution. Possibly that could be called "theistic evolution."

"Theistic evolution" rejects natural selection theory--and thereby the best logic and scientific methodology available todate. (See the sticky threads in the Science section for more details re scientific method.) I am encouraged to see that tenure and research grants have been refused to people who would abuse their purpose.

One purpose of science is the furtherance of human knowledge and well-being. Rayburne disagrees that this is good; Dawkins agrees with it. See Dawkins's position on religion Dawkins at Beyond Belief 2006.

PS I found the larger video from which that Dawkins clip is taken--the Richard Dawkins part of Session 3 in Beyond Belief: Science, Reason, Religion & Survival, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, 10 parts, November 5 - 7, 2006.

Post 25



Fully agreed.



After reading the post Life Without Men, I got to thinking that it's the men who are expendable AND THEY KNOW IT, hence the religious zeal with which they defend their so-called superior position. What woman needs defend her position? She knows without argument that she is needed for life on earth to continue. But men??? Now that is a different story. Since time immemorial, the males of our species have gone out to kill and be killed. They "sow their seed" in a batch of females and their purpose on earth is done. If they want to get more out of life, all that's left for them is to "preach, teach classes, lead singing, be elders, be deacons, lead prayer, and make announcements," etc.

Possibly the argument can be made that things have changed a little bit since "time immemorial." I watched a ten-minute video of Richard Dawkins yesterday (Beyond Belief '06 - Richard Dawkins, on the Shifting Moral Zeitgeist*) in which he compares beliefs about ethics from liberal thinkers 150 years ago with today. I have also come across similar literature of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (1700s & 1800s) to what Dawkins quotes. Top of the list are beliefs about women and race. Only the most radical right-wing nut-jobs of today would subscribe to such beliefs today, if anyone does. No respectable conservative thinks that way anymore. Dawkins's point is that it doesn't take religion for social values to become more ethical. My point is that even the religious people change their views despite fundy religion.

That, however, does not change the case that women like you and I NEED intellectual stimulation on the same level as we need food, and that without it we are literally deprived of a basic life necessity. See Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. As a Christian, I drew consolation from the prophetess in ancient Israel who went to war with the captain of the army because he was too scared to go without her (Josh 4). Apparently not all "godly" women were subservient to males. The Bible records her as a war hero; the song about her victory is part of the biblical narrative (Josh 5). However, I do not remember ever hearing a sermon on it and it did not ease the oppression imposed on me.

*Find the entire movie at Beyond Belief: Science, Reason, Religion & Survival, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, 10 parts, November 5 - 7, 2006, at http://thesciencenetwork.org/programs/beyond-belief-science-religion-reason-and-survival/session-7-1, accessed July 11, 2009. "Shifting Zeitgeist" is taken from Session 7 Richard Dawkins, beginning at the one hour mark.