In Defense of your god.

Let's hear the arguments. Really, outside of bronze-age text and socratic arguments, what is there?

Too Busy

I'd rather be too busy for god than "to" busy to check for grammatical errors. Guess what's on the other side. At least they're consistent.

Testing God

It is clear to me that God cannot and should not be tested.
1. By it's design (the supernatural), it is currently impossible to test the existence of God. We cannot use current technology which is developed in a natural environment to test supernatural entities. These environments are incompatible.
2. Christian rhetoric adamantly sustains the stories of Jesus in the dessert for 40 days or when he was asked to change clay into gold. You should not do this. It is wrong to do so, but He may test you. Double standard.
3. It is dangerous. I don't want people playing with snakes and drinking poison (Mark 16:16-18) or bashing their children against the rocks (Psalms 137:9) because of their faith.

Aside from this, disappointment exists of those who are accused of picking and choosing through the Bible. Folks, I think you should pick and choose. Be skeptical and cautious. Dogma is dangerous.

Just to be safe

This Halloween, be careful. You don't want to be influenced by Satan's Holiday!


Now what's the significance of these two items being placed together... so close? I'm on the fence as to whether I should dismiss this or not.

Jesus' favorite college football team

Given the outcome of the game, I'd say he and his father aren't speaking.

Proof there is no god

So if I say that there is no god, the burden of proof is on me to demonstrate that there isn't a god. I understand. So I took a picture of the evidence that I stumbled across recently.


See! Nothing. Just as I suspected. Now close your eyes, pray, and tell me what you see. It should look similar to the image above if you did it right. No peeking! ;)

Just clever humor or guilt?

Yes I remember. I was 12. Mrs. Kretchmer asked us Catholic students a riddle. They must be getting desperate in recycling old humor. There seems to be a competition in clever marquees over the last 5 years or better. It's like whoever can come up with the most clever saying of the week has a better chance of getting money in their basket.

Richard Dawkins at IU

I made the drive from Goshen down to Bloomington. It was definitely worth it. It was standard rhetoric for Dr. Dawkins and I enjoyed every minute of it as he read passages from his new book "The Greatest Show on Earth." He took questions from two microphones. My favorite response of the night came when asked how to handle individuals who ask if we came from something akin to a chimpanzee, why are there still chimpanzees. He responded, "If atheists came from creationists, why are there still creationists?"



I was very excited to snap a few shots on my way up to get my book signed. I hope that explains the blurriness. ;)

Religion Defined

So they're finally admitting it. Good. I can hear the sermon now...
"Stop letting brainwashed individuals brainwash you every Sunday morning and Wednesday evening."

Not so "daily"...

So I'm not so "daily" after all. Well, instead of annoying my friends with the weirdness of the world, I'll just jot it down here. My birthday passed recently and - ok, for you scientists, it's not really my day of birth, it's an annual birth date - I received a card. Of course who didn't sign it? My Jehovah's Witness coworker. It's really hard to follow all those rules. No signing birthday cards, but I can make jokes about the fat gal who wears coke bottle glasses when she's not around. Is that what Jehovah would do?

Gays, Lesbians, Bisexual, and Transgender

We had a lovely meeting in Goshen, IN at the high school. A vote passed 4-3 against legislation that would offer protection to LGBT individuals. According to some, homosexual acts are intrinsically evil. There were an awful amount of theistic references used as leverage to vote against this legislation. There were even business owners that stood in front of the microphone and stated that they would not hire these people. There were plenty of slippery-slope arguments too, like "this is the next step toward gay marriage" or "what's next, pedophilia?" Though I can't find a good reason to say that gay marriage is wrong, obviously pedophilia has nothing to do with this. I think we need to have another meeting to make women wear head coverings and skirts again and take all the cell phones away from the Amish.

Not so happy birthday.

Jehovah's Witnesses don't sign birthday cards??? News to me. Yeah, a co-worker of mine is JW. That's quite a shame that it's their practice to not squiggle their name on a card with a little smiley face. I can hear Satin's voice as he's reading the list, "...lied to wife about her weight, had 3 pieces of pumpkin pie over Thanksgiving, signed a birthday card...".

