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Cobourg Atheist - News and Resources from Canada
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Written by John Draper
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Friday, 30 July 2010 07:18 |
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The easiest defence of faith made by religious people is that religion and science are in different realms - so proving anything said (e.g. god exists) does not require "scientific" evidence. You can talk about experiences and the feeling of god's love and other non-provable non-evidence then use that to prove that, for you, god exists. This is of course total nonsense. But if you find yourself arguing with someone who is clever with words, you may not be able to shoot them down immediately.
This kind of argument is particularly likely to be used when a theist (e.g. Rabbi David Wolpe) is trying to win a point with a top scientist (e.g. Sam Harris). But Sam did better than I would have done - I would have needed a few hours to think it over. Reminds me of the time a well meaning friend was using logical arguments as to why I should not leave my (first) wife! I knew he was wrong but didn't know why. Much later I figured it out but many people can't bring to mind a good counter argument when faced with what seems like a good rational argument.
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Written by Bill Broderick
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Thursday, 29 July 2010 07:12 |
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The subject of morality has occupied much human thinking over the ages. What makes an act moral or immoral? How can we know the difference between right and wrong? Or even if there is such a thing a right or wrong?
The humanist position is that right and wrong are matters of human perception. That which makes us happy or contributes to our welfare and well-being is good. That which does otherwise is bad. This is very simplistic thinking, but in the long run, within the constraints of our respective cultures, it's what we all go by.
For example, a Muslim man may feel that it is morally necessary to kill a female member of his family, perhaps a daughter because she has offended the family honour by accepting a boyfriend of which the family does not approve. Infidels, meaning non-Muslims, may find the idea horrific. Yet the Christian Bible also instructs parents to kill their disobedient children.
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Written by John Draper
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Wednesday, 28 July 2010 07:39 |
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Too many politicians want us to respect other cultures but the implicit assumption is that all cultures respect human rights. While it is true that many individuals do respect human rights this is not true of their culture. While most Muslims are quite ethical and care about other people, even those in other faiths, this is not true of their culture. That is, it’s not true of the official version of their religion as spelled out by their holy book, the Qur'an, and it’s not true as preached by a large number of their holy imams. In particular, Sharia law does not respect the rights of women and has no place in our society.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a tireless advocate of these points and continually slams Islam for having no respect for the rights of women. Although some Muslim countries like Indonesia, Malaysia and Turkey have secular governments, fundamentalist Muslims are working to reduce the fragile separation of Mosque and State that exists there.
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Written by John Draper
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Tuesday, 27 July 2010 06:57 |
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Scientology is getting more into the news recently. Russia has now decided it's a hate-mongering organization (Moscow Times) and is treating it as a criminal organization; England and France long ago decided that it hardly worth being called a Church; Australia is debating whether it deserves to be given a tax exemption (article1 and article2); last year, the St Petersburg Times in Florida ran an exposé of Scientology practices; famous Scientologists John Travolta and Tom Cruise have been getting scornful press; and more. What surprises me is why Scientology can get away with their totally unethical and sometimes criminal activity. Too many people seem to think that because it's a "religion", it should be left alone. But it didn't start out as a religion - it just calls itself one because 1) it allows it to be tax exempt and 2) they can get away with talking about mystical things without men in white coats carting them off.
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Written by Mark Clement
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Monday, 26 July 2010 07:22 |
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If a person can simply accept that there is no God and appreciate that the world is a self-generated 'natural' occurrence then one can cherry-pick the holy books for anything that is fundamentally 'good' for all of humanity and in that process he/she will realize that 'goodness' is an inbuilt human trait and that the 'goodness' factor exists to improve humanities ability to survive. If one is honest and rational in that process, they will also realize that humanity also includes 'bad' qualities and he/she can then work to eliminate or at least reduce those 'bad' qualities that work against survival and enjoyment of a life.
Complex arguments from theologians or philosophers are of minimal help to the ordinary citizen of the world. The majority of humanity must find easily understandable reasons for a better appreciation of 'goodness' that can be translated into everyday living. Reliance on external, imaginary creator guidance or leadership from those who profess that a 'God' speaks to 'them', puts members of the human species into a position of subservience. Such authoritarian guidance only works to reduce self-directed rational thought about our existence and, unfortunately, seems to be a natural means for developing autocratic states. i.e. "do it my way or suffer punishment."
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Written by John Draper
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Sunday, 25 July 2010 07:37 |
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The first reason Christians choose their religion is because of which religion their parents are. That is, at least initially they have no say in the matter. But at some point, some Christians change their Religion. Many become atheist or agnostic or simply "non-practising" but others embrace another version of Christianity. But why do they choose a particular version. The reason Catholics became Protestant is usually because they dislike one or other of the Catholic Dogmas - and there are many to dislike: teachings on gay sex, sex outside marriage, abortion, priests must not be women, priests must be celibate, literal interpretation of "This is my body", worshipping saints, papal authority and infallibility - the list is long. Abuses by clergy (hypocritical behaviour) don't help. Another reason is that some Protestant Churches (e.g. Pentecostal) offer a more emotional experience. In any case, it is not hard to see why Catholics become Protestant - but why do Protestants become Catholic? Why do Anglicans become Catholic and from a different slant, why do Orthodox Catholics (Greek, Russian etc) not become Roman Catholics?
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Written by William Hopper
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Saturday, 24 July 2010 07:19 |
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A lot of religion's power lies in the laity's fear of what happens to us when we die. The "flaw" in atheism (they say) is that it cannot explain the "afterlife". Well, here ya go: an atheists explanation of death:
What I have learned is this: The brain works on an electric charge that is roughly equal to your average car battery. This electricity jumps from neuron to neuron, interacting with other bits of electricity to create a sense of self. In order to leap across the space between neurons the electricity needs stuff like Adrenaline, Dopamine, Serotonin etc.. Using one of these, a thought (the electric charge) crosses the gap between neurons and thus keeps us functioning. As long as this process keeps happening, we are alive.
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Copyright © 2010 Cobourg Atheist. All Rights Reserved.
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News Update
July 30 2010
1. One Islamic country has had a setback from being able to impose Islam on its citizens. A court in Bangladesh has ruled that Islam based political parties (and there are many in Bangladesh), are illegal and must be disbanded. Their parliament is reviewing the ruling. Canadian press
2. Following on the Pope's recent offer to accommodate Anglicans into the Catholic Church, about 25 Canadian Anglican parishes recently accepted the offer and voted to become Catholics. These are parishes wanting to maintain the status quo and not accept reforms accepted by the majority. Catholic News Agency
Quotes of the Day
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Anne Rice Author "In the name of Christ, I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control. I refuse to be anti-Democrat. I refuse to be anti-secular humanism. I refuse to be anti-science. I refuse to be anti-life. In the name of Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian. Amen." UK Guardian
Geert Wilders
Accused of being a right-wing extremist, Geert Wilders is certainly anti-Islam but claims to NOT be anti-Muslims. What does he really think? On July 20, 2010 he wrote an article addressed to Muslims to answer that question. A full copy is on Cobourg Atheist here.
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A Recent Poll
Evolution poll by Angus Reid
July 16, 2010
What is closest to your point of view?
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US |
Britain |
Canada |
| Creationism |
47% |
16% |
24% |
| Evolution |
35% |
68% |
61% |
| Unsure |
18% |
15% |
15% |
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