I got out of class this morning and picked up my student news paper. In it was this article which started my morning off right, by properly pissing me off.

I can't find the article online, it was about The Khalil Gibran International Academy

I couldn't find the article in my school paper, but I found one one CNN

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/09/04/arabic.school/

NEW YORK (CNN) -- A public school in New York that will teach Arabic language and culture opened Tuesday amid accusations that it will impose a radical Islamist agenda in its classrooms.

Is it possible to spiritually accept certain properties of God, even having delved deeply into the realms of physics, biology, psychology and cosmology?

I think it is. My post about it is here:

http://www.orangelife.info/2007/09/god-conclusion.html

I would welcome feedback through this forum, or on the blog.

Oryx Orange

Pure Atheism: What does it have to offer?
by Truth? a.k.a The Gadfly



Atheism gets a bad rap. I think this is so because it is said that Atheism, by itself, has nothing to offer; no creeds, no methods, no tools. When I say this I am not saying that skepticism isn't a tool, or that rationilty isn't either because these tools are available to us whether we are "religious" or not. What I am saying is that most religious people see Atheism as having nothing to offer in the "help me deal with my day" department.

I think the main reason people look to religion is to help them deal with daily life and the human condition. We all suffer, in some way, at some point in our lives. To lead happy, healthy lives, many people seek out ways to alleviate their suffering.

Atheism isn't a philosophy, nor is it a belief, it is a lack thereof. Atheism says, "Hey, you just made that up!" and merely asks for proof. This is the entirety of Atheism, and it isn't an unreasonable position at all. Skepticism IS healthy, but skepticism alone doesn't help people deal with their suffering.

We all face sickness, old age, and death. The pleasures that we enjoy in life, as well as the displeasures do not last; and, physical as well as emotional pain is a given in life. What does pure Atheism offer us as human beings to deal with these issues?

Many people are pleasure seekers, "walking after their own lusts" as crazy ol' Pebble would say (if you don't know who this is, ask me). Pleasures make us feel good, but they are temporary. When pleasure ceases we are displeased and seek once again the "high" of the pleasurable sensory experience. This causes us to be dissatisfied with our state of what I call "just being," and makes our lives (whether you want to admit it or not) unsatisfactory. If "just being" wasn't undesirable, we wouldn't always seek out pleasurable experiences.

Aversion to pain is a natural instinct in pretty much any living thing that can feel it. In humans, we experience not only physical pain, but psychological pains as well. When we experience psychological pain, we tend to not want to deal with it. Some of us build up a dam, hold the pain back. This works for a while, but eventually the dam bursts and everything comes rushing forth all at once, which makes it hard to deal with. Sometimes the mental pain festers like a virus, and causes us to suffer, and those around us to suffer as well. Other times, we cling to the experience, internalize it, and dwell in it.

People can become dissatisfied with their lives when they crave for their life to be filled exlusively with pleasurable experiences. This craving causes us to have a natural aversion to unpleasurable experiences and the pain that is a given in life, which in turn causes us to suffer. Pain and suffering are two completely different experiences. Pain is unavoidable. Suffering is self-created.*

The human desire to live forever (i.e. the concept of the soul/eternal bliss in Heaven), and even the desire to end one's life causes us to suffer, as Noah Levine points out:

We also create suffering for ourselves due to our craving to exist permanently -- that is, our craving for eternal pleasure. When life is good, we want it to go on forever. At other times though, we create suffering for ourselves through our craving to not exist at all -- the craving for nonexistence, which results from the desire to escape from the paoins and difficulties of life. All suicidal tendencies can be understood in the light of this desire to escape from suffering.