Good News

I finally got hooked up with some friends on Facebook. I should tell my age so that everyone has a perception. I'm 33. People my age are leaning toward open-mindedness when it comes to religion [thank god]. Actually, there seems to be more objective thinking in general... a good thing. I never thought there would be a President in the White House when I was younger. Now I think that before I die, the majority of the population of the U.S. will be non-religious.

Day 17: Undermining Intelligence

Family recently got together for brunch. Some were from out of town so it was an opportunity to catch up. One of the topics mentioned was the tornado that went through Napanee. The tornado's path crossed over some guys car at work. He had intended to leave before the incident, but decided to go back inside due to the weather to phone his wife.
Now, I'm careful about my use of the word "zealot", but I feel that it's appropriate in this case. It was mentioned that this guy saw the clouds, was aware of the rapidly changing weather, and decided it was in his best interest to head inside and phone his wife. I call this common sense, or intelligence, not "God's hand." There's no miracle here, it's just chance. And if he died, I probably would have called it natural selection. It seems that the zealot here doesn't feel complete unless they insert the word "God" into every instance where chance and natural phenomena meet.

Day 16: You Bet Your Pants

It's really a misfortune that people today are still treating women like they are sub-class. Why would a culture, in these days, believe that it's acceptable to lash a women for wearing pants.
On top of it, those of us who think it's wrong have to sit here with our hands tied.

Day 15: Old Habits, New System

I'm selling my car. I'm sure someone can tie this into theism some how, perhaps someone more clever than I. Oh, I have an idea... absence of logic.
One thing I don't like is negotiating. Well, I wouldn't say that I would never negotiate anything, but when the word "worth" is relative to the buyer, not the consumer, I'd rather let the market take care of itself. So I put my car up for reverse auction.
I get a call today. "Is your car for sale?" Now come on. It's in the front yard by the road and the pricing information, deficiencies and phone number is there. Where'd they get the number? From a tree at a park where my ex took a butter knife and carved in my number with the phrase "for a good time call?" Where was Jeff Foxworthy? So a moment later he asks "What if I pay with cash?" What? Is there something different about cash value as compared to EFT or various style checks? I told him the price for this week and then for next, asking him if he knew what a reverse auction was (it was posted inside the windsheild). Then he asks me again "will you come down if I pay with cash?" No. What's the dealio?

Day 14: Cheesus

So who hasn't heard of the Cheesus story? I can't remember how I got a hold of this story, but seriously... would I call a news crew because my food resembled some son of a presumed deity? I think not.
So someone found something that resembled a penitent man in a bag of Cheetos and this is news worthy? If if were found in any other country, would they say it looked like one of their prophets praying?... then call the news?
I don't think "world's largest sesame seed bun" is news worth either. So now Jesus has jumped up a step from toast to the Cheeto and picked up a "cheesy" handle. Would theists be traumatized if they were to bite his head off?

Day 13: Presumtion

A lot of adolescents are growing up today knowing more about pop idols than the country that they live in. Maybe they could name the nation's capital, but could they find it on a map? I've seen the humorous videos of late night comedy networks depicting kids without a clue, but I hope that the bias that the interviewers are trying to depict is eventually dissolved by a new, educated youth.
Much the same, I was a product of my environment and didn't know that a couple phrases were added to our currency and pledge of allegiance in the 1950's until after recent research. Now when I explain this, I get the "deer in the headlights" look. Indiana knows what I mean - about the deer. Presumption can be dangerous. In this case it may imply that the country was founded on Christianity. This is dangerous because it may lead to other presumptions about what the United States should be all about. Fortunately, I've done my own research and have finally got some honest answers - things to think about, rather than sayings that appear to be correct based on assumption.

For the observant...

I was camping this weekend and need to catch up on my posts. I'll be posting 2 or 3 a day until I get caught up.

