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Although the terms atheism and agnosticism have well defined
2007-01-15 12:03:04
Although the terms atheism and agnosticism have well defined meanings, I think that it would be of interest to separate each term into general and specific forms, because some common logical contradictions may become clear(er) by doing so… General atheism- “there is no god.” This includes me, and anyone who describes him or herself as “atheist”. Specific atheism- “this particular god doesn’t exist.” Most theists are, actually, specific atheists about every god but theirs. General agnosticism- “it’s impossible to know whether a god exists.” Self-described “agnostics” should, in theory, be here. However… Specific agnosticism- “it’s impossible to know whether this particular god exists.” You probably know examples of each. As I said, “true” atheists are general atheists. To them, it makes no sense to discriminate between one god and the other; they’re all fictional....
More About: Atheism , Agnostic , Terms , Have , Theism

In Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion, there’s a
2007-01-15 12:03:04
In Rich ard Dawkins’ The God Delusion, there’s a link to a hilarious list called “Hundreds of Proofs of God’s Existence“, which are nothing more than simplified, clearer versions of common arguments by theists for the existence of God. It’s a long list, but I think it’s worth reading. Some of my favorites are below (if you’re not using the RSS feed or email subscription, you may have to click on the “Continue reading…” link to see them all): 11. ARGUMENT FROM CREATION, a.k.a. ARGUMENT FROM PERSONAL INCREDULITY (I) (1) If evolution is false, then creationism is true, and therefore God exists. (2) Evolution can’t be true, since I lack the mental capacity to understand it; moreover, to accept its truth would cause me to be uncomfortable. (3) Therefore, God exists. 14. ARGUMENT FROM INTELLIGENCE (1) Look, there’s really no point in me trying to explain the whole thing to you stupid Atheists ? it’s too c...
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Note: this one is big (note the “Continue reading̷
2007-01-15 12:03:04
Note: this one is big (note the “Conti nue reading…” link, if you’re on the blog’s front page), and is kind of a rant. It will also, probably, make some of you leave this blog for good, though that’s not my goal. Since August 2006, this blog has been mostly about atheism and what’s wrong with religion. I’ve been criticized for that, and lost some of my previous regular readers, though I also gained some new ones. But it’s what I’ve wanted to write about… I’m still allowed to do that, right? And, yet, every time a post of mine, criticizing religious belief, is more popular than usual, I get the same kinds of criticism - sometimes, “trolling” would even be a better word. Many commenters don’t even read what I write; they simply think “atheist… enemy!”. You can see, for instance, that most of the replies on my 16 Common Myths about Atheists post weren’t about the myths the...
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Today, I have finally set up what I’ve had in mind for
2007-01-15 12:03:04
Today, I have finally set up what I’ve had in mind for a long while now: Planet Atheism. If you go there right now (it will probably be quite different if you go there in a couple of days), you may be a little confused, since it’s, apparently, just Way of the Mind posts! That’s because I haven’t added any other blogs yet, and won’t do so without permission (or a request) from each blogger. In the next couple of days, I’ll be inviting by email the owners of several atheist blogs, some of which I already read regularly, and others from lists such as The Atheist Blogroll. But, meanwhile, if you have an atheism-related blog, just email me (the address begins with “join”, has an “@” in the middle, and ends with “planetatheism.com” ), and I’ll add it there. This should increase your readership, especially - but not only - among other atheist bloggers. Each post will list you as the author, and include a link to...
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The good news is that Planet Atheism now has 5 (*) blogs. No
2007-01-15 12:03:04
The good news is that Planet Atheism now has 5 (*) blogs. Not bad for 12 hours. I’ve already started to send some invitations to candidate blogs, but I’m doing it slowly, so don’t feel offended if you haven’t been invited yet. Still, there’s no reason to wait; if you’re interested, let me know (details here). The bad news is that the server where this blog was hosted, apparently, couldn’t cope with the StumbleUpon effect of so many hits per second. Who’d guess that my 16 Common Myths about Atheists post would get so popular again? Therefore, I had to temporarily move Way of the Mind to my old server, located at my home in Portugal. Bandwidth may be worse (though it should still be OK), but the server itself is much more powerful, and it laughs at the StumbleUpon effect. I’ve contacted the hosting people for a server upgrade, and in a couple of days (hopefully) this blog should be physically in the U.S. again. Other site...
More About: News , Blogs , Good News

