What is Atheism?

Atheism is, simply, the lack of belief in a god. There are no tenets, no dogma, no rituals, no common socio-political beliefs, no agendas, no ethical code, no "holier than..." or "better than" — there's nothing within atheism that could support your claims. We get told that atheism is responsible for the genocidal regeimes of Stalin and Hitler but those tyrants and murderers didn't kill people "in the name of atheism" and atheism wasn't the cause of their actions. It may have been that they has moustashes!

However lets consider all the people killed by direct intervention from Yehoba, including all the first-born that he seemed to particularly favour.

Exodus 13:2 Sanctify unto me all the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is mine.
Exodus 22:29 Thou shalt not delay to offer the first of thy ripe fruits, and of thy liquors: the firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto me.

Add to that, the many wars based on religion, the inquisition and the witchhunts. You say that was men and not god but henious crimes have been committed in the name of god and by your god.

Do we need to believe in a deity to have morals? No we don't. Supporting each other for the common good favours our evolution. I am told that there are more christians in prison than not (as a percentage of the population). Much evil has been carried out in the name of god. Please don't insult me by saying satan makes people do bad things. Remember free will?

The infidel Bush was allegedly a christian yet he reigned over the killings of thousands of innocent people just to satisfy his own twisted ideals. And he had the audacity to tell us that god told him it was ok. There is blood on the hands of every American who voted Republican.

Some things are clear cut, black and white, yin and yang. Others less so. I say live and let live but there are those who want to dictate to me how I live my life because they want their god to be top dog.

God and the big bang

Lets reflect for a moment, god is omnipotent. He creates the universe. What is the point if there is only life on Earth? He could have heated it with a 3-bar electric fire provided it was big enough and there was a cosmic socket to plug it in to. Did he create all the other stars and galaxies as a dot-to-dot passtime for our ancestors?


Just think of all those billions of years when there was no life and no one to worship god. What was he doing in all that time. After all he had created time. Why did he make us out of things that can go wrong? Why put us on a planet that has volcanic eruptions and quakes, the majority of which is covered by water? Consider how many people have died as a result of the design of our planet.


Maybe he just added a few ingredients and sat back, knowing that he will do better next time but needing to see the outcomes of his experiment so that he can improve.
Follow the debate by clicking below.

Banana Man fights back

I love the way that Zomgitschris says it as it is. I can't get enough.

The best riff ever ever

It took me months to track down the band responsible. The first album wasn't even released. They have since had a soundtrack for Mazda and I don't understand how they never 'broke'. I saw them at the Leadmill back in January 2005 and have followed them ever since. The infadels - Give yourself to me.

Asteroids Galaxy tour - Awesome!

Thanks to Maconie and Radcliffe for featuring this on Radio 2. Scandanavian perfection on a stick.

Back to Church Sunday

It's back to church Sunday this Sunday. I heard mention of it on daytime Radio 2 much to my annoyance. I have already complained about the godspot on Wogan and now this. I'm tempted to pop along and see what welcome I get after sitting there glaring at the vicar and not budging to stand and sing or kneel and pray. I don't suppose it's the done thing either to interject my own opinion into the sermon. Perhaps I should clarify at the beginning wether to ask questions during or save them until the end. That should set the tone.

I have found out that the poap is coming in September next year. Apparrantly it got leaked and the papal lot aren't very happy. And because my government asked them, we foot the bill! It cost the Americans £1.2 million per day. Read about it here.

Terry Sanderson, President of the National Secular Society, said: “We
intend to bring together all those groups that the Pope has insulted or
threatened over the years – gays, women’s groups, those affected by HIV, those
damaged by the Catholic Church’s cover-up of child abuse. We want to let the
pontiff know in no uncertain terms that his intransigence and fundamentalism are
damaging real people.”

Mr Sanderson continued: “The horrific Vatican cover up of large-scale child abuse by priests is enough to invalidate any state reception for this man. Instead, Britain celebrates and fetes him. But we will ensure that the other side of the story is put as the wrong-doing of the Catholic Church is once more, inexplicably, swept under the red carpet and conveniently forgotten for the duration”

We must protest.

I must need faith

I get accused of making posts in christian forums that reflect my atheist stance because I'm really there looking for god. That my attacking their ridiculous beliefs is really down to my unmet need for god's love. The dialoge below is lifted from a blog that I set up on a really well laid out faith site which only seems to have a handful of posters, however they really don't like me but seem to be letting me hang out there in the hope of converting me.

Why do I feel the need to make posts in opposition camps about the stupidity of religion? I'm not sure. It started with a letter to my local paper when I was 15 about the requirement for schools to hold a religious assembly every day, something I believe they are still required to do. Some replies were, "One only has to look at the flowers and the trees to know there is a god" and another reader blamed my lack of belief on "All the shameful sex and violence we see on TV".

The internet has really opened up the debate and is bringing atheists together and channeling the evidence in ways that were not possible before. Organised faith has its wealth, heirachy, media spin and hype. Religion is big business. Look at the catholic church. What about the "please donate now" pastors?

So why do I challenge their comfort zones? Possibly because I want to develop my challenging skills, to get them to look at things from a different angle, I'm not sure.

It scares me that there are adults out there who believe in Adam, Eve and a talking snake, that a God made everything and listens to our prayers before deciding to ignore them.