So does that mean you didn't exist before? Just checking. Anyway, it's amazing what you can find on u-tube. I even watched the debate on ABC, guess I should stay up on the news a bit better. I'm an American, and by saying that I mean to imply I hold the right to free speech and free thought very dear. But such rights did not originate with the constitution. They have been given from the very beginning of humanity. The Greeks themselves prided their rational response to all things new. They valued new thinking and philosophy. We are not robots, each person chooses what they believe. However, that belief doesn't make what they believe true. There are some instances when many things can be true, but there is only one truth in every matter. For instance, a car accident happens. The driver, victim, passanger, witness; they all have a different perspective. In each of their versions what they say is true; but in the larger scheme the truth is what actually happened, the conglomeration of everyone's facts. In other words truth is like seeing every aspect of the accident at the same time. Thus, truth doesn't change with perspective. It is the same through all time; it is what actually happened and what will happen. The history of mankind, has discrepancies not because there is a lack of truth, but because we weren't there. Secondly, even if we were we can't see all aspects of incidents at one time. Yes, of course, in a perfect situation you could interview, set up recording equipment; but there is still the problem of viewing it all at the same time.

The following dialog with me and a pastor of a Baptist Church in my area questions me why I stand the way I do today.

-Pastor: So I understand you believe there is no God. May I ask why?
-L.G.: I wouldn't word it that way. I wouldn't say I believe there is no God as I don't have a belief. I would word it more like "I have no belief in God" than "I don't believe in God." The two wordings can have different meanings.

-P: You still haven't answered, why do you believe (or not believe) how you do?
-L: A number of things. In my days of being a Christian and praying I never got the results I wanted. I cried and prayed that God would reveal himself to me. I believed in God, but didn't have any confirmation. This is when I started doubting. I did some research, mainly online, and read "The God Delusion" and found out there is absolutely no evidence to support the existence of God.

Quote:

A Belgian anesthetist has filed a complaint against a Muslim who blocked him from entering the operating theatre where his wife was to undergo emergency surgery.

The woman was operated with the male doctor shouting instructions from a hallway to a female nurse

Doctor Philippe Becx from Bree, Belgium, was called to the hospital in the middle of the night because a woman had to undergo an emergeny caesarean section.

However, her husband blocked the door and demanded a female anesthetist. The latter was unavailable.

After a two-hour discussion proved fruitless, an imam was summoned. The imam permitted the doctor to apply an epidural injection, but only if the woman was fully covered with only a small area of skin showing.

During the surgery itself, performed by a female gynecologist, the anesthetist was to remain in the hallway. Through a door that was slightly ajar, he shouted instructions to a nurse who was monitoring the anesthesia.

Over this past summer I completed my first full-time paid internship with a local bi-weekly newspaper. I will say that the grip that religious superstition has on this community is frighteningly tight. Save the "sermons" I overheard while eavesdropping in local vacation Bible schools, in fact save the religious utterances I heard firsthand from preachers I interviewed. The scariest part was the political influence at the highest levels of this municipality. This obligation felt by local leaders that they must espouse a impression of unchallengable patriotism bound by religious convictions and a "common" faith in God came at the price of the taxpayer's pocketbooks, and nothing else.

I found this article on the USAToday website. It's written by Nica Lalli and is a thoughtful piece that makes the very valid counter-point to all of the people who carelessly lob the accusation at us (or others, such as Christopher Hitchens here) that "You guys are bad representatives of atheism!" Since this is so frequently used as an argument against us, I thought I would re-post it here.

Here is a post from the Dawkins' forums that essentially credits us, and specifically the Nightline debacle with Cameron/Comfort, for his deconversion from christianity. I find this terribly ironic since some of the regulars at the RDF site are extremely critical of us and our methods, some even going so far as saying that we will never affect anybody's beliefs and that we somehow harm atheism. I find it telling that when this was posted on their boards, nobody had anything to say. Why didn't they explain to this person that they shouldn't have been persuaded by our juvenile, offensive argumentation? Why was the typical response to anything having to do with us not represented in this thread? Go ahead and explain to this poster all the reasons why we are ineffective and pedantic stupid morons. I triple-dog dare you.

link

Why are atheists feared so, and in America of all nations? I think americans should be more enlightened. Sure there are some evil atheists out there, but there are evil theists as well. Belief or none belief in God is a small part of a person outlook on life. The choses one makes is what determines if he or she is good. Here are some things to look for in good people.

1) tales the truth as they see. Anther to say this is "He/she calls em like they are."
2) Helpful to others.
3) trustworthy
4) friendly

I'm going to stop my list there. This is my opinion. I cannot change the facts one way are the other.

From: The Ages, Australia
Apr. 15, 2007
Thornton McCamish
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/17975/against-god

In this article, apparently a few months old, the author reviews some of the current books and trends in this "New Atheism" thing we keep hearing about. He seems to maintain journalistic integrity and doesn't appear particularly biased--until you get to the last sentence:

Huh? Could you repeat that? O_O

So this is the first time i've blogged on here. First of all, I'd like to introduce myself. My name's Sam and I live in north Mississippi. I first came out as an athiest in the seventh grade as a result of influence from my family and the contradictory behavior I observed from my Christian classmates. I have never recieved more ridicule in my childhood than I did in the proceeding weeks after I first shared my non-belief with some teammates after football practice. It is noteworthy to establish that I didn't grow up in MS, but central Oklahoma, an area that seems like the secular center of the world in contrast with where I currently live.