I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men wi
2007-01-15 12:03:04
I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin. - Jesus, Mark 3:28-29 (NIV) I’m a bit late mentioning this one, but better late than never, right? You may have heard of the Blasphemy Challenge. It’s a site that asks people to create a small video of them saying “I deny the Holy Spirit”, and upload it to YouTube. According to Jesus, blaspheming against the Holy Spirit is the one unforgivable sin. Anything else may be forgiven, but not that. Anyone who does so is damned. Well, I’m too lazy to create a video, and I don’t have anything better than my cell phone’s camera to do it, so I’ll have to skip the video. But believe me when I say the following: I, Pedro Timóteo, deny the Holy Spirit, and every other made-up supernatural crap. And, no, I’m not afraid. Not because I’m “incredibly b...
More About: Truth , Men , Sins , Tell , Ruth

Why, oh, why is it that so many bloggers, especially on Blog
2007-01-15 12:03:04
Why, oh, why is it that so many bloggers, especially on Blog ger , don’t have any contact information anywhere on their blogs? (There. Rant over. ) I’ve already invited some to Planet Atheism (which, incidentally, already aggregates 9 great blogs, and this one too! ) by placing a comment on the newest post. But… I don’t like doing it, I think it’s rude to post off-topic comments, and I’m afraid that this may annoy bloggers who might otherwise be interested. So, here’s a few humble requests: 1- if you have an atheism-related blog, and want it included in PA, please let me know (I’ve created a new email address for it, join@planetatheism.com). If it’s mostly about atheism and the problems of religion, I’ll add it. I’m still inviting a couple more people in the next few days, but that will probably stop soon - again, because I don’t want to be annoying. 2- if you have one such blog, if it’s not too much work,...
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Yup, Bush is really doing it. Is it just me, or does this re
2007-01-15 12:03:04
Yup, Bush is really doing it. Is it just me, or does this remind you as well of “pointy-haired bosses” putting more and more money into a project that everyone already knows is doomed to failure, and will bring no profit at all, just because “well, if we pull back now, it will mean that whatever was already spent is lost”? Which is, if you think about it for 5 seconds, a fallacy - what was spent is already lost, the choice is between losing even more, or not. If it wasn’t for the fact that the main goal of the war — and, in that, it’s been an absolute success — was always to make it so that criticizing the president in any way is “unpatriotic”, I’d think that the only reason that the U.S. is still there is due to the above - better to bury more money (and, in this case, human lives) than to admit a mistake. Peter David has some nice comments on Bush’s speech as well, plus a newer post, where he writes: The class...
More About: Just , This , Just Me , Real