Day 12: Thunderf00t and Comfort

Ray was obviously worn by the end of the debate, but he started off with a great energy, though there was something in the beginning that I found distasteful. After Thunderf00t gave the explanation for his handle, Ray inserted his joke about stomping on Christians.
I have a nickname. It's "Rocket." If Ray asked me how I got it, and I gave a clear and logical answer, I wouldn't appreciate Ray joking that it might be because I can think faster than Christians.

Day 11: Intent and Impact

Here's my experience... just because you're speaking to a crowd of people or an individual that you have one thing in common, don't assume that you can be as casual as you wish.
At this point, all I can say is that I'm grateful that I learned something. It had a most significant impact on me and it is unlikely that it would happen again. It may be your intent to convey your thoughts through very relaxed rhetoric, but there is absolutely no guarantee that the recipient interpret your message exactly how you intended it to be. Therefore, the impact on the recipient can often be less than desirable. Put yourself in the shoes of the recipient and see if your message is diplomatic.

Day 10: Imagination and Bias

I'm sitting down at dinner and one of the elders mentions a fellow on TV who said something like this, "when you see how intricate and awesome existence is, you just can't help but wonder 'is there a god?'"
Problem with this... would he have even said this had he not already been introduced to theism? I can imagine many things that are not gods. I can imagine my son turning in his homework or wonder about possible explanations for the gravitational fields being emitted by dark matter in black holes. Just because I can create scenarios in my head doesn't mean that they're real unless they can be demonstrated in some way.

Day 9: In God We Trust

What a great weekend! I went down the Pine River and only tipped twice. I've never tipped before and my wife noted that it might be karma. I harassed another buddy for tipping last year - twice for him too. Now on with the story.
I think it was Friday night. Most of the group went to bed. The next lot over contained a fire and a couple people still up chatting, enjoying the fine evening. For some reason, we ended up talking about politics, and of course, religion. I can't resist talking about it anymore. Of course I announced my theistic position. They were both kind and receptive.
After a short exchange, I was asked what I thought about "In God We Trust" being on our money. Being familiar with the question, I didn't stumble. It doesn't offend me. I know that with any group there are extremists, zealots or whatever you'd rather call them. I don't know what most atheists think about the money issue. I've heard the term "militant atheism" with respect to this issue. Really, I think it's menial and there are so many more productive or valuable things I could be doing with respect to theism, like provoking thought.
After I explained that I wasn't offended, but that it was presumptuous because it excluded a portion of Americans, I got a typical response. "Our founding fathers were Christian." She said it so nice. It wasn't assertive or anything. She only meant to give her opinion on what she thought was a plausible explanation for it ending up on our money. I said, "that's not true" and gave a basic explanation which covers Adams and Jefferson, and also what deism is. Well, for those who have already done the research, you understand that our founding fathers were not exclusively Christian. Though my response may seem alright to some of you, I wish I could take it back now.
After consulting with an ACA member, I've rephrased my typical response to debunking common assumptions to this: "Hmmmm...I understand it differently." This leaves less of a chance that my audience will be offended. Why don't I want them offended? Because I know that when humans get offended, they listen a lot less and are focused more on forming arguments rather than having a friendly exchange.

Day 8: Product of Your Environment

Do you know what it means to be a product of your environment. Well, not too long ago (time is relative), I didn't. Here... I'm a product of my environment. I like blue jeans. Why? Because they're comfortable. I wear them most of the day. What's the deal with other cultures that do not wear blue jeans? They're weird. I couldn't just wear those corduroy pants and that satin shirt. I heard a couple of them saying how great they felt, but c'mon. Jeans and a plain pocket t-shirt is where it's at. If you think I'm going to slip into those, you're nuts.

Day 7: Metaphors

It seems that in theistic debate some theists have the metaphor button locked on auto-fire. "I know in my heart." Just think if our heart had part of a brain and could retain information. Perhaps we'd actually be conscious of the crud that we're pumping though our circulatory system.
Like many, I do not give credit to metaphors as evidence of anything.

Day 6: Religion and Politics

These are two topics that are often avoided, especially together. The reason I bring them up is because of the legal assessment of political maturity. Here in the U.S., Uncle Sam says that you have to be 18 years of age to vote. Why? Well, a safe assumption would be that by 18 years of age one has acquired a basic understanding of politics and is able to vote without being influenced by authority or society. If you're not mentally mature enough to unbiasedly grasp basic politics before then, why would an 8 year old be mentally mature enough to understand theology?

