By Ubi Dubium ~ A while back Jim posed a question on his blog,  The Common Atheist. His request was “ If each of you would share right here one of your best arguments for atheism…” And I replied with one of my best reasons, but since it was in a comment thread I tried to keep my answer brief.  However, I think the point I was making deserves a more careful discussion.  So here’s a full post about it. First, we need to look at how people get their understanding of their religion. With christianity, first and foremost they get it from other people.  People they trust.  People who tell them that they know things about god or the supernatural.  People who claim to speak for god. Secondly they get it from a holy book, which is just a less direct way of getting it from other people. And thirdly, they have personal experiences, including intense emotional experiences, that they believe come from their god. The problem is that this is not unique t...

By Ubi Dubium ~ R ecently I was responding to a long-winded Xian commenter on a lengthy comment thread on Friendly Atheist. At the end of a really preachy comment, he finished with: “Think about it, God abhors human sacrifice , and yet he decided to go against his own feelings and permitted the death of his only son for your salvation. Sounds like a pretty generous God to me.” To which I replied: “Sounds like a bunch of mythology made up by primitive humans to me.” In the following comments on that thread he took exception to his beliefs being described as “primitive”, and there was some discussion among other commenters about the idea. But that got me to thinking about what we mean when we describe a person, or especially a belief system as “primitive”? I’d like to have a good definition worked out, so the next time I describe something like creationism as a “primitive belief” and I’m challenged on it, I’ll have a good response. An example of why this is tricky: ...

By Ubi Dubium ~ O ver on her blog, Astreja asked this question: "Armed only with a vivid imagination, assume the persona of a god and come up with one or more god-like responses....We hear about gods who hear the *thud* of the sparrow when it hits the living room window, chirps feebly and staggers off muttering rude things about the idiot who left the drapes open. Then there are the gods lurking "outside time and space," wherever the Sam Hill that's supposed to be, supposedly controlling reality without actually touching it. Finally, there are the gods who do things like wandering into the Inn and starting a riot, or arguing with a tree.... Where do you fit on this continuum?" LINK So that got me thinking, if there actually were a god, and I could fire him and take his place, what would I do? And could I do a better job? So here's my "perfect plan": Day 1: No more "divine hiddenness" crap for me. The first thing that I...

By Ubi Dubium ~ I recently responded to a blog comment that used the old “burning building” metaphor that the Fundies use as a justification for their high-octane evangelism. I decided to respond with a metaphor of my own, and I thought I’d share it with you. The Parable of the Meadow Once there was a Humanist sitting in a beautiful meadow on a sunny day. The meadow was full of wildflowers and butterflies, and she was enjoying a cool glass of lemonade. Suddenly, a True Believer ran up to her and yelled “FIRE! RUN AWAY! YOU ARE WALKING INTO A BURNING BUILDING! YOU’VE GOT TO RUN AWAY NOW!!!” The Humanist said “What? I’m just sitting here, I don’t see any building, and where’s the smoke?” Just as the True Believer was about to answer, another True Believer ran up to her and shouted “DON’T LISTEN TO HIM, HE’S WRONG! IT’S NOT A FIRE, IT’S A FLOOD!!! YOU ALL HAVE TO COME WITH ME IN MY BOAT RIGHT NOW OR YOU’LL DROWN!!!” Before the Humanist could say anything, a third True ...