Seen first at God is for Suckers. In the first part (about
2007-01-15 12:03:04
Seen first at God is for Suck ers. In the first part (about 30 minutes), Dawkins reads excerpts from his latest book, The God Delusion. In the second part (about an hour), he answers questions from the audience. Most of the questions, apparently, come from teachers and students from Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University, which teaches — guess what — young earth creationism. Including dinosaurs living 3000 years ago, instead of being extinct 65000000 years ago, as they were in fact. I found it impressive that Dawkins managed to remain so patiently nice, by the way, even when some questioners clearly showed that they hadn’t listened to a word he said, and were simply trying to catch him in a contradiction or ask a question he hadn’t thought about. Of course, they failed. Copyright © 2007 Way of the Mind
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Here’s a short test for Christians (and anyone who wan
2007-01-15 12:03:04
Here’s a short test for Chris t ian s (and anyone who wants to understand them). Just answer the following questions, in your mind, with a “yes” or a “no”. Do you believe homosexuals should be killed? Not just “they’re going to hell”, but actually executed? Do you believe women are inferior to men, should remain submissive, and can never be allowed to teach men or have authority over them? Do you believe slavery is OK? Do you believe disobedient children should be killed? Do you believe that, when waging war, it is proper to commit genocide, killing every man, woman and child in the enemy nation — except for, in some particular cases, female virgins, who can be taken as “spoils”? Do you believe that anyone who suggests to a Christian that he follow other gods should be killed? Do you believe that an old grandmother, who lived a life of caring for others, bringing joy to dozens, will be condemned to an afterlife of etern...
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Something which has been bugging me for a while, that I noti
2007-01-15 12:03:04
Something which has been bugging me for a while, that I noticed in several conversations and comments (for instance, these ones by Jay Bird, and others not on this blog) is this: Christians, especially the more fundamentalist ones, believe that Christianity is special. And I don’t mean “special” just in the sense of “well, it’s true, and the others aren’t”. I mean “special” as in being different, original. Something new. Christians believe that Christianity is unlike every other religion before and after, that its miracles were never seen before, that its teachings are original, and so on. They aren’t. Christianity is an offshoot of Judaism, and takes its Old Testament from it. It replaces the Judaic concept of Messiah (or “anointed one” - “Christós”, in Greek) with that of a “savior”, and no longer believes in the concept of “chosen people” that was so integral to Judaism. Mo...
More About: Hat , Methi , That , Something , While

A forum post by XTimmy called A lack of evidence as proof ga
2007-01-15 12:03:04
A forum post by XTimmy called A lack of evidence as proof gave me this idea: Christians, often, say that atheism requires “faith”, because we can’t prove the non-existence of God. However… What evidence is there against the existence of the Christian God? None, indeed. What evidence is there for the existence of the Christian God? None, as well. What evidence is there against the existence of the Flying Spaghetti Monster? None, again. What evidence is there for the existence of the Flying Spaghetti Monster? You guessed it… none. Now, dear Christians, tell me, please, why it makes sense to believe in one and not in the other. Copyright © 2007 Way of the Mind
More About: Evidence , Post , Forum , Proof , Roof

Here in Portugal it’s 2 PM right now, and in a couple
2007-01-15 12:03:04
Here in Port ugal it’s 2 PM right now, and in a couple of hours I’ll go and spend Christmas with my family. Before I do that, however, I want to wish you all a merry whatever-holiday-if-any-you-celebrate. It may appear strange that an atheist like yours truly celebrates Christmas. However, not only is Christmas an originally pagan holiday (and much older than the supposed birth of Jesus), but, around here, it’s not really a religious holiday. We celebrate Christmas because of tradition, and as an excuse for the family to get together, possibly exchange gifts (though the increasing consumerism is certainly annoying), have a good time, and enjoy each other’s company… which, for some odd reason, is never done during the rest of the year. So, whatever you readers celebrate, enjoy yourselves. If you don’t celebrate anything… do you really need an excuse to enjoy yourselves anyway? Copyright © 2007 Way of the Mind
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See this news, for instance. The “milestone” was
2007-01-15 12:03:04
See this news, for instance. The “milestone” was reached yesterday: 2,978 men and women, more than the 2,973 killed in the World Trade Center. Now, since the Iraq war never had anything to do with “terrorism”, but only with a) oil, and b) being permanently “at war”, so it’s “unpatriotic” to criticize the president / government, couldn’t we look at it this way: that the Bush administration is at least guilty of as much terrorism against America as Al Qaeda? Sure, they’ve been slower at killing Americans - took them several years, instead of just one morning. But doing it for greed and for unchecked power isn’t a more noble motive than “72 dark-eyed virgins”. The fact that Americans still let Bush get away with this, that millions still believe he’s doing a good job… is absolutely beyond me. Copyright © 2007 Way of the Mind
More About: News , Miles , Stone , This , Mile