Day 5: Near Death Experience

I'm sure we've all heard the story about people dying witnessing that they saw a tunnel of light and there was someone at the end that they knew. Some even claimed to hover over their body as the doctors and nurses worked frantically to save their lives. I think this is referred to as "out of body" experience. Their testimonies are both vivid and assertive. I've seen the videos on youtube and there we're plenty on TV when I was growing up. Search for "700 club near death experience".
It's very interesting how people claim to have such a vivid recollection of events when they're dead. It's also amazing how they and their audience can give such credibility to this. If I said that I had a dream that the bridge down the street was going to collapse, people would say it's just a dream. But if I had a dream that Jesus said that I should quit my job and go to Africa for missionary work, theists would start calling me "chosen one".
We have 5 senses. We use them to evaluate our experience in a conscience state, not subconscious, dreaming, comatose, or dead.

Day 4: Second Base

Presumptuous questions are often awkward. What church do you go to? Some relatives asked this to my wife. Surprisingly, this was the first time they had met anyone that did not go to church. I would place the couple between 45 and 50 years of age. They never asked why we didn't go to church.
On another occurrence, a couple of adolescents dressed in suits approached my son (16) and his friend with a question. Do you want to experience to love of God? Again, presumptuous. People are already sliding into second base when they haven't actually tagged first base with their foot. How about establishing if there is a god first, or even asking if the person believes in a god or gods? Then go from there. Since they both openly admitted that they had no theistic beliefs, the conversation ended. The mother of my son's friend, who learned of the encounter through inquiry, strongly disapproved of him admitting his disbelief.

Day 3: $35,000 for blasphemy?

Ouch! $35,000 for blasphemy? My last trip to Merriam Webster brought me to this question: Isn't it blasphemy if you consider gods to be real or sacred?

This would be a good motivator for me to leave the country. On occasion, due to my upbringing, I use metaphors to express my emotion that some people would deem inappropriate or insensitive. Yes, I have exclaimed "holy cow" on several occasions. I did not mean any disrespect to my Hindu friends. It's just an expression that I use and it means something totally different to me than to them. If I do visit Ireland, I should be careful what metaphors I use aloud to describe the beauty of the country. I would not want to go home broke.

Day 2: The Shirt

In an airport far from home, my luggage arrived safely at baggage claim. I like to travel as light as possible, but always pack some basic personal hygiene items into my expandable laptop case. Ten people of different countries gather to retrieve their luggage as well. While I was patiently waiting, each of the ten notice that my laptop case is conspicuously expanded, and to themselves, try to guess what's inside. The unanimous answer is "shirt". It is assumed that everyone carries a clean shirt. It's part of good hygiene and if you want to avoid any chance of leaving a poor first impression, you'll have a clean shirt in your carry-on. Aside from the presumption that there must be a shirt in there, they go as far to guess the color, each guessing a different color, since they're from different parts of the globe. It is apparent that if they each guess a different color that at least nine of them will be wrong, possibly ten. Yet to boot, none of them have a good reason to believe that a shirt is in there to begin with. It's just what is familiar to them because of their culture, so they assume. I have a razor, shampoo, undergarments, and a toothbrush among other things, but no shirt. I wonder if they'll think I'm still a hygienic person without the shirt.

Day 1: The Introduction

Hello everyone,

My name is Rodney. I open TheDailyAtheist to share my thoughts, knowledge, and opinions. I welcome questions and comments from both theists and atheists. Through my upbringing in the Catholic Church and Christian environment, I understand that there are some misconceptions and negative stigmas associated with atheism. One of which is that atheism is anti-Christian. This is false. Atheism is a disbelief of any supernatural claim that cannot provide conclusive evidence, not Christianity exclusively. If you wish to respond, please limit the number of colorful metaphors. I hope that this will be an age appropriate blog.

Thanks,
Rodney
TheDailyAtheist