Craving is the problem. Desires are natural, but craving -- which is painful -- is the extreme aspect of desire. [a]

I feel that Atheism by itself offers us no tools to help us alleviate the suffering we experience in our daily lives. So what do I suggest we do? I am, after all, an Atheist. I am not, however, a typical hardcore "religion must die" atheist. I do think there are some healthy religions out there (mostly the Eastern variety), that can be very useful in helping us in our daily lives as human beings. Buddhism (Zen to be exact) is my religion of choice for several reasons:

(1) It does not deal in dogmas or theology
(2) Skepticism is encouraged
(3) It does not deal in absolutes
(4) Nothing supernatural is involved
(5) Evolution is not a problem for Buddhism
(6) It does not believe in magic or magical prayers
(7) Buddhism is Atheistic
( It offers human beings a way to minimize/alleviate their suffering
(9) Koans are fucking awesome!
(10) It focuses on the NOW and makes life beautiful
(11) It makes more sense than any other religion

In closing, I would like to say that this blog was not an attack on Atheism, after all, I am an atheist. What I am suggesting is that the hardcore "religion must die" atheists out there take a good look at your position, and take a good look at your lives. Ask yourself, does "pure" Atheism make your life any better? Then you will see my point here. I am not saying that all religions have validity. I think monotheism in general is the hugest piece of trash on Earth. What I am saying is, not ALL religions are bad.


References:
a. Against the Stream: A Buddhist manual for spiritual revolutionaries, by Noah Levine

* note:
If any of you have not viewed my W.W.T.D.D. (What Would Tyler Durden Do) blog, now is the time to do so. Tyler, like the Buddha (a.k.a "Sid&quot tells us to "let the chips fall where they may" and to "just let go". If we are constantly seeking pleasure and avoiding pain, we create suffering in our lives. It's that simple.

Food for thought. Some atheists like to say that religious people have some sort of mental disorder or illness, well...

Mental disorder or Mental illness is a term used to refer psychological pattern that occurs in an individual and is usually associated with distress or disability that is not expected as part of normal development or culture.

 OR

any clinically significant behavioral or psychological syndrome characterized by the presence of distressing symptoms, impairment of functioning, or significantly increased risk of suffering death, pain, disability, or loss of freedom.

Atheists and theists alike. Jump in and either post the sickest bible verses you can think of. Or if you are theist, attempt "if you can" explain it away without using the "metaphore" cop out.

I'll start off.

Malichi 2:3 "Behold, I will coorupt your seed and spread DUNG upon your faces."

That is one of my favorites. But feel free to talk about others like "Lot's daughter" or "emmissions of horses".......Any verse dealing with incest, infanticide, genocide.......you name it, in this thread it is all fair game. 

I don't know how this guy found my website but he's been sending me e-mails because he was initially upset that he was forced to read my website.  I'm assuming he was forced since he said he didn't like it and continued reading.  Anyway, being bored I conversed with him when he sent me this whopper about the existence of god.

It is self-evident that there is a creator.   Let me see. Our calendar attests to Him. BC = Before Christ and AD is the year of our Lord (Jesus Christ)/.It is no coincidence that Jesus is the central focus of history.
I am sorry, if you think I insulted you. I did not intentionally mean to do that. There is overwhelming evidence in nature of the creator. However, many people choose not to acknowledge, and I can not convince them, nor is it my job to convince them. Also, I do not believe that morals should be legislated, or forced on anyone. I do believe in freedom of speech, which works both ways. If you want freedom, you must tolerate others. I have much tolerance for those who think or believe differently. I do enjoy dialogue, because dialogue allows us to understand each other better. Thanks for your time,  bruce

What exactly is an agnostic-theist?  I find it baffling that some people use this label to describe themselves.  Agnosticism refers to knowledge and either states that god is unknown or inherently unknowable. I do not know how someone can know that something is inherently unknowable.

I do not see how agnosticism and theism can be reconciled.  It seems like a contradiction. How can someone have no knowledge of God, but believe in God?  This seems to go against the grain of agnosticism. 

Where are the gaps in knowledge that hold open the possibility of a god?

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Blasphemy Challenge Video of Movie Creator:

Hello everyone. 
I had written out a longwinded post here about my journey from true believer to my current state of what I would call semi-decoversion, however before I could post it I hit the wrong button at the wrong time and lost it all. The Christian side of my brain tells me that God didn't want me to post my comments, therefore I lost them, whereas the rational side of my brain tells me I'm just an idiot. But I am going to try again, albeit in a shortened point form. I am looking for comments from atheists and theists to try and help me make sense of things.