Atheist vs. Theist
The N-word
Submitted by HisWillness on March 22, 2009 - 10:29pm.If this has already been pointed out, feel free to let me know. It was a revelation to me.
The theist opposition to materialism is largely seated in Neoplatonism. For those of you who don't know, Neoplatonism is roughly the opposite of scientific physicalist thought, and seems almost designed to counter the Epicurean notion of a material world.
In the Epicurean view, the world is material and is composed of atoms which follow a non-linear path. From those, all things are built, and from the bottom-up, we arrive at a universe. Now, that's about as much detail as we get, but give the guy a break, he came up with this stuff 300 years before Christ.
Fast forward to 350 years after Christ, and St. Augustine gives us his view of the world in stark contrast to that of Epicurus (mostly from Plotinus, it seems). This is a world that starts from the top down. The top is capital-I "Intellect", and "the one", which is the source of all things. From Intellect, the universe is created.
This must be where the idea of the equivalence of validity comes from. That is, it can by argued by a Neoplatonist that "materialism" is an argument that can be countered with the Neoplatonist position, and one cancels the other out, rendering both mere opinion, and devaluing the rigour of scientific work.
Critique
Submitted by RhadTheGizmo on March 22, 2009 - 6:15pm.Humanity can either exist without murder, rape, and physical abuse, or it cannot.
If it can, then such a state can only be reached through some external stimuli, i.e., one not experienced in all of human history.
Contingent Theistic Belief:
Through power or knowledge, God is the external stimuli that will bring about a state of non-murder, rape, and physical abuse.
Falsiable:
If at any time humanity exists without murder, rape, and physical abuse, then such a belief will be shown to be false.
Evidence for such a belief:
(1) History supports the belief that humanity cannot progress on its own to a state of non-murder, rape, and phsyical abuse.
(2) God, if he exists, may be an "external stimuli"--depending on what definition of "God" one has.
(3) Individuals have shown that they are capable of not murdering, raping, or physical abusing, and therefore it is reasonable to believe that all individuals are capable of the same restraint and may exercise such restraint in the same way and at the same time.
//
Hopefully I used all the terminology correctly.
Now:
Q: Why is this belief unreasonable? Why is it irrationale?
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Now, I want to try something. More specifically, I want you to try something. Respond only with questions, which may include hypotheticals. It keeps the responses short, specific, and helpful.
The Vagina Clown Car Movement. Real and Dangerous
Submitted by Hambydammit on March 19, 2009 - 2:44pm.The Vagina Clown Car Movement is apparently picking up steam. It's certainly getting a lot of mainstream coverage. This article in Newsweek says a lot of the things that should alert us to the real dangers of this very politically motivated movement. Forgive me for doing a lot of quoting, but I think there's a lot here that you need to know, and I can't really hope to improve on the words straight from the horse's mouth.
At the heart of this reality-show depiction of "extreme motherhood" is a growing conservative Christian emphasis on the importance of women submitting to their husbands and fathers, an antifeminist backlash that holds that gender equality is contrary to God's law and that women's highest calling is as wives and "prolific" mothers.
There you have it, folks. At the heart of the vagina clown car movement is a blatantly sexist agenda. This is about men, not women. Should we be surprised that people who are trying to return to the roots of a misogynist Bronze Age mythology should rediscover the idea that the best way to keep women quiet is to keep them barefoot and pregnant?
Science disproves another "benefit of religion."
Submitted by Hambydammit on March 18, 2009 - 5:02pm.Religion helps people cope with death, right? There's some evidence to the contrary...
Patients Who Rely on Religion to Cope Are More Likely to Have Aggressive Medical CareMarch 17, 2009 — Terminally ill cancer patients who relied on their religious faith to help them cope with their disease were more likely to receive aggressive medical care during their last week of life, a study shows.
Patients who engaged in what the researchers called positive religious coping, which included prayer, meditation, and religious study, ended up having more intensive life-prolonging interventions such as mechanical ventilation or cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
The study is published in the latest edition of The Journal of the American Medical Association.
Pope Defies Reason... surprise surprise
Submitted by Hambydammit on March 18, 2009 - 2:46pm.
In a mind-numbing display of backward logic, the pope has declared that the use of condoms increases the spread of AIDS. How could a person possibly reach this conclusion except by beginning with the conclusion and trying to find some way to make the facts fit?
I know, I know... giving out condoms encourages people to have sex, and somehow or another, this actually increases the spread of AIDS. But let's get down to the nitty gritty of this claim, shall we?
Let's suppose for a moment that condoms are 95% effective at blocking the HIV virus when used properly. Don't quibble with me about the number. It's just a number, and I'm not claiming it as the gospel truth. This is about demonstrating a principle. What this means, in practical terms, is that a person infected with HIV could reasonably expect to have sex with a hundred women, and we should be quite surprised if significantly more than four or five women contracted HIV.
Jesus Lives in a Seat Cushion
Submitted by Hambydammit on March 17, 2009 - 3:34pm. 
Church officials limited access to the Jesus-Misericordieux church in eastern Saint-Andre's Cambuston district to a few minutes per visitor as traffic in the area ground to a halt. Believers and curious onlookers pulled out cameras to take pictures of the cushion attached to the priest's chair.THOUSANDS of people have flocked to a Roman Catholic church on the French Indian Ocean island of Reunion after believers said they saw the "face of Christ" in the pleats of a church cushion.
God for scientists
Submitted by Truden on March 16, 2009 - 6:13am. Hi All 
Long time no see.
Here is my late "gift" for all atheists.
A little long but worth reading.
--
I’ll start with the famous question: &l
Religion Politics and Evil
Submitted by Cpt_pineapple on March 16, 2009 - 2:30am.Just a simple question:
We all know that Hoxha[or insert bad atheist here] was a bad person who transformed Albania [or insert bad action by said person] due to Communism [or insert cause]. Now the question is as follows:
If Hoxha [or any atheist who has done evil] had been, say for example, Christian, with nothing else changed, would you then say what happened in Albania [or insert country or region of said person here] was caused by Christianity or Communism [or insert cause of said action here]?
Try not to answer right away, but think it through and be honest.
Not trying to cause a shit storm, just thinking things through. Hope I was clear enough on the question.
I might as well be atheist
Submitted by Cpt_pineapple on March 14, 2009 - 10:21pm.I keep hearing this from atheists, particularly here and even in Breaking the Spell by Dennett, [of course not me personally]
This seems to apply to "liberal" or "moderate" Theists, it's as if there's a schema of Theists and any out group of that schema might as well be atheist.
Such as the beliefs and actions of Barack Obama. [Not trying to create an Obama religion debate, he's just the first example that came to mind]
My question of course, is why is this? They still believe in God and follow their religions.
Judge Rules Against Home Schooling Mom
Submitted by Hambydammit on March 14, 2009 - 9:40pm.A judge in North Raleigh has ruled that a mother must stop home schooling her children and send them to public school. An organized group of conservative Christians is calling for him to be removed from the case. (We all know, of course, that judges are only fair if they rule the way we want them to. Otherwise, they're... what's that called? Activist judges.) In preliminary statements, the judge made references to the childrens' need to have exposure to peers. Alan Keyes has weighed in on this notion:
