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Wednesday, March 4, 2009

«Ten [False] Reasons Why Atheists Are Wrong»

And now the flip-side of Sunday's Ten Signs list. I told you I'd seen the version of this that addresses atheists. I tell you what, if this is the best they can come up with, I don't know why there's still any argument about it...

I'll provide my answers to each one of these.

  1. You vigorously deny the existence of God, yet you frequently blame Him for all the "evils" in the world, all the natural disasters, and everything else under the sun that is wrong in modern society.
  2. You feel insulted and "dehumanized" when creationists say that people were created in the image and likeness of God, but you have no problem with the evolutionist claim that we all evolved from slime by a cosmic accident.
  3. You criticize fundamental Christians who believe the Bible, and say that it can't possibly be true because it's just a book written by mere men, yet you never question any of Darwin's writings or Richard Dawkins' books.
  4. You can't seem to understand the primary differences between fundamental Muslims and fundamental Christians (hint: strap-on TNT. Plus - Muhammad says, "kill innocent people and yourself if you love me." Jesus Christ said, "I'll die for you because I love you").
  5. You say the Bible is full of fairytales and fables, yet you believe all life forms including plants, trees, insects, birds, fish, reptiles and mammals evolved from one species into another - As if evolution isn't the biggest fairytale of them all.
  6. You laugh at the Supernatural, even though scientists have calculated the odds of life forming by natural processes to be estimated less than 1 chance in 10 to the 40,ooo power - But you find nothing wrong with believing that billions of years full of random mutations would result in the impossible.
  7. You accuse fundamental Christians of being intolerant, judgmental and hateful, while you foam at the mouth calling them freaking lunatics, ignorant, weak-minded, stupid fundies, and hateful bigots.
  8. You ignore scientific concepts like cause and effect, and you don't realize that a closed system can be defined however the observer wants, so you throw out technological phrases to try to ignore the implications of thermodynamics by saying the laws of physics are not set in stone.
  9. While all evidence, logic and reasoning point to a Creator and absolute truth, you prefer to hide behind relativism and a theory of evolution which does not, in fact, describe the creation of the universe at all, or why concepts of good and evil or morality exist.
  10. Atheism fails to adequately explain the existence of eternal, unchanging truths, for it rejects the existence of an eternal unchanging mind. Atheism cannot offer man any eternal significance whatsoever. Temporary meaning in life is insufficient, for our accomplishments die with the death of the universe -- there is no ultimate purpose in a universe void of God.

As it happens, I have an answer to each of them (more than the believers can say about their list). So, let's begin...
  1. I never do blame God for anything. Or Satan, for that matter.
  2. I don't really feel "dehumanized" by it at all. We are the product of billions of years of evolution. It's not like there was anyone around to make an accident. If life has variation, and if that life has heredity, and if there is a selector, then evolution must happen over time.
  3. By no means do I claim that Darwin or Richard Dawkins are infallible. Let's get this out of the way right now: atheists do not have prophets or saviors.
  4. And you don't seem to understand the difference between extremist Muslims and "normal" Muslims. You don't have to look very far back in history to see a time when extremist Christians were killing innocent people, either. All that aside however, what does the difference between Christians and Muslims have to do with atheism?
  5. Explaining the complexity of life by postulating something even more complex just compounds the issue.
  6. First off, Drake's Equation is worse than useless because none of the probabilities are known. We have only one example (Earth) to base it off of. Scientists don't have an estimate. Second, even with poor odds there are so many star systems in the universe that it's bound to happen somewhere (my bet is this isn't the only place). Why here? Because if it didn't, we wouldn't be here to debate the issue.
  7. Both sides exhibit this behavior towards each other. We're all hypocrites.
  8. So you throw out technological phrases like "thermodynamics" as well (see my number 7). FYI: increasing life complexity on Earth does not violate the 2nd law (entropy) because the system is driven by an external energy source: the Sun.
  9. What evidence is there that points to a creator that can't be better explained elsewhere? As far as where the logic points to, look at my number 5. Evolution never was suppose to describe the creation of the universe, or morality. Or even the creation of life for that matter. It only explains why and how life changes over time.
  10. Quite simply, there isn't. Why does there need to be an ultimate purpose? How would the existence of God change that? There still would be no ultimate purpose for anything – including God – to exist. However, here on this planet, we have carved out our own purpose. It doesn't serve anyone else but ourselves; it doesn't have to.

17 comments:

  1. Wow, I am surprised.

    There is the additional assertion that atheists - in the form of communists, but there are some others - have done more killing in a few decades than all of the religious killing in history.

    The Anabaptists began during the Reformation as a violent separatist group, but later morphed into a strictly pacifist sect. Has atheism done the same?

