Clipmarks | JohnWaterman's 'atheism' clips

A question science can't answer?

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 10:49:55 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

"Can anybody think of a question science can't answer?"

"Is there a God?" shot back a boy near the window.

"Good," said Mr. Campbell, an Anglican who attends church most Sundays. "Can't test it. Can't prove it, can't disprove it. It's not a question for science."

I despise that chicken-hearted answer. There are two reasonable ways to address that. One is to accept the usual open-ended, undefined vagueness of the god entity and point out that the reason it can't be answered is that it is a bad question — it's not even wrong. Science doesn't answer it, but then no discipline can, because it's a garbage question like "what color are invisible elephants?" If that's what window-boy intends with his petty little gotcha, he deserves to have the inanity of his idea disparaged.

The other approach

pin the question down. What god? What actions has it taken in the natural world? How does it influence us specifically? Then you can tackle that god with science by testing the purported effects it has

Tags: religion, science, atheism, god

A secular world is a sane world - Pat Condell

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 11:28:33 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: www.patcondell.net

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

[Video]

Clip Source: www.patcondell.net

Now that we’ve got the formalities out of the way, welcome to my website.

HERE'S MY LATEST VIDEO

Tags: atheism, religion, secularism, islam

Is atheism a religion?

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 10:58:36 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: www.theatheistmama.com

Children's questions about God

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 15:39:53 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: new.iheyo.org

ten questions (with sub-questions) that bright kindergartners have asked, thought about asking, or should have thought about

1. Who created God?

This is the first question my Rabbi refused to answer, and now I understand why

2. What was God doing before He created humans?

3. Since we are created in God’s image, does He look or act like us?

4. Why did God stop talking to humans (me)?

If people today claim that they have regular conversations with God, we think they are crazy. Were those so-called ancient prophets also crazy?

5. Why do bad things happen to good people?

6. Does God ever change His mind when we pray?

7. Why is belief so important to God when He judges us?

8. How much better is the worst person in heaven than the best person in hell?

9. Will I be the same person in heaven that I am on earth?

If I can sin on earth, but not in heaven, then I will be a different person

10. Why are there other religions?

After all these millennia, can’t a benevolent God help us get it right?

Tags: religion, atheism, children, god

Heathen Tv

Fri, 23 May 2008 00:47:05 GMT

clipped by: Antara
clipper's remarks:

Clip Source: heathen.tv

Tags: heathens, infidels, rabblerousers, interesting

Childish superstition: Einstein's letter makes view of religion relatively clear

Tue, 13 May 2008 08:52:35 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

"Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind." So said Albert Einstein, and his famous aphorism has been the source of endless debate

A little known letter written by him

may help to settle the argument

no supporter of religious beliefs, which he regarded as "childish superstitions

he states: "The word god is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honourable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this

"For me the Jewish religion like all others is an incarnation of the most childish superstitions

Despite his categorical rejection of conventional religion, Brooke said that Einstein became angry when his views were appropriated by evangelists for atheism. He was offended by their lack of humility and once wrote. "The eternal mystery of the world is its comprehensibility."

Lack of Respect

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 17:38:01 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: friendlyatheist.com

Tags: atheism, religion, respect

Atheist Quotations - and a dance!!

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 08:09:31 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman
clipper's remarks: "Don't pray in my school and I won't think in your church"

Clip Source: friendlyatheist.com

A collection of some thought-provoking quotations about atheism and religion, set to dance music — what else would you expect from someone named TranceDevotee?

[Video]

Tags: atheism, religion

Free Speech is non-negotiable

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 01:25:46 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman
clipper's remarks: Pat Condell really goes for it!

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

[Video]

Tags: islam, religion, free speech, atheism

The Top 50 Atheist Aphorisms

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 16:49:59 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: friendlyatheist.com

An unofficial list of the “Top 50 Atheist T-Shirt and Bumper Sticker Aphorisms

Abstinence Makes the Church Grow Fondlers

Honk If Your Religious Beliefs Make You An Asshole

Intelligent Design Makes My Monkey Cry

Too Stupid to Understand Science? Try Religion.

There’s A REASON Why Atheists Don’t Fly Planes Into Buildings

“Worship Me or I Will Torture You Forever. Have a Nice Day.” God.

People Who Don’t Want Their Beliefs Laughed at Shouldn’t Have Such Funny Beliefs

Threatening Children With Hell Is FUN!

Jesus Told Me Republicans SUCK

God + Whacky Tobacky = Platypus

God Doesn’t Exist. So, I Guess That Means No One Loves You.