You may have heard those two words before. Haven’t you
2007-01-15 12:03:04
You may have heard those two words before. Have n’t you? They’re not the same (more on that below), but both have one thing in common: Christians love to “steal” famous people from them. Deism is the belief that there is a god who created the universe, but who, after that, did no more. He created the cosmos with all its natural laws, and those laws are enough to keep the universe working, without any need for “divine intervention”. Therefore, anything you see is, indeed, natural; there are no visible miracles, other than the original creation of the universe. Such a god isn’t a jealous, petty being, like the one described in the Christian Bible; he doesn’t care about judging people, creating a “heaven” or a “hell”, and would never change natural laws because of our requests — in other words, praying is not only useless, but conceited and absurd. Same thing about worshiping. Famous deists? Well, most of th...
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I’m going to expand on a comment I made in the “
2007-01-15 12:03:04
I’m going to expand on a comment I made in the “Deism and Pantheism” discussion. Many theists, often, say things like the following: Agnostics are OK, but atheists are arrogant, because they say with absolute certainty that there is no god. How can they know such a thing? They have to believe it on faith - and they call us irrational because of our faith?! I’ve already answered the “arrogant” part 8 months ago, in Atheism: arrogance?. As for the “faith” part… The theists’ problem, here, is that they prefer, in their lives, an absolute certainty without any evidence for it (e.g. creationism), rather than a huge certainty with a lot of evidence for it (e.g. evolution). They have a need to be sure. And, therefore, assume that we atheists must work the same way. Surprise: we don’t. I, like other atheists, am not “sure”, as in 100% certainty, that there is no god. I simply see no evidence of one, and know of n...
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Since not everyone here visits the Way of the Mind Forum, wh
2007-01-15 12:03:04
Since not everyone here visits the Way of the Mind Forum , where I posted this link a couple of days ago, and since this one is simply too good to be missed , here it is: What do you REALLY know about the Bible? I got 35 out of 50. What about you? Copyright © 2007 Way of the Mind
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Since every other blog seems to be doing it… Sorted
2007-01-15 12:03:04
Since every other blog seems to be doing it… Sort ed by number of visits, in ascending order: 10 - The problem of Agnosticism, part 2 - it’s a “part 2″ (see below for part 1), but it’s perfectly readable on its own. Discusses the contradiction of being “agnostic” about Yahweh, but “atheistic” about every other made-up deity. 9 - Christian myths about Atheism: discussion - there were so many comments for the “16 Common Myths about Atheism” post (see below) that I had to close that thread and open a new one, or my web server would have been very, very angry at me. 8 - The problem of Agnosticism - explores why agnostics are agnostic, and what’s wrong, in my opinion, with it. 7 - How I’ve become an atheist - one of the oldest posts on Way of the Mind, this tells of my own “deconversion”, and links to a brilliant Douglas Adams interview 6 - Why Atheism is not a religion - oddly enough, many people...
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Quite often, when a non-theist discusses religion and faith
2007-01-15 12:03:04
Quite often, when a non-theist discusses religion and faith with Christians, he will criticize the behavior of one or more Christians he knows, either in the present or from history. The Christian’s reply to that will, almost always, be “Oh, those are not true Christians.” Putting aside the fact that it’s a no true Scotsman fallacy (because one can always say that the more reprehensible examples aren’t “true ones”, redefining “true” as one sees fit), I want to examine the several ways in which someone (either a current non-theist, or a believer who wants to look at Christianity objectively) can know which of the many so-called “Christians” are the real thing. After all, without true divine intervention, how can someone objectively tell that “these guys” are “real” Christians, and that “those guys” are not? Therefore, here are several possibilities to choose from. I’ll list th...
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