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  2. @ Looney: I would argue that atheist are no more violent than any other arbitrarily selected group of people.

    Take countries like France and Sweden where there are a high number of atheists. Those countries have not degenerated into a state of violence and anarchy.

    Funny thing about Sweden, 75% are members of the Church of Sweden, but that's because they were enrolled at birth. When actually polled about their beliefs, only 23% said they believe there is a God.

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  3. Marf, there are parts of France that would test the anarchy claim, but atheism isn't the reason. I have had people living under my care who went through the cultural revolution in China, so the impact of atheist regimes isn't just an abstract theory to me.

    But perhaps there is something else: If we look at world wide suicide rates, Sweden and especially France show up much worse that the US. Some of the worst rates are among the former Soviet bloc countries where atheist education was maintained over decades. Any correlation?

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  4. @ Looney: There might be. I must admit my relative ignorance in the matter. Atheism isn't the best at giving "hope".

    But putting the benefits or determents of atheism or religion aside: Just because something has a benefit does not mean it's true.

    I could believe in the Flying Spaghetti Monster, and get a nice warm tingly feeling when I'm eating pasta because I think I'm honoring Him. That doesn't mean the Flying Spaghetti Monster exists.

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  5. Indeed, it is rumored that placebos are 30% effective.

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  6. idiots... wait. you will see soon enough. weather will worsen, more earthquakes, planets will line up, the tower of babylon will be built in 2012 representing satans empire. the rapture will happen shortly after theres a peace treaty with israel and the world will end 7 years after.. mark my words.. we are not evolution.. there is nothing like us on earth. open your eyes. and what you must understand is that all the deception that makes you think your right is the work of the devil over thousands of years.. brutal truth but reality, if you cant see god ... then look for satan... hes easy to find

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  7. Anonymous, it will take 10 years to get the permits to start a new tower of Babylon.

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  8. @ Anonymous: Funny... I don't see any evidence of Satan either.

    And of course, throw in the 2012 doomsday thing... After-all, if the Mayan calender ends then so must the world. Then again, technically the calendar is due to flip over (like ours does every year); it doesn't really end.

    @ Looney: I think you're thinking of US permitting laws. Besides, who says the permitting process didn't start 10 years ago? If someone's determined to find a tower of Babylon being built, they're going to find something. Even if they have to stretch the definition of "tower".

    In fact, I bet with a little creativity, the Burj Dubai Tower could be interpreted as the tower of Babylon. It's how you religious nuts work.

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  9. @Looney

    The reason why suicide rates are higher in Sweden is not due to the atheist majority, but because of the climate. Scandinavia has a very cold climate and very little sun. Because of th e lack of sunlight, many people develop depression and on alot of cases it causes suicide. I think its called a Seasonal Affective Disorder.

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  10. @Anonymous,

    I will point you to this article regarding Alaska, which should have the same rates as Sweden:

    http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/14/world/americas/14iht-alaska.1.5699923.html

    There may be a minor effect due to the sun, but it seems to me that cultural factors are dominant.

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  11. Take it form me. I lived in Sweden for four years. The high suicide rate is from, what they call, Winter Depression. Being dark for 24 hours takes it's toll on people. Trust me. They aren't depressed because of their lack of belief in God. If fact, they are very comfortable with the idea. The effects of the lack of sun are not minor, Looney. And the depression doesn't always just go away when the sun comes back. That is a huge misconseption of Winter Depression. People in Sweden kill themselves in the summer from a depression that started in winter of, sometimes, years ago.

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  12. Atheists commit suicide more often because they're not afraid to do so, because they don't believe they're going to hell after they do it.

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  13. i am not the first annoying anonymous

    Bravo Marf, a well put response to those who believe atheists are more intolerant than they are.

    Also other anonymous show me proof that your god and you god only exists.

    Anonymous named Schnepp

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  14. This is a beautiful argument. Reason outweighs fanaticism, and logic prevails. Kudos to everyone who puts the power of the human mind first... and to everyone who says science is the devil, I'll just point out that the first thing 'god' ever told man to do was to go out and name the animals, etc. I interpret that as exploring your world and learning all you can.

    As to the LHC... I almost do view it as a prophet. The prophet of logic and reason to finally close the mouths of the ignorant bible thumpers. I admit I'm as biased as anyone about my beliefs :P But I'll take evidence and logical interpretation over "a wizard did it" any day.

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  15. Alright guys, let's have a clean debate! No mudslinging, name-calling, or kidney punches! Let's get ready to RUUUUUMBLLLLLE!!!

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  16. I have to say thank you for putting this out there, I'm so tired of being told I'm going to hell when I don't belive in it. For the record, I think anyone that is so irked by the fact that someone doesn't belive the same thing as them, is looking for proof themselves for what they belive in to be true

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