When the Rapture Comes, We’ll Get Our Country Back!

You Say “Heretic” Like It Was a BAD Thing

Science: It Works, Bitches.

“Intelligent Design” Helping Stupid People Feel Smart Since 1987

I Gave Up Superstitious Mumbo Jumbo For Lent

Praying Is Politically Correct Schizophrenia

Q. How Can You Tell That Your God is Man-made?

A. If He Hates All the Same People You Do.

Tags: atheism, religion

Test Your God Logic

Sun, 13 Jan 2008 14:24:48 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman
clipper's remarks: This is really clever.

Clip Source: friendlyatheist.com

01.11.08

Test Your God Logic

Posted in Friendly Atheist at 3:45 pm by Hemant Mehta

Whether you’re an atheist or not, does your thinking make sense when it comes to questions of religion?

Take this short test and find out if there are any holes in your logic!

No cheating.

Tell us how many hits you took and how many bullets you bit!

(Thanks to Linda for the link!)

Technorati Tags: atheist, atheism, Christian, logic, religion

The GodCam - chat online live!

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 17:03:48 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: friendlyatheist.com

01.07.08

The GodCam

Posted in Friendly Atheist at 9:02 pm by Hemant Mehta

It’s live. You can talk to him now!

Just go here.

(Hehe.)

And if you click the camera when you’re done, there’s an old Sam Harris article as well.

(via NoGodBlog)

Technorati Tags: atheist, atheism

Flying Spaghetti Monster is a folk-humor hybrid body: discuss

Thu, 20 Dec 2007 11:55:47 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: www.wired.com

The Flying Spaghetti Monster may look funny, but he was taken very seriously by a panel at the American Academy of Religion annual conference.
Image: venganza.org

To a group of earnest academics who study faith, the Flying Spaghetti Monster -- the spiritual icon of a new internet-based religion -- is more than just a spicy pop-culture dish

They use words like "didactic device" to describe the beloved but carb-heavy god of Pastafarianism

"folk-humor hybrid body,"

"open source theology"

Pastafarianism is "quite clearly confronting order with disorder, a profound kind of religious activity that we often overlook,"

Sober words for a male deity made of two meatballs and a "noodly appendage." The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster has largely been popularized through the internet.

"millions, if not thousands of devout worshippers," according to its website

Pastafarianism

is as serious as the religious-studies wonks are taking it

Anything that comes across as humor or satire is purely coincidental.

Tags: fsm, flying spaghetti monster, atheism, religion

Bad Faith Awards 2007

Wed, 19 Dec 2007 18:37:21 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: blog.newhumanist.org.uk

After months of nominations, the time has finally come to decide who walks away with the coveted 2007 New Humanist Bad Faith Award.

To help you decide who will be crowned 2007's most scurrilous enemy of reason we've pulled together a shortlist of 10 runners and riders. Have a read, follow the links for more information on the nonsense they've been spouting, then place your vote in the poll at the top right of this page:

Chuck Norris

he would "tattoo an American flag with the words 'In God we trust' on the forehead of every atheist"

The Bishop of Carlisle

floods were God's punishment for Britain's liberal attitude to homosexuality

Dr Joyce Pratt

recommended an exorcism

Richard Dawkins

The cheek...

Cardinal Keith O'Brien:

Westboro Baptist Church

Archbishop Francisco Chimoio

Dinesh D'Souza:

General Sir Richard Dannatt

Pope Benedict XVI:

So there we have it. The poll is open until 16 December, and the winner will be announced in the January/February issue of New Humanist

Tags: atheism, faith

Religion and War

Tue, 18 Dec 2007 07:37:53 GMT

clipped by: abailart
clipper's remarks: a.c.grayling defending 'new atheism'

Clip Source: newhumanist.org.uk

I wonder if today’s liberal Western democracies would exist, and with them the rule of law, freedom of speech, liberty of the individual, the enfranchisement of women in political, economic and social respects, saner attitudes to sex and sexuality, and some of the other characteristic goods of contemporary secular society, if all the efforts to overturn the hegemony of religion and the Divine Right of Kings had failed in the mighty endeavour to break free of both during the centuries including and since the sixteenth?

And so it goes,’ as Kurt Vonnegut used aptly to say. Do botanists go to war over the classification of wildflowers? Do physicists indulge in suicide bombings because of disagreements about string theory? Do philosophers shoot to kill in disputes over the semantics of quantified modal logic? And yet: wherever did we get our idea that religion is a major source of division, of conflict, of bloodshed in our world, throughout history and still today?

Tags: a.c.grayling, atheism