Camels With Hammers, Booyah!

Stop reading this.

Go read this:

Is It Just A Mystery Whether God Exists?

Daniel Fincke details an argument between a godder and a skeptic.

Robin: Okay, first of all—I don’t claim to know there is a god, I admit I have faith. I am honest about that, unlike you making knowledge claims where you really only have faith too.

Jaime: Hold it—you cannot have this both ways. You worship this god, you live your life around your beliefs about this god and what you think it wants you to do, and you try to get me to believe in and obey this god. You claim all the time to know this god intimately, to have a personal relationship with it, and to know its will. To claim that you don’t act like a person who thinks they know is disingenuous. You’re not living in a humble middle ground like the kind of agnostic who refrains from believing, consistent with their belief they cannot know enough either way to commit to belief or disbelief. You constantly talk and act just as someone would only if they truly thought that they knew there was a god. I mean, how can you say you have a deep and intimate personal relationship with someone one minute and then turn around and the next minute say you’re not claiming to know that person even exists! What kind of an intimate personal relationship is that?

Dang it, I have to meet this guy someday. I’ve never even met an actual philosopher before, but now I want to be one. I want to be him.

Hey, It’s An Imperfect World (Sorry, L.Ron)

I’m a long way from the planning table here at FtB.

I’m pretty sure Ed Brayton and PZ Myers have a Master Planner’s Lair somewhere, which has a huge hot tub, beer bar and poker table, where the World Domination plans proceed.

Pictured above is the Soundproof Lair for Concealing Maniacal Laughter. I like to think the whole complex is in Scotland somewhere, probably underground, and they get there by Opening a Way into the Never-Never. I suspect Ian Cromwell, Daniel Fincke and certain others get periodic invitations to confer on important points of the Plan, although they may just be there to pick up Ed’s and PZ’s empties. Continue reading “Hey, It’s An Imperfect World (Sorry, L.Ron)”

Our Plan Proceeds. One More Is Assimilated.

Biodork joins the FtB network, further spreading the atheist stain among the peoples of the world.

Go welcome her!

Her name is Brianne Bilyeu, and she describes herself as “skeptic, humanist, atheist, feminist, pro-sexual freedom, nerd, geek, dork, bibliophile, activist, pro-choice, over-joiner, liberal, progressive, scientist, wife, sister, daughter, gamer, storyteller, listener.”

On the other hand, she admits, in her very first post on FtB, to simultaneously “drinking whiskey and eating an Oreo McFlurry.”

I can’t put my finger on why that seems so unnatural, Brianne. But it does.

And then there’s the way you agree with Bill O’Reilly all the time. Hmph.

I’ve got my eye on you, missy.

Evil Chic: You Know You Want It

Seriously, this is a good cause: Evil Little Shirts.

The proceeds will support a very poised and bright young woman, Jessica Ahlquist, who spearheaded the recent fight to remove the unconstitutional Christian prayer banner from her high school.

Ed and PZ say it better than me. But hey, even if you knew nothing else about it, you know you want a shirt that says this:

 

 

 

Answering John Loftus: Is There an Atheist Community?

John Loftus, of Debunking Christianity, writes:

I want to briefly make the case that there is no atheist community. There are only atheist communities. There is likewise no atheist movement. There is only an atheist momentum. Atheists do not even share the same goals.

It’s a sound point, and I agree with several of his arguments, at least in the sense I believe he’s aiming. But it isn’t the only point, I don’t think. It will take me a bit to explain why: Continue reading “Answering John Loftus: Is There an Atheist Community?”

Greta Christina Says Something Fantastic. Again!

Well worth reading:

We’re Telling Them They’re Wrong: Why Coming Out Atheist Is Inherently Oppositional

I think we need to acknowledge that, for us, coming out is an oppositional act. That’s not all it is, of course. It’s also an act of visibility, of community building, of personal honesty and integrity. It helps overturns myths and misinformation about us. It helps normalize atheism and make it seem less scary, both to believers and to incipient atheists. It makes it easier for other atheists to come out… which helps make our communities stronger… which, in turn, makes it easier for still more atheists to come out.
But it is also an oppositional act. Even in its mildest forms. Even when all we do is put up billboards saying something as innocuous as, “You can be good without God,” or, “Don’t believe in God? You are not alone”… we are saying, implicitly, “If you believe in God, you’re mistaken.”

Read the rest. And there’s a Part 2 coming up!